Dynamic Duo on Anthem! 5 night Bermuda 7/27/19 *INCLUDES COMPASSES*

[ChristyLNDRN]

1 hour ago, VPIcruiser said:

I am really enjoy8ng your review.  Thanks for posting the compass.  We sail on Saturday.  

 

 

Wow, almost there!  I’ll try to have most of the compasses posted by then!  Have a great trip!!

[ChristyLNDRN]

Ugh, just opened the dishwasher to find that hubby washed my soda cup and melted it...guess I’ll have to book another cruise so I can buy a new one.   Oh, good time to mention that Pop and I both received the older style soda cup with our packages as opposed to the newer ones I’ve seen in some reviews that have a domed lid and straw and look like something you would find at an amusement park.  I was happy since I much prefer the older style...especially when it hasn’t gone thru the dishwasher. They are definitely hand wash only!

[ChristyLNDRN]

Continuing on with Day 2....

 

After iFly it was time to change and get ready for Formal night....or what used to be Formal night...checked out the compass and as some posters have previously reported, it was now listed as “Wear Your Best”.   We definitely saw a range of attire in the dining room, and there were definitely a decent number of people dressed up, more so on this night than others.   Pop, having cruised for a longer time than myself, misses the days of more traditional cruising.  I like to dress up every night but get that it’s not for everyone.  

 

We stopped for some portraits tonight.  Long story short, we lost my mom to cancer (CANCER SUCKS) 10 years ago this summer.  The dress I’m wearing is the dress my mom wore to my wedding.  I had it shortened to cocktail length and now have worn it for two formal nights.   Had to get a special pic❤️.  We used my C&A coupon for Buy one get one 1/2 off photos and got digital copies of two pics, one that I posted in the beginning, and then our formal night portrait.  Came out to $30 for the two.  

 

 

 

 

 

[elizabethbp]

I was on this cruise with my daughter and I am really enjoying your review!

[LuCruise]

Really enjoying your review of your father daughter cruise. We'll be on Anthem in March for the first time. Am really sorry about your mom.  So lovely you honoring her and wearing her dress. Very touching.

[ChristyLNDRN]

Our MTD reservations for tonight were for 7:30.  Pop has done MTD on other lines but couldn’t understand why we made a reservation and didn’t just show up whenever.  I told him there would be two lines, one for reservations and one without, and that we would probably be better off with the reservation.  He normally eats later, after 8.  Since I normally have kids in tow, I tend to be more towards the 5:45/6:00ish time frame.  Probably should have gone in one direction or the other.  We arrived a little before 7:30 to the entrance outside of Silk and American Icon on deck 4 to find rather long lines both for reservations and for those without.   It was a bit of a chaotic scene at the check-in desks, and the workers manning the podium looked stressed out and a bit overwhelmed.  Luckily we had grabbed a glass of wine on the way not knowing how hard it would be to order a drink in the dining room.  My last experience, while I LOVED our waiter on Harmony, was that all the waiters seemed way overworked with too many tables.  

 

Side note...Suzy-Q at the Schooner Bar was a great bartender.  We started visiting her every night before dinner, and even tracked her down when she moved to the bar at 270 halfway through the cruise.   We also had great service and fun chats with Joel at the 270 bar.  We never received a slip to sign at any bar throughout the cruise, which was different from my previous experience with the beverage package. 

 

It took about 15-20 minutes to be seated, but once inside we had a lovely table right by a window, and I thought service went very smoothly.  We both had:

Lobster bisque and Caesar Salad

Beef Tenderloin

Apple Pie (me)

Creme Brûlée (Pop). 

 

Everything was very good!

 

This night we headed off to our rooms early, as we had no shows scheduled and we wanted to get an early start.  There was a late-night comedy show that I wanted to go to, but couldn’t quite make it after being up for sunrise.  

 

We we walked by the next cruise desk at some point, and I had to grab a flyer ...Oasis is going to be at Cape Liberty, and I’m going to be celebrating a milestone birthday😂 so I’m hoping to book for next summer.  Promised the kids they can come next time....they might be a little excited based on the rapid text response I got from my son when I sent him the flyer!

 

Next up:  Day 2 Compass

Edited August 6, 2019 by ChristyLNDRN

[ChristyLNDRN]

Day 2 Compass

[ChristyLNDRN]

16 hours ago, elizabethbp said:

I was on this cruise with my daughter and I am really enjoying your review!

 

Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

 

16 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Really enjoying your review of your father daughter cruise. We'll be on Anthem in March for the first time. Am really sorry about your mom.  So lovely you honoring her and wearing her dress. Very touching.

 

Thanks!  It was our first time on Anthem too.  It definitely had a different feel from other ships I had been on but it was a great cruise.

[ChristyLNDRN]

About to start day 3 but I had to laugh when I woke up this morning..this is what I saw when I opened my eyes and looked up...who needs an alarm clock when you have cats!

[ChristyLNDRN]

Day 3

Since Pop and I had both been to Bermuda before, we weren’t quite sure what we wanted to do.   I had previously been to both Hamilton and St George, and Horseshoe Bay and Tobacco Bay, and St. Catherine’s Fort and the beach there.  Pop had been to the Swizzle Inn.  His main request was to find a beach to swim..his previous visit was in March and it was too cool.  We were looking for somewhere that was not too crowded, and boy did we find it!  More on that later!

 

I was up with the sun again this morning, and before you knew it we were approaching Bermuda.  The last pic below here shows the beach at St. Catherine’s.  Last time I was there a few years back it was lovely and deserted.  I was surprised to see a large structure under construction there now.  

 

[ChristyLNDRN]

Plan for today was to catch the ferry to St. George, and then a taxi over to the Clearwater  Beach area.  We were planning on a bit of beach hopping..Clearwater/Turtle Bay/beaches of Cooper’s Island nature reserve, then possibly lunch at Gombey’s Beach Bar back at Clearwater.

 

We were supposed to dock in Bermuda at 9:00.  Ferry times to St George were 9:30 and 11:30 (more ferrys after that).  I really hoped to make the first ferry, but didn’t get my hopes up as I knew it would be close based on when the ship docked and was cleared.  On a previous cruise, hubby and I missed the first ferry, so we instead took a ferry to Hamilton and then a bus to St George, which was quicker than waiting for the 2nd ferry.

 

Luck was with us today!  The ship docked early, around 8:30ish. We lined up near the stairway on deck 3, so we would be off as soon as the ship was cleared. Ship was cleared at 9, and we were some of the first few off. 

 

We we headed towards where the ferrys pick up.  Norwegian Gem was also in port, and NCL runs a free ferry for their passengers to St. George.   Some NCL employees tried to direct us to their St. George ferry which was loading...I’m  guessing they would have eventually checked our sea pass and kicked us off but who knows.  We told them we were with Royal, and they waved us on.  We each bought two one way tokens for the ferry ($4.50 each way) for a total of $18 from a visitors kiosk right near the ferry.  There was a seating area to wait for the ferry, and soon enough it arrived!  We were onboard by 9:15.  We sat up top outside, and got some nice pics of Anthem as we headed out. In the last pic, you can see North Star was up and running.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ChristyLNDRN]

After a pleasant ferry ride, we arrived in St. George.  There were a few taxis parked right there, so we grabbed one and headed off towards Clearwater.  It was about a 15-20 minute ride, and it cost $25 (tip included).  Our driver drove us past Clearwater to show us that beach, showed us where to walk to go into Cooper’s Island nature reserve, and then dropped us at Turtle Bay.  We made arrangements with our driver to come back and pick us up at 1:45.

The beach was lovely, and deserted!  One family there when we arrived.  I was also surprised to see that there was a guard stand with two lifeguards here.

[ChristyLNDRN]

Turtle bay beach continued...

 

There are no facilities here, and not a ton of shade, but it was so cool to see turtles swimming in the water here not far from us!  You could see them pop their heads up when they came to the surface.  I wish I could have gotten a closer pic, but I was afraid of dropping my phone!  You can see darker areas of sea grass in the water which is where we saw the turtles popping up most frequently.  

[ChristyLNDRN]

We stayed at Turtle Beach for about an hour, then decided to continue with our beach hop.  There is a gate just beyond Turtle Beach with a map that shows the beaches you can walk to on the nature reserve.  They are all only a few minutes walk apart along a paved path. They were absolutely stunning, and absolutely empty...we saw less than a dozen people as we walked from beach to beach.

 

 

[ChristyLNDRN]

Nature reserve beach hopping continued....

 

 

[elizabethbp]

We did the ship's excursion to Clearwater Beach the second day and did  not  feel it was worth it.  The cost was about $170 each which covered the van trip to the beach ( a little more than an hr ) and about 2 3/4 hours on the beach, including a box lunch ((burger or fish  sandwich) and one rum drink.  There was also free internet.  The bathrooms were fine when we got there, but there is a water shortage  in Bermuda, particularly acute   on that end of the island, and the Bermuda Water Authority with no notice to the manager of the beach facilities, ( who was a lovely lady),  turned off the water right before we left.    The beach  chairs were fine  but the beach had a lot of shells and you needed water shoes.   My daughter did explore and go to Turtle Beach and she thought it was much nicer.  Also,  Bermuda allows public camping on the beaches,  and due to the upcoming cricket matches, by Tuesday the beach was filled with campers and pup tents.

 

But we are not picture takers so I am really appreciating all of yours!

[tcmagnum]

Your trip looks amazing.  Love that you and your pop went!!

[mpdahmer]

My wife and I as well as another couple just booked this cruise for September...photos are great looking forward to the rest of the review.  Great job so far!!!

 

[ChristyLNDRN]

2 hours ago, elizabethbp said:

We did the ship's excursion to Clearwater Beach the second day and did  not  feel it was worth it.  The cost was about $170 each which covered the van trip to the beach ( a little more than an hr ) and about 2 3/4 hours on the beach, including a box lunch ((burger or fish  sandwich) and one rum drink.  There was also free internet.  The bathrooms were fine when we got there, but there is a water shortage  in Bermuda, particularly acute   on that end of the island, and the Bermuda Water Authority with no notice to the manager of the beach facilities, ( who was a lovely lady),  turned off the water right before we left.    The beach  chairs were fine  but the beach had a lot of shells and you needed water shoes.   My daughter did explore and go to Turtle Beach and she thought it was much nicer.  Also,  Bermuda allows public camping on the beaches,  and due to the upcoming cricket matches, by Tuesday the beach was filled with campers and pup tents.

 

But we are not picture takers so I am really appreciating all of yours!

 

I didn’t realize the ship did an excursion to Clearwater.  We did hear about the match but didn’t see any tents on Monday. What did you guys do the first day?

[ChristyLNDRN]

2 hours ago, tcmagnum said:

Your trip looks amazing.  Love that you and your pop went!!

 

Thanks!  It was a special trip for sure!

 

2 hours ago, mpdahmer said:

My wife and I as well as another couple just booked this cruise for September...photos are great looking forward to the rest of the review.  Great job so far!!!

 

 

Thanks!  I think it would be a good ship and itinerary to sail with another couple.  Anthem had a more “adult” feel to me than some of the other ships I’ve been on.  

[elizabethbp]

The ship has an excursion called the Bermuda Triangle and Nature Reserve.   I realized we would have an issue Tuesday  re the ferries due to schedule and ship departure so booked  that.  Monday was somewhat of a disaster.    We had been in Bermuda before, 2 yrs ago.  We originally  planned to spend the day  Monday in Hamilton shopping and dining.    My daughter had wanted to buy  handmade sandals from the specialty store there. It was to be a present for her for finishing second yr of law school. However, personnel in the store were very, very  rude, so we decided to return to the ship.   We got back about noon.  We went to Snorkel Park, which was horrible ( small, dirty, $40 for  chairs and umbrella,) and then had  a late lunch at Frog and  Onion ( ok but pretty expensive) and went shopping in the Clocktower.   I booked the ship excursion  to Clearwater that day as did not want to deal with the crowds at Horseshoe  on Tues.

 

While Bermuda disappointed, I will say we loved the Anthem this time-  crew  were great, specialty dining was excellent.  I preferred the Boleros bar staff to Schooners-  super nice people.   We also had the Key, and I was glad we did. 

    We enjoyed the trip overall so much we  booked the New Yrs cruise while  on board!

( I just wish I knew about the single cabins with the balcony before as daughter would have loved her own  cabin).

And again, I love your pix!

[ChristyLNDRN]

After our beach-hopping, we took the short walk back to Clearwater and hung out at Gombey’s at the bar for awhile.  Drinks were about $10 each. We were planning on having lunch, but we heard someone say it was a 45 minute wait for chicken fingers, so we decided to eat back in St. George.  Bathrooms seemed nice and clean here. I took a few pics of the beach here, where you could rent chairs and umbrellas and it looked like you could rent some water toys too (kayaks, etc). I can see in one of the pics that there was a lifeguard station here too.  

 

Our cab driver showed up right on time, and we headed back.  He was such a fun, friendly guy to talk to.  He was 84 years old, and he ended up driving us up his (steep) driveway to show us the view from his house and point out his favorite fishing spot.  

Pop asked him to drop us at a local non-touristy place for lunch.  He took us to a hole-in-the wall burger place—I think it was Mama Angie’s??  Only 3 tables inside but it was good and reasonably priced.  We both had cheeseburgers that hit the spot.  

 

 

 

[jimbri]

Great photos!

[Networker]

On 8/5/2019 at 9:30 PM, ChristyLNDRN said:

We had reservations for Jamie’s this night at 7:30.   Disclaimer:  I don’t take a lot of food pics as I’m too busy eating and enjoying...for awhile my nickname was Chewbacca because I’m always hungry (insert Wookiee sound here). 

 

I swear the specialty restaurants take pleasure in stuffing you silly.  We had:

Meat Plank

Bruschetta

I had a chicken entree and the truffle pasta

Pop had 2 different pastas 

Whole dessert plank that our waiter brought without us without us ordering anything specific, we just said we were ready for dessert.  And I think I forgot one appetizer😂

 

Everything was delicious!

 

Day one wrapped up with The Gift at 10:00.   We both enjoyed it, singers and dancers were great!  Show was definitely a little weird overall.  Pic of dessert plank below, Day 1 compasses next post. 

 

[Networker]

Really enjoying your report.   We live in Wilmington and are taking the Anthem cruise to New England in September.   We’ve been on the Anthem for a Bermuda and Caribbean cruise.   My husband enjoyed the ship.  My fav was harmony.     Love your Mom’s dress and your traveling with your Dad.  Quite sentimental.   Have never eaten in a specialty restaurant but those Jaime desserts looked wow.  My husband is not a foodie and says how much can you eat.  We also aren’t getting the drink package.  We got it once.  Loved the idea but not sure we needed all that booze.  But I love the freedom of it.  Oasis from nj is tempting.  One of our nj cruises involved hurricanes.  Not something I enjoyed.