Just off Anthem of the Seas - a brief review of 9 day cruise to Bermuda /Caribbean.

[ccarroll57]

We just arrived home from a great 9 days on the Anthem. This was our first time on this ship and it did not disappoint. A great range ofactivities and the shows were excellent. The crew was great as well.

 

I wrote down some thoughts about some of the things we did and experienced. If anyone has any other questions, feel free to ask.

 

Our cabin – we had a balcony on floor 13. I was concernedabout noise from above but it only was an issue one morning. We were closer to the front of the ship and next time I would request a cabin closer to the aftas it seemed we were going there a lot (Windjammer, restaurants, activities)

 

Ifly – a lot of fun and I would highly recommend. I tried todo it twice but apparently you can only do it once per voyage.

 

North Star – cool experience. We did it during the Belly flop contest which made for some entertainment and great photos.

 

 

Food

 

Chops - Great food and excellent service.

 

Jamie's - outstanding waiter and great food. I would definitely go back again.

 

MDR - the food was good (not outstanding) but our service was phenomenal. We had a great waiter and head waiter who went out of their way to accommodate my wife's gluten allergy.

 

Sorrento’s – not bad pizza for a cruise ship. I had low expectations and was pleasantly surprised.

 

Shows

 

Spectra's Cabaret - a little strange but you had to appreciate the technology, choreography. and entertainment value.

 

We Will Rock You - outstanding. We went back a second time.

 

The Gift - confusing but a great show.

 

The Police Experience – I watched these guys twice and they did a great job. If you closed your eyes, you would swear the Police was actually playing.

 

Staff

 

The staff on this ship seemed genuinely happy and eager toplease. They were very helpful and went out of their way to help. I found there were times, like at shows, where it would have been good to have more but it was pretty good overall.

 

Voom

 

My only complaint. It was very spotty and we struggled in our cabin to get a good speed using Wi-Fi.

 

 

Ship

 

Well maintained and never really seemed crowded despite the amount of people on it. The ship was clean, well organized and offered a lot of options for things to do.

 

Chairs on the deck were not real difficult to snag if you didn’t care if you were by the pool. The “chair hogs” were out in full force and I did not see any enforcement. We usually found a place on Deck 15 near the I fly check in and only one day did we see a lot of people looking for chairs. If you go up by 1030 or 11, you are usually ok.

 

Elevators were always slow and crowded and we took the stairs at every opportunity. Elevator etiquette needs some work as people push their way on before allowing others to get on or run to the open elevator sometimes causing people clearly waiting before them to wait again for another elevator.

 

I did notice that hard selling of drink packages, etc. was not like I had seen on a previous cruise this year.

 

 

Ports of Call

 

King’s Wharf Bermuda – we took one of the vans to Horseshoe Bay for some great beach time. We arrived pretty early and had a few hours ofpeace before the crowds arrived. This is a beautiful beach that I would go toagain. Rain interrupted our beach day so we headed back to the ship. It stopped raining so we walked over to Snorkel Park Beach. After paying to get in we were extremely disappointed with the beach and the snorkeling. Stay away from this place!!!

 

 

Phillipsburg St. Maarten – we did the Island tour with Bernard’s. It was a great day with highlights being Maho Beach and OrientBeach. Our tour guide, the Mailman, was awesome and his rum punch really packed a punch…

 

San Juan, PR – we shopped and visited the forts here. We had trouble getting away from the ship as the independent tour guides were very aggressive trying to take us on a city tour. We declined……several times, and toured on our own.

 

Labadee – Went over to Columbus Cove as I had read it was the least crowded. That was the case early on but it was VERY crowded by lunchtime. We weren’t sure how to get there and walked through the market where the locals were selling their merchandise. They are extremely persistent and aggressive and that turned us off from returning through that way again. I found a way to cut through the waterslide area and avoid the market completely for the rest of the day. The buffet provided was ok. We also did Dragon’s Flight zipline. This was very fun and I would recommend doing it once. I was a little annoyed that they seemed to just be putting people into slots as they showed up, not according to the time on their cards.

 

 

 

In summary, I loved the Anthem. We visited NextCruise and booked for Alaska next year on the Explorer but I can’t wait to experience the Anthem again.

[pasodancer]

Thank you so much for sharing with us!

[Clarea]

Nicely written report, thanks.

[Husky1987]

Thank you for the report!

[JAMESCC]

Awesome review. We are on Anthem this September and can't wait! We just made final payment this morning. I am surprised about the internet, because I have read nothing but great things about Anthem's internet speeds. This will be our first cruise purchasing an internet package.

[easyboy]

Thanks for the review!

 

 

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[Tee & Chilli]

Thanks for the review. I love Anthem too. In April internet was excellent. I was able to do iFly twice.

[ccarroll57]

Awesome review. We are on Anthem this September and can't wait! We just made final payment this morning. I am surprised about the internet, because I have read nothing but great things about Anthem's internet speeds. This will be our first cruise purchasing an internet package.

 

We were on the Empress early this year and had no issues. The interesting thing with the wifi on the Anthem was it really became an issue in the last 4 days of the cruise. The first half it was fine. It was only a problem in our cabins too.

[cruiserking]

Thanks for your well written review. We love Anthem too and can't wait to cruise her again in February.

 

Jonathan

[Rolady68]

On the Anthem of the Seas in 19 days sounds like a Great ship

 

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[JAMESCC]

We were on the Empress early this year and had no issues. The interesting thing with the wifi on the Anthem was it really became an issue in the last 4 days of the cruise. The first half it was fine. It was only a problem in our cabins too.

Thank you for the update on that. We can't wait to try Anthem. We love sailing from NJ because we live 20 minutes or so from the terminal. I don't fly so thank goodness we have a ship right here. I have watched more Anthem walk through videos on you tube than you can count. Just can't wait. 9 days to Canada/NE. We did this same cruise for our honeymoon 8 years ago but in Explorer which we loved. Sailed her 3 times and loved that ship. Felt like home we sailed her so many times. Next year we are looking at Florida/Bahamas in late October on Anthem.

 

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[chopper825]

I was on this cruise as well and agree with most. However, there are not enough chairs around the outdoor pools. They did enforce the 30 minute rule in the early hours. I personally witnessed many personal items and towels removed. Lots of drama created. Arguing among passengers. It was ugly.