LIVE from Anthem June 2-21 - B2B Canaries and Fjords

[mil76]

Eventually made it to Maria Pita Square.

 

You can see the tops of these domes from my original balcony pictures.

 

We planned to get lunch in town, but because ship time is an hour behind, it was already siesta time, so everything was closing up.  So we got some ice cream and headed back to the ship. 

You can see from the pictures that the weather is perfect today.

 

So for 6 Euro for a taxi and 10 euro for some ice cream (and 13000 steps on the watch), we had an incredible DIY day in A/La Coruna.

Edited June 4 by mil76

[mil76]

Got back to the stateroom, and found this on the desk.

This is what we call "loser wine" from the casino.  🤑

[ATG]

@mil76

We will be on Anthem for 3 weeks in July. Your photo of the wine made me wonder about the plugs. I can see one US type and one USB outlet.  What are the others?  Are there any things that you wish you had thought to bring?  I’m trying to figure out what to pack and what to leave home.  Thanks!

[mil76]

@ATG Here is the setup.

2 US outlets, 2 USBs, and a European outlet. 

 

For the European outlet, we bought one of these and it is always in the bag since every Royal ship we have sailed on has the Euro plug.

So we get extra US outlets, as well as USB and USB-C.

 

Edited June 4 by mil76

[mil76]

Sail away passed everything from our walk today, so I guess we could gave saved about 11000 steps by staying on the boat!

 

[mil76]

Eating at the Windjammer now.  There was an Advanced stand-up session from 5-7, so our 5pm MDR time was out.  Was a good move because I went up about 5:45 and by 6pm everyone was gone.  Made it about 55 minutes with the wave to myself and quit from exhaustion, and right as I'm drying off the FW comes up to record me.  Didn't end well, so no sharing video on this one.  I think every muscle in my body is sore right now.

 

FW is OK with the WJ this cruise.  She likes British food (that's why she's a keeper) and they have a great selection every night.

[ATG]

1 hour ago, mil76 said:

@ATG Here is the setup.

2 US outlets, 2 USBs, and a European outlet. 

 

For the European outlet, we bought one of these and it is always in the bag since every Royal ship we have sailed on has the Euro plug.

So we get extra US outlets, as well as USB and USB-C.

 

Thanks for the quick response.  One more (for now) - is there a USB on the nightstand? I like to use my phone to see the time at night.  I’m looking forward to your Norway portion, I’ll have questions about the weather then.

[sgmn]

5 hours ago, mil76 said:

Eventually made it to Maria Pita Square.

 

You can see the tops of these domes from my original balcony pictures.

 

We planned to get lunch in town, but because ship time is an hour behind, it was already siesta time, so everything was closing up.  So we got some ice cream and headed back to the ship. 

You can see from the pictures that the weather is perfect today.

 

So for 6 Euro for a taxi and 10 euro for some ice cream (and 13000 steps on the watch), we had an incredible DIY day in A/La Coruna.

Sounds perfect. Thanks for the ideas, am taking notes !!

[mil76]

20 minutes ago, sgmn said:

Sounds perfect. Thanks for the ideas, am taking notes !!

There is a US outlet above the nightstand which doesn't have a phone. On some ships there is a USB plug on the phone, but not Anthem.

[heatherb1958]

Great review so far, been to all your ports several times. We did Sintra DIY by train, was very easy though it was from where the  cruise ships used to dock underneath the April 25th bridge, much preferred that location for  catching the  trains to Cascais too . To get to the station for the Sintra line was maybe a 15 mins walk. Once we got to the end of the line at Sintra we walked upto the village , had drinks then caught a bus upto the palace , we just paid for the garden entrance . Our day there was stress free , no clock watching as we were overnight in Lisbon which we have again in October.  We get onboard for your Norway leg, only new port will be Haugesund which as a keen walker am looking forward too. 

Fingers crossed for dry weather for us all. 

[mil76]

Sea day today.  On the way to Madiera.  You'd think that as we get further south it would get warmer, but that is not the case today.  Still sunny but a bit cooler 18C/64F.  Pool deck not as busy, and the shaded loungers on 15 all sit empty.  Saw some people lounging in sweaters on the way to the Flowrider.  That's supposed to be next cruise!

 

Captain said the forecast is for periods of rain in Madiera tomorrow.  🫥  

 

Not alot of kids on this cruise.  Sports desk told me this cruise and next will not have many kids, but after that it will be bedlam.  Sounds good to me!  Europe is still in school, so it makes sense that all the school-aged kids seem to be American.  There's one teen who got his blue band today after 4 days of trying who is providing our entertainment on line.  We have watched him morph from boogie boarder to stand-up purist right before our eyes!

 

Edited June 5 by mil76

[mil76]

Here's a new gadget we tried this cruise which will definitely be in the bag from now on. 

They are magnetic cable ties, and they complement the usual magnetic hooks for hanging heavier items on the walls.

 

A YouTuber recommended them, and now I see why.  Not only do they work for organizing cords and getting them out of the way, they also can hang items like sunglasses and they hold papers without having to pull a 40 pound rated magnet off the wall.

 

I mentioned in an earlier post that this is the most organized our stateroom has ever been, and this is the reason why.

[ticketsunlimited]

On 6/2/2024 at 1:24 PM, mil76 said:

White noise machine.  Best cruising investment we ever made.  Paid $12 for it on Amazon.  Drowns out the creaky noises in the stateroom, as well as my snoring after I have had a few beers. 

 

Agree wholeheartedly!!  Solves so many "issues"

 

LOVING YOUR REVIEW!!

[mil76]

Tonight was Chops.  We got there at 6:30pm and I think we threw a spanner/wrench in the works.  They ignored us at the front for about 10 minutes, then ignored us for another 20 once we were seated.  They were in the middle of service to the rest of the early tables at the time.  Just didn't look like they had enough help.  We don't need to look at the menu to order so we are a pretty easy table, but it took 2 hours so we missed the Billy Joel name that tune at 8:00. 😡

 

They were very apologetic about the service and the manager offered us another night later in the cruise.  So at this point we are 1 for 3 for specialties.

[mil76]

Our first batch of boil and fry laundry was waiting back in the room.  Nothing looked like it shrunk or melted, so I'll call it a success.  Haven't reached the point where we need to hand wash the nice stuff yet.

 

Seas are super calm.  Can't believe we are in the open Atlantic like this 

[FionaMG]

40 minutes ago, mil76 said:

Our first batch of boil and fry laundry was waiting back in the room.

 

Love it! 😂😂😂

[mil76]

Funchal, Madeira.  Port side is the lucky side again for views.

21/71 at the moment.  Forecast says that rain might hold off until 3pm

[scouse mouse]

Loving your sense of humour and review.

[mil76]

Took a Bolt (Uber equivalent) to Cabo Girão Skywalk.  580 meters above sea level.

 

 

Had the Bolt driver wait for us, then had him take us back to the basket carts (he had no clue what we meant when we said tobogan).  This skipped having to deal with the cable car queue.  Couldn't avoid the queue for the basket carts though.  I think this queue might be longer than the cliff we just saw.

[sgmn]

Did you download the bolt app and book through that? And can you take the cable car all the way down  instead of the toboggan ?

Thanks for a great review 

[FionaMG]

3 minutes ago, sgmn said:

Did you download the bolt app and book through that? And can you take the cable car all the way down  instead of the toboggan ?

Thanks for a great review 

 

You can buy round trip tickets for the cable car if you prefer not to go down in the baskets. Lots of information on the website here: https://madeiracablecar.com/en/

Whichever option you choose, it's a great experience.

[mil76]

1 hour ago, sgmn said:

Did you download the bolt app and book through that? And can you take the cable car all the way down  instead of the toboggan ?

Thanks for a great review 

Yes.  Downloaded the app and had them pick us up outside the port entrance tunnel.  It was 58 euro total including having the driver wait.  

[BecciBoo]

On 6/3/2024 at 7:01 AM, mil76 said:

And best of all I can hotspot!

We hotspot our iphones all the time here at home to watch You Tube videos...thx so much i'll pass all this on to my tech.  😉

[BecciBoo]

On 6/4/2024 at 10:00 AM, mil76 said:

This is what we call "loser wine" from the casino.

We will take that anyday and twice on Sunday, although we love the Robert Mondavi Rum Barrel Merlot better.

[mil76]

3 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

We will take that anyday and twice on Sunday, although we love the Robert Mondavi Rum Barrel Merlot better.

Too bad you are not on this cruise.  We are not big wine drinkers, so we gave it to the stateroom attendant. FW will only drink Prosecco or Moscato, and she gets annoyed that they always send stuff she doesn't like. So she told the casino host and this showed up today.