Anthem of the Seas Review from Bahamas sailing

[sharonlacey]

Thanks for the great trip report!

[TargaryenOne]

Where do you get the specialty coffees that come with the deluxe beverage package?

 

At La Patisserie in front of Cafe Promemade, in Cafe Two70 and in the Windjammer there is a "coffee shop" as well.

[paulapatti4]

I'll try to answer questions regarding the puzzle room-I was on the 2/26/17 sailing. I was unable to book on-line, others I met stated they saw it available only for a day or two before noting it was again listed as not available, check on-line.

I boarded around noon and from reading the boards was aware there is a "box office" set-up at the back of the Royal Theater on deck 4. There are staff there with laptops to do activity bookings. The puzzle room was all booked and I was added to a wait list. The staff inquired if I wanted any other reservations and even though I had said all along I didn't want to do IFly/North Star I surprised myself and made IFly appt. for the next day at 9:40 am. I declined the North Star appt.

Back to puzzle room-there is no information posted about the puzzle room. I was able to find out they do it in the Teen Room on sea days at 10:30, 12:30, 2:30 and 4:30 pm. I was called at the end of the week and message left notifying me a time slot opened up and where to go. The Teen Room is outside the Sea Plex. I wasn't very good with solving the puzzles, luckily we had some teens/young adults who were more knowledgeable and better puzzle solvers than myself.

For those that can't get reservations prior to boarding, don't give up-there are opportunities to get reservations after boarding the ship.

I also did bumper cars twice-wait time about 20 minutes. The bumper cars, roller skating and trapeze all use the same deck space. They can only run 1 of these activities at a time. For bumper cars-for those with children, age to ride in the bumper cars is 5 yrs. old and they can't be a driver of car until age 8 yr. They do check the childrens sea pass cards to confirm their ages. Also, if they are going to be a passenger with an adult -the adult has to be a relative, again they check the sea pass cards to insure they are a relative. Some folks in line were perturbed by the rules-I felt bad for the activity staff. They parents would try to talk the staff into making an exception( but my son turns 5 next month). When they do activity such as roller skating/ bumper cars the times ran for 2-3 hrs ( ie.7-10 pm).

General information:

I thought 270 was one of the best venues I've experienced and had all breakfast and most lunches there. Even went for breakfast prior to debarking the ship. Unfortunately, I was disappointed in Chops -I felt the beef tenderloin in the MDR was a better meal. That is one of the great things about a large ship, lots of options and something for everyone.

The solarium was also one of my favorite locations, warm and sunny.:)

Paula

[BermudaBound2014]

Thanks Paula :). Was the solarium warm on day 1 and 7? Bathing suit warm?

 

 

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[Addictedtocruising]

Anyone that is on the ship now, if you have a balcony cabin with the bed next to the balcony doors.

Which side of the bed is the electrical outlet?

Thanks!

[reallyitsmema]

Anyone that is on the ship now, if you have a balcony cabin with the bed next to the balcony doors.

Which side of the bed is the electrical outlet?

Thanks!

 

Our cabin had bed by balcony and outlet was above the nightstand on the side of the bed closest to the balcony slider.

[Addictedtocruising]

Our cabin had bed by balcony and outlet was above the nightstand on the side of the bed closest to the balcony slider.

 

Thank you for your quick reply!

 

Have a great weekend! :D

[reallyitsmema]

Thank you for your quick reply!

 

Have a great weekend! :D

 

You're welcome.:)

[michele.catskill]

I see that they have movies at the pool at night.

What titles? Times? Is it too cold o day 1, 2, 6, 7, to be outside for this?

 

Thanks for all the great info!

[paulapatti4]

"Was the solarium warm on day 1 and 7? Bathing suit warm?"

 

Yes-the solarium was warm enough for bathing suits. Day 7 was only really cold day outside and the solarium was crowded and I spent more time in the thermal suite on this day versus the solarium.

 

Thermal Suite-you can purchase a weekly pass for $99 + 18% gratuity or $179 for a couple.

The thermal suite consisted of heated lounges, steam room, sauna and rain shower. I was able to get a heated lounge chair every time I went to the thermal suite.:)

 

Since day 7 was a colder day, for me it was a good opportunity to go to the MDR lunch. It's so easy to skip the MDR with other options available but encourage everyone to try lunch in MDR at least once-it's a good experience. I was on MTD and seated in Americaon Icon or Silk; lunch was in Chic. Each dining room has a different look-Chic was a more attractive venue IMHO versus Silk.

[luckyinpa]

"Was the solarium warm on day 1 and 7? Bathing suit warm?"

 

Yes-the solarium was warm enough for bathing suits. Day 7 was only really cold day outside and the solarium was crowded and I spent more time in the thermal suite on this day versus the solarium.

 

Thermal Suite-you can purchase a weekly pass for $99 + 18% gratuity or $179 for a couple.

The thermal suite consisted of heated lounges, steam room, sauna and rain shower. I was able to get a heated lounge chair every time I went to the thermal suite.:)

 

Since day 7 was a colder day, for me it was a good opportunity to go to the MDR lunch. It's so easy to skip the MDR with other options available but encourage everyone to try lunch in MDR at least once-it's a good experience. I was on MTD and seated in Americaon Icon or Silk; lunch was in Chic. Each dining room has a different look-Chic was a more attractive venue IMHO versus Silk.

 

are you allowed to eat anywhere for lunch or is that assigned too?

[BEENSAILING]

Great review -

re tenders: CocoCay will be getting a pier. (What took so long???) RCI and govt of Bahamas working together on this but may not be completed until end of 2018 or into 2019. The pier will do away with the need for waiting for tender tix. Currently when winds are too strong for the tenders ships going to CocoCay have had to change iten.

re iFly - if you are a "big" person the people working the desk at iFly will take a look at you and weigh you. If you are just a wee bit over the "allowed weight" they may make an exception. (I am happy that is not an issue for me). I have done iFly 3 times - one cruise on Quantum and 2 on Anthem. Great experience! If you cannot get a reservation ahead of time you can get it on board. There are people who don't show up or change their times. Keep your jewelry in your safe deposit box in your stateroom. Or if you wear a ring which you never take off they will tape it around your finger. You don't want your rings blowing off!

DH and I will be back on the Anthem again for New Year's Eve cruise. Not counting on the CocoCay pier to be ready then. And if too windy we will just enjoy another great day on a beautiful ship.

[ljmandelbaum]

Great review -

re tenders: CocoCay will be getting a pier. (What took so long???) RCI and govt of Bahamas working together on this but may not be completed until end of 2018 or into 2019. The pier will do away with the need for waiting for tender tix. Currently when winds are too strong for the tenders ships going to CocoCay have had to change iten.

re iFly - if you are a "big" person the people working the desk at iFly will take a look at you and weigh you. If you are just a wee bit over the "allowed weight" they may make an exception. (I am happy that is not an issue for me). I have done iFly 3 times - one cruise on Quantum and 2 on Anthem. Great experience! If you cannot get a reservation ahead of time you can get it on board. There are people who don't show up or change their times. Keep your jewelry in your safe deposit box in your stateroom. Or if you wear a ring which you never take off they will tape it around your finger. You don't want your rings blowing off!

DH and I will be back on the Anthem again for New Year's Eve cruise. Not counting on the CocoCay pier to be ready then. And if too windy we will just enjoy another great day on a beautiful ship.

They weighed everyone for ifly. Didn't matter what you weighted. My friends 9 year old daughter got weighted as well as the 4 year old who chanced her mind. My 75 lb 5"2' daughter was weighted as well.

[Mistress]

I'll try to answer questions regarding the puzzle room-I was on the 2/26/17 sailing. I was unable to book on-line, others I met stated they saw it available only for a day or two before noting it was again listed as not available, check on-line.

I boarded around noon and from reading the boards was aware there is a "box office" set-up at the back of the Royal Theater on deck 4. There are staff there with laptops to do activity bookings. The puzzle room was all booked and I was added to a wait list. The staff inquired if I wanted any other reservations and even though I had said all along I didn't want to do IFly/North Star I surprised myself and made IFly appt. for the next day at 9:40 am. I declined the North Star appt.

Back to puzzle room-there is no information posted about the puzzle room. I was able to find out they do it in the Teen Room on sea days at 10:30, 12:30, 2:30 and 4:30 pm. I was called at the end of the week and message left notifying me a time slot opened up and where to go. The Teen Room is outside the Sea Plex. I wasn't very good with solving the puzzles, luckily we had some teens/young adults who were more knowledgeable and better puzzle solvers than myself.

For those that can't get reservations prior to boarding, don't give up-there are opportunities to get reservations after boarding the ship.

I also did bumper cars twice-wait time about 20 minutes. The bumper cars, roller skating and trapeze all use the same deck space. They can only run 1 of these activities at a time. For bumper cars-for those with children, age to ride in the bumper cars is 5 yrs. old and they can't be a driver of car until age 8 yr. They do check the childrens sea pass cards to confirm their ages. Also, if they are going to be a passenger with an adult -the adult has to be a relative, again they check the sea pass cards to insure they are a relative. Some folks in line were perturbed by the rules-I felt bad for the activity staff. They parents would try to talk the staff into making an exception( but my son turns 5 next month). When they do activity such as roller skating/ bumper cars the times ran for 2-3 hrs ( ie.7-10 pm).

 

 

Thank you very much for information!! Could you tell me please, do. the puzzle room have any tasks devoted to English language?!

Maybe you should find a word, or tell smth special?! Or something like this?

We are foreigners and my partner doesn't speaks English at all. Will it be the problem there???

Thank you in advance !

 

 

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[paulapatti4]

The puzzles are all in English. There are several different tasks that need to be completed to get to the final solution. You will be in a group-anywhere from 6-12 people. We worked together, there was not any one task that anyone has to do alone-we helped, or at least tried to assist. In my group, folks drifted in and out of tasks depending if they were interested or comfortable with the task. I'm not good with crossword puzzles and did not participate on those. For example, the first thing you do in the room is look for clues and gather the items found. There are locked boxes, metal pieces that are color colored, maps that need to be looked at as well as crossword puzzles, word search type activities. We had different folks working on different puzzles then putting the pieces together to get to the solution. I'm English speaking/reading and wasn't very good-lol. I was glad to have the young adults/teens as they were quicker and more intuitive than myself. I say give it a try-it's an hour on a sea day. And if you have some knowledge of the solar systems, you will have a huge step up on me.:)

For activities in Sea Plex-I noticed the staff spoke to the participants( particularly trapeze) in multiple languages. In fact, I noticed at muster, the end of muster instructions were delivered in 5 languages( I counted as I hadn't noticed that before). I thought this was one of the most multi-lingual passenger groups I've cruised with- I think you will find camaraderie among the folks and have a great time. I meet a group of 4-they couldn't solve it and returned for a second session to try again-:D. I hope this gives you a better picture of what to expect-really, it's a casual session and the activity person stays with you to answer questions.

Edited March 12, 2017 by paulapatti4

[AbeFroman2]

I see that they have movies at the pool at night.

What titles? Times? Is it too cold o day 1, 2, 6, 7, to be outside for this?

 

Thanks for all the great info!

 

Totally dependent on your sailing for the weather. For us every day was warm enough to be out there but I'm sure that's not the norm leaving out of New Jersey.

 

The titles were family appropriate movies I had not heard of.

[reallyitsmema]

Totally dependent on your sailing for the weather. For us every day was warm enough to be out there but I'm sure that's not the norm leaving out of New Jersey.

 

The titles were family appropriate movies I had not heard of.

 

On our sailing the week after yours, we had Finding Dory, Kubo and The Two Strings and The Legend of Tarzan that we remember. Could have been others but didn't notice.

[Mistress]

The puzzles are all in English. There are several different tasks that need to be completed to get to the final solution. You will be in a group-anywhere from 6-12 people. We worked together, there was not any one task that anyone has to do alone-we helped, or at least tried to assist. In my group, folks drifted in and out of tasks depending if they were interested or comfortable with the task. I'm not good with crossword puzzles and did not participate on those. For example, the first thing you do in the room is look for clues and gather the items found. There are locked boxes, metal pieces that are color colored, maps that need to be looked at as well as crossword puzzles, word search type activities. We had different folks working on different puzzles then putting the pieces together to get to the solution. I'm English speaking/reading and wasn't very good-lol. I was glad to have the young adults/teens as they were quicker and more intuitive than myself. I say give it a try-it's an hour on a sea day. And if you have some knowledge of the solar systems, you will have a huge step up on me.:)

For activities in Sea Plex-I noticed the staff spoke to the participants( particularly trapeze) in multiple languages. In fact, I noticed at muster, the end of muster instructions were delivered in 5 languages( I counted as I hadn't noticed that before). I thought this was one of the most multi-lingual passenger groups I've cruised with- I think you will find camaraderie among the folks and have a great time. I meet a group of 4-they couldn't solve it and returned for a second session to try again-:D. I hope this gives you a better picture of what to expect-really, it's a casual session and the activity person stays with you to answer questions.

 

 

Thank you very much for such wide description! ))) actually, notwithstanding that English not my native one, I had never faced with problem in communication while we are traveling abroad))) but the puzzles.... I'm not sure if my vocabulary will be enough for it ))) if it is some hidden objects to find-I'm ok, if it is logical comparison of founded pieces- I'm ok, but if it is smth like crossword- epic fail (beep-beep! My brain is out of work!!!) we are great puzzle-solvers and have three escape rooms of our own in our country, but I never had experience of escape abroad. I'm soooooo excited about it and we definitely will try ))))

 

 

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[goingplaces1132]

I promise I'm not being paid per post, but I liked reviews/threads that broke up information best (I found the SUPER long ones hard to scan for what I was looking for), so apologies and please bear with me.

 

Day 4 took us to CocoCay, RC's private island, and please heed this warning: Tender tickets are available at 7 a.m. (be sure to check with literally any crew member to confirm this) and if you want to get to CocoCay ASAP, be at 270 to get them right at 7 a.m. We made the mistake of eating breakfast first, then going to get our tender tickets, putting us in group 45. The first group went ashore at 9, but we didn't until 11:45, and with the ship departing at 4:30 or so, it definitely eats in to your time. Fortunately, the weather wasn't al that great, so we weren't too disappointed.

 

Be sure to check when the food is served to, too: We nearly missed lunch because we figured it lasted awhile longer. Nope, last call was 1:30 with a hard stop at 2 p.m. so the crew could clean up and get everything ready to go back.

 

Food is included, and you can use your SeaPass card to purchase drinks, but do note that the tiny nicknack stores are cash only so be sure to have plenty if you want to shop. My GF got plenty of souvenirs with about $40, but would have been happier with double that.

 

After tendering back, we ate at My Time Dining again and saw The Gift, which I found to be absolutely baffling and confusing but it is a very neat visual presentation.

 

This was also my first trip to the casino, and make sure you get paid for winners at the tables. Dealers took chips on winners at blackjack and tables that I fortunately caught in time and was paid out on. I do not believe it was malicious, but simply ignorance on the part of the dealers, some of which choose to be there and know the games and others who just end up there.

 

I also saw more winners at slots/poker machines on the far end of the casino nearest the music hall way in the back, as opposed to those near the Promenade steps. My guess is that's because, like in any casino, the machines closest to the doors where the most people sit and play payout the least.

 

Also, keep in mind Casino Royale is a smoking area of the ship, and it can get a little hazy in there.

 

 

 

So for the tender...does each person from room have to be there or just one person for group? I have seen the tickets passed out different ways and didn't know anthem policy. I hate to drag both kids down to wait if not needed

 

 

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[AbeFroman2]

So for the tender...does each person from room have to be there or just one person for group? I have seen the tickets passed out different ways and didn't know anthem policy. I hate to drag both kids down to wait if not needed

 

 

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I have never been on a cruise (been on four) that required everyone to be there, and Anthem was no Different. I went and picked up two tickets and had no problems. One going for a few should not be a problem

[AZbobkats]

Enjoyed your posts! We'll be on the Anthem for the first time in April, thanks for all the tips around the ship! :)

[cocod08]

Do they give people with excursions priority for the tender?

 

 

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[BEENSAILING]

Do they give people with excursions priority for the tender?

 

 

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In general, when you book any excursion thru Royal you have priority to get off the ship in time for your activity. As CocoCay is a tender port I suggest you call Royal and verify with them if a priority tender pass will be included in the envelope with your activity ticket or how it will work so you can make it to your activity in time.

[seba1]

Restaurants and kids attire question...

 

Did you see boys in nice shorts and polos at night? Or, were they more dressed up? We are packing for our 12-year-old son who hates to dress up and want to be prepared. I am packing some khakis too for him, but wasn't sure what was acceptable on the Anthem.

 

Thanks!

Stephanie

[BillHoo]

Oddly enough, yes.

 

So, blurt out a random room number to get the towels. Then, when you return, you get a credit when you give them your REAL room number!