Live - Anthem of the Seas 4/9/17 - 4/17/17

[Trackhead37]

On March 27th RCCL announced that "shorts, tee and tanks" were acceptable and was subsequently reversed on April 6th by removing those items from the list...apparently after a lot of complaints.

 

 

So I figured I'd get to some topics, while my wife and youngest son are doing the sushi making class; pictures and details to follow from her. I just wanted to touch on this shorts issue, as it seems to have become a big deal. RCCL made the mistake of listing shorts as being acceptable on their list of what each level of dress means. People made a big deal of it, causing the company to backtrack and remove shorts from any official list. In the end, you can wear shorts wherever you please; no one is going to say, sorry you can't come in here wearing shorts because that's just not how it goes. Even on formal nights, you don't have to get dressed up if you don't want to and no one will bother you. I've worn shorts to MDR and Costal Kitchen for dinner and have had no problems. I think passengers probably think about that more than any staff does. If you want to be comfortable and wear shorts, do it.

 

 

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[Trackhead37]

The Silent Party is pretty cool. Everyone gets headphones and you have two different 'stations' to listen to. You can flip the switch on the left side to either blue or green, each playing a different style of music. The dance floor quickly filled up and people were dancing all over, not just the dance floor. It's funny to watch and cool at the same time. You can take off your headphones and take it all in, watching everyone party and have fun without the music playing aloud. You do hear people singing along with what they are listening to. Me and my husband can listen to different music and still enjoy lol. This took place in the Music Hall tonight but I know they have had it in Two70 as well. I would recommend being part of it if you haven't already done so, even if you just "people watch" lol. It's basically like going to a club but it's made for all ages and everyone has a great time together, young and old. And you are in control of the music and loudness that you want (or don't want).

 

 

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One though on the silent party, was that I felt it should have been adult only at the time it was scheduled. I know they have a family one too, which is earlier in the day. I found many of the kids there with parents to be cute and it was fun to watch but, we both also noticed somewhat inappropriate dancing by a young girl, seeming to be looking for boy attention. There were also some older kids, that were a bit out of control, thinking it was cool or funny or something to throw the headphones on the floor and flipping them all around. Other than that, it was pretty fun.

 

 

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[Trackhead37]

I saw "The Gift" a month ago. And I totally got it. It's a bicycle. The gift is a bicycle right?

 

 

 

;p

 

 

 

dp

 

 

A bicycle, no no no, the gift was clearly enough LSD for the guy and his two adult kids still living with him.

 

 

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Edited April 15, 2017 by Trackhead37

[sromano516]

Good afternoon... I was too tired last night to post our experiences with We Will Rock You and the late night Comedy. People will strongly disagree with us but, we did not like We Will Rock You. I'm quite shocked that we only see good reviews and nothing negative. Maybe because we see too many Broadway shows in NYC or because I've always been a huge musical fan but, the storyline was annoying and the vocals (especially the lead singer) was not up to par. There were also technical difficulties a few times, causing delays and they also lost quite a few audience members because of it. I don't hold technical difficulties against them and felt bad that they lost audience specifically for that. Or people could have been using it as an excuse to leave if they weren't liking it, who knows. We stayed because I was waiting to love the show. I was super excited to see the show, which could have also been part of the disappointment. Dru (cruise director) even came out at one time to buy some time while they fix a problem. He is funny and I like him a lot. Anyway, I didn't like a lot of the roles and was yawning through most of the show. I can see why most people would love it but for me, I saw it as watching some high school play. I didn't like The Gift but I hate to say that I think I enjoyed The Gift more than We Will Rock You; the vocals matched the songs better and had more amazing visual effects. Please don't be nasty or take offense to my review... please keep in mind that this is my personal review and I fully know that most people enjoy the show. I liked the very ending and wish the show itself was more like that.

 

Moving on... late night Comedy last night started at 11:45pm, starring Jim David. It was great!! Totally made up for our unhappiness with the We Will Rock You show. I'm glad we stayed up for that. What else can I say, it was funny.

 

 

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[Trackhead37]

I hope you do not feel the pressure to eat in the CK. Each dining venue has its good and not so good aspects. Thank you for both of you for doing this review!!

 

 

Not at all. We really just did it to try it out and because we weren't that thrilled with the MDR menu that night.

 

 

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[sromano516]

My 14 year old son and I did the Sushi making class this morning at Izumi, started at 10am and was done by 11:50. It was a big class and yet it felt very personal and was a lot of fun. It's $30 a person; we ran into someone after embarking and signed up directly with him. I believe you can also sign up on the Royal IQ app as well as at the restaurant. The staff was very friendly and very concerned about being sanitary so you do wash your hands and wear a hat, apron and gloves. Everything was done slowly and simply, the chef went around to everyone personally after each thing. He also tried to make it as fun as possible as well as interactive. I highly recommend the class if you have time and like a little sushi. Don't have to be a sushi lover, even if you just like a California roll you would find it fun. The class had a lot of kids too so this is for young and old.

 

 

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[Trackhead37]

Thanks so much. I really appreciate the feedback. Personally, love the early hours (as I get up "late" at 5am). Enjoy!

 

 

Okay so, I am now officially a certified open water diver. It's not as joyous of an occasion as i would have liked it to be though. Our son finished off confined water dives 4 and 5 and we hit Coco Cay to begin our open water dives. He completed Open water dive 1 but wasn't able to get any further than that. As he takes medication for ADHD and has fine motor skill problems, I am proud that he got that far and really thought he was going to make it through. We suspect that he forgot to take his medication the morning of the first set of open water dives, which is probably what did him in. He wasn't able to equalize the pressure in his ears when descending and didn't want to dive anymore, because his ears were hurting at that point.

 

Into more details about the certification course through the ship, going to Coco Cay first is great because it's more shallow there and your maximum depth during open dives 1 and 2 is 40ft. So if we went to Nassau first, we wouldn't have been able to dive deep there. After completing confined dives 1 and 2, our dive instructor took us straight to a tender boat and we went over, setup our gear and walked out to do the two shore dives. The dives were skill intensive so I didn't really have time to pay attention to what was around, like fish and such. Our son was done after the first dive and I was bummed to be continuing on without him. The dive instructor really really tried to get him through it and to get him to continue and do the 2nd dive, since he couldn't do the 3rd and 4th one without completing that one. At the end of the 2nd dive, I got to enjoy the cabana with the wife and kids.

 

In Nassau, dives 3 and 4 were boat dives at two different dive sites. We had to carry off all equipment from the ship, except for the air tanks. One thing that's good to know, the website for the certification course says you must provide your own mask and snorkel but that actually isn't true; the ship provided those as well if you didn't have your own. Anyway, we met up and we're bussed to Stuart's cove, along with people signed up for the regular scuba diving excursion. We were basically treated like certified divers and just had a few more skills to perform during dive #3. After that, it was pretty much just treated like a regular dive, while we showed everything we learned along the way. We went out over the wall, which drops off thousands of meters in depth and was a cool experience, not being able to see bottom. Saw tons of tropical fish, swam with some big turtles down there and a huge remora as well. Briefly spotted a reef shark too.

 

It was a somewhat tiring experience but definitely worth it, to get certified while cruising. I've still been enjoying the vacation and got the certification along the way and 4 tanks worth of dives in the ocean. We're getting a referral letter from the dive instructor for our son so he'll only have to complete the 2nd, 3rd and 4th open water dives to finish off his certification.

 

 

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[ETski]

Sushi class sounds likes lots of fun. So glad you and your son enjoyed it. Wondering if they ask about food allergies. I am allergic to crab. No California rolls for me!!! Do you need to eat the sushi at the class? Would love to bring it back to the cabin. Sitting on our balcony with a glass of wine would be heaven.

[sromano516]

Sushi class sounds likes lots of fun. So glad you and your son enjoyed it. Wondering if they ask about food allergies. I am allergic to crab. No California rolls for me!!! Do you need to eat the sushi at the class? Would love to bring it back to the cabin. Sitting on our balcony with a glass of wine would be heaven.

 

 

Good questions.. you can tell them about any allergies and the chef did acknowledge that you can substitute the Crab if you have allergies. My stomach was queasy this morning from all the food we've been eating and the rocking of the ship so I didn't want to eat my sushi (especially at 11:30am)... not a problem. They give you containers at the end to pack up your sushi and bring it back to your room or wherever you want to go with it. They even give you chopsticks and soy packets if you want.

 

 

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[sromano516]

We just completed the Escape Room and I'm glad we did it, it was a lot of fun!! I can't give much info because I do not want to give away the clues and information. We did it as a family and I'm so proud of us. We had a full group with a bunch of strangers and the main goal is to work together and communicate. Important clues can only be solved by utilizing most of the group together. I honestly was nervous and thought I'd look stupid and not be useful. I was so very wrong. I solved multiple clues and my husband and 14 yr old son was a huge part of figuring things out through the hour. I'm impressed with my 14 yr old for being so smart and being a leader amongst adults. My 17 yr old showed strength in finding the physical objects needed. It was a really nice group of people. You always have 1 guy that likes to be a bit bossy and annoying. Regardless, I had a blast and highly recommend doing it!

Here is a picture of most of our group after completing it. The staff member was a nice blonde woman in the back right corner. (Some people didn't want to be in the picture).

 

 

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[sromano516]

A video of my 14 yr old son doing iFly a few days ago:

 

 

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[sromano516]

A video of our Cabana #2 on CocoCay

 

 

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[sromano516]

I think the videos crash when using CruiseCritic app, either copy and paste the link in your browsers or open cruise critic mobile site or on the desktop.

 

 

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[TNcruising02]

The iFly looks like a lot of fun. I like the cabana. Your view was so nice. Thanks for posting the videos.

[luckyinpa]

TY for pics inside jamies. again you post pics of stuff i had never researched/seen. i dont know how much it is alacarte but the pic was underwhelming from an atmosphere perspective. i'm nowhere near a fine diner but compared to something like la cuchina italian on the Breakaway, jamies looked like a cafeteria. now it wont keep me away necessarily but i at least have other expectations then. and metal chairs. dang. id expect that in the buffet maybe. my butt needs something a bit more comfy

[luckyinpa]

A video of our Cabana #2 on CocoCay

 

 

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i never watched an ifly vid before. it definitely takes practice i see.

 

TY sooo much for the cabana perspective. def cannot go out there on the rocks/beach there .i had no idea it was literally on top of the rocks. i'm assuming the blue building houses the food/restrooms? being that close is very good indeed. can stock up on food before they close :)

 

for perspective, did you see, do you know where the bed rentals are compared to where you took that video? i'm assuming since they are about half the price they dont have that wonderful separate buffet.

[sromano516]

TY for pics inside jamies. again you post pics of stuff i had never researched/seen. i dont know how much it is alacarte but the pic was underwhelming from an atmosphere perspective. i'm nowhere near a fine diner but compared to something like la cuchina italian on the Breakaway, jamies looked like a cafeteria. now it wont keep me away necessarily but i at least have other expectations then. and metal chairs. dang. id expect that in the buffet maybe. my butt needs something a bit more comfy

 

 

Lol. Yes, the metal chairs are a bit rough. They had some tables with cushioned chairs but it looked like only a few. Not sure why they did that. It's not a "fancy" style Italian restaurant. They have Chops with the table cloths and nice atmosphere but that's harder to get a reservation. The Italian restaurant on Independence was a bit more fancy looking so I guess it's whatever style the ship is looking to have. Like my husband said, it depends if you really want to pay more money to eat there. The food wasn't bad though.

 

 

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[Trackhead37]

TY for pics inside jamies. again you post pics of stuff i had never researched/seen. i dont know how much it is alacarte but the pic was underwhelming from an atmosphere perspective. i'm nowhere near a fine diner but compared to something like la cuchina italian on the Breakaway, jamies looked like a cafeteria. now it wont keep me away necessarily but i at least have other expectations then. and metal chairs. dang. id expect that in the buffet maybe. my butt needs something a bit more comfy

 

 

It's $35 per person for dinner, $25 for lunch. Definitely not the same atmosphere as La Cuchina on NCL. While it wasn't horrible, we probably would have done chops instead, had we realized that. Chops is the only fine dining experience on the ship, aside from Coastal Kitchen.

 

 

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[sharonlacey]

Loving your duel post, it is so cute.

[Trackhead37]

Loving your duel post, it is so cute.

 

 

As my wife read your post, she was thinking to herself, "stop encouraging him." Lmao.

 

 

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[sromano516]

Loving your duel post, it is so cute.

 

 

Lol... he originally teased me for doing it and one of the first posts was him saying that he will be too busy enjoying himself while I make posts. Yet he's been making posts and getting in on the action since Day 1! [emoji12]

 

 

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[Guest maddycat]

It's $35 per person for dinner, $25 for lunch. Definitely not the same atmosphere as La Cuchina on NCL. While it wasn't horrible, we probably would have done chops instead, had we realized that. Chops is the only fine dining experience on the ship, aside from Coastal Kitchen.

 

 

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We were able to pre-purchase 2 specialty restaurants for the first and second nights of our Anthem cruise for $30 per person. We went to Jamie's and Chops. It was a bargain at that price.......$15 per dinner per person.

 

 

As far as Chops being the only fine dining on the Anthem, I would also consider Wonderland to be fine dining.

[troyandcarol]

Great review guys!! The dual dynamic is awesome, it's important to get both sides of the story:D There are many things on vacation that I love and my wife doesn't or vice versa. Enjoy the rest of your trip!!

[sromano516]

Okay, so we finally loved a show. Spectra's Cabaret takes place in Two70 and we really enjoyed it more than any other show we've seen (aside for the comedy show). It was upbeat and fun and had some great performances. There were some parts that I found a little boring but overall, we really liked the show. I suggest sitting in the middle section in the swivel chairs. Was perfect to see everything and also get a lot of interaction with the cast. The host walks around through the audience during the show and towards the end they sort of come out in a parade to get you more excited and involved.

 

Tonight was our 2nd formal night and also lobster night. They serve lobster tails in the main dining room. The rice was a bit dry but the lobster was decent. I'd say it's about a 4oz. Lobster tail. I'm sure you can get more than one if you want. We also tried the prime rib which was also good. My husband ordered the NY cheesecake for dessert and he didn't love it but I thought it was very good! (Yes, I had a bite of his dessert). I had the chocolate soufflé which was warm and nice. Not the best I've had but it was something different and I enjoyed it. Service was much slower in the dining room tonight but that could have been because Lobster night is more popular and more people could've have been dining.

 

The Seas have been sort of rough and we've been rocking a lot since yesterday. My stomach has been sort of upset all day so I'm hoping the Seas calm down tomorrow. We are heading out to enjoy some other events. Tomorrow is sadly our last full day and we will be packing :-(. We also have a special invitation for a bridge tour which should be a nice experience for us and the boys.

 

 

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[sharonlacey]

Thank you for the great trip report. We will be getting on when you get off, thanks for making us get excited about our trip, and lots of great info.:D