Anthem of the Seas 3/24-3/31- a kid-centric review

[danilynn17]

Good afternoon! On Saturday we returned from a great cruise on Anthem of the Seas out of Bayonne with stops at Pt. Canaveral, Cococay (well, supposed to stop there...) and Nassau. It was a PACKED ship, with over 1,500 kids due to spring break. I was traveling with my husband and our two daughters, ages 8 and 5 (a few weeks shy of 6). This will be a review of family-friendly stuff, so no, I cannot tell you about the Quest or any of the late night activities. We are veteran cruisers, and this was our first cruise as Platinum Crown and Anchor Society members (for whatever that is worth...).

 

We drove in from Pittsburgh the morning of the cruise with little to no problems. The cruise terminal is easy to find. There was a bit of a back up for dropping off luggage when we got there. Probably waited in a line of cars for about 20 minutes. Parking in the parking garage was easy, and relatively inexpensive at $20/day. Pretty short walk from garage to terminal as well.

 

Embarkation day is never our favorite day. We were through security and check in with relative ease.

 

At first I was going to try to do some chronological review, but I think topical may be easier.

 

ADVENTURE OCEAN

One of the longer lines that we hit was the line before entering the ship for the kids to get their wristbands (remember, 1,500+ kids on board). But while we were waiting, I was able to talk to the head of the Adventure Ocean program, Jeff. My younger daughter was about a month shy of turning 6, and we wanted her to be with her older sister in Adventure Ocean in the 6-8 age group. I had heard a lot of folks on Cruise Critic say that that they were very strict about not allowing kids to move up. He said no problem. And it wasn't- I was questioned the first time we put her in Adventure Ocean, but I told the staffer that I had talked to Jeff and that he said it wouldn't be a problem. She said that she'd let her in for that session, but would have to talk to Jeff. And then it was never mentioned again, and we did not have any issues with her "playing up".

 

Overall, my kids didn't love Adventure Ocean, unlike prior cruises. There were always a lot of kids (we never had a problem getting them in- but arrived early. They only went for a few sessions). My girls felt that the kids there were pretty raucous, and this age group does a lot of games. They thought the boys in particular were playing really rough and our kids didn't like that.

 

We did Adventure Dining one evening while we went to Jamie's. They take the kids to the Windjammer and have a "secret room" (this is according to my 8 year old so not sure if really secret...). The food was fine, but they ran out of both water and lemonade, so my 8 year old didn't have anything to drink since she doesn't like iced tea. I thought that was really strange.

 

WINDJAMMER

My husband's least favorite meal of the trip is first day lunch, when we usually go to the Windjammer. We were very lucky in that we got a table right away, and it was fairly close to the food. The food was GOOD, but the Windjammer that day is just so overwhelming. There were regular announcements on the PA encouraging guest to vacate their tables when finished so others could eat, and staff members walking around asking folks to do so.

 

We didn't visit the Windjammer many other times, except for snacks here and there and for drinks. One thing that we noticed is that there aren't many places to grab a glass of water or lemonade on the ship, especially outside of meal time.

 

MAIN DINING ROOM

We had traditional dining in Chic at 5:30 and had Chandra (from an island in the South Pacific that I cannot recall) and Luis from Mexico. We were at a table for six, but had the entire table to ourselves as a family of four. Service was great- really no complaints. One evening we brought two extra little girls to dinner with us (I had "met" the mother here on CC and our kids became fast friends) when their parents were going to Chops. The waitstaff made a fuss over our four princesses (formal night, all four girls had tiaras on). The food was good- you hear reviews about the quality of the food but some people must just be impossible to please. I have a food allergy, and Chandra usually took my order the night before to make sure that my food was prepared separately. The only bummer about this was sometimes what sounded good 24 hours in advance isn't what you'd like the next day. My only complaint would be about desserts served with ice cream. By the time the desserts were served, the ice cream was very much melted. This was especially the trouble with the molten chocolate cake.

 

We ate all of our breakfasts in the dining room, and most of our lunches. For breakfast there was always a buffet except for the last day, and lunches on the at-sea days had a buffet as well (including the delicious salad bar). The only real "miss" food-wise of the entire trip was the crispy pork belly served as an appetizer at lunch. It was so "crisp" that it was inedible- I literally could not chew it.

 

JAMIE'S ITALIAN

We did a date night without the kids at Jamie's. The food was absolutely wonderful- I had the lambchops with a side of the carbonara pasta. The server was pretty good at the beginning (we were the first reservation), but then after he was seated with a six-top he was practically non-existent, which was disappointing.

 

OUR ROOM

Well, it will be tough to get my husband to cruise again due to our room- Room 11110. This is one of those "holy grail" rooms - it is the very front left cabin in the ship, which means it was an odd shape, and it was 302 square feet. Oceanview with a large round window, no balcony. My kids immediately gravitated towards the sitting area by the window, which became their space for the cruise. They each took a side and put all of their assorted junk there. There is a TON of storage in the room, and three outlets plus USB plugs. It was very quiet because the bridge was above it and there's a vestibule so there was essentially a double door. Our room attendant was fabulous and got to know our schedule. We had towel animals every night except for the first. We asked for an extra blanket for the kids because they woke up at 2am the first night fighting over the blankets. No problem. The bathroom was typical, but the shower area is more spacious than other ships that I have been on.

 

THE CROWD

The ship was, well, crowded, but it never felt overwhelmingly so. This was a very busy cruise with a large wedding on board (which I learned from another thread was a celebrity wedding?). I must say that with all of the kids I expected some horrible behavior. Not so. The occasional parent letting their kid lay in the middle of the floor (???), and teens just walking right into you. The esplanade can get crowded, but it always is. We like to make fun of the $10 sales and their crowds. While plenty of people were drinking, it seemed like less were doing so to excess, at least during the day. I'm not sure that I ever saw anyone obviously drunk. BUT, remember, this is a kid-centric review so we were back in our room before 10 every night. No idea what late night was like.

 

THE PORTS

The Port Canaveral stop was from 12-9, which is even less because you can't get off until about 12:30 and then all aboard is 8:30. We have been to Disney several times and have another trip planned later this year, so that wasn't of interest. Plus it is like 45 minutes away, and who wants to pay all of that money for just a few hours in the park? We were interested in the Kennedy Space Center but thought the girls may be a bit young for it. So we settled on a Pontoon Lagoon cruise. It was fun- a short bus ride away. At first we weren't seeing any wildlife, but then saw several dolphins. Overall a pleasant way to spend the day, but did not knock my socks off. Port Canaveral is a cruise terminal. It is not a destination in and over itself. There is nothing to do if you just want to get off the boat and walk around. There are no stores. It looks a lot like Port Liberty where you got on- nothing.

 

 

Cococay/Nassau- I had been watching the weather forecast leading up to cruise and thought there'd be a good chance we wouldn't be able to tender, as high winds had been forecasted. That prediction held, and the captain cancelled this port (disappointing to my kids who were looking forward to a beach day). Instead, we went to Nassau a day early, arriving around 1pm and staying overnight. I wish I would've been better prepared for this! We just got off the ship that day and walked around the stores. There are some vendors within the port area who I thought were very aggressive (hair braiders and taxis)- it was much less outside the terminal.

 

The following day, we had arranged for a tour of some of the highlights through a third party company - got a private 3 hour tour of many of the highlights for $81 through the third party website (and then we tipped generously). We hit up a rum cake store/factory, the rum distillery, the Queen's staircase and many others. We were dropped off at Junkanoo beach, which is a 15 minute walk from the terminal. We were hungry by then so went to the Bikini Tiki Hut, which was wonderful. As soon as we sat down, they told my girls that smoothies were on the house all day, gave them bracelets and showed them to the egg hunt area. My husband got a bucket of 4 different local beers for $12. The food was a bit pricey but worth it considering everything else. Bathrooms were adjacent and pretty clean for beach bathrooms. This was a great way to spend the afternoon.

 

SHOWS

We tried to go to the Gift on the first at-sea day. A few minutes into the show, they stopped it due to the ship's movement (while it was moving, it wasn't too bad - nothing like the following night). They rescheduled it for later in the cruise but at 10:15, so that wasn't of use to us as that was way too late.

 

 

We did go to Spectra's Caberet during the cruise. The kids loved it. I had heard people mention on here that it was more adult- themed, but there was only one small portion that I thought was a bit risque (but really not that bad). It was very cool- 270 is a great venue.

 

We had reservations to see We Will Rock You, but then noticed (when I hadn't previously) that it was parental discretion advised. So I cancelled the reservation, which worked out because I had a migraine that evening any way.

 

We did not see any of the comedians.

 

BARS

We don't drink enough to make drink packages worth it. Though it seems like they keep upping the prices to try to get people to do the package. One drink at the Bionic Bar was over $14. Beers were about $8. I was on cold medication during most of the trip and didn't drink much, which probably saved some money.

 

MEET AND MINGLE

We went to the meet and mingle. Free mimosas- yay! Cruise director spoke- I'm not one of those people who really care about the cruise directors, but it was interesting to hear from a female cruise director with a family at home (I'm a working mom). No hand out, but one of the staff gave my girls a free charm. They gave away a few bottles of wine, a backpack, and some casino credits. We did not win anything!

 

 

ON BOARD ACTIVITIES

Of course, Anthem is about the on-board fun! First, the biggies:

iFLY- was so incredibly awesome. The instructor was great, and was so sweet with my 5 year old who wasn't quite getting the body positions - he took her up holding on to her. This is an incredible experience that you absolutely must do. All four of us did it and loved it.

North Star- we did this on the second to last at-sea day in the morning. It was beautiful and clear. So glad we didn't do it the last at-sea day, when it was colder and foggy. Simple process. Tip to those who don't have reservations- if you hang around, chances are good that there will be no-shows. A family did that and ended up on our ride.

Bumper cars- biggest hit for my crew. Kids as small as 42 inches can ride alone, but I wouldn't recommend it because they can't seem to get that the pedal and steering wheel both need to be operated. The line was orderly, and there was a staff member checking ages- kids MUST be 5 to ride, no exceptions.

Pool- we only really did the pool on the second to last at sea day. It was pleasant but not super hot. I was able to get chairs, even though it was later in the morning (helped that I wanted chairs in the shade). The outdoor kiddie pool was fun at first, but both of my kids got really beat up. The water really moves back and forth, and it knocked them over a lot. Both had rashes on their upper thighs/bums and scratched up tops of their feet. I would keep a close eye on little ones there. There are lots of lifeguards, and life jackets available.

 

Family activities- each day there were different family activities run through Adventure Ocean, but they were at times that didn't work for us. Either 12:15, which is when we were usually eating lunch, or 5:15, which is immediately before the 5:30 dinner (which many families had). That was disappointing, because my kids love art, and bingo, etc.

 

Family disco- on two evenings there was a family disco party in 270. My kids loved this. They dropped balloons and had hula hoops, etc. This was one of our favorite things.

 

What we didn't do: we didn't get around to roller skating or rock climbing. Trapeze school was only offered a few times and we couldn't make it to any. I didn't do a spa treatment, which I usually do. The prices are just getting too high.

 

Room for improvement: They didn't offer many activities in the mornings, and nothing for families in the mornings. With young kids, we're usually up early. I also wished they'd do more planned activities on the at-sea days. We met several of the Shrek characters. The Dreamworks characters are getting a little old, though, and it would be good to have something more up to date. We went to family karaoke twice. Once was at 7:30, and it though it was billed as family it was mostly adults, and some singing not the most family friendly songs. We went another time when it was in the afternoon and it was must better. There are adult karaoke times, and the adults should stick to those.

 

 

DISEMBARKATION

Now that the kids are out of strollers and the like, we chose to walk off with our luggage. We were able to select the time, and chose the 8-8:30 window. This gave us time to get one final meal. The process was fairly easy. The main headache was the customs line- it was incredibly long. They have a ton of windows, but only a few open. Customs was a breeze once we got through the line. Checked our passports, didn't even ask if we were declaring anything. Quick walk to the parking garage and paid at a kiosk. Got right out, and were on our way home in no time.

 

Happy to answer any questions about the trip and Anthem, especially those that are family-activity related!

[timxrx]

Nice review.

We also had to bypass Cocoa Cay and went directly to Nassau for an overnight stay on our 11-25-17 cruise.

[vidsmart]

Hello Dannilynn17. Glad you enjoyed your cruise. Curious as to why you said it will be tough to get your husband to cruise again because of the room, but just about everything you said about the cabin seemed positive? Thx

[nerak11]

Thanks for your well organized review of Anthem! We are sailing on Anthem for New Years in cabin 9110 (same large cabin as yours two decks down) and we are very excited to have all that extra space for our kids (13 & 11). Can you post some photos of the cabin?

[danilynn17]

Hello Dannilynn17. Glad you enjoyed your cruise. Curious as to why you said it will be tough to get your husband to cruise again because of the room, but just about everything you said about the cabin seemed positive? Thx

Ha! I meant it in the context of he was spoiled by the very large room. He is 6’3”. The space compared to when we have an inside with the kids on bunks on top of us is SO much more comfortable. He will have a hard time adjusting to a more normal sized room.

[danilynn17]

Thanks for your well organized review of Anthem! We are sailing on Anthem for New Years in cabin 9110 (same large cabin as yours two decks down) and we are very excited to have all that extra space for our kids (13 & 11). Can you post some photos of the cabin?

 

You will LOVE the space. I will see about posting some pictures- not sure how to do it from my phone. Also this corner of the ship is so quiet- you really won’t hear people in the halls because of low traffic and the vestibule with extra door.

[vidsmart]

Ha! I meant it in the context of he was spoiled by the very large room. He is 6’3”. The space compared to when we have an inside with the kids on bunks on top of us is SO much more comfortable. He will have a hard time adjusting to a more normal sized room.

 

Ok great! That’s comforting to hear; I have that cabin on deck 10 as well as the identical cabin on the opposite corner for the Christmas sailing. I read a similar comment about someone being spoiled by those corner rooms in another thread on CC. Thx

[Mom.to.2]

Thanks for the kid centric review!

 

Can you tell me how they split the ages in Adventure Ocean? Was 6-8 separate from 9-11? I have an 11 year old who would prefer to be with the teens, so if they combine 6-11 (as we've seen on other cruises) she will NOT be happy. We sail next week, which is our school spring break week in central CT, I'm thinking we'll have tons of children too.

[thewilfords]

How was the movement in your room? We are in 11510 on the opposite side in a few weeks. Did you feel the ship movement a lot?

 

 

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[danilynn17]

Thanks for the kid centric review!

 

Can you tell me how they split the ages in Adventure Ocean? Was 6-8 separate from 9-11? I have an 11 year old who would prefer to be with the teens, so if they combine 6-11 (as we've seen on other cruises) she will NOT be happy. We sail next week, which is our school spring break week in central CT, I'm thinking we'll have tons of children too.

 

That is the usual split. I have been on cruises where they combined some of the younger kids but that was on smaller ships without a ton of kids. AO was packed most of the time for this trip and it sounds like it will be for yours as well.

[danilynn17]

How was the movement in your room? We are in 11510 on the opposite side in a few weeks. Did you feel the ship movement a lot?

 

 

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We did feel it a lot, but nothing terrible. Especially the night before we were going to Cococay- the weather was windy so the sea was choppy. This was as high up and away from center that I’ve ever been. I love feeling the movement of the ship, though. My husband gets motion sick but it didn’t bother him.