Anthem UK cruises in the summer?

[pdawson30]

4 minutes ago, gavvy said:

Oct 9th, now only has Balcony available, so looks like its close to being a sell out!

Not sure it means anything at the moment. Odyssey was sold out with only 540 passengers. We are on the Anthem on the 19th.

[gavvy]

By sell out I mean at its new lower capacity.  So far its the only one in October that has anything as a sell out, more busy than the one over the English/Welsh half term which is a bit odd

[CaroleC]

6 hours ago, gavvy said:

more busy than the one over the English/Welsh half term which is a bit odd

October 9th departure was originally an 11 night sailing to the Canaries. We (reluctantly) accepted the new itinerary of 6 nights around the British Isles as I’m sure a lot of other pax did. I would think that is the reason why this sailing is busier than others.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

9 hours ago, kernow said:

A question for those on now or recently, are they still taking temperatures daily and do you have to take a test at anytime during the cruise? Just wondering as we had to on Virtuosa in June.

Was on the week of the 29th aug and no temps taken

[Mocamps]

Apologies if this has already been asked. but there are 68 pages to trawl through!!

 

Does anyone have any idea what you need to bid to realistically stand a chance of getting upgrades? We're booked on the 19th and there seems to be plenty of availability. We've just been sent the Royal Up e-mail and are dithering!

[Biker19]

7 minutes ago, Mocamps said:

 

Does anyone have any idea what you need to bid to realistically stand a chance of getting upgrades?

Not sure even RCI knows that, way too many variables. There has been nowhere enough reporting to tease out any kind of pattern. 

[Bluemoontets]

8 hours ago, gavvy said:

Oct 9th, now only has Balcony available, so looks like its close to being a sell out!

Myself and a few others on the Facebook group, have all had there Bids accepted for Upgrades, We have gone from a Junior Suite to a Grand Suite with  a minimum bid.  As we had booked using FCC that had to be used we are super happy.  

[*Fudge*]

26 minutes ago, Bluemoontets said:

Myself and a few others on the Facebook group, have all had there Bids accepted for Upgrades, We have gone from a Junior Suite to a Grand Suite with  a minimum bid.  As we had booked using FCC that had to be used we are super happy.  

Which Facebook page please? Also, how long before sailing do you get your upgrade confirmed? 

[Bluemoontets]

16 minutes ago, *Fudge* said:

Which Facebook page please? Also, how long before sailing do you get your upgrade confirmed? 

Have read its normally in the week before sailing, however lots of us got ours confirmed today , which is 4 weeks from sailing. Are you on the 9th sailing if so Pm me. 

[*Fudge*]

Just curious and I’ve Just been reading another thread and the rules and regs.  Is smoking still allowed in the casino on the Anthem whilst sailing around the U.K. with it obviously being indoors 🤔.  

[jael001]

Hello all. I'm on the 26th September sailing (going solo) and just been catching up on here. I saw that Joff Eaton is the CD which is great. He was the CD on Independence of the Seas on 2 cruises I was on about 10 years ago and he was fab.

 

Ok a question about Belfast please: I'm meeting some friends who live in/near Belfast and thinking of getting an Uber as I don't know yet where we'll be meeting and I've never been before. Has anyone else taken an Uber in Belfast from the ship and if so, is it easy enough? Where do you wait?

[xxHadleyxx]

12 minutes ago, jael001 said:

Hello all. I'm on the 26th September sailing (going solo) and just been catching up on here. I saw that Joff Eaton is the CD which is great. He was the CD on Independence of the Seas on 2 cruises I was on about 10 years ago and he was fab.

 

Ok a question about Belfast please: I'm meeting some friends who live in/near Belfast and thinking of getting an Uber as I don't know yet where we'll be meeting and I've never been before. Has anyone else taken an Uber in Belfast from the ship and if so, is it easy enough? Where do you wait?

We took an Uber into town today.  It was very easy.  There's a spot labeled for "pre ordered taxis" where you wait for Uber pick up...it's right after you walk through the little terminal building.   Can't miss it.

We paid 6.50 to the city center (plus tip of course)

Edited September 10, 2021 by xxHadleyxx

[jael001]

9 minutes ago, xxHadleyxx said:

We took an Uber into town today.  It was very easy.  There's a spot labeled for "pre ordered taxis" where you wait for Uber pick up...it's right after you walk through the little terminal building.   Can't miss it.

We paid 6.50 to the city center (plus tip of course)

ah that's brilliant, thanks for that info.

[LuCruise]

Hi all. We have Anthem booked in Dec.  A question about drinks.  We have the drink package.  I assume that you can no longer grab a drink at let say, at Schooner or Bionic bar....and then just walk and drink it?  Do you have to find a seat at one of the bars/restaurants?  What about by the pool (indoor and outdoor)?  Or at the SeaPlex?  The theatre?  We'll have our kids with us so it's not like we'll be hanging out at bars unless it's trivia or something so just figuring out the logistics.

[xxHadleyxx]

4 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Hi all. We have Anthem booked in Dec.  A question about drinks.  We have the drink package.  I assume that you can no longer grab a drink at let say, at Schooner or Bionic bar....and then just walk and drink it?  Do you have to find a seat at one of the bars/restaurants?  What about by the pool (indoor and outdoor)?  Or at the SeaPlex?  The theatre?  We'll have our kids with us so it's not like we'll be hanging out at bars unless it's trivia or something so just figuring out the logistics.

You can carry the drink elsewhere, then sit down to drink it.   

Drinks are bring served poolside and in the theatre, every bar, Sorrento's, etc.  At Seaplex you can sit with a drink at the doghouse in back.   Officially you need masks in Seaplex otherwise.  This sailing is very quiet..... unofficially staff said it's fine to remove masks playing Xbox or table tennis when you're the only people in the whole section.

[*Fudge*]

1 hour ago, xxHadleyxx said:

This sailing is very quiet.

Have you used the solarium and pools and if so was it easy to get a lounger, use the pool etc?

 

Thank you.  

[LuCruise]

2 hours ago, xxHadleyxx said:

You can carry the drink elsewhere, then sit down to drink it.   

Drinks are bring served poolside and in the theatre, every bar, Sorrento's, etc.  At Seaplex you can sit with a drink at the doghouse in back.   Officially you need masks in Seaplex otherwise.  This sailing is very quiet..... unofficially staff said it's fine to remove masks playing Xbox or table tennis when you're the only people in the whole section.

Thanks so much for explaining.

[heatherb1958]

On 9/6/2021 at 9:31 AM, xxHadleyxx said:

Onboard now.

 

90 of us are from outside the UK.  Even with having to do the antigen test at the terminal we were on the ship within 30 minutes of arrival.  Everything went super smoothly.

 

Only 33 kids on this sailing...10 under age 3.

 

Dancing is allowed... they're putting spotlights on the dance floor and each couple had to dance in their own little light bubble 😂

 

Crew is amazing. Ship is beautiful.   Passengers are nice.  Food is delicious.  Life is good 

😂 I knew the dancing was back but this is hilarious , I love to dance but not sure I could do it in a spotlight ,  does it have a personal dimmer switch. 😆😝. 

[xxHadleyxx]

11 hours ago, *Fudge* said:

Have you used the solarium and pools and if so was it easy to get a lounger, use the pool etc?

 

Thank you.  

Yep.   We never, at any point all week, had a problem getting loungers.  There was always plenty of availability.

9 hours ago, heatherb1958 said:

😂 I knew the dancing was back but this is hilarious , I love to dance but not sure I could do it in a spotlight ,  does it have a personal dimmer switch. 😆😝. 

Yeah, it's intimidating 🤣.   I long for dimmed lights in the dance area.

[Aarrmuch]

Looking for tour in Belfast to Giants Causeway and Bushmills. Has anyone done this, on past cruises.

We have done it before but on a Northern Ireland coach tour. Not sure we have enough time. We would book a private car for the four of us if time allows.

Stephen   

[gumshoe958]

7 minutes ago, Aarrmuch said:

Looking for tour in Belfast to Giants Causeway and Bushmills. Has anyone done this, on past cruises.

We have done it before but on a Northern Ireland coach tour. Not sure we have enough time. We would book a private car for the four of us if time allows.

Stephen   

You’ll have time - it should be less than a 90 minute drive each way.

[Aarrmuch]

Many thanks

[PJL1973]

This might seem a silly question, but does Anthem OTS use US measures / glassess / bottles rather than UK measures? I'm only asking as US measures tend to be smaller than UK ones. This is especialliy true for beer/cider - a US pint (16 fl oz) is only 5/6th of a UK one. If they do use US measures then it would make their drinks even more expensive than at first glance. Certainly on P&O for bottled alcoholic beverages they were using the standard 500 ml bottles (a metric pint I like to think of this, bigger than US but less than UK).

[beardedladies]

I’m curious about Royal’s policy of disclosing COVID cases onboard vs Celebrity - having done cruises on both around the U.K. this year, I find it interesting that on celebrity we were informed twice during the trip of the two COVID cases that occurred - but on the second leg of a B2B on anthem I’ve heard nothing. And then we have mysterious shutdowns of shows/venues every so often for “technical reasons”. Does make me wonder. 
 

Has anyone on an anthem trip this year heard about COVID cases onboard in an official capacity? Or is it Royals policy to keep us in the dark unlike her sister line?

 

Cases are going to happen and I would hope Royal would be transparent about it - normalising the occurrence of cases helps reduce the fear around them and I’m in general much happier knowing the measures in place to control cases are working than being given a false impression all is fine

[Biker19]

6 minutes ago, beardedladies said:

I would hope Royal would be transparent about it

You may need to modify your expectations.