Anthem of the Seas Review - Bermuda - July 15, 2017 - July 20, 2017

Who Are we?

Noreen - 49 years old; Senior Vice President at an Investment Banking Firm in New York City; I will be the author of the report.

Cathy - 48 years old; friend that I met at work almost 20 years ago' Director at the same Investment Banking Firm in New York City.

I didn't take as many pictures as I normally do but I'll include some of the ones I have

Planning/History

I've written many trip reports in the past of my various cruises. I also have written some Disney trip reports on a Disney site.

Cathy has been my travel buddy for a while now. We've gone on several cruises together. Scott (my husband) doesn't travel as much as I do so he goes on some trips with me, but he's also happy that I have other people to travel with for when he can't get away.

Cathy and I were hanging out together the weekend of June 17, 2017 and started talking about going away. We thought about a land trip to the Atlantis in the Bahamas, but airfare alone was over $700 round trip and that's before adding a hotel, meals, and activities. So we talked about a cruise to Bermuda since it leaves from NJ or NY. I live in Northern NJ and Cathy lives in NY City so it's an easy ride for us to get to Bayonne. I'm partial to Royal Caribbean since all my cruises have been on Royal. I also want to try to Celebrity. Cathy has cruised several different lines with her family in the past but didn't want to go on Norwegian or Carnival.

We looked at either 5 nights on Anthem of the Seas or 7 nights on Celebrity Summit. The way the dates worked out, the 5 nights on Anthem worked better for Cathy so that was our choice.

I called Brenda (travel agent and friend) to get this booked on Monday June 19, 2017. There were very few cabins available. We conferenced in Casino Royale (or whatever their official name is) so I can book through the casino. It saved me a little bit. They also were able to book Cathy's cabin while we were on the phone with them.

A few years ago Cathy and I booked a Bermuda cruise on Explorer of the Seas only 10 days before sailing so this one wasn't booked as close to sail date as that one.

Our cabins are:

Noreen in a D1 Balcony - #9246

Cathy in a D1 Balcony - #9290

The Cruise

Anthem's Itinerary is as follows:

Saturday - Leave from Cape Liberty Cruise Port, Bayonne NJ

Sunday - At Sea

Monday - Bermuda

Tuesday - Bermuda

Wednesday - At Sea

Thursday - At Sea

Transportation

I live in Northern New Jersey (Bergen County) so can drive to Bayonne and park at the pier. My husband will probably drop me off. Cathy lives in New York City so will probably drive to the pier.

Dining

Our only option was My Time Dining so that's what we have. Given how late we booked our choices for booking dining times were limited.

I booked Chops for the 2nd night since I have the BOGO (Buy One Get One) with Diamond Plus at 6pm and that was easy to get.

I booked Jamie's for Wednesday (night 5) and the only earlier time was 5:30 so I booked that.

When I started looking at booking times for My Time Dining in the regular dining room, the earliest available was 8:45pm. I booked that for Saturday (night 1), Monday (night 3), and Tuesday (night 4). A few days later I was poking around and able to change Saturday (night 1) to 8:15 instead.

I also purchased the refreshment package for me. The one that includes soda, bottled water, fresh squeezed OJ, etc. I have had it in the past and like it.

Entertainment

I was not able to book Northstar or Ifly - neither showed up in the cruise planner so we'll have to book those onboard.

I booked The Gift for Sunday (night 2) at 8:45, We Will Rock you Tuesday (night 4) at 6pm, and Spectre Wednesday (night 5) at 9pm.

I was able to book for both of our reservations in the cruise planner pretty easily - I just had to add guests from another reservation. Once I typed in the info once, it was easy booking everything.

Excursions

We will probably head to Horseshoe Bay on Monday and then maybe into town (Hamilton or St George).

For Tuesday we booked BK43 - Catamaran Coral Reef Snorkel at 1pm through Royal Caribbean. It's a 3 hour snorkel excursion on a catamaran. This was $69.75 per person.

I received an email on June 29, 2017 about 4th of July sales on certain things like excursions so I checked and our snorkel excursion is now on sale for $62 per person. I cancelled and re-booked us. I know it's only $7.75 less per person but for the few minutes it took, why not save the money?

Miscellaneous

Brenda (travel agent and friend) emailed me some vouchers that were special promotions going on during our booking. I'm not sure if it was because we booked last minute or just the time frame we were sailing. We each received a free massage and we also received dinner for 2 in a specialty restaurant.

Looking forward to your review, my daughter and I sail this Saturday and faced the same challenges with booking late and limited reservations available.

The week before the trip

It was the usual stuff leading up to the trip, nothing out of the ordinary. I got my packing started. I made sure things were in order. I tied up any loose ends.

I went to the spa for a manicure and pedicure. I didn't them them matching colors. I did purple on my toes and a sparkly peach on my fingers. The fingers are the gel manicure so it should last until after I'm back from the trip.

I started to think maybe I should add the internet package since we had it in January and liked having it, but by the time I went online to book it (Thursday) it was too late since we were leaving Saturday. I think two days ahead of sailing is the cut off for booking things on line. I can always book it on board if I really want it.

The day before the trip - Friday 7/14/17

I worked from home on Friday so that was convenient not having the Friday night traffic getting out of the city in the summer to deal with.

After work, I finished my packing.

I'm looking forward to your review. I will be in Cabin 9246 in May, also going to Bermuda, and then on to the Caribbean. Anthem is my current favorite ship. My husband and I have spent 17 nights on her so far this year, and have 14 more coming up in September!

Beth

Great start! We are doing this same cruise next year and I'm always looking at reviews!

Looking forward to your review.

I love reviews! Can't wait!

Looking forward to this review :) Love all the details

Saturday 7/15/17 - Embark - Bayonne, NJ

Since my embarking time wasn't until 12:30-1, it was a pretty normal Saturday morning. I know plenty of people like to rush to be the first ones on the ship, but I am fine waiting and having the cabin ready when I get on.

We went bike riding in the morning. Scott went to work for a few hours.

Scott came home to drive me to the pier and we left the house around 11:45am. We arrived about 1pm and surprisingly there was no long lineup of cars. That first glimpse of the ship is always exciting.

We pulled right into the drop off area. This was the quickest embarkation yet. I walked into the terminal, through the X-ray machine, a woman with a tablet took care of checking me in and told me to go ahead onto the ship.

I stopped for the embarkation photo and was on the ship right after. I would guess from getting out of the car to boarding the ship was maybe 10 minutes.

I am in cabin 9246 which is right off the elevator bank so very convenient. Since the cabins were ready I went straight there and unpacked my carry on bag. There were several of the no name bottles of water on the dresser as well as a plate of cookies. On the desk was information for Diamond Plus discounts, info on the Diamond drinks available, a card I should check off and drop off if I wanted to take a bridge or galley tour, an invite to a C&A event, snorkel excursion tickets, and the compass for today. Surprisingly there were no Evian bottles of water.

I stopped at the spa to book our massage appointments but they didn't have a record f the voucher for the free massages. There was a list of people in the same situation so I wasn't too concerned. They said they are calling to get them straightened out. They mentioned the massage had to be on a port day and they would call my cabin once everything is confirmed. We never did get such a call but it all worked out anyway.

I stopped at Jamie's to change our Wednesday 5:30 reservation to 6pm.

I stopped at Wonderland and was able to use the free dinner for 2 at a specialty restaurant here so booked for tonight at 6pm.

I stopped in Boleros and got a bottle of water since I was thirsty.

Cathy texted me that she's on the ship and in her cabin - 9290, so I went up there to meet her.

We decided since we had to do the maaage on a port day, let's do it Tuesday morning since we have the snorkel excursion in the afternoon. We went up to the spa and made the appointments for 10:30 Tuesday morning.

We went to cafe 270 and had salad for lunch. We didn't want to eat too much since we have dinner at Wonderland at 6.

We wandered around the ship some. Cathy was impressed with how quickly she got on the ship. She was also impressed with the size and the ship in general.

Muster drill was next. I had to go to Silk and Cathy went to Jamie's.

Back at my cabin, my big checked suitcase was outside my door. I met Chris (my room steward). I asked him about the water in the cabin to confirm it's my crown and anchor water and mentioned there were no Evian bottles. He said they don't put those in the cabins anymore unless people fill out the forms to have them. That's a great change since last cruise I was charge post cruise for Evian even though they were left sitting on the desk the whole cruise as well as after I left. The charge was reversed but annoying that it even happened.

I unpacked pretty quickly. In January, Scott and I were on Anthem for 12 nights in a Junior Suite and I was commenting on the surprising lack of storage. I was pleasantly surprised by the storage I found in the balcony cabin. It could be that it was a shorter cruise (5 nights vs 12) and it was just me in the cabin vs the two of us, but I had space to spare. And I don't pack lightly.

I met Cathy for a drink at Boleros. I asked what he can make me front he Diamond Plus drink list. I don't like wine, nothing too strong, preferably something fruity. He made me something with run and some sort of juice and added bitters to it. I tipped him $5. It was OK. Cathy wasn't crazy about the drink choices at this bar, she likes certain wines. The bartender asked me if I wanted a can of soda or water so I took a can of coke and a bottle of water and brought them with me. The soda and water are closed so I will bring them to my cabin and put in my refrigerator for when I want them.

Here are some of the documents that were in the cabin...

Diamond plus drink list

Diamond plus perks

Invite to bridge and galley tour

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Below is the day 1 compass and activity sheet

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I also picked up the teen activity schedule to share with my sister for our family cruise later this year to give her an idea of what they do for the teens

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Below is the list of officers

I was surprised they didn't have a cruise at a glance list of all the shows and things for the week like they had back in January for the 12 night cruise

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I was surprised to see the bridge and galley tour card.

They had that January 2016 and a theater too too. I went on all three.

But in January 2017 they didn't send us cards for these tours.

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Hi Noreen, I appreciate you putting this much effort into this review, but you include way too many irrelevant details. Most of us just want details about the cruise, not your job title or that you texted your friend, or pictures of your toenails. Anybody can check my posting history to see I don't complain about much.

Thank you for writing this review! DH and I are thinking of doing the 5 day Baltimore to Bermuda next year so I'll be following your review closely!

Hi Noreen, I appreciate you putting this much effort into this review, but you include way too many irrelevant details. Most of us just want details about the cruise, not your job title or that you texted your friend, or pictures of your toenails. Anybody can check my posting history to see I don't complain about much.

I am sorry if you find the details irrelevant.

I like reading reviews with details as it helps to know the person a little more.

I also use these reviews as a way to relive my trip.

You can skip my posting and read ones that aren't as detailed if you don't like it.

As you said it is a lot of work and a negative comment that is not constructive is not necessary.

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Hi Noreen, I appreciate you putting this much effort into this review, but you include way too many irrelevant details. Most of us just want details about the cruise, not your job title or that you texted your friend, or pictures of your toenails. Anybody can check my posting history to see I don't complain about much.

Speechless, the audacity.

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Hi Nor,

Would you remember about the % of people who got dressed up on formal night. That is of course for men jacket with tie and ladies dresses. I think formal is the second night....

I'm planning this trip in August.

Thanks for the time you gave us for your review.

Hi Nor,

 

 

 

Would you remember about the % of people who got dressed up on formal night. That is of course for men jacket with tie and ladies dresses. I think formal is the second night....

 

I'm planning this trip in August.

 

 

 

Thanks for the time you gave us for your review.

Hi

I don't remember exactly but it was probably close to half. You really saw everything. Some people totally dressed to the nines and some more casual. I didn't notice anyone too bummy that stood out. Most people looked nice.

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Don't worry, I like that you're sharing details like your toenails!

I am sorry if you find the details irrelevant.

I like reading reviews with details as it helps to know the person a little more.

I also use these reviews as a way to relive my trip.

 

You can skip my posting and read ones that aren't as detailed if you don't like it.

 

As you said it is a lot of work and a negative comment that is not constructive is not necessary.

 

 

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Fair enough - thanks for taking the high road! I didn't mean to be negative; I was just trying to help you reach a wider audience.

Please see a qualified mental health care provider.

Hi Noreen, I appreciate you putting this much effort into this review, but you include way too many irrelevant details. Most of us just want details about the cruise, not your job title or that you texted your friend, or pictures of your toenails. Anybody can check my posting history to see I don't complain about much.

Noreen...enjoy your cruise! I loved the Anthem. Make sure you save plenty of room for Jamie's and get that meat/cheese plank and the fudge brownie dessert!

OMG Css5 soooo rude, just move on if you dont like it, but ya had to say something didn't ya, ugh.

I enjoyed reading the review and I would like to know if you ever made it onto the North Star ( and no I don't mean the Cadillac response system but always have to think about it when I see North Star lol) ?