Not So Quick Review of Anthem 3/5-3/12

Hi all. This was our first cruise on RCCL. It was me (33) and this was my 8th cruise, DH's (36) 5th, our daughters' (3 and 1.5) first, and my in-laws (60's) 3rd. My older daughter turned 3 on Day 2 so she boarded as a 2 year old.

Embarkation: We live less than 90 minutes from Bayonne so we left around 9:30 and arrived just before 11. DH dropped me, the kids, our luggage and carry-ons and parked in the port garage. Once DH came back from parking, we got on a short line with 2 groups ahead of us. When we finally got to check in, it was clear they were having difficulties with their wifi. Someone from IT was standing next to us and kept asking how long it was taking. For the 4 of us, it took around 20 minutes once we got up there. We then headed to security and waited another 15 minutes to go through there. It was by far the longest check in/boarding process I've ever been through. We finally made it on board a little after 12- so a little over an hour after we arrived.

Room- When we booked, we had gotten a balcony room. Around a week after booking, RCCL had a kids sail free promotion and we were able to upgrade to a family junior suite (10218) and it was still several hundred dollars less than we would have originally paid for the balcony. The room was huge, by cruise ship standards. Plenty of room for all of our stuff, including a stroller. I was disappointed in the beds. The regular bed was pretty hard and the pillows were mediocre. My pillow at home is from the carnival comfort collection because i thought they were amazing. Years later, it's still fantastic. So I wasn't impressed. Definitely didn't make or break the trip but felt it was worth mentioning. Our room steward, Javier, was great. We had awesome towel animals every night except day 1 and day 7. I was very impressed by the room.

Food- We had MTD with reservations booked several months ago for either 6:30 or 6:45. The only exceptions were Day 1 where we had reservations at coastal kitchen, and Day 3 where we had plans in port for dinner. Coastal kitchen was delicious and service was great. The escargot and burrata were fantastic. Day 2 we ate in American Icon, and the rest of our dinners were in Silk. The food was hit or miss. Definitely not the best I've had in MDR on previous cruises on other lines. Hits were the crab cakes (probably the best I've ever had, ever), roasted beef tenderloin, seafood risotto, lobster tails, garlic tiger shrimp, and salmon tartare. Misses were French onion soup, pan seared chicken, and veal saltimbocca. Room service breakfast was lacking in options, compared to other experiences on other lines. It also arrived nearly an hour earlier than we requested. Windjammer breakfast was pretty good, lots of choices. Solarium breakfast was nice and quiet but with more limited choices, but it was good. The only MDR breakfast we had was during the Dreamworks Character Breakfast and it wasn't anything special. I was pretty disappointed in the selections at windjammer for lunch. We did not go to the MDR for lunch. Cafe Promenade had some pretty good snacks- shrimp salad sandwich was delicious and the cookies were amazing. Cafe 270 had some nice options as well. The kummelweck was quite good, and I don't even like horseradish. Sorrentos pizza wasn't good but I'm from NY lol. I did like the frutti di mare slice. It was decent for "fake" pizza. We ordered a specialty cake ahead of time for my daughter's 3rd birthday which was on day 2. It was so delicious. Well worth the $25. She loved it! I had ordered the refreshment package when it was on sale for I believe $19/day and it was well worth it because I love my Starbucks. I was a frequent patron of la patisserie.

Activities/entertainment- One thing I do not like about these big ships is having to schedule things well in advance. I didn't like this about the Breakaway either. That paired with MTD, made it difficult and almost impossible to do the shows. But we made them, however not without rushing. The Gift was ok. I was a bit lost but finally figured out what was going on in the story towards the end. We Will Rock You was great. We really enjoyed it. Spectras Cabaret was good but I was so exhausted that I kept nodding off. Great aerials and music and Terry Lavell who is spectra is a phenom. The Love and Marriage Show did not disappoint. It's one of my favorite cruise shows. We went to a headliners show with an Elton john cover singer/comedian. We came in about halfway and really enjoyed it. Especially my 3 year old who was dancing in her seat. She also loved the live music coming from places like boleros and the music hall. She was dancing along with everyone else. We had northstar reservations for the morning of day 6 but with the time change, we overslept so only DH went, while I stayed back and got the kids ready for the day. He said it was good but would have been better on a port day. MIL went while in Nassau and she got some amazing pictures. IFly was scheduled for the afternoon of day 7 but due to high winds, it was closed. DH did the flow rider while in Nassau and had a great time. We didn't do anything in seaplex because our kids were too small.

Ports- We did not book this cruise for the Ports but more for the departure port, but it worked out well. We spent the day in Florida with family. DH's sister, her family, and my MIL's brother and his wife, along with their children and grandchildren all live on the space coast. We were picked up by my BIL and SIL and we went to their Uncle's house on Merritt Island, about a 10 minute drive. It was so great to spend the day with family and many were meeting my 1.5 year old for the first time since we haven't been down to visit since my older DD was 6 months old. It was a wonderful day. Cococay is gorgeous. We ended up with a higher tender # so we did not get on the island until around 10:30. It wasn't easy to find seats and it took a bit of walking, which was not easy with 2 kids and a stroller (my 1.5 year old has cerebral palsy and is unable to walk). We rented an umbrella on the island for $20 and it was well worth it. I really should have stayed under it because I ended up falling asleep and woke up with the worst sunburn of my life. I actually have a second degree burn on my left leg down by my foot. It's horrible! I also should have brought water shoes because I was walking to the water and stepped on something that took a chunk of skin off the bottom of my foot. The weather was perfect- not too hot but hot enough. The water was on the cool side but easy to get used to. We started to head back around 3:30 and the lines were massive. It probably took a good 45 minutes, if not more, to get back onto the ship. In Nassau, we have BTDT multiple times and our original intention was to stay on the ship however about a month ago, I was browsing through excursions that were inexpensive, family friendly, and wheelchair (stroller) accessible. We ended up booking a glass bottom boat tour. It was a really nice little excursion with some very strong rum punch! I was glad we found something to do and we made it back to the ship in time for lunch, despite DH losing his sea pass.

Adventure Ocean- For 0-2, you're allowed to book up to 15 hours of child care. After day 5, you can add more time, if you want. We were able to register our 1.5 year old for all of the times we had shows scheduled, so 2 hours/night for 3 nights. She had medical issues and has not been left with someone she doesn't know since she was 5 months old so I was really nervous. We held onto the phone they give you the whole time, waiting for it to ring, but it never did! It was well worth the $8/hr fee. For my 3 year old, since she didn't turn 3 until day 2, we couldn't register her for the 3-5 age group until then. We dropped her off the same nights as her little sister and she also did well. They charge $7/hr after 10pm. In between the nursery and the 3-5 room, there is a playroom for little ones to play in with their parents.

Odds and ends- The indoor pool is great. DH was able to take DD (3 and 100% potty trained) in it even on the first day when it was barely 30 degrees. The elevators are a pain. Towards the end, there was at least one that was broken. Sometimes it made more sense to get on one that was going in the opposite direction just to be able to get on. The staff was pretty friendly, which is always nice. I find it awkward to be called "my lady" though. Casino was pretty friendly to DH and myself. We came back with enough money to pay the credit card that had our gratuities and sea pass spendings. We decided to order a diaper bag from Royal Gifts. For $25 we got a package of diapers (huggies little movers- 24 pack of size 4), a container of cottonelle wipes, a tube of diaper cream (desitin), and a changing pad. All of that was in a nice sized diaper bag. Definitely worth not wasting precious suitcase space with diapers for the week. We did have to bring about 10, just in case. 270 is a nice place to hang out on sea days. I had purchased a Voom one device package when it was on sale for $8/day. I figured I should have high speed internet in case my kids had a meltdown and wanted to watch one of their shows on YouTube. It worked pretty seamlessly. I have an iPhone and had no problems. DH has an android and he claims he was having some issues. I think his issues were that he was signing in, kicking me off, and when I signed back in, it would kick him off. I had my phone on airplane mode with the wifi turned on. MIL did not have an internet package but had her wifi connected to royal and we were able to iMessage each other to meet up while on the ship.

That's pretty much all I can think of right now. This was definitely a lot longer than I anticipated! If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask! I'll try my best to answer them.

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Oh disembarkation- We went for breakfast with all of our stuff, minus luggage which we put out the night before, around 8. We finished around 9 (had to feed the baby her bottle), and left. It took a bit of time and then we saw the lines for customs. Luckily we needed a porter for all of our luggage. It was well worth the $10 tip. We bypassed most of the line and sailed right through. He brought us right to our car and we were on our way home by 9:45. In-laws parked at a cheaper, satellite lot that needed a shuttle. They disembarked about 15 minutes before us and we were on the road before they even got to board their shuttle. Definitely worth the extra $50 we paid to park closer, especially with the kids!

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Thank you for sharing your experience.

Thanks for the detailed report.

Thanks for your review! We are leaving on Sunday on the same ship/itinerary

You had to pay $20 to rent an umbrella on CocoCay? Last time we were there (several years ago), lounge chairs and umbrellas were free. Are there any shady places where lounges are set up?

Thanks for your review! We are leaving on Sunday on the same ship/itinerary

 

You had to pay $20 to rent an umbrella on CocoCay? Last time we were there (several years ago), lounge chairs and umbrellas were free. Are there any shady places where lounges are set up?

Yes $20. Someone brings it over to where you're sitting, drills a hole into the sand, and puts it together. There were some shady spots but very minimal. Lounge chairs are still free.

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Thanks for the detailed posts!!!

Can you comment on how people dressed on the formal night(s) - day 2 Mon (?and day 6 Fri?) - what % dressed up vs dressed nice vs casual ?

Thank you for all the information! When you arrived at 11:00 at the port was the traffic getting in bad?

Thanks for the detailed posts!!!

Can you comment on how people dressed on the formal night(s) - day 2 Mon (?and day 6 Fri?) - what % dressed up vs dressed nice vs casual ?

I didn't pay attention too much because I was trying to wrangle a 1.5 year old and a 3 year old lol. I do recall taking my 3 year old to the bathroom during dinner on day 6 and noticing a range of clothing of the people on line to be seated. I saw Long gowns and tuxes as well as cut off shorts and flip flops.

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Thank you for all the information! When you arrived at 11:00 at the port was the traffic getting in bad?

It took us no more than 10 minutes to get to the luggage drop off. Probably closer to 5 minutes. It looked worse than it was.

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Thanks for your review! We are leaving on Sunday on the same ship/itinerary

 

You had to pay $20 to rent an umbrella on CocoCay? Last time we were there (several years ago), lounge chairs and umbrellas were free. Are there any shady places where lounges are set up?

We were there last April and there were tons of shady spots under trees. We considered getting an umbrella when we arrived but wasn't necessary where we set up. I guess it depends when you get there.

I'm guessing that you had Jo Rhonda in the dining room. We had her a few weeks ago in American Icon, and I loved how she always called us "my ladies". She was the best - nicest waiter we ever had on a ship. I'll be requesting her again next week.

We are taking a 3 year old (on day 1) and 1 year old on the Anthem next year. Do you have any tips? Thanks!

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We are taking a 3 year old (on day 1) and 1 year old on the Anthem next year. Do you have any tips? Thanks!

 

 

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Utilize the kids club/nursery! They were great. They called if necessary and that only happened once. It's free for the 3 year old until 10pm. The 1 year old is $8/hour. They will be separated. For the nursery, you're allowed to book 15 hours up front and then after day 5, you can book more hours if needed. My 18 month old has special needs and can be a difficult child, especially with strangers. She did great!

They have a splash pool for kids who aren't potty trained and a nice wading area but that's outdoors. There were lots of opportunities to see the dreamworks characters so don't feel like you have to rush to see them all.

Meals can take a long time so bring something to keep the kids occupied. My father in law would order 4 appetizers and dinner would take almost 2 hours.

We had a family jr suite which had a bathtub so we had it easy when it came to bathing the kids. I've heard of people bringing a blow up pool to make it easier in the stand up shower.

That's all I can think of right now!

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