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Anthem Review New England/Canada Sept 28-Oct 7, 2017

slyster

By slyster,
in Royal Caribbean International

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slyster

slyster

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Hi folks...just wanted to do a review of our cruise last week on Anthem of the Seas. It was a 9 night cruise to New England and Canada (Boston, Portland, Bar Harbor, Halifax, Saint John). I won't review each day because 9 nights is too long of a review LOL! I'll be adding some pics and videos here too (if it allows me to). Some things to note:

 

 

 

By far, the easiest embarkation we have ever experienced. We arrived at the port at 10:50 and as we were dropping off our luggage, there was an announcement being made that boarding was ready to begin. We parked our car in the garage. One thing to note is there are workers to help you when you come in and out of the garage. They gave us our ticket, told us to hold on to it because when you come back tot the garage, you have to put your ticket in the machine to pay. They are standing right there to show you where to put in your ticket and cash or credit card to pay. Speeds things up.

 

 

 

We walked inside the terminal and directly in front of us were representatives at IPAD stations. I read in previous reviews that the representatives were spread out, but not on this sailing. It took us 2 minutes to check in and security took 2 minutes. All in all, 2 minutes to drop off our bags and park and 5 minutes from the time we walked into the terminal, we were on the ship!

 

 

 

I'll also say it was probably the quickest and easiest debarkation too! We were in group 4 so maybe that's why it went more smoothly. They began self carry folks at 7:45 and my group was supposed to be called off at 8:10. Sure enough at 8:12, Groups 4-8 were called off. It took 20 minutes from the time we were called off...used our sail pass one last time, got our luggage, went through customs and were in our car.

 

 

 

Wow Bands...we bought our first wow bands and we felt it was worth it. Easy to open the doors, make store and bar purchases. For drinks that we had servers for, we either took the band off and gave it to them or they wrote down our cabin number. Oh and they are waterproof! I used it in the pool several times.

 

 

 

We had the drink package and I believe the only place that handed out receipts was Boleros. We never received a receipt to add on additional tips.

 

 

 

The shows were great: The Gift, Spectras Cabarnet, and We Will Rock you. Our favorite was Spectras Cabarnet followed by We Will Rock You. I had heard The Gift was hard to follow but since I had an idea of what it was about, it wasn't a problem at all. There was an Aerosmith tribute band, Walk the Line, on board and they were really good! We also enjoyed Greg London who does Rock Impersonations. Everyone really seemed to enjoy him. There were 3 comedians but I didn't go to any of their shows.

 

 

 

Food:

 

 

 

We enjoyed all our meals in the Windjammer and dining rooms. We had a chance to visit 3 specialty restaurants (in order): Jamies, Wonderland, and Chops. Our favorite was Chops. The rib eye was delicious and my wife got the filet mignon which was soooo tender. I am a picky eater and I was so proud of myself for trying Wonderland LOL! I don't like crab, tuna, lobster, or shrimp and yet I tried all of them! None were bad...not my type of food, but definitely worth trying! It was a wonderful experience. I'm not sure I would go back to Wonderland, but the experience made it totally worth it and I would definitely recommend it for any first timer. The dessert was awesome too! Our favorite of all the restaurants.

 

 

 

Now for our biggest negative of the whole cruise...My Time Dining. Wow...I never expected to have this kind of experience. It was our first time doing it. I remember asking in another thread if you keep the same waiters when you have MTD reservations and the overwhelming answer was yes, as long as you kept close to the same dining times. I had also never heard that the 1st night was chaos. Well, I heard that a few times that first night from RC staff and from other MTD cruisers. We had 6pm dining reservations. We went down at 5:50 and the line was all the way back to the elevators so maybe 50 people or so in line? The line was moving fairly quickly until there were about 10 people ahead of us. By this time, it was 6:15. We stalled. We didn't move at all while the line next to us (also had reservations) kept moving. In fact, a RC rep kept going to that line asking how many in their party and pulling folks out of that line while we stood there. We stood there for 15 minutes without budging. Finally the large group ahead of us was seated. By this time, it's 6:30. We were asked if would be okay going downstairs to another restaurant. We go downstairs, we are seated, and I kid you not...we waited 25 minutes and the only thing that we had was water and bread. It's 6:55 and we both gave up. We head for the door when I grab the assistant maître d and share what we just went through. He called a head waiter over quickly. My wife really did not want to go back in. I convinced her to go back and the assistant maître d told the head waiter to attend to us personally. We wanted to get to the Welcome Aboard show so he promised to expedite our meals and he did. We were out in about 50 minutes. We returned 2 days later and our wait was shorter. We had MTD reservations for 6pm again. This time we waited 15 minutes and they wanted to seat us downstairs again. I told them we really preferred to be seated in American Icon so we could have the same waiter(s) all week. They seated us and our waiter came over 10 minutes later. He wasn't very nice. His introduction was "good evening, what would you like". I commented that he seemed very busy because he barely acknowledged us. It didn't bother me at first until the waiter at the next table introduced himself to his table, "Good evening! My name is Antonio! Welcome to the American Icon restaurant. Before we start does anyone have any restrictions or special dietary needs?" He was all smiles. After the first night experience, this just made me apprehensive of MTD. I decided to call the head waiter over. I explained our experience from the first night and this was our second night in the dining room. I told her the waiter barely acknowledged us, didn't introduce himself, and seemed rushed. I asked if we could be changed to traditional dining. She came back to say there wasn't any traditional dining available, but if we returned around the same time each evening, she could have us sit in the Silk restaurant. She told us just to show up, walk in, and sit at table 598. I asked her if we needed to check in and she said no, just go to that table each evening. I will also say she made sure my wife's dietary needs were met after that too. The next night we showed up and started heading in to table 598 as she had instructed. We were stopped. I explained that we were told to just go to this table each night. They all seemed confused LOL. After a couple of minutes, they told us the table # was taken by someone else that evening. I told them that was fine as long as we could have the same waiters for the rest of the cruise. After this night, we would check in and request be seated with Jerrick and they did accommodate us for the rest of the cruise. Also, each night a head waiter would come and take my wife's order for the next day. It took 4 days to get into a rhythm, but once we did, it all worked out well. We loved Jerrick and Danillo! I'll say this...we won't be doing MTD anymore. It just isn't for us. I would rather arrive and walk right into my table and see the same waiters each night. I think I also just need more control over my dining plan LOL!

 

 

 

North Star:

 

 

 

Quite an experience! We arrived at 10:45 for our 11am reservations but we still ended up waiting until 11:30. It sort of felt like anyone could have gotten in line? There were a couple of ways up there and there was a guy with a clipboard. I thought to myself, what if someone came in from the other side and just got in line? LOL They didn't check us again when we got to the front of the line.

 

 

 

IFly:

 

 

 

I loved it! I thought I would be nervous, but it was such a fun experience!

 

 

 

Ports:

 

 

 

Boston was a bust :-( It was raining, well pouring, and we had purchased the Old Trolley tour excursion. The plastic was covering the sides and was all fogged up. You just couldn't see out the windows. You had to keep using your shirt or jacket to wipe away the fog. The folks in the seats adjacent to us slept most of the way and never wiped off their window. You literally couldn't see anything except maybe through the front window.

 

 

 

Portland was lovely! Loved the city tour and we got to visit a beautiful light house. I loved the city itself and all the shops there too.

 

 

 

Bar Harbor....our favorite! I even want to live there! We visited Acadia park and it was as beautiful as I knew it would be. It was a little chilly, but over all a wonderful place to visit. We love their stores and shopping too.

 

 

 

Halifax...pictures don't do Peggy's cove justice. It was so beautiful in person! We also got to visit the Titanic cemetery.

 

 

 

Saint John...we didn't do any tours, but did get to walk the city a bit.

 

 

 

The Ship:

 

 

 

The ship was incredible. So many places to sit and hang out. Our favorite places were Michael's pub, 270, and the indoor Pool. I do want to say that the water in the indoor pool was more warm than the solarium pool. I tested both out a couple of times and kept finding myself back at the indoor pool. The whirlpools were fantastic too!

 

 

 

Overall, it was a great cruise. There was definitely more of an older crowd on this ship. If I had to guess, I would say, the average was close to retirement age or over retirement age. I found 99% of the cruise staff to be very friendly and helpful. I absolutely loved the itinerary and would consider it again. I feel there is still so much we probably missed.

 

Let me know if you have any questions!

Edited by slyster
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BillOh Holiday Sharing Rare

BillOh

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Thanks for taking the time to relate all those interesting details. I am one of the last hold outs for traditional dining. Others have tried to get me to come over to the dark side, but I have resisted.

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slyster

slyster

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My team won the Quest! I was the female team captain.

 

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Proud moment getting my medal and royal Caribbean back pack LOL

 

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I’ll sure miss you moose!

 

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Beautiful view from our balcony

 

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Bionic bar. My favorite drink was Venus love!

 

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reallyitsmema

reallyitsmema

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Thanks for sharing your review. Too bad the weather was so bad in Boston. We had considered driving in to see the ship that day, but decided it wasn't worth it with all the rain. We are going on Anthem in November for the third time, will have to check out Venus Love at the Bionic Bar!

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slyster

slyster

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Thanks for sharing your review. Too bad the weather was so bad in Boston. We had considered driving in to see the ship that day, but decided it wasn't worth it with all the rain. We are going on Anthem in November for the third time, will have to check out Venus Love at the Bionic Bar!

 

 

 

Thanks for all your help too! You were helpful answering questions before the trip.

 

It’s got cranberry and I believe some apple schnapps and vodka. I prefer fruity drinks that aren’t strong. This was served over crushed ice. Very tasty! Oh and it was under their signature drinks I believe.

 

 

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sddsddean

sddsddean

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I don't know why RCI can't get the hang of MTD...most ships it ends up a complete mess. We've been on Celebrity ships and done MTD and it works perfectly. These 2 lines are the same company...what gives? We went to the WJ first night (as first night in the dining rooms is always a nightmare) and we were stunned! The selection of food, the daily specials and you could be in and out in 45 minutes! We ate there every night and got to know Joseph (the Exec Sous chef in charge of the WJ...what a nice guy). If you go on Anthem in the future and have a bad dining room experience, try the WJ...you could be pleasently surprised.

 

Simon

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reallyitsmema

reallyitsmema

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Thanks for all your help too! You were helpful answering questions before the trip.

 

It’s got cranberry and I believe some apple schnapps and vodka. I prefer fruity drinks that aren’t strong. This was served over crushed ice. Very tasty! Oh and it was under their signature drinks I believe.

 

 

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You're welcome, glad I could help.:)

 

That drink sounds wonderful! We have never tried the bionic bar before, will let you know what I thought when we return in November.

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slyster

slyster

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I don't know why RCI can't get the hang of MTD...most ships it ends up a complete mess. We've been on Celebrity ships and done MTD and it works perfectly. These 2 lines are the same company...what gives? We went to the WJ first night (as first night in the dining rooms is always a nightmare) and we were stunned! The selection of food, the daily specials and you could be in and out in 45 minutes! We ate there every night and got to know Joseph (the Exec Sous chef in charge of the WJ...what a nice guy). If you go on Anthem in the future and have a bad dining room experience, try the WJ...you could be pleasently surprised.

 

 

 

Simon

 

 

 

You know. I have always enjoyed the windjammer for dinner. By our third MTD night when we were sent to Silk, I said if this is as bad and night 1 and 2 we are going to the windjammer for the rest of our cruise. Night 1 was terrible. Night 3 (we were in Jamie’s on night 2), better but not a nice waiter and by Night 5 (wonderland night 4) it was night and day. Jerrick, Danillo, and the head waiter did a great job after that.

 

 

 

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DaniDanielle

DaniDanielle

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Great review! We have been on Anthem 4times and have the fifth coming up. We really enjoyed our cruises. Bar Harbor was our favorite also. I have to say we have never had a problem with MTD, never waited too long and always were seated where we wanted to be. I guess we have been lucky[emoji3] 270 is just a nice place to sit and relax and watch the ocean!

 

 

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slyster

slyster

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Thanks for the review, what is so good about 270...just curious?

 

 

 

Also curious on what is the deal with the Bionic Bar? Can you use the drink package there?

 

 

 

Hi there. You can use your drink package st the bionic bar. There are small tablets at these tables where you use your pass or wow band to activate. In the ceiling are tons of different alcohol and the bionic arm fills up what looks like an aluminum cup with all the ingredients of your drink. I think I took a video. I hope I did! It shakes your drink and pours it in a cup for you. The things that fascinate me LOL

 

As for 270 it’s just an experience. Daytime you see the entire aft of the ship. Alllll Windows. Awesome view. At night it transforms into virtual shows, robotic shows, and a back drop for spectra Cabernet using these huge screens. The special effects are cool!

 

 

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slyster

slyster

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Great review! We have been on Anthem 4times and have the fifth coming up. We really enjoyed our cruises. Bar Harbor was our favorite also. I have to say we have never had a problem with MTD, never waited too long and always were seated where we wanted to be. I guess we have been lucky[emoji3] 270 is just a nice place to sit and relax and watch the ocean!

 

 

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May I ask what time you went to MTD? One thing I forgot to add is one of the head waiters shared that 70% of the guests requested to eat from 6pm-8pm (we asked for 6pm).

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shipfriend_max

shipfriend_max

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Hello slyter,

 

Thank you so much for the review!

Since we are about to sail on that cruise in Ocotber 2018 on Anthem(so in less than one year now... :D), it is very helpul to read reviews about that cruise and about Anthem otS.

 

I really look forward to finally visit the Canada/NE region - a dream destination since a very long time for me... :)

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Jerseygirl1416

Jerseygirl1416

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Avoid MTD on the first night! That should be in my review. I heard that from a number of people including RC reps

 

 

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Maybe that’s why they sell the BOGO deal for use on the first two nights. I did buy that so we’ll avoid the first night of MTD.

 

Thanks for all the information!

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