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Just off Anthem 9 day, the good + the bad mini-review

teddybear231
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teddybear231

teddybear231

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To the OP: When departing Bayonne, did you go straight to sea or did the Captain make a detour and go left up the Hudson. On my 9 niter NE/Canada the Captain provided Paxs with a gift--what a sight of the skyline and surrounding iconic such as Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Freedom Tower, etc.

 

That would have been nice to do that! But sadly we didn't. I think because we had such poor conditions when we left, we just headed straight out to sea. I do enjoy that view when we take Carnival out of Manhattan.

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Jenjer

Jenjer

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We are leaving on this cruise on Wed. Whoo hoooo

 

 

How crowded was Bermuda? Did you go to the beach?

 

Can you see any of cup racing from the ship?

 

What did you love of Puerto Rico ? what did you do to make it so special?

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teddybear231

teddybear231

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We are leaving on this cruise on Wed. Whoo hoooo

 

 

How crowded was Bermuda? Did you go to the beach?

 

Can you see any of cup racing from the ship?

 

What did you love of Puerto Rico ? what did you do to make it so special?

 

I am jealous, I wish I was going back on this trip!

 

We went to horshoe bay in Bermuda, it wasn't as crowded as I've seen it before since we were the only ship in port, but there was a good amount of people there.

 

You can actually see some of the racing from the ship which was nice. If you walk down the pier you can actually see the boats leaving the harbor and going into the ocean to race, it was pretty neat!

 

We have been to Puerto Rico before, myself and the kids love the rain forest, so we decided to head there. We originally booked the walking tour to the waterfalls but because lighting in the area it was cancelled, so they offered us the driving tour at 10% off. Since we have been there before we weren't that mad, it was still nice to see.

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Ashland

Ashland

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We were on the same itinerary May 11th.At the expense of hijacking your posts - our comments. Totally agree about ship. She is beautiful but the esplanade has some serious choke points (like going forward after Sorrento's - always jammed up there

Add to that EVERY night was a sale - that got annoying

 

Dining - we had friends who kept taking us to Coastal Kitchen (suites only guests). Make friends with someone in a suite - amazing dining venue. Jamie's Italian is AWESOME. Even Chops was good. Main Dining room was meh. Windjammer was windjammer (although the routing youto sinks to wash your hands before entering is brilliant)

Johnny Rockets is takeout - no dancing waiters. AND SLOW!!!! 30minutes to get our orders

 

Ice cream machine was always empty

 

Coke machines frequently empty or simply not working

 

Bar Service -horrid. Hardly any waiters on pool decks or in the theatre - completely understaffed on our voyage

 

Cabin - amazingly spacious - well done. (Although shower door opening outwards is a bit of a pain if someone else is in the bathroom getting ready

 

Entertainment - BEST EVER. Comedians were incredible, Performers were great. Elton John guy was BEST ever. Rookie is an amazing band, U2 tribute band - incredible. Spectra's cabaret is weird as is the gift. We will rock you is good if you like Queen. Matt Yee at the piano bar was the highlight

 

Cruise director Dru - amazing. His staff not so much. Captain was very personable and everywhere. Always asking how we were enjoying th cruise

 

Sports deck - must check out BUT pay attention. Bumper cars are only on certain days (saves goes for all activities). Line ups are BIG - get there early.

 

Again, not trying to hijack OP - hope this is helpful

Glad someone else mentioned those outward opening shower doors...they would have been much better as sliders...again what were they thinking :eek:

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teddybear231

teddybear231

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I forgot to mention, somebody in our Facebook group said they were charged that $12.36 minibar charge after getting off the ship. Well when I checked our final statement that was e-mailed, we had it on there as well! I called RCL right away and they said I should see the funds back in my account in about 7 business days. Luckily somebody reminded me to check otherwise they would of gotten away with it. We had nothing in our minibar and the 2 bottles of water were never even touched.

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Clarea

Clarea

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Is the drink and voom package worth it on this ship?

Anthem has the fast O3b internet connection. Whether it's "worth it" is something only you can determine.

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nelblu

nelblu

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You were lucky...I've watched many of the Anthem's departure's on the NYHarbor webcam, and it rarely does that...

If you want to be sure to see those sights, you would have to consider taking one of the ships sailing from the Manhattan cruise terminal...

 

The only Royal Caribbean ship I can see doing that this year, is the Navigator of the Seas, on her repositioning cruise from Southampton to Miami....she stays overnight in Manhattan from November 14 to 15. To do that cruise legally, you would have to board in Southampton....:)

 

Have done many cruises from Manhattan on the Oceanic, Bermuda Star and X line before becoming Celebrity. I've also worked in NYC for some 40 years and commuted via train and ferries. Many times have lunch/dinner at the Chart House in Weehawken and see the skyline. It's still a thrill every time I see it, but the lack of the Twin Towers, bring sad memories of 9/11 event and the many colleagues that I lost.

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teddybear231

teddybear231

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Is the drink and voom package worth it on this ship?

 

I forgot to mention, we did have the drink and voom package. It actually went on sale the weekend before we left to the lowest price that I've seen it since cyber Monday, the price was about $504.

 

The VOOM internet worked great, not so much on our balcony but that was expected and fine. We would facetime other family memebers with no issue.

 

I felt as the drink package was worth it for me because I've been known to have several drinks throughout the course of the day :rolleyes: but its also great for the speciality coffee, fresh orange juice, soda, bottled water, etc. It would be depending if you could drink about $56 a day worth of drinks, which isn't that hard to do. Since it worked in Labadee that was also nice.

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Jenjer

Jenjer

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I am jealous, I wish I was going back on this trip!

 

We went to horshoe bay in Bermuda, it wasn't as crowded as I've seen it before since we were the only ship in port, but there was a good amount of people there.

 

You can actually see some of the racing from the ship which was nice. If you walk down the pier you can actually see the boats leaving the harbor and going into the ocean to race, it was pretty neat!

 

We have been to Puerto Rico before, myself and the kids love the rain forest, so we decided to head there. We originally booked the walking tour to the waterfalls but because lighting in the area it was cancelled, so they offered us the driving tour at 10% off. Since we have been there before we weren't that mad, it was still nice to see.

 

 

Thank You for the info. I have been worried the horseshoe bay would be crazy busy wit the cup. I have never been and are really looking forward to it.

 

Also want to see the boats racing but not spend a fortune to go into the village.

 

In PR our plan was to go to El Morro and than walk back thru old town....yes no maybe?

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luckyinpa

luckyinpa

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We have been on 5 cruises with RC. And this ship was our favorite of all of them. Others Oasis and Harmony and allure .

We always go in Jan or Feb which is a big mistake leaving out of N.J. We were in a snow storm going there and faced it

coming back. So 4 days were lost to being out doors . And for that reason we probably will never be on it again. Move to

Fla and I would go back. Trying to fly out of N.J. wasn't fun either. Most of the airlines cancelled out.

 

one huge reason i'm trying anthem is because i thought it IS a cold weather ship. i had a less than perfect time on Breakaway in december but i need the lower winter prices and from all my research. anthem is a good cold weather ship but you are saying the inside isnt so great?

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slyster

slyster

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Yea, I had an old hotel key from Atlantic City the weekend before in my wallet so I just used that. The air and lights only go on when you put your key (any plastic card works) in the slot right next to the door. It's to be energy efficient they say. Although I heard others say it's to let the room steward know when you're in the room, I don't know how true that is. Some people have said their room steward removes the key, but this never happened with us.

 

oh interesting. I didn't realize the AC shut off if you took your key card out of the slot. I would wonder if being gone most of the day if the room was warm coming back.

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angier0225

angier0225

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I forgot to mention, we did have the drink and voom package. It actually went on sale the weekend before we left to the lowest price that I've seen it since cyber Monday, the price was about $504.

 

 

 

The VOOM internet worked great, not so much on our balcony but that was expected and fine. We would facetime other family memebers with no issue.

 

 

 

I felt as the drink package was worth it for me because I've been known to have several drinks throughout the course of the day :rolleyes: but its also great for the speciality coffee, fresh orange juice, soda, bottled water, etc. It would be depending if you could drink about $56 a day worth of drinks, which isn't that hard to do. Since it worked in Labadee that was also nice.

 

 

Does it usually go down in price the closer you get? If I buy now am I locked in or will they credit if it drops?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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Clarea

Clarea

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Does it usually go down in price the closer you get? If I buy now am I locked in or will they credit if it drops?

There is no "usual" with Royal. There are no automatic credits either. If the price goes down (you have to watch for that), you can cancel and re-order.

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