Bright Lights Pink Beaches, NYC/Bermuda 2017 Anthem of the Seas Trip Report

[Jerseygirl1416]

Thanks for all the information. I'm loving your report!

[borntobehappy]

Hidden Gems

 

We got to Bermuda on Mon am & our side has the beautiful view of the Fort. And I'm just dying I didn't snap a picture.

 

We booked Hidden Gems through the ship. It is offered through their site as well. For the most part, we book excursions with the vendor rather than the ship but we had a cancelled cruise in February and that has sort of spooked me to do the bookings through the ship in case we need to cancel.

 

Hidden Gems is billed as an adventure tour to a Forest Preserve. It's a seven hour excursion and not for the faint of heart. We started at the Pier with a total of fifteen people in the van. Zi& William were our guides and they were so so great. We toured most of the Parishes with Zi giving commentary about the beautiful island she calls home. Bermuda is freaking gorgeous. Probably the prettiest island I have seen. I don't like it when people call foreign countries dirty because I don't think it takes into account the poverty and government of the islands. But here goes - Bermuda is immaculate. Just very very pretty! The weather was perfect.

 

We arrived at the Reserve and started our hike through the jungle.

 

Zi!!

 

 

We then moved into the dry caves where we al out on our hard hats. It was pretty cool to see and touch something that is 2 million years old!!

 

 

Next we made our way to the wet caves. My family did a wet cave tour while in Panama and it was the highlight of the trip. I was skeptical this one could live up to Panama but it did! We went swimming in the cave (I had a slight panic attack hitting the cold water but it warmed up as we swam). William treated us to two songs; his voice is incredible. Zi took pics & we all swam for about 30 minutes.

 

That was so cool.

[borntobehappy]

Then we hit the cliff where we got to choose between the 10 & 15 foot cliffs. I did the 15 because YOLO, right? It was so fun to see my kids jump and jump and jump.

 

 

We wrapped up the cliff jumping and moved onto lunch held at a nearby restaurant. There were rum swizzles involved. My hubs had a Dark & Stormy (ginger beer with rum).

 

 

Next was snorkeling at this beautiful cove with these amazing rocks as the backdrop.

 

Finally ice cream!!

 

 

I highly recommend Hidden Gems. It deserves all the high ratings it gets on Trip Advisor.

 

We trudged back to the ship, quickly showered and headed to dinner.

 

Next Up: The Gift

[njmomof2]

I'm really enjoying your report on Anthem, and loved your review of being in NYC. Having grown up in Queens, I love to hear what people do when they come from out of town. Terrific that you got a townhouse on the UES for your whole family to use. And getting Hamilton tickets last minute - SCORE!!!

 

We've been on Anthem, booked again for Christmas this year. I agree that the shows are pretty meh compared to some of the productions on the other ships. We did Allure in April and loved Mamma Mia. Also loved Hairspray when we saw it. Now Cats! is another story and I wouldn't waste my time with it; we liked We Will Rock You, but it's not in the same class as the others.

 

I must say, the picture of you and hubby in front of the flowers is really lovely!!!

 

Looking forward to more of your report.

[borntobehappy]

Love your screen name and am enjoying the reveiw.

 

My daughter and son-in-law were able to get tickets to Hamilton for Decmber 2016 back when extra tickets were released last summer. They loved it.

 

 

 

I don't think I was put on this earth to be sad, ya know? Heard it on an Oprah meditation and loved it!!

 

 

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[jenmouse]

We have a group of 13 doing the nine night on Anthem next month. We are doing Dynamic Dining Classic as well - were they able to fit your whole group at one table? The most we have done with Royal is nine people. I know they could seat us at two tables near each other, but one table is always more fun.

[George C]

You did more in a couple of days in NYC then we did in 6 days , we saw 5 plays but were to cheap to spend 500 for Hamilton of Holly Dolly

[kccrzr]

The Hidden Gems tour sounds and looks fantastic. We haven't done a ship's tour in ages but I'm definitely keeping this one in mind; can't go wrong with cave swimming, cliff diving, snorkeling in amazingly beautiful water and the cherry on top - a rum drink (or two)!

 

Thanks again for sharing.

[borntobehappy]

We have a group of 13 doing the nine night on Anthem next month. We are doing Dynamic Dining Classic as well - were they able to fit your whole group at one table? The most we have done with Royal is nine people. I know they could seat us at two tables near each other, but one table is always more fun.

 

 

 

Yep. No problem with 13 at our table. Have fun!!!

 

 

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[borntobehappy]

You did more in a couple of days in NYC then we did in 6 days , we saw 5 plays but were to cheap to spend 500 for Hamilton of Holly Dolly

 

 

 

Wow - 5 plays. What fun!!!

 

 

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[borntobehappy]

The Hidden Gems tour sounds and looks fantastic. We haven't done a ship's tour in ages but I'm definitely keeping this one in mind; can't go wrong with cave swimming, cliff diving, snorkeling in amazingly beautiful water and the cherry on top - a rum drink (or two)!

 

 

 

Thanks again for sharing.

 

 

 

Please do it. It was one of the best excursions I have ever done. And it went by so fast!!!

 

 

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[bobmacliberty]

Great review so far! We did a 5 night from Bayonne to Bermuda a few years ago on Explorer. My biggest regret is not having a Rum Swizzle while there. ;p

 

For our cruise, the seas were very rough on the first day out and the last day back. As a result, DW said "never again" for departing from Bayonne. I'd love to give Anthem a shot and I've tried to explain that she's making this decision based on one data point and...well, you know. How were the seas going back and forth for you?

[borntobehappy]

Great review so far! We did a 5 night from Bayonne to Bermuda a few years ago on Explorer. My biggest regret is not having a Rum Swizzle while there. ;p

 

 

 

For our cruise, the seas were very rough on the first day out and the last day back. As a result, DW said "never again" for departing from Bayonne. I'd love to give Anthem a shot and I've tried to explain that she's making this decision based on one data point and...well, you know. How were the seas going back and forth for you?

 

 

 

This is my seventh cruise and it is the first time I was ever knocked off my balance due to the shifting boat. It was pretty crazy the last two days of the cruise - especially in the front and back of the ship. It made me think the Caribbean might be the only place for me. Can't imagine a Transatlantic. It wasn't too bad that it would deter me from doing it again but it was noticeable.

 

But I did think Bermuda was totally worth it. What an island!!

 

 

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[borntobehappy]

Always hard for me to finish a Trip Report if I don't do it right away. But here we go.

 

It's Monday night and I think we just gambled and hung out. Some of the kids went up to see Arrival at the pool.

 

Next day is our 2nd and final Bermuda day. We took a cab to Woodys for lunch. Famous for their fish sandwiches on raisin bread.

 

 

Then into Horeshoe Beach. Oh my goodness - what a gorgeous beach. As we came to the beach, a family was leaving and offered us their boogie boards. Awesome. We swam all afternoon and had some drinks. You can rent chairs and it looked like there was some food.

 

 

We took the bus/shuttle back to the pier (I think $7 per person). It was a total downpour by then & most of us went right on the ship but some stayed and shopped.

 

That night was Spectre's Cabaret. We were really looking forward to the show and it did not disappoint (mostly). The tech in 270 is criminally underused. And I felt the live element of the show was unnecessary. But it was definitively the best show we saw.

 

 

Next Up: Photography, Booze, Internet

[borntobehappy]

Prior to boarding, three of us bought the surf & booze combo package. Voom plus unlimited drinks. Everyone was happy with this. We definitely got our money's worth.

 

The bar service kinda sucked. Pro Tip - in non-peak hours, use the Bar/Coffee place in Windjammer to get your drinks. I wouldn't mind if they had an actual line at the bars on he pool deck rather than the Willy Nicky way it is handled how. People who got there after you will order ahead of you because they happened to luck into a seat when someone is leaving. Just give me an actual line & I will be less annoyed. Because I would never say "um I'm next."

Rant over.

 

I watch the Leftovers on HBO and the series finale was happening during the cruise. I was able to watch it via the HBO Go app. Completely satisfied with the VOOM.

 

Photography- on the first night my husband went to Focus to figure out the picture situation. On the Oasis, we waited until the last night and it was a total madhouse. He got one stateroom for full price and a second one at a discounted price for a total of $450. We got most of our pics and we're pretty much happy with the photography options. We had a total of seven cabins and we got pics of everyone. The staff at Focus seemed a little more relaxed than on Oasis. Not as many pics as Oasis but of course less days.

 

Next Up: Final Days

 

 

 

 

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[pasodancer]

I'm loving every minute of your fabulous & memorable vacation!

[borntobehappy]

Next day is the final Sea Day. Boo hiss.

 

Started at trivia & we were one off from winning it all. I had meant to get tot Trivia all week so I'm glad I got my chance.

 

All but one of the adults had signed up for the Galley Tour & Brunch. We met at American Icon and were offered OJ or a Mimosa.

 

We were quickly ushered into the kitchen in groups of 30. The galley is broke into several areas. We visited the plating station, dessert bakery, bread bakery and entrees. It was pretty crazy how small it seemed for the amount of people they serve. They use 100,000 eggs a day and 1000 pounds of flour. Crazy. There was a neat machine where they put in some dough on a plate and the plate came out with perfectly shaped rolls.

 

There was a big cake being prepared for the final Windjammer dinner.

 

 

Speaking of Windjammer Dinner. We have never eaten at WJ for dinner but I went up there around 7:30 on the last night to get a drink and they had this massive display of desserts. Like 20 or more. Is that an every night deal? Because it might be worth it to skip the desserts in the MDR and go up top for some dessert.

 

Most of the family went to We Will Rock You. I passed. Reviews were mixed. I think we did one more bingo with no luck.

 

Final dinner bidding farewell to our wait staff. Went swimming after dinner in the indoor pool until they kicked us out. Went to SeaPlex to play ping pong until they kicked us out. Went to Royal Promenade or whatever it is called on the Anthem. Ate pizza and walked around. Then finally called it a night.

 

Embarkation was so easy. We made our way to LaGuardia and had about a three hour waits until our flight.

 

We loved Bermuda. Most folks preferred the Oasis over the Anthem but thought he ship was just fine.

 

Awesome time. Any questions?

 

Cheers!!!

 

 

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[borntobehappy]

I'm loving every minute of your fabulous & memorable vacation!

 

 

Thank you. It was pretty excellent!!

 

 

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[Sprasa03]

Loved this review, thanks for sharing!

[tlatrice]

Thanks so much for sharing this review! I really enjoyed it! Looking forward to Anthem one day!