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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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dvond

dvond

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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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Thank you! Sounds interesting, will have to try

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ajoneen

ajoneen

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Hi Sarah

here's a slightly weird question. I have the cabin next door 12662 soon. It looks to have a slightly bigger balcony area. Nowhere near what you had, just a little wedge added. Did you happen to sneak a peek next door (right) and see it?

 

Your itinerary sounded wonderful. That is what my dh wants to do next.

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slyster

slyster

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Hi Sarah

here's a slightly weird question. I have the cabin next door 12662 soon. It looks to have a slightly bigger balcony area. Nowhere near what you had, just a little wedge added. Did you happen to sneak a peek next door (right) and see it?

 

Your itinerary sounded wonderful. That is what my dh wants to do next.

 

No but i tried! The good news is you have privacy LOL! I peeked to my right and I could see cabins to the right, but I could not see 12662. It was on an angle so you won't be able to see anything directly to your left. You will notice you can't see into 12660 just like we couldn't see the balcony of 12662 ;-). I have a video showing how far the cabin is from the elevator. We never went past our door, but you will see how it's close.

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reallyitsmema

reallyitsmema

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The crepe station is at the very back of the Windjammer. If you had kept walking all the way to the back and took a right, it would have been on your right. It isn't always manned, we have to try out those this sailing too. Did you try any of the gluten free coconut macaroons in the gluten free dessert area? Those are to die for, they have both plain and chocolate. Yum!!!

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slyster

slyster

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Yes! We had countless desserts. LOL. I had the plain ones! I did walk around the back and it must it have been manned. It was around 8am. I only went back there once though

 

 

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JAMESCC

JAMESCC

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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!

 

 

We were on this cruise also and agree with much of what you said. We also did a few of the same excursions. We loved the cruise also, ship was gorgeous. In New Bruncwick did you make your way to the awesome shops, kinda looks like a really cool mall? There is a farmers market there too, its really cool.

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slyster

slyster

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So I missed the farmers market! I was sort of disappointed with the mall because it felt like shopping at home LOL. That’s why specifically liked Portland and bar harbor shopping :). Felt more like small business owner shops and not the big window stores you find in the mall.

 

 

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reallyitsmema

reallyitsmema

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We were on this cruise also and agree with much of what you said. We also did a few of the same excursions. We loved the cruise also, ship was gorgeous. In New Bruncwick did you make your way to the awesome shops, kinda looks like a really cool mall? There is a farmers market there too, its really cool.

 

Are you talking about the City Market or the outdoor market that is usually right near the port? We like walking through the City Market, it reminds us of the old Haymarket in Boston.

 

http://www.sjcitymarket.ca/main.html

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JAMESCC

JAMESCC

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We like it too! Something different to walk through and grab something to eat. We have bought some Canadian crafts from the stalls in the middle area too.
There is a really cool little breakfast lunch place there called Cora's. We have fond memories of it because on our honeymoon cruise in 2009 we happen to just take a stroll, find that market and had lunch at Cora's. We were happy to find it is still there this time!

 

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windjamming

windjamming

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Aww, great review! This was one of our favorite itineraries (for a comparison, my review is in my signature) for its easy walkability and leisurely pace. In Portland, we loved Holy Donuts and Two Fat Cats bakery, and in Saint John, we also went to the City Market.

 

Thanks for sharing your vacation!

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slyster

slyster

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Looks like you had a great time!!

 

Did you feel that the extended balcony was worth the extra $$?

 

Also, I booked this cruise last week for next July, and they told me there was only MTD available! What's up with that???

 

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Yes. We felt it was worth it. It was twice as deep if not more. We would definitely pay that little bit extra again!

 

Ask to be waitlisted for traditional. A lot of times this far out it will change and you will get the seating you asked for.

 

 

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slyster

slyster

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Aww, great review! This was one of our favorite itineraries (for a comparison, my review is in my signature) for its easy walkability and leisurely pace. In Portland, we loved Holy Donuts and Two Fat Cats bakery, and in Saint John, we also went to the City Market.

 

Thanks for sharing your vacation!

 

 

 

Oh we went to Holy Donuts! I got the lemon donut and my wife got the chocolate with sea salt donut. Delicious!!!! Again thanks to recommendations from others here!

 

I’ll take a look at your review. Thank you!

 

 

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slyster

slyster

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Opening cabin door. Certain things I think I are cool LOL

 

 

Distance from Elevators to cabin 12660

 

 

If you go towards this cabin, keep an eye on the light before the painting! I swear it changes from dim to light LOL!

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Shelley61

Shelley61

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I stumbled on this thread by accident (I clicked the wrong link), but boy am I glad I did! We're contemplating this exact cruise for next September, so this is just what I wanted to read!

 

We have always done traditional dining, but 8.30pm seated is getting too late for us now (or are we getting too old?!). By the time you finish dinner it's at least 9.30pm and we still feel too full at bed time(OK, so that DOES make us sound like we're getting old!). On the other hand 6.30pm is too early for us. MTD seemed to be the perfect alternative. Perhaps we'll just go for MTD, try and get 7 - 7.30pm reservations, but pick up one of the speciality dining deals for the first night to avoid the chaos.

 

Thanks for your review! Love the cabin too - I was looking at this exact one only the other day - the balcony looks perfect!

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