A Pseudo-Live Review - Anthem of the Seas - June 30 - July 9th

[Overtyme]

It's the end of day three and I'm relaxing on my balcony.

There are plenty of takes on this ship, from the highly unfavorable to the over-hyped and many in-between.

So I figured, what's one more?

Also, at my age, I figure that the only hope I have of remembering this is to put it in text.

Okay - so the journey begins on Thursday at 8:30 AM, Waze is set to go, the car is packed and my wife, older daughter (9) and younger daughter (3) left Long Island for Bayonne.

Some brief background:

My wife has been with me on Adventure, Serenade and Allure previous to this.

Our last cruise was 6 years ago (CRAP), on Allure.

My older daughter was with us on Allure as well, and our youngest, well, she wasn't in the picture yet.

For the 6 months leading up to this trip, I was trying every trick in the book to get my (then) 2 3/4 year old potty trained.

Why not, her sister was potty trained by this point.

But her sister was also not nearly as stubborn and determined to prove us wrong.

Needless to say, Adventure Ocean was not in the cards for the younger one with potty training being a requirement.

Neither is swimming in the pool.

But I digress.

We got to Bayonne, dropped off the luggage (curbside) and into the garage.

There were no lines at 10:40 when we arrived.

We had checked in online and uploaded photos for each of us well ahead of arrival.

This may have been the easiest arrival that we've ever had.

Royal Has gotten this down (mostly) to a science.

The only glitch was that boarding was delayed due to something with the fire doors and testing onboard.

Even with that, we were onboard by 11:30.

More about day one as time allows [emoji482]...

 

 

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[xpcdoojk]

I am confused, is the alpha alpha alpha cruise over, already?

 

Glad to hear you are back on a ship. Can't wait for you to describe the ship.

 

JC

[sha88]

I am confused, is the alpha alpha alpha cruise over, already?

 

Glad to hear you are back on a ship. Can't wait for you to describe the ship.

 

JC

 

I think after they dropped they family back off, they headed back out to sea to continue the cruise but I will let OP verify.

[dedosr]

I'll be on the next cruise. Waiting for more!

[Overtyme]

I think after they dropped they family back off, they headed back out to sea to continue the cruise but I will let OP verify.

 

 

In summary, we headed back, dropped almost 50 passengers off in Bayonne, headed back to sea around 2:30 am and made a delayed arrival in Bermuda at 10:00AM on day 3.

We also made a later departure from Bermuda at 6:00PM, with the rest of the itinerary continuing as scheduled.

We sailed close to 25 Knots then entire way and made up almost 10 hours of time.

Pretty amazing!

 

 

 

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[Overtyme]

Day 1 (Cont'd)

As I mentioned, boarding was smooth and mostly without incident.

 

 

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[Overtyme]

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, the first moment you cross over from gangway to ship:

 

 

 

 

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[Overtyme]

Day 1 (cont'd)

As I mentioned, boarding was a snap.

We headed straight for Cafe Two70 for lunch.

There was a virtual symphony playing and there was almost no line for food at Cafe Two70.

That venue is simply amazing!

There's nothing like it at sea.

I've now seen several shows and even though the story lines haven't been the best, the talent, format, effects have been top-notch.

 

Don't miss the virtual symphony!

 

Day 1 always go so fast!

At 1:00, we made our way to our cabins.

We have adjoining cabins 10184/10186.

The cabins are spacious and really well laid out.

Our luggage had made it to the cabin by the time we got there a record for us!

We had the divider on the balcony removed and the door better the cabins unlocked for easy access.

We asked for the beds to be separated in one of the rooms, with the intention of putting the two girls in one room and my wife and I in the other.

I'll post some pictures of this configuration later on.

It worked out really well!

It's currently day 4 and we just docked in St. Maarten.

I'll continue to build this review as time allows.

To set a few expectations, a lot of you have read about the unfortunate incident that took place during day one of this cruise.

I will not be commenting on this because I think that there has already been enough discussion on this topic and frankly it has no place in this review.

Also, I am not a sales rep for Royal Caribbean and am it is not my goal to sell you on this ship or itinerary.

It is my goal to offer what I hope is an objective perspective based on my experience on board.

 

I'm here to simply give you one person's perspective where each person will have a difference of opinion and experience.

 

Before I forget, I'd like to wish everyone a happy and a safe Independence Day!

More to come later.

 

 

 

 

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Edited July 4, 2016 by Overtyme

[PeterR717]

I'll continue to build this review as time allows.

 

Looking forward to it!

 

Any chance that you'll be uploading the compasses?

 

Enjoy the rest of the cruise!

[Overtyme]

Looking forward to it!

 

Any chance that you'll be uploading the compasses?

 

Enjoy the rest of the cruise!

 

 

Definitely!

Once I get back, I'll scan and upload the compasses.

 

 

 

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[King of Cruising]

So glad that you are posting this, and happy not to hear of the tragedy that occurred.

We are on this fine lady in November and would like all the information you can give us. Thank You. :cool:

[Single_dreamer]

Definitely!

Once I get back, I'll scan and upload the compasses.

 

 

 

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I just booked the Anthem. I'm curious how they deal with food allergies. I am booked under dynamic dining for now but a bit nervous about it.

[mommyloves2cruise]

I just booked the Anthem. I'm curious how they deal with food allergies. I am booked under dynamic dining for now but a bit nervous about it.

 

 

We leave on the Anthem on 7/14 with my son who has many food allergies. I don't want to takeover this thread but I 'm happy to private message you to tell you how they handle the allergies when we return.

 

 

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[Overtyme]

Day 1 (Cont'd)

After (mostly) unpacking, we made our way to our muster station in the Schooner Bar.

Muster Drill was at 4:00, a washy, washy song/video and then roughly 4:25 we left Bayonne.

 

If you're doing a classic dining rotation, be aware that you won't know which night is your formal night until you get into your cabin.

In our case, night #1 was formal night, except that it isn't enforced on the first and last nights due to luggage/packing constraints.

If your first night is formal night, you'll see some people dressed to the nines and then others dressed more casually.

I suspect not everybody received their luggage in time to get dressed up only an hour after muster drill.

 

Off to get ready for dinner. More about day one later on.

 

 

 

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[Homebody]

Can you tell me where the adjoining door is? When I was on the Explorer the adjoining door was next to the head of the bed, and we had a chair instead of a sofa. On the Liberty the adjoining door was opposite the foot of the bed next to the TV which was the best/easiest configuration. I've heard on the Anthem the rooms are not mirror images, and that one room will have the sofa near the bathroom and next door will have the sofa near the balcony. So I have trouble imagining where the door would be.

 

We board on the 14th and my married kids have adjoining rooms, both have babies. We plan on helping out by babysitting both babies some evenings with each baby in its own room with the door open between. Just trying to figure out the configuration of the rooms. One room is a D2 one is a D5.

[Majestic-NJ]

Day 1 (Cont'd)

After (mostly) unpacking, we made our way to our muster station in the Schooner Bar.

Muster Drill was at 4:00, a washy, washy song/video and then roughly 4:25 we left Bayonne.

 

If you're doing a classic dining rotation, be aware that you won't know which night is your formal night until you get into your cabin.

In our case, night #1 was formal night, except that it isn't enforced on the first and last nights due to luggage/packing constraints.

If your first night is formal night, you'll see some people dressed to the nines and then others dressed more casually.

I suspect not everybody received their luggage in time to get dressed up only an hour after muster drill.

 

Off to get ready for dinner. More about day one later on.

 

 

 

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Thanks for the reviews. We are boarding on July 28 for the nine night. Looking forward to more from you.

 

 

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[joromay]

We are on this cruise on July 28 and can't wait! I'll be curious to hear how your 9 year old enjoyed the kids club. My 9 year old can't wait! If by any chance you get to post the kids' compass for daily activities, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm also curious as to what you did with the kids in St. Maarten. We didn't book anything thinking we could venture out on our own. We have to 9 year olds in our group. Thanks so much and have a great time!

 

 

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[LuCruise]

Thanks for the review. Look forward to hearing more.

 

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[Overtyme]

A few minutes before lunch on day six, so I'll try to wrap up day one.

 

Muster Drill wrapped up at 4:30, down to our cabin to get dressed and then to Grand for dinner.

Our wait staff has been terrific. They really have gone out of their way to make every one happy.

We are classic dining I at 5:30.

Because we're traveling with little ones, having a routine dining time has been great for us.

I'll cover more about our dining experience at another time, but a tremendous amount of credit goes to Flora Beth and the wait staff for making each night feel special.

 

There were lots of activities on day one.

I just didn't get to take part in them because well, did I mention that I'm traveling with 3 yr old? [emoji51]

Also, the captain and crew for the tremendous job they did in balancing the needs of those affected by the day one tragedy and the vacation that they hope they can deliver on going forward.

 

 

 

 

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[Overtyme]

Can you tell me where the adjoining door is? When I was on the Explorer the adjoining door was next to the head of the bed, and we had a chair instead of a sofa. On the Liberty the adjoining door was opposite the foot of the bed next to the TV which was the best/easiest configuration. I've heard on the Anthem the rooms are not mirror images, and that one room will have the sofa near the bathroom and next door will have the sofa near the balcony. So I have trouble imagining where the door would be.

 

 

 

We board on the 14th and my married kids have adjoining rooms, both have babies. We plan on helping out by babysitting both babies some evenings with each baby in its own room with the door open between. Just trying to figure out the configuration of the rooms. One room is a D2 one is a D5.

 

 

I was going to cover this later, but since you asked [emoji4]

 

From 10186 looking at the doorway to 10184:

The door is opposite the bathroom in both 184 and 186.

 

 

 

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[Homebody]

Thanks! That's the best location yet!

[Overtyme]

10186 has the bed closer to the bathroom, but not too close. It's on the same wall as the couch. The couch is closest to the balcony. 10184 is flipped with the bed closest to the balcony and the couch on the wall after the bathroom.

These are laid out really well.

I'll post more pictures later on.

 

 

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[Homebody]

They are in 12294 and 12296. we have 8 cabins between 12292-12318, if anyone out there knows how any of these are configured we can figure out the rest of them......not that it really matters...:p. Just something else the do to kill the time over the next 9 days til we board. Lol :D

[Overtyme]

One more quick note about our balcony cabins.

This is the first time that we've booked adjoining cabins.

We booked one adult and one child in each cabin, knowing that actual occupancy would be two children in one cabin and my wife and I in the other.

I had some concerns about safety.

What if one. Child went out on their balcony in the middle of the night, climbed up on a chair and fell overboard?

I haven't seen anything posted about this, but if you look at the top of the balcony door, you'll see that there is a child safety-lock!

When the door is locked, you can engage the safety lock by pulling it out (note the red band that's exposed when it's engaged.

 

 

Simply push the knob back in (hiding the red band) to dis-engage the child safety lock on your balcony door.

 

Between the opening between our cabins and balconies and the safety locks, I slept like a baby each night with no worries about their safety.

 

 

 

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[lapovian]

Question: When your eating in any of the dinning rooms, does Soda come with your meal? or is that charged separately. I know it is extra, or you have to have the package to have soda most everywhere, but just uncertain about in the dinning rooms.

I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to by my kids the soda package or not. They both would like to have a Shirley Temple or Soda with their dinner, but not really much soda other than that.

Thanks!