Pre/Live Review- 11/27/16- 12 Night Anthem of the Seas (Star Class)

[shamona2ad]

Hello Cruisers

 

Let me start off my introducing my husband and myself. We are from Atlanta, GA and we are fairly new to cruising as this will be our 4th cruise. We are in our 40's no children but we have a dog named "NUPIE" and will be celebrating Bobby's retirement on this cruise.

 

I am a planner and enjoy reading detailed information about major purchases or vacation locations. Since our first cruise I luckily found Cruise Critic and it has been an important resource to me for planning our cruises. This is my first review and like other first time authors of reviews I only hope my review can offer others insight into planning their cruise and/or answer questions you may have. With this 12 night cruise I made the decision to give a pre/live review so I can insure I capture everything each day and not forget important details [emoji16]. I will include some background links, post pictures and detail as much as I can for those who are new to cruising as I am.

 

We decided to sell on the Anthem as it was advertised as an innovative ship with many new activities. We selected the 12 night cruise to really enjoy the time and with the excitement of visiting 6 ports we could not resist. Our other cruises have been 7 night cruises so we are excited as you can imagine. Taking advantage of a weekend special, we decided to try the new Royal Suite Class and booked a Grand Loft Balcony Suite which is included under Star Class. For those not familiar with the Royal Suite Class (Star, Sky, Sea) see the link below. Star is the highest class with the most amenities and includes the new "Royal Genie" service.

https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/royalsuiteclass

 

After booking, a couple of weeks later a flash sale was advertised and we saw the Royal Suite was available. We decided to "splurge" and go for it. So we are now in the Royal Suite!!! My advice before final payment is to check the website frequently and call. Sales advertised at a better pricing than what you currently have will enable you to take advantage of the new price. We were able to reduce our cruise pricing twice based on sales. Just remember you can do this before final payment.

 

We are 7 days away from boarding and I will start the pre-review now. So here goes!!

 

 

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[JoyMouse]

NUPIE is so cute! Your cruise looks wonderful. Great job on snagging the Royal Suite.

[Frick_&_Frack]

Thanks for doing this! I'll be on Anthem in Star Class in March, so I'm very interested in this review.

 

(and, Nupie is adorable!)

[shamona2ad]

CC Reviews of AOTS

 

As I mentioned I use CC to plan my cruises so I have read many reviews about AOTS. As I have read and many have commented this ship has mixed reviews. We can be a go with the flow, make the best of it type of couple but we can also have high expectations about the service we receive. This is especially true if it is advertised. All of our cruises have been on RCCL larger ships with 3000+ passengers so we are accustom to this type ship. We both have an open mind and I will be honest with my review based of course on our opinions.

 

Pre-Cruise

 

I use a mobile app to plan and take notes so I created a cruise notebook to organize things. I then created sub-notebooks to include topics such as: Things to Do, Flight/Transportation/Hotel, Port Activities, Packing List, Pre-Tour, Dining Schedule, Star Class

 

SUB-NOTEBOOK: Flight/Transportation/Hotel

 

* We are flying in the day before to the Newark, NJ airport. We have a very early flight!!

 

* We are staying at the Embassy Suites in Elizabeth, NJ (11 miles the Cape Liberty Cruise Port). When you check-in you can schedule a time for the shuttle to take you to the cruise port. It is $20 per person. Note: They do have a Park, Ride & Cruise Package as well

 

* We are using GroundLink for our transportation from the cruise port to the airport. The cost was $45 per person plus gratuities

https://www.groundlink.com

 

SUB-NOTEBOOK: Pre-Tour (Saturday)

 

Bobby has never been to New York so we scheduled a tour to see the city. We have booked High Quality Tours: Land & Sea NYC. It is a 6-hour tour that starts at 11:00 am. We will visit several NYC sites (9/11 Memorial), Several Views (Empire State Building), and includes a 1-hr Sightseeing Cruise. This particular tour includes shuttle service to our hotel after the tour. For more info and details of all sites visited/viewed see link

http://highqualitytours.com/product/land-sea-nyc/

 

We reserved shuttle service with Airport Shuttles to take us from the Newark Airport straight to the tour starting location.

https://www.airportshuttles.com/supershuttle.php

 

 

 

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[jimbri]

Looking forward to your review. NUPIE is adorable.

[divaofdisney]

How awesome is this that you both are fortunate enough to sail on such an amazing ship and in the Royal Suite. We could never ever in our lifetime afford something like that but I am so happy you all can and will have to live vicariously through you all. I hope you enjoy every second of it. We were on the Inaugural sailing of Oasis and thought that experience was about the best we had ever had- we saved for 2 years to afford our little meager D1 balcony on the hump- We had the best time ever!! I am really interested to see how you like it sailing from a northern port- We live in Ocean City MD and have considered sailing from there on 1 of the newer ships so this review will be very useful and helpful for us. I am excited to see what your thoughts are and look forward with anticipation to this review. Thanks so much for doing this for all of us!!!!! :D

[shamona2ad]

SUB-NOTEBOOK: Packing List

 

Since this is a 12 night cruise I thought it best to create a packing list so (1) I don't forget anything and (2) pack as efficiently as possible. I plan is to use the Wash/Fold and Laundry service half-way during the cruise.

 

This is the part I wish was more consistent with RCC customer service. I called to inquire about the laundry service as to if it was included with Star Class. One CSR told me no and that I would have to pay. One CSR told me I would have to pay but a minimal cost. The 3rd told me with Star class there will be several nights of complimentary service and the other times a minimal cost. I guess I will just have to see once onboard.

 

SUB-NOTEBOOK: Dining Schedule

 

As with my pre-cruise planning, I have historically planned and made our dinner schedule with a mix of main dining and speciality restaurants (reservations prior to boarding).

 

Because we are Star Class, all speciality restaurants including Chef's Table are complimentary. You can pre-book online but you will be charged (in reading other reviews you will be refunded once onboard) OR you can let your Royal Genie (RG) take care of the reservations once onboard. We have opted to let our Royal Genie handle everything. I do have my dinner scheduled planned so I will just give it to my RG to make reservations for speciality and Chef's Table. I was able to make reservations for the main dining times myself.

 

We are sailing on the fortunate or unfortunate cruise (depends on who you ask) to be switching back from Dynamic Dining to RC Traditional Dining. "Cruisers opting for set-seating dining (6 p.m. or 8:30 p.m.) will be assigned to either Chic or The Grande, and those who choose flexible dining will be placed in Silk or American Icon". We still like to be flexible so we are doing the My Time Dining. More information on the decision to go back to RC traditional dining.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=7235

 

 

SUB-NOTEBOOK: Port Activities

 

We are visiting 6 posts and the decision for us was to book a couple of tours (found suggestions by reading cruise reviews) but mainly explore the ports on our own, shop, and eat at some local restaurants.

 

** San Juan, Puerto Rico

Bacardi Distillery: Mixology Tour 4:30pm

http://www.visitcasabacardi.com/tours/mixology-tour/

 

** Phillipsburg, St.Maarten

Explore on our own

 

** St. John's, Antigua

Elmo's Luxury Safari Tour

http://www.luxurysafariantigua.com/

 

** Bridgetown, Barbados

Explore on our own

Resturant: Raggamuffins

 

** Fort De France, Martinque

Explore on our own

 

** Basseterra, St.Kitts

Explore on our own

 

REQUEST: If you know of some good restaurants in the various ports please suggest. Also my husband wants to purchase Pure White Hennessy Cognac on this cruise if you know of places we can purchase please share the locations.

 

Thanks

[shamona2ad]

SUB-NOTEBOOK: Things to do

 

For a 12 night cruise or vacations in general I needed to develop a list of things we need to do before the cruise. As you can see I have to plan with several list because I will totally forget something if I don't [emoji51].

 

This is my list so far if others have things to add please share.

 

- Schedule boarding for Nupie

- Complete hold mail service (USPS) online

- Call bank/credit card company to notify them of travel dates

- Go to the bank to get cash (for gratuities etc)

- Let neighbors know we will be out of town for 2 weeks

- Download movies on iPad for flights

- Start taking Airborne 2 weeks before cruise (immune support' I do not want to be sick [emoji40] on this cruise!!)

- Contact family/friends to let them know you will be on VACATION [emoji57]

 

 

I found on CC many packing/ hack list. See links below.

 

Packing List: http://www.cruisecritic.com/search/results.cfm?q=Packing+list

 

Misc. Cruise Hacks: http://www.cruisecritic.com/search/results.cfm?q=Cabin+hacks

 

 

 

 

 

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[shamona2ad]

SUB-NOTEBOOK: Star Class

 

Link on the RC site about Star Class:

https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/royalsuiteclass/star

 

There are several great reviews on the Star Class experience that has helped me to know what to expect. A couple of reviews are listed below. There are also several reviews out there on the Sky and Sea Class as well.

 

* MattInFLL: Allure Star Class - first and maybe continuing impressions 5/29 http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2361632

 

* loveg: Live on Anthem of the Seas Royal Suite Class http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2413185

 

I started this notebook to notate questions and special request I had for our Royal Genie (RG) before and during the cruise. On the RC website the information was listed below. So of course I was anticipating items at each communicated timeframe.

 

In the weeks before you sail, your Royal Genie will learn your specific preferences, so they may turn the most unforgettable vacation dreams into a reality.

• 6 weeks before: Your Royal Genie will contact you and ask you to complete an important survey about your preferences. Based off the information provided, your Royal Genie will begin preparations to personalize your vacation accordingly.

 

• 2 weeks before: Your Royal Genie will contact you to confirm arrival information via e-mail.

 

• 10 days before: Your Royal Genie will invite you to download the Loop app – an exclusive Star messaging tool that allows fast, easy and convenient communication between you and your Royal Genie. Loop will be available from point of download until four days after your cruise.

---------------------

 

- We received our RC Star Class Pre-Cruise Questionnaire on 10/17 (on time). On previous reviews someone took pictures of the questions so I jotted down some response in advance.

 

*** Let me know if you want to see pics of the questionnaire and I will post.***

 

- We received our Welcome email from our RG Mimmi on 11/16 (so far so good)

 

 

 

- Our next email was Important Arrival Information received on 11/16)

 

 

- The RG Experience Loop App email came on 11/17 (exactly 10 days!!)

 

The RG Loop App is a way to communicate with your RG and they can communicate with you as well on board.

 

 

So far communication has been great. I have asked a couple of questions and the responses have been within 24 hours. Keep in mind our RG Mimmi is taking care of guest on a current cruise as well.

 

****I will "sign-off" for now and will return Saturday with the start of the cruise review!!

 

 

 

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[whitshel]

Sounds like this will be an awesome experience. cant wait for the rest:)

[shamona2ad]

Hello Cruisers

 

Let me start off my introducing my husband and myself. We are from Atlanta, GA and we are fairly new to cruising as this will be our 4th cruise. We are in our 40's no children but we have a dog named "NUPIE" and will be celebrating Bobby's retirement on this cruise.

 

I am a planner and enjoy reading detailed information about major purchases or vacation locations. Since our first cruise I luckily found Cruise Critic and it has been an important resource to me for planning our cruises. This is my first review and like other first time authors of reviews I only hope my review can offer others insight into planning their cruise and/or answer questions you may have. With this 12 night cruise I made the decision to give a pre/live review so I can insure I capture everything each day and not forget important details [emoji16]. I will include some background links, post pictures and detail as much as I can for those who are new to cruising as I am.

 

We decided to sail on the Anthem as it was advertised as an innovative ship with many new activities. We selected the 12 night cruise to really enjoy the time and with the excitement of visiting 6 ports we could not resist. Our other cruises have been 7 night cruises so we are excited as you can imagine. Taking advantage of a weekend special, we decided to try the new Royal Suite Class and booked a Grand Loft Balcony Suite which is included under Star Class. For those not familiar with the Royal Suite Class (Star, Sky, Sea) see the link below. Star is the highest class with the most amenities and includes the new "Royal Genie" service.

https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/royalsuiteclass

 

After booking, a couple of weeks later a flash sale was advertised and we saw the Royal Suite was available. We decided to "splurge" and go for it. So we are now in the Royal Suite!!! My advice before final payment is to check the website frequently and call. Sales advertised at a better pricing than what you currently have will enable you to take advantage of the new price. We were able to reduce our cruise pricing twice based on sales. Just remember you can do this before final payment.

 

We are 7 days away from boarding and I will start the pre-review now. So here goes!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bobby & Andria

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[Frick_&_Frack]

Thanks so much, Andria, for the great details! I'll be following along every step of the way. I'm so excited for you (and, it's passing the time until it's my turn). Thanks!

[clochette]

I am so excited to read about your adventure, thank for sharing with us.

[vaborn2cruise]

We just completed the 12-day Oct 29-Nov 10 on the Anthem. We tried all 4 complimentary restaurants but found American Icon to be our favorite. If you can get Stefan, he was the best!

 

Be sure to book IFly. Absolutely loved it!

 

Unless you are a diehard shopper, steer clear of the Royal Promonade during the "sales". that is the one area of the ship I found to be small. Too many people, not enough room.

 

Participated in several Trivia sessions -- passes the time during sea days.

 

Our ports were Western Caribbean and Mexico so I can't give you any tips there.

 

Enjoy! You will have a great vacation!

[shamona2ad]

Thanks!!

 

 

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[vaborn2cruise]

What type of breed is Nupie? He is adorable.

[kloakanddagger]

Nupie is a "Teddy Bear" and is the most popular of Teddy Bear puppies for sale called Zuchon, Shichon or Tzu Frise. These are the names referred to for the cross breeding of the small dog breeds Bichon Frise and Shih Tzu.

 

Bobby

 

 

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[PortSideCruzan]

 

 

Hi Bobby & Andria :)

 

Wow! Looking forward to & certainly subscribing to your adventure! Thank you for taking us along. My wife & I will be sailing an identical itinerary aboard the Anthem for the February 7th to 19th Valentine's voyage. Have a wonderful time & a terrific journey! Enjoy!!

 

 

 

:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jakejraj]

Hi Bobby & Andria,

 

We are also on this cruise and will be staying in a Star Class Loft Suite. Mimmi is also our RG. [emoji41] You will recognize Sylvia and me as she just had shoulder surgery and will be in a sling.

 

We have a Maltese named Jake. I need to get a recent pic.

 

Sounds like you are very much the planner so cool to get all your great information. Thank you!

 

Have you consider eating in Coastal Kitchens? If it is a good as Luminae on Celebrity, we will be in for a treat.

 

Gotta get back to packing. Looking forward to your posts and meeting NUPIE's owners.

 

Phil

 

 

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[watson50]

good eating in Antigua and St Maarten.we will be sailing with you guys on the 27th.second time on anthem.in Antigua there is Hemmingways.its on the right side as you walk straight from the dock.the place is very well known

and the food is outstanding.also in St.Maarten go to Maho beach.taxis are very regular and reliable.hang out at Sunset bar and enjoy the planes landing and taking off.by the way,the food and party groove are pretty intense.Or,once you get off the water taxi, you will have the beach on the left with all kinds of local fare,quite a nice selection. Wifey and I like to go to the Barefoot Restaurant,which is just to the right of the water taxi dock.it's a great spot to eat,hang out,and people watch.Hope to meet you guys on Mondays Meet and Greet. 4 Days and a wake up.We are Keith and Carol (watson50) and hope you have a great cruise.Peace

[shamona2ad]

good eating in Antigua and St Maarten.we will be sailing with you guys on the 27th.second time on anthem.in Antigua there is Hemmingways.its on the right side as you walk straight from the dock.the place is very well known

 

and the food is outstanding.also in St.Maarten go to Maho beach.taxis are very regular and reliable.hang out at Sunset bar and enjoy the planes landing and taking off.by the way,the food and party groove are pretty intense.Or,once you get off the water taxi, you will have the beach on the left with all kinds of local fare,quite a nice selection. Wifey and I like to go to the Barefoot Restaurant,which is just to the right of the water taxi dock.it's a great spot to eat,hang out,and people watch.Hope to meet you guys on Mondays Meet and Greet. 4 Days and a wake up.We are Keith and Carol (watson50) and hope you have a great cruise.Peace

 

 

Great suggestions.. we have them down. See you onboard!

 

 

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[shamona2ad]

Hi Bobby & Andria,

 

We are also on this cruise and will be staying in a Star Class Loft Suite. Mimmi is also our RG. [emoji41] You will recognize Sylvia and me as she just had shoulder surgery and will be in a sling.

 

We have a Maltese named Jake. I need to get a recent pic.

 

Sounds like you are very much the planner so cool to get all your great information. Thank you!

 

Have you consider eating in Coastal Kitchens? If it is a good as Luminae on Celebrity, we will be in for a treat.

 

Gotta get back to packing. Looking forward to your posts and meeting NUPIE's owners.

 

Phil

 

 

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Hi Phil

 

Yes we are going to try Coastal Kitchen a couple of nights. We also decided to try Chef's Table. See you onboard!!

 

 

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[ObstructedView2]

 

 

Hi Bobby & Andria,

 

I hope you come back to your Anthem live review.

 

 

 

:)

 

[kloakanddagger]

Dear ObstructedView2,

 

I am working on a Story in Pictures for our cruise on the AOTS. Andria will provide a more elaborate and detailed review of our cruise as well as the ports of call!

 

Bobby

 

 

___________________________

Bobby & Andria

 

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[shamona2ad]

11/26 & Day 1

 

We decided to fly in one day early and take a tour of NYC. We booked the Land & Sea NYC tour with High Quality Tours (http://highqualitytours.com/). It was an excellent tour and reasonable. The tour is six hours and we visited the following sites by an enclosed tour bus which was great due to the cold weather. The 9/11 Memorial, the Wall Street District, the New York Stock Exchange, South Street Seaport, Battery Park, Rockefeller Center, Madison Square Garden and Central Park (sites where we got off the bus and toured). As we drove along to the various sites we were told of photo opportunities of additional landmarks. The tour guide, Jay, provided a wonderful history of the city. We then hopped onto a ferry and took a one hour sightseeing cruise which took us past the Statue of Liberty. I forgot to mention we stopped for lunch as well. After the tour, we were dropped off at our New Jersey hotel the Embassy Suites by Hilton Newark Airport as this was included in our tour price. The hotel stay was good as we like staying at Embassy Suites for the hot breakfast.

 

On Sunday we awoke had breakfast and got ready to go to the cruise port. We decided to use Uber instead of the hotel shuttle because the price was about the same and it was faster to get to the port. I do believe it was a little cheaper to use Uber. Based on our email arranged arrival time with our Royal Genie Mimmi, we arrived at the pier around 11:00 am. The traffic had started to back up but it was not bad at all as we only waited in traffic for about 10 minutes. As per the email sent from Mimmi we were dropped off at Zone 6 where a purple flag that stated “Star Class” was clearly visible. There was a gentleman that check us in and notified Mimmi of our arrival. She quickly arrived and introductions took place and off we went to board the ship with Mimmi leading the way and our luggage following us. We were escorted to a security check point our bags were scanned and off we went to our suite. We were in the Royal Loft- 8320 (see video of suite posted by Bobby).

Mimmi escorted us in the room where complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a bottle of champagne were on the table from several of the specialty restaurants. Mimmi went over all of the Star Class benefits (see documents posted by Bobby) and went over a schedule of dinner and activities she has scheduled for us (see schedule posted by Bobby). Being that all specialty restaurants are include in Star Class she recommended that we eat in the specialty and not in the main dining room. We even had a night at Chef’s Table as that is include as well. We each received our Voom internet codes. As far as the entire cruise I must say we had no issues with wifi and it was as RCCL has advertised the fastest at sea.

Some things I would like to note about Star Class that I saw questions on Cruise Critic prior to our cruise:

• Laundry Service: Wash/Fold, Press are all complimentary

• Room Service is complimentary including ordering from the Specialty Restaurants. Mimmi requested that we always call her for our room service order.

• Starbucks specialty drinks are complimentary

• All menu items on the Johnny Rocket’s menu are complimentary (including the shakes)

• All Day Access to Coastal Kitchen. Note: On several occasions we saw the Captain eating in CK as well. He would always go by every table and greet everyone. Throughout the cruise the Captain was very personable and approachable.

• Lunch at the Specialty Restaurants that are open are complimentary

• There is a cocktail cart daily (3:00pm-5:00pm) where you can have drinks delivered to your room (see menu posted). You must arrange for the service if you like with your Royal Genie. Usually when we ordered room service we ordered drinks from the bar that were delivered with room service. Just remember to take a picture of the bar menu as they do not have them in the rooms.

• Our mini bar was stocked with bottle water, coke products (can soft drinks). We requested Powerade and Vitamin Water and those were stocked for us as well.

Mimmi left us and we unpacked and got ready for lunch. Surprisingly on our bed was a “pillow menu” in which we both selected pillows for our use on the cruise (Bobby will post menu). We ate lunch in Coastal Kitchen and dinner at Wonderland (Bobby will post the menu). The dinner was excellent and worth the experience. During dinner Mimmi stopped by to check on us and wanted to see if we needed anything. That was a nice surprise!

Edited December 8, 2016 by shamona2ad