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

[kandj05]

Thanks for your review. Weird question, but what keeps people from grabbing someone's door key and entering? If I remember right, you said it was in the door jam.

[neniukas]

Following

[jonj]

I am enjoying your report. I cannot access the cruise compass though. It keeps saying your bandwith has been reached for the day

[vrock]

Enjoying your review thank you for posting:)

[Stitchman]

Thanks for your review. Weird question, but what keeps people from grabbing someone's door key and entering? If I remember right, you said it was in the door jam.

 

trust ...... I think ....

[ransrider]

Our Anthem cruise is not until November 30 out of Bayonne, NJ. Can you give me an idea or suggestions of where to have our first lunch on the ship when we board? Windjammer on most Royal ships is usually a zoo at this time. Has anyone found a less busy spot to enjoy a first meal aboard? Many thanks!

[Stitchman]

Hi Andrew .......

you must have seen Ann and I in Boleros after hours then.

We were in there almost every night :)

[moshek]

Our Anthem cruise is not until November 30 out of Bayonne, NJ. Can you give me an idea or suggestions of where to have our first lunch on the ship when we board? Windjammer on most Royal ships is usually a zoo at this time. Has anyone found a less busy spot to enjoy a first meal aboard? Many thanks!

 

On our recent trip on Anthem we ate in café 270 for first lunch, it was very quiet (it was only 12 noon) and had a nice choice of salads and sandwiches. Devinely decadence in the solarium was also serving lunch on first day, it's promoted as a healthy eating place, again perfect for a nice salad.

I avoid the WJ if possible I always find it too noisy and crowded.

[riclop]

Thanks for your review.

[Big Friendly Giant]

trust ...... I think ....

 

Stitchman is right, but also why would anyone want to enter, there is nothing in there. If SeaPass cards are not there when you get to your room, then call security, new cards will be issued and the old ones will be useless.

[Big Friendly Giant]

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

 

Yes, 230 pounds unless you are over 6 ft when it is 250 pounds. I am 6 ft 5 ins and 310 pounds so they would not let me fly !!

[BekkaW]

Great review, thank you for putting in the time to do it. We're looking forward to trying her sister ship, Ovation, when she comes to Australia next year.

[UniPac]

Nice review!

 

 

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

 

Following

 

Just click on the upper right "Thread tools" and then "Subscribe to this Thread" - no need to post or "interrupt" :)

Edited June 7, 2015 by UniPac

[mrsroller180]

Thank you for a great review, it has given us so much insight. We have 86 days to go to our trip and cannot wait. Is it true that you now have to pay a charge for room service? We only used it previously for a couple of breakfasts on port days so we had less of rush in the morning.

[swoopy2110]

Lets Continue ...

 

Woke up this morning and headed to the WJ for breakfast again.

 

Today, we were going on the Dolphins and Whales Excursion.

 

Got on the coach, and fell asleep pretty sharpish after. Woke up after about 50 minutes to find us still travelling :eek: Think we finally arrived after about 1 hour. We boarded a little boat called "Spirit of Sea" and headed out into the Ocean in search of Dolphins and Whales.

 

The sea was surprisingly bumpy (didn't really bother me though), but there were lots of people, especially the younger ones, being sick. We saw plenty of dolphins, but unfortunately no whales.

 

 

The crew of the ship also saved a Turtle that had become entangled in rope. It was really sad to see it struggling, and the ships crew said that this is what happens when people throw things into the sea. One of them dived in and brought it back aboard. It took them around 10 minutes to untangle it. They said that they do this all the time, and had to take a picture to show the authorities for every turtle they save! It then returned back to being happy again which was nice to see

 

 

They returned it back into the water shortly afterwards.

 

After returning to the harbour around 12.15pm, they gave us 30 minutes to walk around the area, we just had an ice cream and wander. I can't remember what the area of the Island was called (as I was fast asleep on the way there) but it seemed to be a touristy area with plenty of Irish Bars!

 

Overall it was a really enjoyable excursion. I've never seen a dolphin in my life before so the were pretty cool to see.

 

We arrived back at the ship at around 1.30pm, and headed for lunch.

 

We had a relatively quiet afternoon out in the sunshine, and watching others on the flowrider, before watching the sail away. We were given a nice exit by the Port

 

 

Dinner tonight was back in Chic (as per night 1), although this time with the full menu. Service tonight was probably the slowest of the week, but was still very acceptable. The waiter apologised to us for the slow service (after a couple had complained to the head waiter infront of everyone), but we told him we really didn't think it had been overly slow. He still said he was very sorry that it took longer than it should have.

 

After dinner, we headed to "The Even Bigger Music Game Show" in 270. Being part of the 'younger generation' we didn't do very well, but still like to give these things a go. Pete from Essex (who I saw a lot round the ship over the week in various events, and made the trip memorable) was the star contestant who ended up winning a bottle of champagne.

 

We then stayed in 270 for more music from Rock the Boat before bed... (Early start in Lanzarote with the ship only being docked 7am - 1pm)

 

Day 6 Cruise Compass

http://www.keepandshare.com/doc20/6053/day-6-cruise-compass-pdf-1-7-meg?da=y

[swoopy2110]

We set the wake up alarm for 6.15am, and I stepped outside the Balcony to find us already alongside the pier.

 

I went up to the WJ for a brief breakfast, and watched the Costa Magica pull up nearby.

 

After breakfast, we needed to report to the Theatre for 7.15am. Today we were going to visit Fire Mountain, and also for a ride on a Camel!

 

The coach took us to Fire Mountain, where they showed us some very interesting demonstrations of just how hot the earth is. There was a hole in the ground that went down no more than 2 metres into ground. They threw a bush into the hole. This was the result.

 

 

I wouldn't want to fall in there!

 

Then they dropped a mini amount of water into a hole. The earth's response was to do the following with it.

 

 

They told us that this area of the Island also had the only restaurant in the entire world where the food is cooked entirely from the heat coming from the ground. Pretty cool!

 

We then got back on the coach, and went for a 20 minute coach ride round the rest of Fire Mountain, being told about it's history and how it was formed.

 

Then, we went to see the camels!

 

 

They sit you either side of the Camel, before you go for a brief 10 / 15 minute walk up the hill and back down again. The camels didn't seem to mind. I've never been for a ride on a camel before so really enjoyed this.

 

After the Camel ride we were taken to a wine cellar, and were able to try sweet and dry wine (It wasn't the best wine I've ever tasted but an enjoyable experience none the less). While there, amazingly it began to spit with rain! They told us the Island only gets two or three days of rain a year. It felt like being back in the UK again!

 

After another brief stop off to look out over the sea, it was time to head back to the Ship! We arrived back just after mid-day.

 

Personally, I found this tour to be really good value for money, and tipped the driver and guide. It was a very enjoyable excursion and I would recommend anyone to do it.

 

It was back up to the WJ for lunch, before heading out to the Pool deck to watch the sail away, and the Men's International Belly Flop Competition!

The cruise staff said that this was the first time it had been carried out on Anthem. It was fun to watch as always(I don't think my stomach is quite ready for me to enter it yet!).

 

After watching the Belly Flop Competition, I thought I'd have a go at Rock Climbing. I've never tried rock climbing on any of the other ships so was slightly nervous. The staff were also forced to close one of the three climbing walls at the time due to very strong winds.

 

I made it to the top! But my arms were killing by the time I got there!

 

 

You then let go of the wall, and the bungie style cord guides you to the floor again. I was glad I did it.

 

Tonight we had Dinner in Silk. The food again was as good as the first time. Superb!

 

After Dinner, we headed up to the Seaplex for Quest. Joff told us that this was the first time it had been attempted on the Anthem. Now, I have never participated in Quest before. Infact, I've never even watched it before! The only idea I had of what it was about was from CC, and also my sister told me about it (without going into detail). We turned up with literally no idea what to expect. Saying that, we bother decided we'd like to participate in it (again, not sure what to do or expect!) and entered the floor to join Team 4. My GF was assinged as one of the team captains. The summary of Quest was that I don't think I've ever laughed so much on a cruise ship before ever. I found the entire show brilliant to participate in, and watch other teams. The sight of the larger man on team 3 dressed out in full women's clothing had us both crying with laughter. I'll definitely be doing it again! It does seem lie one of those shows though that requires you to have a decent audience. Without people who are winning to participate and help you, you'll struggle!

Unfortunately, we just came 2nd and missed out on the bottles of bubbly!

 

To calm down from the laughter, we then headed back to the Music Hall for more Rock the Boat Music, before the Casino, and finally, Bed!

 

Day 7 Cruise Compass

http://www.keepandshare.com/doc20/6054/day-7-cruise-compass-pdf-1-8-meg?da=y

Edited June 9, 2015 by swoopy2110

[swoopy2110]

Woke up to see the grim realisation of grey skies, and wind... yes, we're actually heading back North now.. boo.

 

Headed down to the Esplanade to look at the designer watches at 10am, unsurprisingly I didn't buy anything!

 

I did notice in the Cruise Planner however that at 11am there was a "Ship Model Event". I have an absolute obsession with collecting them for some reason. I had read on CC that it was thought the models would not be available till later in the year (as they had forgotten to put Gigi on them!), and the staff said we were the first people to have the chance to buy them (Whether that's true or not, I don't know). What I had noticed as well, was that the price had increased from $34.95 on the Liberty, to $49.95 on the Anthem! Thankfully i had a $25 OBC which covered most of that.

 

After lunch, we headed to the "Anthem Culinary Nightmares" event in 270. Where the head chef was present with staff from Wonderland and Jamie's Italian. They had to cook meals with ingredients in under 20 minutes. Two people also had to judge the event (they were given a complementary meal in a specialty restaurant which was nice). It was enjoyable to watch, and the staff were handing out samples of food from both restaurants on the way out which was nice.

I did hear someone say - "Well, that was a waste of time wasn't it" to his wife on the way out, with a sour face on him. Honestly, I do wonder if these people enjoy any sort of amusement on their holidays?

 

We then headed to the "Battle of the Sexes" gameshow at the Schooner Bar to find the men were losing 2-1 so far throughout the week. We put a change to that and leveled the scores up at 2-2!

 

At 4pm, we headed to the SeaPlex to check out the bumper cars. We had a wait of around 5/10 minutes before it was our turn. It seems that you get about a 2/3 minute go on them to drive around and have fun. The thing we found hilarious however, was on the ride before us when the cars came to a stop, a women jumped out of her car and went up to this young boy saying things like "HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH OF HITTING ME NOW HAVE YOU, YOU LITTLE *******".... before marching up to the staff complaining "that boy and his friends kept hitting me while I was riding". The staff looked at her with genuine confusion of what she wanted them to do, before saying "I'm really sorry, but there is absolutely nothing we can do about that". She stormed off to her family to complain further, totally unimpressed.... Me and my GF burst out laughing. It's bumper cars you moron. What do you expect people to do. When it was our turn, we got into separate cars (obviously), and we thoroughly enjoyable riding round, hitting people, as well as each other!

 

 

 

Tonight, we headed to the 7pm showing of the Gift. It was a strange yet sensual show. I don't think most people understood what was going on (me included), but the technology in use was amazing.

 

After the show, we headed up to Divinely Decadence (without a reservation) where we were seated straight away (surprisingly). The food here was healthy yet delicious. I had the chicken enchiladas which tasted very freshly made.

 

The sea had started to become slightly more rocky, and I'd say this evening way the rockiest the ship got (The TV reported a force 9 / 10), but it was still nothing to be concerned about.

 

We headed to the music hall for the Liars Club Game show at 10.45pm. They told us it was the first time it had been run, and was a brand new game show for the Anthem. Basically, 4 staff members, each give a definition of a word, you have to run up with a piece of paper and give your team number to the person who's telling the truth. We ended up getting 3 out of 6. An elderly gentleman and his wife ended up with 6/6! Impressive!

 

After that, it was more Rock the Boat in the Music Hall, followed by a trip to Boleros, and the Casino

 

Day 8 Cruise Compass

http://www.keepandshare.com/doc20/6055/day-8-cruise-compass-pdf-1-8-meg?da=y

Edited June 9, 2015 by swoopy2110

[joand452]

trust ...... I think ....

 

 

If it's the same as on Quantum, the sea pass card for the main person in the cabin is in a tamper-evident envelope. You'd be able to see right away if it had been opened. Then the other seapass(es) and WOW bands are on the bed.

 

And to answer another question--no Cupcake Cupboard, but there is a La Patisserie that sells fancy pastries and for-a-fee coffees.

 

Enjoying your review!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[swoopy2110]

Our final port took us to Vigo. We awoke to find bright blue skies and lovely hot weather. I was really surprised, I though the last day of sunshine we'd see was in the Canary Islands. Everyone had their shorts back on!

 

None of the tours interested me, and I had done some minor research on Vigo. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much. However, after stepping off the ship, we found the city was very nice, and much better than expected

 

 

We just took a walk round, and went into some of the shops, before stopping off at a cafe for lunch. The service and wait time for the food to be delivered was poor. They did apologise without us telling them it was very slow. So they must have been aware. After lunch, we found some more shops, and bought some chocolate to bring back home.

 

After returning to the ship at around 2.30pm, we headed up to the pool deck to watch the sailaway. There was a P&O Ship that departed slightly ahead of us. We heard some people say they had been talking to people on that ship, who had just had an awful two days travelling through the Bay of Biscay on the way down from Southampton with very rough seas! Thankfully, when the captain gave us his leaving speech, he told us the sea on the way home would be calm.

 

After sailaway, we watch some more people on the flowrider, before sitting out on the pool deck just having a read in sunshine.

 

Just before 5.30pm, I headed down to Michael's Pub to watch the FA Cup Final with others who were gathered there. I had heard that it was also being shown out on the Pool Deck Big Screen, and went outside at half time. There was barely anyone outside as most had moved inside citing that it was too cold. I got a prime spot directly opposite the screen, and found the bar service much quicker.

 

After the football had finished, we had decided that tonight was to be our second formal night (in the Grande). Unfortunately, when we had checked the iPads round the ship for dining times earlier in the day, the only thing they offered us was 5.30pm. As the match did not finish until at least 7.30pm, we knew that this would be no good, so had to proceed with no reservation. The only nights we did not have a reservation were day 8 - Divenely Decedance (Where we were seated immediately), and tonight - the Grande.

 

We both got ourselves ready, and headed down to the Grande at 8.30pm. Unsurprisingly, they told us that they were currently full, and could we return at 9pm. As we did not have a reservation, I fully accepted that would be the case and we went to Sorrento's for a quick piece of pizza each, before heading up to the Schooner Bar for Piano Melodies from Tim (The conductor of We Will Rock You!).He was excellent to listen to and played music such as Toto - Africa.

 

Just after 9pm we headed back to the Grande. They welcomed us back, and thanked us for waiting. We were taken in and seated. We both noticed the restaurant now looked a lot quieter than 30 minutes previously. Tonight was also another "Taste of Anthem" night, where they were showcasing the best of the four restaurants.

 

We both had Lobster Tail (I actually had two starters and two mains!)

 

 

The waiter we were server by (I wish I could remember his name) was the best of the entire week (outside of Wonderland). He was so efficient, and provided excellent and friendly service. We were so impressed, we gave him a $10 tip! He thanked us immensely, before asking more about us an what we thought of the ship etc.

 

As I said in a previous post, the Grande was what I would be consider to be the most similar to the MDR experience. The staff in here we saw on both occasions were brilliant, with the service and food quality being of the best level of the week.

 

 

After dinner, we headed to the Music Hall to watch the Anthem Rocks show with Joff and his staff. Heard more complaining of people standing blocking others view who "had been sat there for hours and couldn't see". I genuinely don't know what the complainers wanted people to do.... the place was packed! It was enjoyable to see the staff look like they were having fun

 

 

After the show, yes, you guessed it! More Rock the Boat in the Music Hall.

After Rock the Boat, we headed up to the Solarium to see the Pool Party. It was all dance music being played which wasn't my scene at all, so after a little while we headed back down to Boleros.

 

I think I must have been enjoying the alcohol a lot this evening, as I ended up on the dance floor numerous times with my GF (I barely ever get up and dance... EVER!)

 

After Boleros, it was the Casino, and Bed.... As we reach the final day of the Cruise :(

 

Day 9 Cruise Compass

http://www.keepandshare.com/doc20/6056/day-9-cruise-compass-pdf-1-7-meg?da=y

Edited June 10, 2015 by swoopy2110

[BlueSkiesTX]

Great review!

[swoopy2110]

We awoke this morning. It was cold. It was grey. It was windy. Joy!

We had a quiet morning reading, before heading to the WJ for lunch, for the final time.

 

After lunch, I did something I've wanted to do on all previous cruises, by never had the guts to.... Stand Up Surfing on the Flowrider!

 

Given that it was freezing cold, the queue for the Flowrider was minimal.

 

I sat and watched people at first to see what they did. After a while, I got in the queue and gave it a go.

 

The staff member guided me where to stand, and body position etc. They must have some patience, as I'm sure they say the same thing over and over again.

 

On the first go, I ended up falling over after about 5 seconds.

 

I had about another 5/6 goes, and was able to stay upright and surf for around 30 / 40 seconds which I was delighted with!

 

 

I did smash the back of my head against the Flowrider floor during one of my goes falling over which did provide me a slight headache for the rest of the day. I suppose that's why they make you sign a waiver though!

 

 

We went to the battle of the sexes gameshow, where I helped to lead the men to victory 3-2, obviously .... (Joking). All the men were given a baseball cap as a prize. I had been eyeing them up all week throughout the various gameshows, so I was glad to be given one :)

 

We then went to take part in Bingo. The jackpot was over $4500 which would have been a lovely amount of money to go home with. Unfortunately I was just 3 numbers short in the final game! We ended up sat on the same table with a lovely couple from Scotland who were both enjoyed chatting too throughout the session.

 

Tonight's dinner was in American Icon. I thoroughly took advantage of it being the final evening, and enjoyed 2 starters, 2 mains and 2 desert.... The food, as it has been all week, was excellent.

 

After dinner, we attended the finish that lyric gameshow in the Music Hall which was enjoyable to watch. Afterwards we stayed for the Farewell Karoke session, before moving to 270 to see Rock the Boat for the final time!

 

After Rock the Boat, we went back to Boleros, again, for the final time. I was disappointed that one of the bar staff, Ruben, was not present tonight as we had both planned to tip him. He had provided the best and efficient bar service over the 10 days by far. He also seemed very customer friendly. If I ever see him on another sailing I will be sure to give him double!

 

We then made our final visit to the Casino to win our fortune... I mean, blow the rest of our money in the machines! Before heading to Sorrentos for the last time for 3am pizza before heading to bed... Sad times

 

Day 10 Cruise Compass

http://www.keepandshare.com/doc20/6057/day-10-cruise-compass-pdf-1-7-meg?da=y

Edited June 10, 2015 by swoopy2110

[swoopy2110]

The final morning, we woke up, both feeling sad. Headed to the WJ for the final breakfast, and then to our debarkation area which was 270.

 

We had initially been given luggage tags to get off the ship at 7.30am. However, as we had been in no rush, we had changed them for 9.30am ones at Guest Services.

 

We were called at around 9.15am to leave, and headed off the ship.

 

 

How depressing...

 

Our luggage was waiting for us. We proceeded through customers and walked to the train station, heading back to Gatwick Airport, and finally, back to the Isle of Man..

[swoopy2110]

Bionic Bar

 

 

Fun to watch it create people's drinks. I had a non-alcoholic cocktail from it over the week. It was tasty! What I think would be better though would be if you could reduce the amount of ice it puts in the drinks, as you can either currently pick from no ice, or 5 parts ice, which was too much for me.

 

It seemed busier at the beginning of the cruise when people wanted to use it more. It seemed a bit gimmicky, but I'm sure there'll be people who will use it a lot.

 

Restaurants

 

 

Very different to see four different styles of complementary restaurant. We found the Dynamic Dining Choice Concept worked really well for us. For the 8 / 10 days we had made reservations, we waited a maximum of 2 minutes to be seated on any night. As you will haves seen earlier in the review, on the night we did not make a reservation at the Grande we had to wait for 30 minutes.

 

Therefore, if you do not want to wait, and only based on that one experience, I would suggest you make reservations.

 

One other comment about dining. The waiters in all of the restaurants certainly seemed much less personal than that of the MDR. None of them really asked how you were doing, what your names were etc. but this did not detract from the service or the quality of food received. Some of the staff did seem rushed though, particularly in Chic and American Icon. I wonder if they need more waiters? I suspect that those who picked "Classic" dining may have thought the opposite though, as they would have got to know the waiter a bit more? I'd be interested in hearing people's thoughts who had Classic Dining.

 

Would I go on a ship with DD again though? Absolutely! The choice of food was so varied and different every night. The menu changing half way throughout the cruise helped too.

 

Room Steward

Our Steward was fantastic. We gave him a massive tip at the end of the holiday. The room was always immaculate, and made up in record time.

 

Artwork

 

There was so much artwork on the ship of all varied types. It was so refreshing to see. You'll love it!

 

 

 

Venues

There was so many different venues and spaces in use throughout the day and night. A few as follows -

 

270 as an amazing space. They told us the room cost $30 million to create alone!

 

Music Hall is also a large space over two floors. Had some excellent nights in here.

 

Boleros was the place to be after hours with music of all generations, and dancing.

 

The Royal Esplanade felt so different to the Royal Promenade, but in a good way. It was always nice to walk down here.

 

Solarium is also an amazing inside space, and was much better than the equivalent venue on the Liberty

 

Complainers

Go and try to wreck someone else's holiday! The amount of things the staff have to listen to is a joke.

Edited June 10, 2015 by swoopy2110

[swoopy2110]

I'll finish off with a few more pictures from round the ship

 

 

 

 

 

 

[swoopy2110]

Thank you for reading my review, and sailing along with us!

 

 

Oh, and just finally, if anyone knows where you can get Dos Equis in the UK, please let me know!

 

 

I discovered it on the Liberty a few years ago and became absolutely obsessed with the stuff. Ordering it by the case off the internet. About 3 years ago, as far as I am aware, they stopped importing it into the UK, and the only place I have been able to get it is on RCI Cruises!

 

So I anyone knows of anywhere I can get it in the UK, please let me know, I will be forever grateful!

 

Final Thoughts

 

Overall, we both had an absolutely excellent holiday, and made some great memories. The ship was beautiful, and so different to the other RCI Ships.

 

Visited some lovely places, tried out some new things, ate new things, drank new things, just basically had an ace time :)

 

Would I go on another Quantum Class Ship???? WITHOUT A DOUBT..... YES!!