Basketball Courts on Anthem

[Savvy traveler 713]

How does the use of the basketball courts work? Is there a specific schedule that allows for open use? We are traveling with a bunch of teenage boys who love to play basketball.

[Biker19]

Yes, though lots of stuff happens in that area - those teenagers might divert their attention to the upper level of Seaplex.

[reallyitsmema]

How does the use of the basketball courts work? Is there a specific schedule that allows for open use? We are traveling with a bunch of teenage boys who love to play basketball.

 

The indoor court is available for basketball when there is nothing else scheduled on the court. They will also put up a screen to split the court to allow for a scheduled activity on one side and basketball on the other side. Things like roller skating and bumper cars use the whole court.

[Truluv]

My sons played basketball every summer on our RCL vacations (6'7" and 6'6", so we were a basketball family). The guys, whether teens or men who like pickup games, pretty much work out how to share the court. On a few occasions, my sons found players who were at a pretty high level but most of the time it's just guys having fun. There's usually groups waiting for a turn at the side of the court during sea days. It's easy to find others to fill out a team especially at the beginning of the week. Some cruises we've been on have been all about fun with mostly teen players, and on other cruises there have been more men and college players who can be pretty competitive. We've had both kinds of cruises, with no way to predict who will be on the court. (We even had one cruise where my sons were the only ones playing one day.) The guys always seem to be good at figuring out how not to hog court-time, and will informally agree on when to call a game so the next group gets an orderly turn. I think the heat has a lot to do with that too -- no one can play or hours when it's so hot! Often there will be a game at each basket, instead of using the whole court. My recommendation is to make sure they bring lots of changes of tanks/tees, socks and shorts if they plan on playing a lot of ball. They obviously will also want water bottles. Between the heat and the activity, they will sweat a lot. Phew - think STINKY guys.

 

In all of our cruises, we only had one incident with someone losing their temper and beoming aggressive on the court. (That player had trouble finding a team for the rest of the week, since the guys that hang out at the courts don't want to play with anyone with short fuses. After all, it's vacation not the NBA).

 

Again, the players are usually all great at sharing the court and keeping it fun. Your teens will have a great time! And if they compete in the free throw tourney for the treasured RCL medal, warn them about the wind on a sea day LOL.

Edited April 5, 2017 by Truluv

[reallyitsmema]

My sons played basketball every summer on our RCL vacations (6'7" and 6'6", so we were a basketball family). The guys, whether teens or men who like pickup games, pretty much work out how to share the court. On a few occasions, my sons found players who were at a pretty high level but most of the time it's just guys having fun. There's usually groups waiting for a turn at the side of the court during sea days. It's easy to find others to fill out a team especially at the beginning of the week. Some cruises we've been on have been all about fun, and on some cruises you may find some serious players. We've had both kinds of cruises, with no way to predict who will be on the courts. However, the guys always seem to be good at figuring out how not to hog the court, and will informally agree on when to call a game so the next group gets an orderly turn. I think the heat has a lot to do with that too -- no one can play or hours when it's so hot! Often there will be a game at each basket, instead of using the whole court. My recommendation is to make sure they bring lots of changes of tanks/tees, socks and shorts if they plan on playing a lot of ball. They obviously will also want water bottles. Between the heat and the activity, they will sweat a lot. Phew - think STINKY guys.

 

In all of our cruises, we only had one incident with someone losing their temper and beoming aggressive on the court. (That player had trouble finding a team for the rest of the week, since the guys that hang out at the courts don't want to play with anyone with short fuses. After all, it's vacation not the NBA).

 

Again, the players are usually all great at sharing the court and keeping it fun. Your teens will have a great time!

 

Anthem does not have an outdoor basketball court, the only court is in the Seaplex and it is used for many other things other than basketball. There is roller skating, bumper cars, and trapeze school to just name a few.

[Truluv]

Whoops - so sorry. I can't believe I missed the important fact that OP was asking about Anthem! Wish I could take down my dumb post :-(.

[firsttimecruise2017]

My 13 year old was disappointed with the lack of basketball time. The same place is used for so many activities there is not much time dedicated to basketball.

[framboesa]

The basketball had priority in our last anthem cruise...they had other games in cruise compass to last one hour, but after 20 minutes they stoped the games saying that there are guests that prefer basketball...This hapened to my husband, that was in a group of +20 guys playing soccer (that was schedulled in the cruise compass from 2 to 3 pm) and had to leave before 2:20 pm because other guyes were asking to play basketball...This happened twice. They will have a blast if they love basketball!