Anthem of the Seas - Review - Southern Caribbean - Jan 28, 2018 - Feb 9, 2018

Tuesday 2/6/18 - At Sea - Continued

We went back to the suite sun deck after lunch and watched the 1:30 Belly Flop contest. It was a great way to watch it.

I got a picture of this guy mid flop / in the air

We stayed out on the deck for a while. We would move chairs periodically from chairs in the sun to chairs in the shade. We would take our towels and stuff with us to the newly chosen chairs as there were plenty of available seats.

Scott said that he’ll miss going on Anthem next year at this time. We’re scheduled for a back to back on the Harmony (Eastern and Western) for late January/early February 2019. I have been wanting to go on Harmony since it came out. I was on Oasis in 2010 and really enjoyed it. I would miss the convenience of driving right down to Bayonne if we have to fly down to Florida. We would fly in the day before the first leg and stay over to make sure we don’t miss the ship. I also have some concerns that the last day of the first leg of the back to back may have a sad vibe as most people would be packing to go home. Then there is the sort of wasted turnaround day. We both really like Anthem and since we’ve been on multiple times, we don’t have to do everything. Scott is worried I’ll run him ragged on a new to us ship since I’ll want to see and do everything.

On the way back to the cabin, we stopped at the Photo area and picked up our boarding photo and ordered a new photo. Some of the pictures from last night (the steering wheel ones that we had so much fun with came out really cute.

Tuesday 2/6/18 - At Sea - Continued

We showered and changed but didn’t dress up as much as we normally would. We have noticed many people are very casual at dinner. We see a lot of shorts and T shirts. It doesn’t bother us what people are wearing, but I know this can sometimes be a hot topic.

We met the group at Boleros. They usually gather there for a pre-dinner drink.

This is me and Brenda.

We had dinner at Coastal Kitchen.

Rajiv has been our waiter pretty much the whole trip. He’s great and we really like him. We like getting to know people and having them get to know us a bit too.

When he brought our beverages, Sprite for me and Coke for Scott, he forgot my straw. I know it may be childish, but I like to drink with a straw. He realized and brought it quickly over with the top shaped like a heart.

For my appetizer I had the Caesar salad. This is on the regular/always available portion of the menu that I posted earlier on. This was a really cute presentation in a bread bowl.

Scott had the Salmon Sashimi

Tuesday 2/6/18 - At Sea - Continued

For our entree we both had the Surf and Turf - Lamb and Lobster Tail (Rajiv suggested it). It was very good.

Time for dessert

We shared a Baked Alaska and noticed it looked different than last time. We couldn’t figure out what was different at first, so I looked back through my pictures and it was missing the strawberries.

Rajiv didn’t like the idea of us just sharing one dessert so he also brought us a chocolate crunch bar.

We went to the theater to see We Will Rock You. I always enjoy this show. We sat in the suite section. It was roped off but when we showed our cards, they let us in. I was surprised the person working at the section and letting people in (or not letting them in) kept saying it’s the VIP section. I think he made a lot of people feel bad when they were turned away. I’m surprised he didn’t just say it was for certain cabin types or something like that.

We ran into some friends by the Patisserie and sat with them for a bit. They are coming back on Anthem next year this time too. We keep referring to it as the Super Bowl cruise since it leaves on Super Bowl Sunday.

We went to the casino and both did pretty good. We played both tables and slots. At one point we were playing poker slots next to each other in within a few minutes both hit 4 Aces with a Deuce on different poker games. Each hand won $500.

This was Scott’s hand on his game/machine:

This was my hand on my game/machine:

Around 2:30am they were closing the casino so we went back to the cabin and ordered room service. Tonight Scott ordered pepperoni pizza to go with his hot dogs. I had a slice of the pizza and it was very good. My streak of forgetting to take pictures of our room service orders continues and I have no pictures of our middle of the night snack.

Day 11 Compass and Planner

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Wednesday 2/7/18 - At Sea

We went to the gym together this morning a little later than usual, probably around 7am. It wasn’t crowded today either.

I made my usual stop at the Patisserie on the way back to the cabin.

After showering and changing we went up to Coastal Kitchen for breakfast.

I had strawberry pancakes. I am really enjoying the strawberry pancakes. It’s pancakes cooked with real strawberries baked into them which is how I like them. Some places give you plain pancakes and put some strawberry compote on top and call them strawberry pancakes.

Scott had French Toast. He is loving the French toast and has had it almost every day for breakfast

We were planning to go ot the suite sun deck, but it’s already cold and windy out.

I had Scott pose on the pool deck and you can see he looks a bit cold.

We stopped at 270 thinking it would be a nice place to hang for a bit and maybe play on the computer but after a little bit we wanted to do something else. Sitting outside in the sun playing on the computer or reading was what we had in mind and doing that indoors wasn’t cutting it.

I reminded Scott that next winter on Harmony which sails out of Florida it will be warm and sunny the whole time, we won’t have the cold days coming and going even in the winter. We’re still tossing around the idea of coming back on Anthem next winter instead of going on Harmony.

We dropped our beach bag back in the cabin and ended up in the casino for some time.

Wednesday 2/7/18 - At Sea - Continued

We decided mid afternoon to stop back at the cabin and get a little of the packing done.

The ship is diverting towards Bermuda to drop off a sick passenger. From our balcony we were able to watch the proceedings. Tons of people were out watching. The ship turned sideways; I’m guessing to block the wind, and we sat there pretty steadily. A little pilot/rescue boat came bobbing along in the waves. It was bouncing all over the place. They were able to get the wife (I’m assuming it was the wife) off the ship to the rescue boat with her husband who was on a stretcher. The little rescue boat zoomed off andpeople applauded that they transferred the sick passenger safely to the little boat.

I took a few pictures of the rescue boat, but purposely didn’t take any including the people being offloaded to respect their privacy. We hope the husband is doing OK

Wednesday 2/7/18 - At Sea - Continued

We got a big chunk of the packing done. It was easy with extra space to have our suitcases out and they weren’t in the way.

There was information in our cabin about disembarking along with the tags (which we needed to get a few more of). It’s so sad when these show up as you know your vacation is coming to an end.

There was another invite to a Bridge Tour

The casino also sent us chocolate covered strawberries and wine

After showering and changing for the evening, we stopped at the Concierge Lounge. We were able to get a few more tags for the luggage

Wednesday 2/7/18 - At Sea - Continued

Before dinner we stopped in the Windjammer so I can see what the theme was tonight. It was pie night so I took a few pictures.

This was to get the chocolate guitar further back behind the pastries

A row of pies

Behind the pies the I Love NY made out of chocolate

I ventured a little further into the Windjammer and saw chocolate dipped fruit

A White Chocolate Fountain with things to dip into it

The ship made out of cake is still looking good

They really do a nice job setting this all up in the Windjammer

Wednesday 2/7/18 - At Sea - Continued

We went to Coastal Kitchen for dinner

For appetizers we both had the Hamachi Crudo which was a nice light choice

For my entree I had the sesame crusted tuna. Rajiv suggested having the cauliflower fried rice instead of the basmati rice with it. This was probably my favorite entree so far.

Scott had the Saffron linguine

I also asked for just 2 potato croquettes that normally come with the veal. Last time Rajiv brought me a whole plate which was way too much. 2 of them was perfect.

Wednesday 2/7/18 - At Sea - Continued

Time for dessert

We both chose the Creme Brûlée from the Classic (always available) section

We saw the 8:30 show in the theater - Gary Lovini. We enjoyed it.

We went to the casino.

We were planning to go to the Quest but skipped it since we were busy playing in the casino and were doing pretty well at the 3 Card Poker table.

When we went up to our cabin around 1am we had a towel animal - a heart. And a few WOW envelopes. We stopped at Guest services to get a few more of those envelopes.

Scott ordered 2 hot dogs with fries from room service that I again forgot to take a picture of.

Day 12 Compass and Planner

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Thursday 2/8/18 - At Sea

We went to the gym together in the morning.

I stopped at the Patisserie on the way back to the cabin for the last time this trip.

It’s always sad when it’s the last day. Which is one of my concerns with the Back to Back (B2B) I have booked for next winter on Harmony. Will that last day before turnaround day have a sad vibe to it?

After showering and getting changed we went to Coastal Kitchen for breakfast.

I had Strawberry Pancakes with Bacon

Scott had French Toast with Sausage

We walked outside for a bit and the pool deck is empty today with a net over the pool.

I was reminding Scott that if we sail on Harmony next winter we won’t have these cold sea days since it will be out of Florida. We are still tossing around changing our plans and coming back on Anthem next winter.

At noon we went to the Slot tournament finale. I was bumped off but Scott is still in it. There weren’t enough people for the free cruise as the grand prize. The grand prize would be $500 instead.

It was exciting to watch

Scott finished in 5th place so didn’t win anything.

We stayed in the casino and played for a while.

Thursday 2/8/18 - At Sea - Continued

We stopped at the Bionic Bar and got a cherry coke. It’s a cute gimmick but we hardly saw anyone using it.

We went to the theater to see the 3pm Love & Marriage Show. The longest married couple that played were in their 80’s. They were so cute together. We played along from our seats.

This light wall is near the Esplanade. When you look at it, you can’t really figure out what the lights say. Someone told me if you take a picture of it you can read it. So here is the picture of it.

When we stopped back at our cabin, the casino vouchers for free cruises were in our cabin. This prompted some more chatting about coming back on Anthem next winter. One of the free cruises on Scott’s voucher was on Allure of the Seas around the time we are going to Disney World. He suggested instead of 2 weeks at Disney this fall, what if we combine 1 week on Allure with 1 week at Disney. This way we go on an Oasis class ship when we would be in Florida anyway and we won’t have to fly in the middle of winter. In the past the free cruise vouchers were never for a time we were able to go, but we would use the value of them towards money off a cruise we were taking. Of course you get the best bang for your buck if you can actually take advantage of one of the free cruise dates.

Thursday 2/8/18 - At Sea - Continued

We went to the Concierge Lounge. It’s nice that you get to see the same people in the lounge. It’s a nice gathering spot.

We went to Coastal Kitchen for dinner.

For my appetizer I had the Burrata. I really liked it.

Scott had the cured salmon. He thought it was OK

Thursday 2/8/18 - At Sea - Continued

For my entree I had the Filet Mignon. This was great and super tender. This ties for my favorite entree of the trip.

Scott had the Duck Breast. He liked it but I think my filet was the better choice.

Rajiv also brought us the Rigatoni to share.

Time for dessert

We shared two desserts

The chocolate tart

The hazelnut cake

On the way out we were chatting with some of our friends who are all coming back next year and encouraging us to come back on Anthem again too. We are seriously considering changing our plans around.

Thursday 2/8/18 - At Sea - Continued

After leaving Coastal Kitchen, we stopped in the Windjammer to see what the theme was. It was cake night. We took a few pictures then headed out.

We went to the casino.

We were planning to go to the Farewell Show at 8:30 but missed it since we were busy playing.

We went up to our cabin around 10 to get our bags out and chatted some more about coming back on Anthem next winter.

We went back to the casino until they closed and then went up to the cabin to go to sleep.

So sad going to bed knowing we would wake up back home in NJ. On the other hand as much as we love going on vacation, it’s always nice to go home too.

Friday 2/9/18 - Disembark - Bayonne NJ

We didn’t go to the gym this morning. We just showered and got dressed.

Back in Bayonne

We went outside on the pool deck and it’s pretty chilly out

We went to breakfast in Coastal Kitchen around 7am. It’s nice that it’s the regular breakfast menu, not an abbreviated version.

I had strawberry pancakes

Scott had French toast.

We were supposed to go to Chops to meet the concierge to be escorted off the ship but when we got to the 5th deck we saw no line to walk off so we just exited.

I saw Ricardo (the concierge) in the line to get a porter so chatted with him for a bit and he made sure a porter took care of us.

The porter was great. We got all our bags and he zipped us to the front of the customs line. He walked us to the garage and waited with me and the bags while Scott got the car. He loaded the luggage into the car for us too.

We were pulling out of the parking garage at 8:05. We hit a little traffic on the way home, but pulled into our driveway about 9:10am. You can’t beat the convenience of cruising out of Bayonne.

When we got home all the cats were hiding. I think they were giving us the cold shoulder. That didn’t last too long and soon they were in the midst of everything.

Before we even started unpacking I called Casino Royale. Normally I conference them in with Brenda but I know it’s going to take her a bit longer to get home and I can just have any reservations I make transferred to her.

We decided to change our 2 weeks at Disney to a week on Allure and a week on Disney. Scott’s free cruise is for a balcony. My free cruise is for an ocean view but different dates. We upgraded the Allure Balcony to an Owner’s Suite and used my voucher for some additional money off the upgrade.

I also booked Anthem for next winter. Since we aren’t 100% sure what we want to do next winter, I booked a Junior Suite (J1); the large balcony. With the new naming conventions, it’s not what they used to be called. This is the traditional Junior Suite. It’s not the ones that used to be the Spa JS or the Family JS; those are now J3 or J4 I think. I booked a refundable deposit. Once we decide for sure if we are going on Anthem, I will call back and probably upgrade our cabin. We did really like the layout of the large JS when we had it January 2017.

Final Thoughts

This was another great cruise on Anthem. We really like the ship.

Since we’ve been on it several times already, we don’t stress about having to do everything each time since we’ve already done it. Scott says that makes the trip a bit more relaxing since normally I have to see and do everything.

The Superior Grand Suite was nice. The layout was a bit choppy.

We really liked the perks that come with the cabin. The suite sun deck is a great way to enjoy getting some sun without fighting for a lounge chair that is right on top of someone next to you. Coastal Kitchen being available for all meals was a nice option. We normally don’t eat 3 full meals a day, but would have breakfast and dinner there regularly. We realized that because we went to Coastal Kitchen for breakfast each day, we probably ate more than we normally would. Usually we would just go to 270 or the Windjammer and get smaller things for breakfast like Yogurt with Granola. The special seating area for the shows is great too. Free room service came in very handy this trip for Scott’s many hot dog orders after the casino in the middle of the night. The free internet was also well used.

We didn’t think that Puerto Rico or St Maarten were really ready for visitors yet. They have some more work to do to rebuild. I know it’s a catch 22 as they want to tourists to bring in money to help them rebuild.

We weren’t crazy about St Lucia, but that is probably because we chose the wrong beach to go to.

Beach Limerz in Antigua was very nice. It’s unfortunate that the water was so rough. Tim getting injured put a damper on the day.

Pirates Cove in Barbados was really nice. We really liked the Boatyard last year in Barbados too. They are right near each other. Pirates Cove had more comfortable lounge chairs. But I would go back to either one of them.

Carambola Beach Club in St Kitts is one of our favorites. I think we’ve gone there the last few times we’ve been in St Kitts and we always like it. They have new lounge chairs that are more comfortable than the old ones.

If I think of anything else to add about this trip, I’ll add it back on here.

Feel free to ask any questions. I love to talk about my trips.

Our next trip will be a bit different. We are trying Celebrity. All of my cruises have been on Royal Caribbean so far. We’re celebrating my 50th birthday so I wanted to do something a little different. We’ll be on Celebrity Reflection, 11 night Ultimate Caribbean, out of FLL. We are sailing in a Royal Suite. It will be interesting to see how it compares to Royal Caribbean. I plan to write a review for that trip as well.

Thank you for sticking around while it took me so long to get to the end of the cruise.

Noreen

As always another awesome job Noreen!!!!

As always another awesome job Noreen!!!!

Thank you

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Loved your review, Noreen, I’m really happy that you and Scott had such a great time on Anthem :)

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Loved your review, Noreen, I’m really happy that you and Scott had such a great time on Anthem :)

 

 

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As much as I love all our vacations, Anthem is like going home. We always enjoy it.

Disney world in Florida is another vacation that is like home too.

Thank you

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Phenomenal review, thanks for taking the time to write, your level of detail is fantastic.

We are looking forward to this cruise (our first quantum class ship) next February. You will love the Allure, it’s a great ship...the “neighbourhoods” are a fantastic way to organize the different areas of the ship.

Any pics of the actual casino on anthem? I’d like to compare it to the size of the one on the Harmony (which was huge)

Cheers...

Phenomenal review, thanks for taking the time to write, your level of detail is fantastic.

 

 

 

We are looking forward to this cruise (our first quantum class ship) next February. You will love the Allure, it’s a great ship...the “neighbourhoods” are a fantastic way to organize the different areas of the ship.

 

 

 

Any pics of the actual casino on anthem? I’d like to compare it to the size of the one on the Harmony (which was huge)

 

 

 

Cheers...

Hi

Thank you for the kind words.

Given how much time we spend in the casino, surprisingly I never took a picture of the casino itself like an overview. I went back through my pictures of the last few Anthem trips and didn’t have one.

It was a decent size. Not huge like some land based casinos but it never seemed overly crowded. Maybe just not that many gamblers on the trips I was on.

I am looking forward to Allure and for Scott to see a ship other than Anthem and Quantum.

I would be interested in the comparison between Harmony and Anthem. I know they are different classes but both are pretty new.

You will enjoy Anthem too. Similar to Harmony make sure to book shows and things like IFly and Northstar in advance.

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Thank you for doing such a detailed review with terrific pictures. We have only cruised out of Bayonne twice and loved the “ no flying “ stress and getting our car quickly and being at home early am. Thinking of going on the anthem again in June but also looking at the harmony and freedom. We like the promenade, ice shows and layout of these ships better. Also, like the idea of starting our cruise in warm weather. Will have to make a decision soon.