Anthem Spring Break Cruise w/kids (4/9/2017) - my videos, photos and experiences

[sherezada]

I know there have been live reviews and post reviews of this sailing, but I will post my experience nonetheless. We are a family of 4: 2 adults, one boy (7) and one girl (4). We've been sailing with our kids since my oldest was one year old, and every single cruise has been wonderful (loyal to Royal). However, this was the first time we sailed on peak dates (we have no choice now that our son is in public school- they are very strict with the amount of school days he can miss).

 

 

We live in VA so we were able to drive and save $$$. We debated on whether to drive and stay in NJ the night before (Saturday), but I really ended up needing every minute of that Saturday to finish packing, so for me it would've just been added stress. We ended up leaving our house Sunday morning at around 6:30 am and we were in Bayonne by 10:30 am, which worked perfectly.

 

 

As others have stated, there was a delay for boarding, so we went to the nearby Walmart to grab a few things I missed. The delay obviously caused a long waiting line to get to the pier and into the parking lot, and it was quite crowded at the pier, since they were not letting anyone get in. I saw a long line forming behind the baggage drop off. As I was walking to join the line one of the attendants told me "Don't get in that line; they are going to make all these people move as they have to have this area clear. Go wait int the waiting area; they will get you when you're allowed to board". I was a bit hesitant but I trusted him and went to the waiting area. There were only a few people there, which made me worry even more, but lo and behold, as soon as they opened those doors someone came into our room and guided us through (ahead of all the other people that had lined up in the baggage area). :) The embarkation process was pretty quick. By noon we were walking the ramp towards the ship.

 

 

Our first task was to sign up for i-fly, North Star and the shows (since I totally spaced out and didn't realize I had to sign up for those in advance). The sign up line was long, but I remembered that we could sign up using the Royal IQ app, so I did that as I was standing in line and was done in 2 minutes. Others around me saw me doing it and asked, so I guided them through downloading the app and signing. They were very appreciative.

 

 

Next stop was signing up the kids at Adventure Ocean. Very easy process. The Aquanauts (3-5) is on level 11 while the Explorers (6-8) and Voyagers (9-11) are on level 12, but we were able to fill out the paperwork for both in one room. There is a spiral staircase between both floors and a nice free play area at the bottom of the staircase.

 

 

After that we went to the Windjammer for lunch. Then we went to check out our room. We had an interior room with a virtual balcony and we really loved it. I appreciated little details like the foot bar in the shower so you could rest your foot while shaving your legs ;) (forgot to take pics of that), the extra storage above the bed and the extra hooks in the restroom and closet doors to hang our wet bathing suits.

Here's a video of our stateroom. Sorry for the English/Spanish and the extensive commentary- this was recorded for our family/friends in FB.

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I made reservations for the North Star for that afternoon at 4:30 pm. It was COLD and very windy! The waiting time was painful, especially for my husband, who decided to wear shorts that day, but once inside it was climate-controlled, so we were fine. The view is pretty impressive, however, I was expecting it to move towards the side of the ship (above the ocean) and it never did. Nonetheless it was a nice experience. Here is a combined video of our inside experience with an outside view (had to reverse the outside video to match our movement).

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[riclop]

Thanks for sharing.

[Jenjer]

Love it thank You

[luckyinpa]

it's a bummer they no longer go over the side of the ship but it would be cool to be up there regardless.

[clochette]

I look forward to reading more, thanks

[EeyoreFan1967]

Thanks for doing this report. We will be on Anthem in about a month.

 

What time did you sail away and what time was the NorthStar available? I missed on-line sign-up and really hope to get up there while we can still see NYC, or at least land.

[sherezada]

Sorry for taking so long to update. I have to catch up on work at the same time. I'll post another Photo/video update tonight.

 

 

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[sherezada]

Thanks for doing this report. We will be on Anthem in about a month.

 

 

 

What time did you sail away and what time was the NorthStar available? I missed on-line sign-up and really hope to get up there while we can still see NYC, or at least land.

 

 

 

I believe Sailorway Wes at 3:30 pm. We were hoping to book the same thing while we were waiting in line. However, the app showed that there were no more slots available close to sail away time. The closest was 4:30 PM, which is what we selected. By that time we could no longer see land, obviously.

 

 

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[sherezada]

That was "I believe sail-away was at...". (Sorry, I was dictating to my phone, LOL!)

 

Continuing the review of day 1...

 

We are no sticklers for the dining room, especially having little finicky eaters that don't eat most of the kids menu options. We usually check the menu ahead of time through the stateroom TV and decide whether there are any dishes that we really would like to try; otherwise we go to the Windjammer, since it's faster and has more options for the kiddos. (Sorry, we're not foodies so I have no pics of menus) Windjammer it was for Night 1 (specially because I wanted to do A LOT of stuff). A quick meal and off to Adventure Ocean to drop the kids off and enjoy some adult time.

 

First we went to Music Hall for the Welcome Aboard karaoke (I can't resist an opportunity to sing). Big and beautiful 2-floor venue. I loved it. Got to sing 2 songs, so I was happy.

 

After that we went to the Welcome Aboard show with comedian Darrel Joyce. Had some good jokes but mostly it felt "meh". The comedian seemed a bit lost, as if he was struggling to come up with jokes on the spot. A bit awkward.

 

We then moved to Two70, where they had a demo of all the cool features on that venue. I was most impressed with the Robo-screens.

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By this time I already missed the little ones, so we picked them up then headed down to Boleros for some dancing

 

Phew! More than enough activity for day 1! We called it a night.

[LuCruise]

Subscribing. Looks like a great family cruise so far.

 

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[sherezada]

Day 2

 

It is Sea Day 1. We were probably out of our stateroom at around 9:30. Windjammer, as expected, was packed. We had to hunt like hawks for a while, looking for a table to free up so we can sit and claim it even before it was cleaned. But we've had vast experience with Windjammer, so it's normal for us by now.

 

It's 55 degrees outside (add to that the winds traveling at sea); I can't believe there are people out there getting in the pools and/or sunbathing 😱

 

We're sticking to indoor activities. Started with some bumper cars. They were open from 9:30 am to noon today. We got there at 11:30and the line went around the whole seaplex court.

 

 

When we were midway through the line an attendant came by, asked us our daughter's age and informed us she would not be able to ride, since she was under 5 (even though she will be 5 in 2 weeks). Thankfully she was more excited about getting in the water, so my husband and son stayed in the bumper car line while I took her to the indoor swimming pools (do those people out on the deck know we have these?!?). It was a very nice, climate-controlled area with glass ceilings. It had a bar, a pool, 2 hot tubs and a shallow pool for kids, with chairs right in front which was fantastic!

Hubby and son met us in the pool after bumper cars. Hubby said he was glad our daughter didn't ride, as he was afraid she would've gotten hurt with all the jerky movements and bumps, but overall they enjoyed it.

[sherezada]

Continuing Day 2...

At around 2 pm we decided to take it easy and went back to our stateroom. I think we were burnt out from the night before, because we all took like a 2-hr nap! It was formal night, so I was happy to have some extra "free" time to get ready. We got into our best clothes and went to the dining room. I believe I had the Pork chop that night. It was OK.

Off to take advantage of the Photo package we prepaid. We went through as many photo stations as we could (it's our family tradition ).

We then went to see The Gift with the kids.

I understood the plot, as simplistic as it was. However, my overall opinion is that the show seemed like a barely put-together plot as an excuse to cram a bunch of popular songs into it, seemingly connected to the story (didn't really work that well in my opinion). Nonetheless I could appreciate and enjoyed the talent, and the production/special effects (the kids enjoyed that part too).

We were planning on taking the kids to Adventure Ocean afterwards, but they fell asleep before the show was over. Adult comedy show was next, at the same place, and the kids were heavy, so we stayed put. After all, Darrell told everyone on last night's show to "put the kids to sleep" for tonight's show; he didn't specify where . We found this show funnier than the last one.

 

By then, with the heavy, sleepy kids in tow, we had no option but to call it a night.

[Cookie329]

Would love to hear more! We usually sail Grandure out of Baltimore, but have been thinking of trying the Anthem.. our kids are 18-22. So we get one balcony n 2 insides. The Anthem is considerably more expensive because of this and I'm not sure it's worth it. Also we always sail the Christmas cruise! I just don't know!! Lol

 

 

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[sherezada]

Day 3 (Sea day 2)

 

We decided to try something different for breakfast today, so we headed down to Cafe Two70. So much more relaxing than the Windjammer! Sure, the selection was smaller, but the sandwiches were really good. My husband enjoyed the parfaits (he had 2), my son had a donut and my daughter had cereal. The view was fantastic!

 

After breakfast I tried to do the trapeze but they informed me all slots had been handed out 30 minutes prior to starting! Noted for next time.

 

It is a bit warmer than yesterday. Time to give the outdoor pools a try. The kids are excited.

 

There is another shallow, "shore-like" pool, with an elevated deck behind it where we could lay down and watch the kids while having center view of the North Star.

I was planning on boogie-boarding but it was still a bit cold/windy for my liking (plus my hair was still looking decent from formal night before: figured I'd save some prep time tonight if I skipped it) so I stayed, all covered up, and watched the Belly-flop competition.

 

After that we got dressed and went to the matinee headliner show. it was a juggler/comedian. Really good.

 

We then headed to the Seaplex for a bit to play in the arcade while we waited for our iFly appointment.

[sherezada]

Finally, it was time for our iFly session! We went through the video tutorial and listened to the instructor's pointers. I was a bit worried about whether my son would remember all the signs they were showing us in order to communicate.

 

 

Then we got into our gear.

 

 

As you can see my daughter was not happy. We barely had time to take these pics before she started to cry out of fear and demanded we took off her gear. So one of us had to stay with her outside the tunnel while the other did their flights, then switch. It was fine, since we had to do that anyway to take pictures/video. Here's the video of our flights.

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Well, my fears were unfounded, as I think my son did better than I did! LOL! It was soooo much fun! We all loved it. We're already looking into going to a local iFly venue soon.

 

Time to get ready for dinner. We liked the MDR menu tonight. We were seated at Silk: a beautiful venue with pink/orange/purple decor, which they told us was Asian but gave me more of a Moroccan feel. The beef wellington was delicious! Not so impressed with the desserts, but they weren't terrible.

 

Off to take some more pictures in the photo stations.

 

Kids dropped off at the club, it was now time to see Spectra. I don't know if it was due to having to sit way towards the sides, but we didn't enjoy Spectra that much; in fact, I fell asleep midway and we ended up leaving and going to Boleros for some salsa dancing. Maybe if we had found seating in the front it would've been different, but we didn't give it another try.

 

Picked up the kids and off to bed. Kiddos always enjoy the little towel animals that await for them in our stateroom.

[slm517]

I am loving your review so far! My husband and I are sailing on Anthem in December 2018.