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

[Viajera7]

On 6/4/2024 at 4:00 PM, mil76 said:

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

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

 

[mil76]

35 minutes ago, snaefell said:

Aclimitisation for the Fjords,RCI think of everything!😎😎

And they have already put out all of the cold weather merchandise as well!

 

In the captain's noon announcement today, he warned us it is going to be much rougher seas tomorrow afternoon.  The bags are already out on the stairwells.  🤮

[mil76]

For you Brits following along, we're considering doing a self-excursion on turn-around day.  We're thinking Portsmouth or Isle of Wight.  We can take the train to Portsmouth or the Red Jet to IOW.  IOW looks nice, but it seems you need a car there to get to see the interesting things.  Any suggestions?  

[Viajera7]

I told the host not to send me a bottle of wine.

 

 

I also received a block.

 

My only unusual towel animal this trip.

[Saab4444]

25 minutes ago, mil76 said:

And they have already put out all of the cold weather merchandise as well!

 

In the captain's noon announcement today, he warned us it is going to be much rougher seas tomorrow afternoon.  The bags are already out on the stairwells.  🤮

Who is currently the Captain on Anthem? 

[mil76]

6 minutes ago, Viajera7 said:

I told the host not to send me a bottle of wine.

 

 

I also received a block.

 

My only unusual towel animal this trip.

Congrats on the block.  I was hoping to get a Spectrum block back in December, since that is such a unique ship

 

We have only gotten 2 towel animals so far this trip, an elephant and a lobster.  The lobster was pretty cool, but I didn't get any pictures since I pretty much came into the room that night and fell directly into bed from a few too many Old Speckled Hens.

[mil76]

6 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

Who is currently the Captain on Anthem? 

I'll have to check, unless someone else already knows.  He stopped by the Crown Lounge last night, but he never made it to our table to introduce himself.  I don't usually catch the names of the captains from the announcements, except for Captain James from Navigator, since he announces his name so distinctively.  "This is...CaptainJames"

[Viajera7]

6 minutes ago, mil76 said:

Congrats on the block.  I was hoping to get a Spectrum block back in December, since that is such a unique ship

 

We have only gotten 2 towel animals so far this trip, an elephant and a lobster.  The lobster was pretty cool, but I didn't get any pictures since I pretty much came into the room that night and fell directly into bed from a few too many Old Speckled Hens.

There was a lady on this ship recommending the Spectrum. I hope you get that block.

 

Other towel animals I got:

[mil76]

Speaking of the Captain, one thing that I miss is being able to get the announcements in the stateroom, especially now that they aren't doing Bingo announcements and other stupid adverts every hour and the only time they come on now is for captain announcements, or the cruise director saying what is going on that night.  We hear the announcement faintly in the hallway, and always have to run over and hold the door open to hear them, and by that time we missed half of it.  Then we'll be talking about something with other passengers later and we'll get the "well the captain already announced that earlier". 😡  When they do drills in port they blast the announcements into the stateroom anyway.  I miss the switch!

[Viajera7]

34 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

Who is currently the Captain on Anthem? 

I don’t recall his name and I checked the Compass and I don’t see it but here you have a picture of him from the Top Tier Event.

[mil76]

2 minutes ago, Viajera7 said:

I don’t recall his name and I checked the Compass and I don’t see it but here you have a picture of him from the Top Tier Event.

Thanks for sharing the Top Tier.  Seems that these are a requirement for the "Live From" threads, and I haven't been to one of these in about 13 years!

[Saab4444]

22 minutes ago, Viajera7 said:

I don’t recall his name and I checked the Compass and I don’t see it but here you have a picture of him from the Top Tier Event.

Thank you! This is Toni Calne from Finland.

[Cruising89143]

On 6/6/2024 at 10:05 AM, mil76 said:

I know some.people say the tobogans are a rip-off, but we enjoyed it.  It was €35 (finally figured out how to do the pounds and euro symbols on my phone), but I have spent more on far worse experiences.

Enjoying your review. We’re on the Anthem from Southampton on the 8/02 cruise and visiting a few of the same ports that you visited. Will see a few more ports on the Odyssey TA in November. Great review.

[Viajera7]

2 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

Thank you! This is Toni Calne from Finland.

Good to know!

[davidrlewis2302]

4 hours ago, mil76 said:

For you Brits following along, we're considering doing a self-excursion on turn-around day.  We're thinking Portsmouth or Isle of Wight.  We can take the train to Portsmouth or the Red Jet to IOW.  IOW looks nice, but it seems you need a car there to get to see the interesting things.  Any suggestions?  

Turn around day, as in you need to get back to the ship by 3.30pm day? I'd not risk IOW.  British public transport is horribly unreliable. Save that for the end of your cruise if you have time.

Portsmouth would be achievable, as worst case public transport let you down, a taxi would only be 30 mins.

[heatherb1958]

@mil76, we have been to IOW , easier to do Portsmouth on a turn around day  , see the historic docks which are right next to Portsmouth  Harbour train station , you get off at the end of the line not the station in the city which is Portsmouth and Southsea. Done the journey between Southampton and Portsmouth as tourists a couple of times . Plenty to see in Portsmouth and can highly recommend the pub on the seafront The Ship Anson for great atmosphere and fab food . 

Or you could go to Winchester , nearer to Southampton by train  if you have issues. We have been by bus from Southampton but much quicker by train.

Or go to  Brockenhurst in the New Forest and see the free roaming ponies . So much to do from Southampton 

Edited June 12 by heatherb1958

[FionaMG]

Thanks for the pub recommendation @heatherb1958. DD and I are hoping to do a day trip to Portsmouth prior to cruising on Anthem in September, so this is very handy. 😊

[mil76]

Chops again tonight.  Place sounded like a hospital ward with all the hacking and coughing.  One person sounded like they belonged in the medical center instead of Chops.  The crud is spreading like wildfire. 

[mil76]

After dinner we caught the Frankie and the Dreamers show. @Hoopster95 raved about them in the Jewel thread, and they did not disappoint!  FW liked it so much she went back to the 10pm show as well. 

 

 

 

I can't do 2 of the same show in the same night like her.  But I will go again if they are on next week. 

Edited June 12 by mil76

[mil76]

Obligatory sunset photo. 

[irishgal432]

I appreciate your information.  I know I asked a lot of questions.  Last one I promise.  Did you have the name of the Lisbon tour person that you ended up with?  I can try to get 6 people on the roll call to commit.  Looks fabulous!

 

Thank you,

[mil76]

24 minutes ago, irishgal432 said:

I appreciate your information.  I know I asked a lot of questions.  Last one I promise.  Did you have the name of the Lisbon tour person that you ended up with?  I can try to get 6 people on the roll call to commit.  Looks fabulous!

 

Thank you,

Don't feel bad about asking questions.  These responses reassure me that I am not just posting into the void, and someone is actually reading my posts, deciphering all my typos as I use my phone's keyboard, and hopefully finding some entertainment and/or value in the content.  We never would have had this experience if it was not for us asking questions as well, and now we have 4 new cruising friends to boot!

 

The tour company was walkborder.com.  We paid 340 Euro for the six of us, so about 57 per person. We had a Mercedes 8-passenger van.  Entrance to Pena Palace was another 40, and I think it was another 1-3 euro for the shuttle up to the palace.  The shuttle will probably have a long queue, so it will be faster to walk if you are able.  We paid for the shuttle but ended up walking once we saw the queue.  We were lucky in that we could still get tickets to Pena, but I would advise checking with the tour operator on what would be the right time to get tickets since they are timed, and buy ahead of time (once you know the itinerary won't get jacked up) 🙃.  Our tour was supposed to be 8 hours, but he took us for over 9 hours, and we ended up having him drop us off at Pasteis de Belem and we took an UberXL the rest of the way into town for 15 Euro.  

 

The downside of going to Sintra is we used up all of our time (we didn't rush) and didn't get to explore all of central Lisbon, but I have no regrets, and also have a reason to return.

[ATG]

@mil76 You are definitely NOT posting into a void! I, for one, have really enjoyed your posts and pictures. Thank you for taking time out of your vacation to share with us.

[GlenG]

Also on this sailing…am sat in the solarium at 7am, been here for about an hour, as the weather is terrible outside, so wanted to secure a lounger for a few hours. Captain Toni has been very visible and I very much like his dry sense of humor. 

 

Cruise has been great, food excellent and the staff amazing as usual.

 

Loved this live report also, thanks for posting so much great content!

[snaefell]

9 hours ago, mil76 said:

Chops again tonight.  Place sounded like a hospital ward with all the hacking and coughing.  One person sounded like they belonged in the medical center instead of Chops.  The crud is spreading like wildfire. 

Same on Anthem's recent Transatlantic,including ourselves,still getting coughing fits occasionally weeks later,annoying but better than Norovirus I guess!