Anthem of the Seas - 22nd May 2015 - Canary Islands - Review / Pics / CruiseCompass's

Let me take you on a day by day account of our recent holiday. I hope this will help those who are considering trying the Quantum Class Ships.

Who are we?

Well, my name is Andrew, I'm 24 years old, was born on, and live on the Isle of Man, and I have been on 5 cruises before (all with RCI). I was tavelling with my GF who is 22 years old, and has never been on a cruise ship before. She was looking forward to seeing what it was all about!

The biggest ship I've been on previous was the Liberty of the Seas, so I was expecting this to be a whole different ball game. I have never cruised out of Southampton before, it has always been from Barcelona or Venice, so this would also be a different experience too.

The Cruise

We booked the holiday back in February 2014, just after the ship initially went on sale. The cruise would consist of 5 sea days, and 5 ports - Madeira, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Vigo. Having only ever been to Tenerife before out of the list, I was looking forward to going to 4 new places.

Pre Cruise

The day before the Cruise, we flew from the Isle of Man to London Gatwick Airport, flight was on time. Collected our bags, and we then had around 2 hours spare before the pre-booked train, so we headed up to the Beehive pub in the airport for a few drinks and lunch. Just before 2pm, we headed to the train station, for the 2 hour approx train to Southampton.

After arriving in Southampton, we walked down to the Travelodge West Quay Hotel which I had booked many months ago for a bargain £35 for the night. I have become more and more warm to Travelodge over the past few months when requiring a hotel stay. I find their hotels cheaply priced, modern, and comfortable, as well as having good locations.

Dropped our bags off, and headed out to get some shampoo's, suncream etc. Dropped these back at the hotel, and walked back to Odeon to see the new Mad Max Film. After the film, we went to a place called "Banana Wharf" for tea, which was about a 15 minute walk away. Food was lovely :) After tea, we went back to WeatherSpoons for a few drinks, before it was back to the hotel to attempt to get some sleep. I'm very bad for sleeping when I know something big or exciting is happening the following day. I think I woke up 4 times!

We woke up early, around 8.30am. We had booked an arrival time of 11.15am - 11.45am so had a few hours to play with yet.

My GF wanted to get herself ready (which as I'm sure all Men know takes longer than expected :p ) so I took a wander down to see the ship.

As I left the hotel, it started to rain. Lovely.

I took a wander down to Starbucks for a Coffee on the Quayside. As I rounded the corner towards Starbucks, I saw the ship for the first time. I remember I just smiled and went "Wow" at the sheer size of it.

After getting a coffee, I walked over the City Cruise Terminal, to get a better look at the ship. It totally took my breath away the closer I was getting to the ship and seeing it's true size getting real. I instantly noticed Gigi towards the back, as well as Ripcord by Ifly.

After I'd seen the ship, I walked back to the hotel where my GF was now ready and waiting.

Just after 11am, we left the hotel with our cases, and began the walk back down towards the Cruise Terminal.

I noticed again as we saw the ship, my GF was just smiling and staring at it. She told me it was like nothing she'd ever seen before!

We dropped our bags off with the Shoreside Staff. They put a green luggage tag on them, and attached the same barcode to our SetSail Passes (for tracking purposes).

We walked inside the terminal, and found a room full of staff with iPads. They were all busy, so we were ushered down through security first. There was about a 2 minute wait to be screened. After security, we were asked to sit in the corresponding seating area for our check in time. Almost straight away after sitting down, a lady came over to us and took our SetSail Passes off us, as well as our passports to complete the check in. They had a few problems getting my GF's passport to scan, but it was all sorted quickly.

They gave us a green stamp on our set SetSail passes, and we were allowed to make our way towards the ship. The entire check in process from dropping our bags off, to getting to the ship took under 15 minutes which is brilliant!

We stepped onboard on Deck 5, straight into the Royal Esplanade. First of all, I just looked around in order to try to get my bearings. The layout of the ship looked different than the other ships straight away, owing to the fact there is no Promenade.

We took a walk around the different areas of the ship, in order to try to work out where things were. From memory, I remember going to Wonderland, just to have a paint of the menu!

Soon enough it was mid-day, and we made our way up to the Windjammer for lunch.

The Windjammer was busy (no surprise), but we found no problem getting a seat towards the back. My GF was already taken aback by the whole thing saying everything looked so different than any holiday she'd ever been on before. As usual, I found the food on offer to have a good variety of choice, and everything was hot.

After lunch, we continued to explore. We made our way down to 270 to find Joff Eaton (who I'd never had as a CD before, but had heard good things about), and a few other staff who were doing rehearsals for the evening's show. We stayed in there for a bit of time watching, and had a drink.

As we did not have our SeaPass cards at this time, the bartender had to use our SetSail Passes to verify we had the package.

Around 2.30pm, we assumed the rooms would be ready, and made our way up to Deck 12.

We were staying in Cabin 12590, which is a balcony cabin, basically bang in the middle of the ship. Our SeaPass cards were waiting outside the room in an envelope.

Once inside the cabins, we found the WOW Bands waiting on the bed

(I originally had a white WOW Band, but it met an unfortunate ending while on the FlowRider later in the week)

What I noticed straight away, was how modern the cabins looked compared to on the other ships. The bathroom also looked excellent, and the shower had a door, as opposed to a curtain.

Cruise Compass

Also in the room was the Day 1 Cruise Compass, which you can view here:

https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Day%201%20Cruise%20Compass.pdf?_subject_uid=429794828&w=AAAtoGwWVRBlDiheuEBs7jz1PQSHh0EUF2J2Xr3S89l6oA

After visiting the room, we made a further exploration trip, heading up to SeaPlex. In SeaPlex, one of the staff showed us how to use one of the many iPads located round the ship, where we booked the Puzzle Break Room for Day 4.

We then headed for a wander round the pool deck. While walking round, Captain Claus came on over the PA for the first time. Welcoming us onboard, and informed us that the Muster Drill would take place at 4pm.

We went for a drink at the North Star Bar around 3.25pm. While there, the Barmen informed everyone they would be closing now as they had to take part in the muster drill. This lead to me seeing the first complainer of the week, as a woman decided to let everyone know that "It's not 3.30pm yet why are you closing, I want a drink". They politely explained that it was 3.30pm, and they had to close in order to allow enough time to conduct the mandatory drill. She still didn't take this as acceptable, and decided to get louder. Thankfully, the bar staff didn't give in, and told her that they would serve her as soon as the drill had been concluded, and there was plenty of opportunity for drinking over the next 10 days!

Our Muster Station was Wonderland where we had to watch a video on the TV Screen. What I did find was an advantage, was you didn't have to go down in a life jacket on this class of ship, as they are handed out at the Muster Station in the event of an emergency. One thing I did find strange, was there was no sound in Wonderland from the TV, and the sound appeared to be getting played out in the Esplanade. I think the video would be much more effective, if the sound was also played in the restaurant, as we found it very hard to hear being down at the far end (not sure if it was only Wonderland this happened in, or where it was all muster stations).

After the Muster Drill, we went back up to the Pool Deck, to watch the Sailaway. Leaving ahead of us was an MSC Ship (not sure which one), as well as the Queen Elizabeth. We sat in the Solarium and just watched the world go by!

We then both made our way down to get ready for Dinner.

In the stateroom, we found a printed sheet detailing all the restaurant reservations that had been made previously off the ship. I noticed that 2 / 3 of them were missing. However, when we checked the calendar on the TV, they all showed correctly on there. As I presumed that the TV would be reflecting the Ships internal system at the time, I took it that everything was ok!

Our first dinner was in American Icon. We had booked a table at 7.30pm. We turned up shortly after this time, and waited about 30 seconds before being taken to a table. All restaurants were serving the "Taste of Anthem" menu this evening.

Instead of getting the big bread basket from the Assistant Waiter, where you pick what you want like in the Main Dining Room, on the Anthem you are given a basket of the "Bread of the Day" which consisted of two types of bread. Personally, I preferred getting to pick what bread I wanted on the other ships, but it was nice to try the various breads they gave us over the course of the 10 days.

Service was great, and the food arrived hot.

After dinner we went up to the Schooner Bar to listen to the Piano Player Grahame.

The Schooner Bar is always one of my favourite hangouts. It was lovely listening to to the relaxing music he played.

We then went down to Boleros to watch the Karaoke.

After Karaoke, we were both incredibly tired by this point, I think it was down to the day of travelling previously, so we retired to the stateroom to go to sleep.

Goodnight!

Great review so far and can't wait to read the rest but can't see the pictures or cruise compass's that you have attached.

Ditto. Would love to be able to see the pictures!

lets try again shall we:

Pictures from Post 2:

Thanks for your review, we are hopefully going next summer:D

Looking at the picture of your WOW band, I thought they were like a watch band? How did that stay on your arm?

Following along as love hearing about other's experiences on Royal.

Looks great so far!

Woke up and discovered "The Morning Show" on RCTV where Joff & Amy (Cruise Staff) tell you about what's going on today. It shows daily from midnight - noon. Found it to be a very fun show to watch on a daily basis. Fully recommend you watch it.

Today we had RipCord by iFly booked at 11.20am. Wasn't sure what to expect, but it looked like it would be enjoyable (also thought it would be best going early in the cruise so there was no chance I'd be over the weight limit by the end!). I heard them say they were booked up for the next 5 days, so I'd fully recommend you book this in advance.

You are weighed, and then watch a safety and demonstration video first, before you are suited up and walk up the stairs to RipCord. You get a 1 minute complementary session, and I think you can pay for further sessions if you wish.

You have to keep your head and arms up, then fall into the air stream, which instantly pushes you back up. I found it quite difficult to keep myself up at first, but the instructor who is in the device with you guide you with arm motions on what you need to do. It was a very bizarre but for experience. As you are only an amateur at it, they don't take you up high and you are very close to the ground. I noticed that later in the week, certain instructors were taking the young kids up to the top and back down again which would be nice for them (I wish I was that age!).

As you can see, it does wonders for your looks!

We then went to the Windjammer for lunch again, before going to sit outside to read / listen to music / relax.

We both went in the pool mid-afternoon. We were he only ones! It was freezing! I always find the best way to get over the coldness is to just jump in and let your body sort itself out.

After getting out of the pool, we watched some of the kids on the Flying Trapeze in the SeaPlex. I'm not sure many of them understood what they were doing, but they looked like they were having fun.

Dinner tonight was at American Icon, 7.30pm again (I know I said American Icon yesterday, I actually meant Chic!).

Tonight they had the full menu on offer. The Crab Cakes are one of my favorite things to get on a Cruise Ship and I'm glad they had them here. The warm cookie desert was also lovely, and very soft!

After dinner, we again went to watch Karaoke, in the Music Hall Tonight (again just trying to get our bearings round the ship, and explore the different venues), before going to Boleros for some late night music. Both of us were much more awake tonight!

Cruise Compass - Day 2

http://www.keepandshare.com/doc20/6049/day-2-cruise-compass-pdf-1-8-meg?da=y

Looking at the picture of your WOW band, I thought they were like a watch band? How did that stay on your arm?

There are little rubber things on the other side of the left hand bracelet in the picture. You push them through the holes on the right hand side to create a bracelet. Bit of a faff to get on first time, but once you work out how to do it I put it on easily most days. It's also waterproof which is a bonus.

I found the WOW Bands to be really useful. Much easier to open your stateroom and get drinks by just tapping the band against the door / the reader at the bars than faffing round getting your card out each time.

I don't think they were as well utilised as RCI wanted though. I'm not sure most people understood what they did with them. I think age may have been on my side there though, as I like technology and embrace new things.

We are doing a 9 nighter, did you feel that there was enough to do on the 10 night?

This morning, we got up early and attended the 10am general knowledge quiz at the Schooner Bar. It was a good bit of fun, but we were no where near close to winning.

We also went to lunch at the Cafe @ 270 today, which, surprise surprise, is located right outside 270!

Here you could get various sandwiches, salads, fruits, pannini's etc. I have heard great things about the Kummelwack (Roast Beef Sandwich) on Cruise Critic, but have never tried one before. Well, I tried one today (the first of many after I discovered them!) and found them to be absolutley delicious. It made me laugh they had a line dedicated to people who wanted the Kummelwack, it must be popular!

We then went out on the pool deck for the afternoon, where it was starting to get slightly warmer again. The water was much more pleasant to get into today!

I headed downstairs to the pub after this to watch the final day of the Premier League Season. Some of the lads were streaming the games on their iPads, and kindly let me watch with them.

Dinner tonight was at Wonderland, booked for 8.30pm One word - WOW!

It may be on the expensive side, but I really recommend that you go. It's like an experience like no other.

You start off with a blank menu, and paint it with water. The menu is then displayed.

We were then asked if there is anything specifically that we didn't want to eat, or any allergies. We said no to both, and the waitress (who was named Adella) asked if she was okay to pick our food for us. We agreed.

The food we were given was by far the tastiest, well presented, and yummy food of the week. Surprisingly, I found the chilled pea soup to be delicious

The Crispy Crab Cones were also interesting

After the little dishes, you have to pick two meat / fish items. We picked Pork and Halibut.

This is the Pork Leg

It was amazingly! And the meat literally just fell off the bone as you pulled at it.

After dinner, we went to the Music Hall to catch the end of the Opinion Game Show. We then got our first glimpse of the band "Rock the Boat" who are on the ship over the summer.

They announced that people had probably seen them on the Independence of the Seas out of Southampton Previously

Speaking of the Independence of the Seas, I was actually getting quite annoyed at the end of the week, with the number of people I heard complaining that the ship wasn't the same as the Independence. Correct, it's not. It's not designed to be either. I'm not sure where it's because most people on the Cruise tend to go from Southampton every year on the IOS, and are used to how things are done on there? Having been on the Liberty previously (the sister of the IOS) I found both ships to be excellent in their own unique ways. Still though, I suppose it gives people something else to complain about.

Rock the Boat were a brilliant band to watch, and we saw them in various venues round the ships over the 10 days. They play just my sort of music.

After visiting the music hall, we went down to the casino to attempt to win our fortune... and failed badly.

Followed by a trip to Boleros (which would become our nightly hangout after hours).

Day 3 Cruise Compass

http://www.keepandshare.com/doc20/6050/day-3-cruise-compass-pdf-1-9-meg?da=y

Thanks for all the info so far - it's great.

Question - I can't tell by looking at the deck plan or any pictures - is there an outdoor promenade on Deck 5, and can you go up by the heliport, like on Freedom and Voyager class ships?

Thanks.

Woke up and went up to the Windjammer for lunch. Watched the ship approaching Madeira. Very nice to sail past the landscape.

Just as we were arriving into Madeira, the weather improved dramatically and it became quite hot. We sat out on the top deck relaxing, until it was time to disembark.

In Madeira, we went on the "Emblematic Madeira and Ribiera Brava" Tour.

It was a 4 hour nice relaxing tour.

We saw Banana Trees, as above!

We also go to try the local drink, rum and honey. I'm not sure I'll be back for more soon!

Also go to stand upon Europe's highest cliff top (1900ft)

The only thing supporting us was a sheet of (hopefully) thick looking glass. I know it gave a few people veritgo. It made me a bit jittery though when I heard a woman say "When was the last time it collapsed?" ha.

We arrived back at the ship at 6.15pm. Had a very quick shower, before dinner at Silk at 6.45pm. Silk provided Asian food, which again was very hot and tasty

Vietnamese Tacos were a personal favourite.

After dinner we saw We Will Rock You. A truly excellent show to watch. I am not the biggest fan of the theater, and productions, but I thought it was brilliant, and it was great to sing along.

A note about the theater

The way the theater is designed, there are many seats in the top tier that provide poor views, and cut off sight lines for part of the stage. I recommend you sit in the bottom half of the theater, or, subject to availability, wait till 10 minutes before the show starts, when they will open up any unused suite / Pinnacle seating to the common folk...... ha ha. This area seems to be the best location, but there is still the odd pillar around there.

After We Will Rock You, we headed down to the music hall to catch the end of the 70s part that was ongoing in there. It was amusing to see Joff and the rest of the staff dressed up!

After the 70s party, we stayed to listen to Rock the Boat again, followed by visiting Bolero's before bed.

(and by now had started the nightly visits to Sorrento's Pizza post 2am, which I'm sure many people do!)

Fully enjoying every minute of the ship.

Day 4 Cruise Compass

http://www.keepandshare.com/doc20/6051/day-4-cruise-compass-pdf-1-8-meg?da=y

Thanks for all the info so far - it's great.

 

Question - I can't tell by looking at the deck plan or any pictures - is there an outdoor promenade on Deck 5, and can you go up by the heliport, like on Freedom and Voyager class ships?

 

Thanks.

Yes, there is an outside deck on deck 5 which you can go out on and enjoy the ocean. I think the smoking area is someone along there too though, but not being a smoker, I am not sure.

But, no I do not think you were able to go out to the Heliport (unless someone can correct me?). It doesn't seem to be a proper heliport there as I noticed the wording said "WINCH ONLY", so it looks like there is no actual room for a helicopter to land.

We woke up around 9am and went up for breakfast. Again, watched the ship pulling into Tenerife.

Today we did the beach transfer to Las Teresitas which was about £12 each.

The plan for today was just total relaxation, which is why we wanted to go to the beach.

On the beach, we got 2 deck chairs for 5 Euros which wasn't bad. You had the option of staying for 3 hours or 5 hours before the coach brought you back.

The beach was lovely, the weather was getting very hot, and the sand was golden (albeit it felt a bit rough under your feet towards the top of the beach).

I also went for a swim in the sea (I'm just entering the water!)

I love swimming in the sea, as due to the salt water it keep you afloat. There were plenty of other people in the sea too, many on boats and pedalos which is looked like they had hired. The sea was virtually flat calm, and was also warm to swim in.

After returning to the ship, we queued up for the North Star. It appears that in Port , they are not allowed to swing the casual out over the side of the ship. We only went on the North Star once, but I would also have liked to go on it a second time out at sea where it was always over the side of the ship. The views provided from the North Star were pretty decent!

After the North Star, I went for my first visit to the Flow Rider for a bit of Boogie Boarding!

I haven't done this in two years since last being on the Liberty, and it took a bit of getting used to again, but I fully recommend anyone to give it a go, it's good fun!

Dinner tonight was in the Grande, where we booked our first formal night.

We had two meals in the Grande on the Cruise. We found the food and service in here was the best out of all the restaurants (apart from Wonderland!). This restaurant provided the most similar experience to the Main Dining Room on the other ships. The staff seemed a bit less rushed in here, not sure why that was though.

After dinner, we went to the Schooner Bar for a drink, before the 10.45pm showing of the Hypnotist, Christopher Caress, in the Royal Theatre. It was an absolutely hilarious show. We were both crying with laughter throughout. I have no idea how he got the people on stage to do what they were doing but if you get the chance, definitely go to see this. I won't ruin it for you as to what happens. We met someone in the lift afterwards who was a participant in the 9pm showing, and he said he head was absolutely fried, and he has no recollection of being on stage.

After the show, it was back to Boleros and the Casino before Bed!

Day 5 Cruise Compass

http://www.keepandshare.com/doc20/6052/day-5-cruise-compass-pdf-1-8-meg?da=y

Great review! Thanks! We sail on her next April.

Marg

Is there a Cupcake store on this ship?

sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to follow along =)

Yes, there is an outside deck on deck 5 which you can go out on and enjoy the ocean. I think the smoking area is someone along there too though, but not being a smoker, I am not sure.

 

But, no I do not think you were able to go out to the Heliport (unless someone can correct me?). It doesn't seem to be a proper heliport there as I noticed the wording said "WINCH ONLY", so it looks like there is no actual room for a helicopter to land.

Thanks for that answer. Love the promenade (without smokers) but I'll really miss being able to go to the very front of the ship.

Enjoying your review immensely! Thanks!

Nice pics and review. Looks great. So is there really a weight limit on Ripcord?!?:D