Just Returned from AOS out of New Jersey - Questions

[MaddyandMax]

Just returned from a cruise on Anthem of the Seas out of New Jersey.  If you have any questions feel free to ask.

 

Sara 🙂

[ALD18]

Do you know about what % of capacity it is currently sailing at?  Did it seem empty, full, somewhere in between.  We do a trans Atlantic on it May and are wondering on access to shows, how crowded dining, etc. are.  Thanks and hope you had a good trip😀

[MaddyandMax]

34 minutes ago, ALD18 said:

Do you know about what % of capacity it is currently sailing at?  Did it seem empty, full, somewhere in between.  We do a trans Atlantic on it May and are wondering on access to shows, how crowded dining, etc. are.  Thanks and hope you had a good trip😀

Our sailing was at 61% capacity.  It felt empty most days.  Only days we ever had a hard time finding a seat was the first and last day.  Because it was cold everyone was in the enclosed pool area.  Shows in the theatre were great.  Never had a problem getting a good seat.  Two70 did fill up but it wasn't bad.    Most shows you needed to make a reservation but it was very easy on the app.  Getting on and off the ship at ports was a breeze and there was never a line of more than 10 people. 

 

We ate in American Icon in the early seating.  We did NOT like that area and will never sit there again.  Because of the low ceilings it was very noisy and half the time we couldn't even have a conversation with anyone other than the person beside you.  And were were at a small table of 6. 

[ALD18]

For your American Icon were you travelling with a group of 6 or are they putting random guests together?  If you were travelling solo did you have option of sitting by yourself or did you request multi person seating?  Thanks again..............

[MaddyandMax]

15 minutes ago, ALD18 said:

For your American Icon were you travelling with a group of 6 or are they putting random guests together?  If you were travelling solo did you have option of sitting by yourself or did you request multi person seating?  Thanks again..............

 

We were a traveling group of 6 who asked to sit together and with only each other.  We did see groups of two and some solo travelers eating by themselves.

[LuCruise]

I think we were on the same cruise.  Really enjoyed, and lower capacity was great.  Only time we had an issue was trying to see one of the adult shows in the Music Hall.  Set up isn't very good as there aren't many seats where you can see the stage, so we left.

 

Sorry for your experience in the MDR.  We were fortunate in that we were assigned a table in the row next to the window seats (and the table at the window showed up about 40 minutes late each night even though it was a set time so we always had a nice view).  Think we might have been annoyed though if at the other end away form the window so can totally understand.

 

Wondering...did you drive or fly?  If you drove, what was  your experience getting back?  We were stressed in the scenario where one of us tested positive (we didn't....all fine).  But the funny thing is, the border agent almost seemed like he was going to forget to ask us about our results.  Very casual about it.  No issue at all.

 

[MaddyandMax]

1 minute ago, LuCruise said:

I think we were on the same cruise.  Really enjoyed, and lower capacity was great.  Only time we had an issue was trying to see one of the adult shows in the Music Hall.  Set up isn't very good as there aren't many seats where you can see the stage, so we left.

 

Sorry for your experience in the MDR.  We were fortunate in that we were assigned a table in the row next to the window seats (and the table at the window showed up about 40 minutes late each night even though it was a set time so we always had a nice view).  Think we might have been annoyed though if at the other end away form the window so can totally understand.

 

Wondering...did you drive or fly?  If you drove, what was  your experience getting back?  We were stressed in the scenario where one of us tested positive (we didn't....all fine).  But the funny thing is, the border agent almost seemed like he was going to forget to ask us about our results.  Very casual about it.  No issue at all.

 

Our cruise was March 13-20. We drove down to Jersey from the Hamilton area.  I have to admit I was uber annoyed when coming back across the border.  Mostly because I spent US$400 on testing and he didn't even want to see results LOL.  Just asked if we had negative tests.  The border was super easy as well as getting on and off the boat.  Probably the easiest and fastest out of all my cruises.  We were going to drive back regardless if one of us was positive.  As far as I was able to tell beforehand no one coming back positive was fined and with the end of testing so close I didn't think they would fine anyone.  We had a quarantine plan already in place just in case.

 

The biggest problem with American Icon really was the people we were around.  Seriously the loudest 4 tables of people I have ever met in my life so I can't really blame Royal.  Though I think higher ceilings would have helped.  Half the time my son sitting right beside me had to repeat himself 2-3 times before I could hear him.  Plus our tables were super close.  We tried to rearrange ourselves every night as the ones right beside us were on the larger side and the waiters had a really hard time walking around and were constantly bumping into us.  Why the other table was clueless and didn't change around where everyone is sitting to make it easier, I'll never know...

 

The dining room was my only real complaint.  I wasn't a fan of the layout of AOS but that's really just my personal preference.

[ALD18]

Finding it interesting of our dining room description that social distancing between tables apparently was not being observed or was being minimized at best.  Thought that area would be stringently enforced with the lower passenger capacities. 

[LuCruise]

4 minutes ago, MaddyandMax said:

Our cruise was March 13-20. We drove down to Jersey from the Hamilton area.  I have to admit I was uber annoyed when coming back across the border.  Mostly because I spent US$400 on testing and he didn't even want to see results LOL.  Just asked if we had negative tests.  The border was super easy as well as getting on and off the boat.  Probably the easiest and fastest out of all my cruises.  We were going to drive back regardless if one of us was positive.  As far as I was able to tell beforehand no one coming back positive was fined and with the end of testing so close I didn't think they would fine anyone.  We had a quarantine plan already in place just in case.

 

The biggest problem with American Icon really was the people we were around.  Seriously the loudest 4 tables of people I have ever met in my life so I can't really blame Royal.  Though I think higher ceilings would have helped.  Half the time my son sitting right beside me had to repeat himself 2-3 times before I could hear him.  Plus our tables were super close.  We tried to rearrange ourselves every night as the ones right beside us were on the larger side and the waiters had a really hard time walking around and were constantly bumping into us.  Why the other table was clueless and didn't change around where everyone is sitting to make it easier, I'll never know...

 

The dining room was my only real complaint.  I wasn't a fan of the layout of AOS but that's really just my personal preference.

Yep...same cruise and same border experience.  I know...we were surprised too that they barely even asked for the results after all that money and stress.  We had brought our laptops (work for DH and I, school for our kids) just in case we tested negative as we didn't want to chance the fine...but you are most likely right....especially with testing being lifted in a couple weeks.

 

Yeah, sounds horrible where you were sitting.  They should have noted it and fixed your seating. Luckily we didn't have that issue (but it was hard to sometimes hear the watiers with the masks and noise).  The MDR is different than other ships where it is multi layered and open.  

[MaddyandMax]

32 minutes ago, ALD18 said:

Finding it interesting of our dining room description that social distancing between tables apparently was not being observed or was being minimized at best.  Thought that area would be stringently enforced with the lower passenger capacities. 

We thought/hoped the same.  We were right near the My Time Dining and it appeared that they were trying to leave space between their tables but my area was jammed packed.  We were right in the middle between the sliced panels with the pictures and there was 6 large tables in that area.

[MamatoJack]

I'm looking at driving down in May, I assume you went the day before and stayed somewhere overnight? Thoughts on areas to stay? We are coming from Ottawa so a bit of a different path but not too far off. 

Sounds like your return was pretty easy, I am glad to hear that and hope it will still be when we go/return in May. 

[MaddyandMax]

16 minutes ago, MamatoJack said:

I'm looking at driving down in May, I assume you went the day before and stayed somewhere overnight? Thoughts on areas to stay? We are coming from Ottawa so a bit of a different path but not too far off. 

Sounds like your return was pretty easy, I am glad to hear that and hope it will still be when we go/return in May. 

 

We stayed in Stroudsberg, PA. It's about 1.5-2 hours from the port but much cheaper.  There is also a Walmart right there for any last minute shopping.  I think the hotel was US$130 for the night for the 4 of us.

[NBH]

Appreciate you sharing your experiences on Anthem! Any advice about options for lunch after embarking? We are 4 adults and 4 kids; trying to avoid the usual first day lunch chaos 🥴Thanks!

[MaddyandMax]

On 3/25/2022 at 11:44 AM, NBH said:

Appreciate you sharing your experiences on Anthem! Any advice about options for lunch after embarking? We are 4 adults and 4 kids; trying to avoid the usual first day lunch chaos 🥴Thanks!

 

I am sure there are other options but we've always ate in the Windjammer.  That said, with check in times that they very strictly adhere to, when we were at the Windjammer at noon it was not busy at all.  I going to guess that the Two70 Cafe and Sorrentos is also open that day.  The Windjammer is quite large and we never had a problem or found it busy.  We were a group of 6.

 

Thanks,