Review: 9-Night Bermuda & Eastern Caribbean (Anthem)

Introduction

My wife and I were married on April 30 and our honeymoon cruise was a 9-Night Bermuda & Eastern Caribbean cruise on Anthem of the Seas. It made calls in Bermuda, St. Maarten, San Juan, and Labadee. It was our first time sailing on Anthem, our first time sailing out of Bayonne, NJ, and our first time on a cruise longer than 7-nights. Needless to say, it was a cruise of firsts for us and we couldn't wait to get started.

Pre-Cruise

The cruise departed Bayonne on May 5 so naturally we flew in early on May 4 to ensure we had no issues getting to the ship on time. Also, my wife had never been to New York City so naturally we had to get a hotel room near Time Square and see the sites. We flew in to LaGuardia and were at our hotel by 11 am. We stayed at the new Holiday Inn on 8th Avenue, when we arrived our room wasn't quite ready but they agreed to hold our bags so all was good. We saw Time Square, visited Central Park, and of course had to go shopping on 5th avenue (my wife's favorite). We were getting tired late in the day from the long day of travel and walking around. Not wanting to go back to the room so early, we decided to check into seeing a Broadway show. We were able to get great seats to The Lion King, which I HIGHLY recommend. The show had great costumes, great music, and the play seemed to take place around the entire theater and go on all around you. After the show, we were beat so we headed back to the hotel. I would recommend this hotel to anyone who doesn't mind paying high Time Square prices. It was around $300 a night but the room was very nice with comfortable beds, good water pressure in the shower and plenty of bathroom space (which is rare in NYC).

Day 1

As always, we woke up before our alarm on departure day for our cruise. No matter how tired I am, I always seem to get up extremely early with excitement to get on the ship. We got all of our bags packed then went and found breakfast. We had arranged for a private car to pick us up from the hotel at 9:15 am. After breakfast we grabbed our bags and headed down. The car picked us up at around 9:20 and we headed across the bridge to Bayonne. Due to traffic, it took about at hour to take the 12 mile trip to Cape Liberty Cruise Terminal. We had the 10:30-11:00 am check-in appointment and had an easy time unloading our bags with the porter at the curb. We checked in with a staff member with an iPad outside of the terminal building. This and the check-in appointment is new for Royal Caribbean and only available now on the Quantum Class of ships. You give full credit card information and upload your own security photo during online check-in. We loved this process and it literally took us two minutes to check in by providing our set sail pass and passports to the agent. We passed through security and were directed to a sitting area to wait for the ship to be ready to board. We waited for approximately 20 minutes before boarding began and were on board by around 11:15 or so. I was very impressed by the check-in process along with the Cape Liberty Cruise port. It was very organized and was personalized with Royal Caribbean decor and video screens. The new state-of-the-art terminal seemed to fit the theme that Anthem of the Seas portrays. Once on board, the excitement always seems overwhelming, especially when seeing a new ship for the first-time. I love the feel and look of Anthem. All of the interior design is very sleek and modern, unlike any other ship we had been on before. We headed straight up to the Windjammer for lunch to beat the crowd and then explored the ship. On the top deck from the port side, you can get a great view of the Statue of Liberty and downtown Manhattan skyline. By the time we explored for a while, our rooms were ready. We were in stateroom 6528, which is a Superior Oceanview Stateroom with a balcony. I highly recommend this room as there were no inside staterooms across the hall and the balcony was one of the few on the entire ship that had a view straight down into the water as opposed to most rooms which have a straight down view of the life boats and outside promenade deck. It was a very convenient location forward, just two decks above the Royal Esplanade and not far from Sorrento's or the Coca-Cola Freestyle Machine (some of our favorites). Once settled into our stateroom, we got ready for dinner. We had selected the Dynamic Dining Classic option with the 8:30 seating time. For those who don't know, Anthem of the Seas does not have a main dining room, instead, it was four complimentary restaurants. You can either select a rotational style like we did called Dynamic Dining Classic, or the my-time style where you pick your place and time. On our option, we had the same waiter and table mates throughout the duration of the cruise. We also had the luxury of walking around the my-time dining line and straight into our table. Our rotation started at Silk, an asian-style restaurant. We loved it and thought it offered something we hadn't experienced on a cruise-ship before. I had the hibachi steak with garlic fried rice. It was fantastic and the steak was extremely tender. Our table mates didn't seem to enjoy it as much, they didn't seem to be huge Asian cuisine fans. Following dinner, we proceeded to the Royal Theater for the welcome aboard show. It featured comedian Rondell Sheridan and a Bon Jovi Tribute Band called Wanted. Both were fantastic. Sheridan was a hilarious comedian and we recognized him from playing the father in the Disney tv show, "That's So Raven." After the show, we were beat so we headed to bed.

Day 2

We woke up to the motion of the ocean on day two. The weather was cloudy and rainy as we were following a storm front en route to Bermuda. Our Captain was Henrick Sorensen and he had announced an expectation of 15 foot seas for the day, and that was about spot on by my estimate. Once we were dressed, we headed to the Windjammer for breakfast. It was crowded but we found throughout the cruise that if you went to the back of the Windjammer near the door to the outside seating area that there were always nice seats available. After breakfast, I was feeling a bit nauseous from the rough seas, a first for me. I've been on 10 cruises but this was the first time I ever battled nausea because of the seas. We were able to find some non-drowsy medication in the general store, I took a couple of tablets and was never bothered by the nausea again. The rest of the day was spent seeing the ship. We loved the Bionic Bar, which worked with our Premium Beverage package. My wife and I both were surprised that we never once had to wait to use the Bionic Bar, despite plenty of people around taking pictures. Audrey also took part in "Circus School" where she had the chance to do the flying trapeze in the SeaPlex. That evening we had reservations to see We Will Rock You. We both thought it was terrific. Great music and a funny story line. I've always loved Royal Caribbean Productions. Our dinner rotation was at American Icon Grill. The name pretty much said it all. I had the prime rib, which was great as always. My wife had the ribs. The food was good but out of all the Dynamic Dining restaurants, this one was probably my least favorite. There was anything wrong with it, the menu was just very basic.

Day 3

Our third day of our cruise featured our first port of call in Bermuda. This was the stop I was probably looking forward to visiting most. We had never been there and had heard it was beautiful. Unfortunately, the storm front we had been following had settled over Bermuda. There was heavy rain and high winds as we arrived in port. I commend Captain Sorensen for getting us into port at all, but the weather didn't make for a nice stop. We were supposed to go Horseshoe Bay for our shore excursion, but upon arrival on the pier, we were told that it had been cancelled. We decided instead to get back on the ship, grab some breakfast, wait for the rain to stop then explore some of the Kings Wharf area. Unfortunately, the rain never let up but it did slow down some. We decided to make the most of it and put on our rain coats and left the ship. We toured the Royal Naval Dockyard, which was only $10 a person and offered great views of the ship in port. We got back on the ship around 3:00 pm prior to the 3:30 pm all aboard time. When we got on board, we jumped on the bumper cars for a fun ride. This is one of the great things about the SeaPlex, you can do nearly all the activities regardless of weather. This makes Anthem of the Seas perfect for New York. Dinner was at Chic, an awesome menu with Mediterranean flares. It's hard to describe the menu but our meal was solid. We didn't have a show that evening but did attend the 70's Groovytown Party in the Music Hall. I will say, I didn't enjoy this as much as I had enjoyed the 70's Disco Inferno party on other Royal Caribbean International Ships. It didn't have that one defining moment that really turned it into the party. It just didn't make me want to dance.

Day 4

We were at sea again on Day 4 but finally after three days of rainy weather and rough seas, the conditions broke, the weather was warm and the rain was gone. We did bumper cars again while my wife did the roller skating. I personally pass on the roller skating or ice skating whenever it's available. Not that I wouldn't enjoy it, I just don't want to bust my butt and ruin my trip. We also had a reservation to go up in the North Star. The view was amazing and offered a genuinely unique overview of the ship while we were sailing. The ride was about ten minutes total and they didn't over fill the car that you ride up in, which made it much more enjoyable. That afternoon was also one of our cruise favorites. The Love and Marriage Game Show. Since this was our first time to ever be eligible to be on the show, we decided to try to get on the show. We did well in the audition process but got second so didn't get on the show. That didn't stop us from having a great time. We enjoyed the show and our Cruise Director, Dru Pavlov did a great job hosting the show. That evening we had dinner in The Grande. This is the formal restaurant on board. It was my favorite of all of the complimentary restaurants. I had Filet Mignon and our waiter graciously brought out an extra lobster to make it surf n' turf. My wife had three lobsters! How I love cruising. That evening we had an excellent headliner showtime from a Las Vegan entertainer, comedian, and impressionist. We ended the night by seeing Wanted (the Bon Jovi Tribute Band from Day 1) in two70. This group was fantastic and we enjoyed seeing a more full show from them. Rondell Sheridan also did an adult comedy show. I didn't like this show as much as I did his first show but it was still solid.

Day 5

This cruise offered a great itinerary in that all the ports we stopped at are some of my favorites. St. Maarten was the destination for day 5 and it has always been one of my favorites. The sun was shining and the water was blue. We had booked an excursion to Maho Bay for a snorkel and plane watching trip. Because the weather had been so terrible on the first three days and in Bermuda, Captain Henrick got us into St. Maarten nearly two hours early. This was great because it allowed us to explore St. Maarten. We walked downtown, made a stop on the beach while Audrey bought a new pair of flip flops (more shopping!). We returned to the pier for our excursion. It was fantastic! The water was clear and the boat offered drinks at a great price along with food. We saw several big planes take off and land, all while snorkeling in the blue waters of St. Maarten. I love this tour and the guides did a terrific job. The ship didn't leave the island until around 8:00 pm that night. It allowed for a great view of the lights of St. Maarten as we departed. That evening we dinner booked at Chops Grille. It never disappoints and I love the Filet Mignon there.

Day 6

Day 6 brought another port I had never been to, San Juan. We didn't have a shore excursion booked but got off the ship shortly after the gangway was open. We didn't have much time in port as all aboard was at 12:30 pm. Audrey and I walked to El Morro and saw the fort along with the great views it offered. We then make the trek down the coast to see some of the island, stopping at a local deli for breakfast. If you don't want to spend any money on an excursion, San Juan is perfect to just take off, walk around and explore. We never felt unsafe and loved getting see all of Old San Juan by foot. After about three hours of walking and eating, we got back on the ship just before the 12:30 all aboard time. We loved San Juan and wished we would have had more time here. We will definitely look at San Juan as a departure port in the future. After San Juan, the rest of the day really felt like a Sea day. I had booked my wife a massage so she enjoyed that while took a short nap. Naps are sometimes nice even though I feel like I'm sleeping my vacation away. That night, we had booked a restaurant we couldn't wait to try. Wonderland. I wasn't sure if the food would be good but we knew the experience would be fun. I was wrong about the food. It was TERRIFIC! Our waiter was great and suggested some fun things to try, everything he brought out was great and we left full of food and fun! That night we had booked Spectra's Cabaret. This is Anthem of Seas' two70 show. We thought it was great. The performers did a great job and the robotic screens and visual effects were amazing. It was truly unlike any show I've ever seen on land, much less a cruise ship.

Day 7

Day 7 brought my all-time favorite destination. Labadee, Haiti. It's Royal Caribbean's private destination and is one of the most beautiful places to see. We did the Jet Ski tour which was fantastic. My wife loved it as she had never driven a Jet Ski before. We had done this type of excursion once before on CocoCay but she rode as a passenger with me. The ride was great with some good waves and a good guide. After the tour, we grabbed our towels and beach bags from the ship and headed to the beach. My favorite beach on Labadee is actually in the bay and not on the open ocean side. The water hear is calm and clear and offers a great view of the ship while going for a refreshing swim. The reason I love Labadee so much is a combination of the sheer beauty of it, the fact a meal is served ashore by the ship, and that your drink package is good on Labadee. We grabbed some drinks, swam and explored Labadee. Given this was our last port of call for our cruise and my favorite, it made it very hard to get back on board. I highly recommend Labadee to anyone who hasn't been there. Back on Anthem, we had dinner scheduled at Jaime's Italian. This was the only true disappointment of our cruise. We've loved Giovanni's table on our other cruises but the menu hear was very basic and small. The pasta I had tasted like Chef Boyardi and the desert options were very limited. I wouldn't bother wasting the money. I wish they would have put a Giovanni's on Anthem. We didn't have a show booked that night but like Spectra's Cabaret so much that we decided to get in the show as a stand by. For those who don't know, on ships that require reservations for shows, the staff will let people in the show without reservation around 15 minutes prior to the show. This also means that those with reservations need to be seated at least 15 minutes early. We were able to find a nice seat on the upper level and enjoyed an encore performance of the show. That night, we also had went to a new dance party, "Anthem Rocks". This was a Rock n' Roll themed party that was significantly better than the 70's dance party. The staff was very involved and encouraged guests to dance. It also featured some very comical moments as well.

Day 8

As the ship turned back north and headed back to Bayonne, I began to get a little sad. I always seem to feel this way after my final port of call. That being said, we had never been on a cruise with a Day 8 before so we treated it as a bonus day. We had breakfast at the two70 Cafe. This is awesome for anyone who wants to miss the hustle and bustle of the Windjammer. The food was good and they had a variety of options. My wife had a reservation to do the Ripcord by iFly. She enjoyed it and I got some great pictures of her doing it. She continuously complimented the sports staff for their organization. Audrey gave the iFly great reviews. We had no dinner reservations that night so we ate in the Windjammer. This is a very underrated place to eat dinner. They had our favorite rolls there too, the pumpkin seed rolls! After dinner we had a reservation for The Gift. This was another Royal Caribbean Production. It was very good with some modern music and a great story line. After that, there was an adult comedy show. It was very funny but VERY raunchy. That being said, we loved it and the woman did a fantastic job. This was also the night for The Quest. I though Dru (Our Cruise Director) did a great job hosting and came up with some witty and different ways to keep the show interesting that I had never seen before on other Quest Game Shows.

Day 9

It always seems to catch me off guard that the final day of our cruise was upon us. We had a nice day of just enjoying being at sea. We played in the casino, Audrey did Circus school again, and we took in the final day of our cruise. That evening we had a farewell showtime featuring a physical comedian who was very funny and even cracked a few jokes about the storm incident on Anthem a few months ago. I will say that I miss the old farewell shows that Royal used to do with the "Until We Meet Again!" song and bringing all the crew out. It always felt great to give the crew a standing ovation. That being said, we loved the show. We had booked dinner at Izumi and as always, the sushi was fantastic. I will suggest that those who don't like sushi, do not need to eat at Izumi. That's pretty much what they have to offer. Audrey and I love sushi so this is no problem for us. We were already packed and our bags were by our door so we decided to check out "Red". This was a night club experience in the two70. It was fun and really demonstrated some of the different things that room can do. After that, we were tired and had a long day ahead of us the next day so we went to bed.

Post-Cruise

Unfortunately, when we woke up, the ship was backing into the dock at Bayonne and our cruise was over. We had selected the transfer to Time Square. I would recommend this to anyone looking to post-cruise in NYC. It was $35 a person, which is much cheaper than a cab or private car to Time Square. We were off the ship by 8:45 and on our way to Time Square by 9:30. We explored the city including going up the observation deck of the One World Trade Center. This was a great experience and I liked it better than my previous experience going up in the Empire State Building. That night, we had tickets to see Wicked. This musical is fantastic and is one of Audrey and I's favorites. I love the music and the storyline. We left for the Newark Airport at around 2:30 am and were back home by noon on Sunday.

Recap

What a great cruise! Anthem of the Seas was my favorite ship I have ever been on. It seemed that all the different activities that it had to offer and the dining style kept anything on the ship from seeming crowded. The destinations on this cruise seemed to be TaylorMade for me. Even though it rained in Bermuda, every place we went was awesome and some of the prettiest places in the world. I wouldn't recommend this cruise to anyone who doesn't like sea days or anyone who gets sea sick. As an experienced cruiser, I had never felt any nausea prior to this cruise, but rough seems are typically standard on the first few days of voyages through the open Atlantic. I will say that our Captain was great, our Cruise Director Dru was pretty decent, and our stateroom attendant did a tremendous job. It was truly a great cruise to spend our honeymoon on and we wouldn't have changed a thing. I know I am probably leaving somethings out so feel free to ask questions about anything related to the ship, the ports, or Royal in general. Thanks for reading!

Great review - thank you for posting. Did you happen to keep the compasses? If you did would you mind posting them?

Excellent detailed review. I enjoyed reading it. Thank you.

Thank you for sharing about your cruise with all the details that will help us for our trip in Oct.

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Curious how busy the nightclub events were, such as the Red you mentioned? We usually sail with a group of friends and all love to dance well into the night. It's usually no problem to find a good time on Oasis class but when I sailed Quantum last year there was literally no other young adults (20-35) who would stay up past like 11 to have fun. The music hall was their only post-11pm space and aside from a few families who were teaching their kids how to do the wobble or whatever there it was just dead every single night.

Well-written review, thanks.

Curious how busy the nightclub events were, such as the Red you mentioned? We usually sail with a group of friends and all love to dance well into the night. It's usually no problem to find a good time on Oasis class but when I sailed Quantum last year there was literally no other young adults (20-35) who would stay up past like 11 to have fun. The music hall was their only post-11pm space and aside from a few families who were teaching their kids how to do the wobble or whatever there it was just dead every single night.

We too were on this sailing with my son (28) and his GF (30), there were not many young adults on this sailing.

We usually sail this time of year out of Bayonne (Explorer, Quantum and Anthem) and typically find very few young adults.

For my son and his GF they liked that their evenings ended before 1 AM. Their typical vacations (Miami and Vegas) usually included going to clubs and going to bed around 5-8 AM. (Their bed time is my wake up time). lol

Great positive review of the Anthem, thanks for taking the time to share.

We are on this cruise later in June and are planning to take the Mayo beach snorkel excursion.

How long was the excursion and how much time did you get in the bay to snorkel?

Gilly

Loved your review of Anthem....love hearing your positives! Thanks for sharing and wishing you and the Mrs. many years of love and happiness!!!!

Great positive review. Thanks for posting !

Loved your review of Anthem....love hearing your positives! Thanks for sharing and wishing you and the Mrs. many years of love and happiness!!!!

Look for the anthem review by Spaniel Lover - he has the compasses in there and much lots of videos and pics.

Thank you for your review. Now if Oct would hurry up and get here!

I am thinking of going in later july. So it seems 270 and the Music Hall are the nightclubish spots? Not surprised that many young adults were on the boat in april, usually june through august is good.

Curious how busy the nightclub events were, such as the Red you mentioned? We usually sail with a group of friends and all love to dance well into the night. It's usually no problem to find a good time on Oasis class but when I sailed Quantum last year there was literally no other young adults (20-35) who would stay up past like 11 to have fun. The music hall was their only post-11pm space and aside from a few families who were teaching their kids how to do the wobble or whatever there it was just dead every single night.

I didn't do an "age check" but in January/February, the RED event was packed!

Curious how busy the nightclub events were, such as the Red you mentioned? We usually sail with a group of friends and all love to dance well into the night. It's usually no problem to find a good time on Oasis class but when I sailed Quantum last year there was literally no other young adults (20-35) who would stay up past like 11 to have fun. The music hall was their only post-11pm space and aside from a few families who were teaching their kids how to do the wobble or whatever there it was just dead every single night.

I loved the atmosphere that was created with "Red". It had some pop-up performances by aerialist and great music from the DJ. The only thing that really hurt the atmosphere was that they did the experience on the final night of the cruise so most people retired early that night. As for other "night club" style experience. The music hall has a great atmosphere and music nearly every night with a good dance floor, places to sit, and nice service from the bar.

I am thinking of going in later july. So it seems 270 and the Music Hall are the nightclubish spots? Not surprised that many young adults were on the boat in april, usually june through august is good.

The music hall is the most consistent for a late night party. It had something pretty much every night of the cruise. two70 had times when it had that feel but was also occupied by the Spectra's Cabaret performance on several nights of the cruise.

Great positive review of the Anthem, thanks for taking the time to share.

 

We are on this cruise later in June and are planning to take the Mayo beach snorkel excursion.

 

How long was the excursion and how much time did you get in the bay to snorkel?

 

Gilly

The excursion lasted about three and a half hours total and we were able to snorkel and swin around the bay for around two hours plus. It was plenty of time to see several jets take off and land, snorkel, and get a drink before we left to head back to the pier. It was a wonderful excursion!

CruisenReview91-Just gotta say...I love your review! My DH and 3 girls will be going on this exact same cruise on June 2nd for my 40th birthday. As I was reading your review, I told my DH "this guy sounds just like me!" I love Labadee as well and can't wait to return there. I am most excited about Bermuda and have reservations at Wonderland for my birthday night, without the kiddos. I am sad to hear that Jamie's wasn't up to par, will probably try it anyway as I can't get the image of that cold meat platter out of my head. We'll see!

Congrats on your new marriage and I wish you and your bride a wonderful, cruising life together!

Thanks for the review.

So refreshing to read a positive review of Anthem! It sounds like she's turned the corner on service based on your excellent review. Her CC review rating is still below 50% at 49% approval, but that's up from 46% just a few months ago. (It's really difficult to dig yourself out of a bad score, so Anthem is apparently working hard to get things right). We were booked for Anthem this year but cancelled and did Allure instead (amazing ship) due to all the terrible Anthem reviews. If she continues to pull in reviews like this one, I will definitely consider booking her in the future. She's practically in my backyard.

Thank you!

Paul

pndcruisereviews.com

So refreshing to read a positive review of Anthem! It sounds like she's turned the corner on service based on your excellent review. Her CC review rating is still below 50% at 49% approval' date=' but that's up from 46% just a few months ago. (It's really difficult to dig yourself out of a bad score, so Anthem is apparently working hard to get things right). We were booked for Anthem this year but cancelled and did Allure instead (amazing ship) due to all the terrible Anthem reviews. If she continues to pull in reviews like this one, I will definitely consider booking her in the future. She's practically in my backyard.

Thank you!

Paul

pndcruisereviews.com[/quote']

 

I thought the crew was one of the best I've out of all of the 10 cruises I've done. Very energetic and friendly. I loved the ship, the crew and the itinerary.

Great review!! I'm doing the 9 night June 2nd.

Wow, outstanding review!

Thanks for your review! Enjoyable read as we are doing this itinerary 2017.