Anthem of the Seas - Review - Southern Caribbean - Feb 3, 2019 - Feb 15, 2019

[BuzzBuzzen]

Poor Scott never gets to eat before the nightly photo holding the menu ! We do it the other way around, I take the photos and my wife has the same bemused look on her face as Scott does. Thanks for a great review, cheers, Buzz.

[Noreen411]

15 hours ago, BuzzBuzzen said:

Poor Scott never gets to eat before the nightly photo holding the menu ! We do it the other way around, I take the photos and my wife has the same bemused look on her face as Scott does. Thanks for a great review, cheers, Buzz.

You are 100% correct.  He humors me taking the pictures.

But he’s gotten so used to it, he’ll even arrange the plate or move things around on it to get a better picture.

 

Thank you

[Noreen411]

Tuesday 2/12/19 - At Sea

 

We both went to the gym in the morning.

 

We made our usual stop at the Patisserie.  

 

After showering and getting dressed, we went to breakfast in the Windjammer.

 

We went to the 11am Galley tour.  We signed up via a card that was left in our room the first day as a Diamond Plus tour (no charge).  There were others to choose from if we wanted and could have chosen all of them.  We just chose this one.  The confirmation showed up on the TV.

 

The tour was pretty good.  There were a few annoying people in the group.  The person hosting was soft spoken and at times it was hard to hear everything he said.  As he wold move through the different areas sometimes you were near the front and sometimes you were near the back.  The two annoying couples no matter what would rush to get ahead of/around everyone else to be right near the host.  I am not sure if they were being rude or maybe they were hard of hearing and needed to be close.  Everyone else basically took turns who was closer and could hear better.

 

 

 

 

 

We went to the arcade and Scott played one of the racing car games.

 

We played Ping Pong.  We weren’t playing a competitive game but were trying to keep the ball going.

 

We played Baggo also.  

 

These were such simple things to do but we had fun doing it.  How often do you get to just play games like this?

 

We walked around deck 15 on the jogging path.  We stopped to watch the flowrider for a bit.  It was not crowded at all and people were able to get a decent amount of time when they went.

 

We went to the 1pm line dance class in the Music Hall.  I thought we would participate but we were a few minutes late and they already started so we just watched instead.

 

We went back to our cabin and hung out on the balcony reading and playing with the IPad.

 

We packed one of the suitcases with the snorkel gear, water shoes, etc.  We weren’t going to need those things so wanted to get it out of the way.  

Edited June 16, 2019 by Noreen411

[Noreen411]

Tuesday 2/12/19 - At Sea - Continued

 

We showered and changed for the evening.

 

We went to the Concierge Lounge for a drink.   It was crowded so we didn’t stay very long.

 

We noticed the odd animal pictures that used to be in the elevators are gone.  Now it’s just a blank wall.  Those pictures were a bit bizarre, but they were a great conversation starter.

 

We had dinner in Coastal Kitchen with Rich and Eileen.

 

 

 

 

 

For appetizers, Scott had Tuna Tartare and Shrimp Cocktail.  I had tomato and mozzarella.  Rich and Eileen must have had the same since I don’t have pictures of any other appetizers.

 

For our entrees I had the tomato crusted flounder.  Scott had the chicken parmigiana from the dining room menu.  Rich and Eileen both had lamb from the dining room menu.  Rajeev also brought us the garlic shrimp from the dining room menu to share.  

 

Everyone enjoyed their meals. It’s really nice that you can get something from the dining room menu if you see something you liked.  We would try to remember to take a look at it on the TV each day.

 

For dessert Scott and I had the tres leches cake from the dining room.  It was just OK.  Rich had Ricotta Cheesecake and Eileen had Ice Cream.

 

Rich and Eileen booked an 11 night cruise on Serenade for winter 2020 and asked if we wanted to come.  We tried to convince them to come on our Celebrity Silhouette 14 night cruise but they don’t think they can be gone that long.  The 14 night cruise ended up being cancelled by Celebrity as the ship won’t be done with it’s revolution in time.  But that’s a story for another day.  That cancellation didn’t happen until May 2019.

 

There were no regular shows tonight since both the Gift and Spectre’s Caberet are showing.

 

We went to the casino.

 

We went back to the cabin a little after 1am and Scott was hungry so ordered room service.

 

We moved the clocks back tonight.

Edited June 16, 2019 by Noreen411

[Noreen411]

Day 11 Compass and Planner

[rozen]

where is the end of this review ?

[John&LaLa]

20 minutes ago, rozen said:

where is the end of this review ?

 

Almost there I'd guess, 12 night cruise

[bermudashorts]

thanks so much for this.. we are going in Jan. Anyone know if they just delete the whole schedule for the Barbados day?

[gaylemh]

The lamb in the MDR is the best meal on the ship.  They always get it perfect.

 

 

[Savblanc1]

Hi

 

Thanks so much for your review. We are sailing on Anthem in 3 weeks and haven’t sailed before on that class of ship. I was just wondering do you know if you can use your Diamond drinks vouchers in Coastal Kitchen? 

Many thanks 

[Noreen411]

On 6/24/2019 at 1:23 PM, rozen said:

where is the end of this review ?

Hi

 

i will finish it.  Pet peeve of mine when people don’t.

 

will try to continue this weekend 

 

Noreen

[Noreen411]

3 minutes ago, Savblanc1 said:

Hi

 

Thanks so much for your review. We are sailing on Anthem in 3 weeks and haven’t sailed before on that class of ship. I was just wondering do you know if you can use your Diamond drinks vouchers in Coastal Kitchen? 

Many thanks 

They have brought us our choice of beverage in Coastal Kitchen.  Usually a Martini for Scott and soda for me.

 

It could be diamond plus drinks since they haven’t charged us.  We have refreshment package (non alcohol).

 

Noreen

[Noreen411]

10 hours ago, gaylemh said:

The lamb in the MDR is the best meal on the ship.  They always get it perfect.

 

 

We haven’t tried them but will look next time on cabin TV to see when they are serving them.  I like that you can get a dish from the dining room in Coastal Kitchen. Looks good.

[Savblanc1]

8 minutes ago, Noreen411 said:

They have brought us our choice of beverage in Coastal Kitchen.  Usually a Martini for Scott and soda for me.

 

It could be diamond plus drinks since they haven’t charged us.  We have refreshment package (non alcohol).

 

Noreen

Thanks Noreen. Would be nice to get a glass of wine on the diamond plus voucher scheme with dinner as we are planning on dining at 7 in CK most nights. 

[Beav1279]

Your review has been so enjoyable to read. Nothing planned for me yet, but after Alaska next summer, I want to do the Southern Caribbean. I like your itinerary - thanks for sharing!

[Noreen411]

Hi

 

Sorry for the delay with my review.

 

We went on another cruise and just got back.  

 

I will start getting back to this one since I will get it finished before starting to work on the review for the next trip.

 

Thank you for your patience

 

Noreen

[Noreen411]

Wednesday 2/13/19 - At Sea

 

We both went to the gym in the morning.

 

I stopped at the Patisserie on the way back to the cabin.  At home I don’t have Starbucks this often.  Maybe once a week, usually on the weekend I’ll get one of these iced drinks.  When we’re on a cruise, I like to get one after the gym with some bottled water.  

 

We showered and got dressed

 

We had breakfast at Sorrento’s.  I had a yogurt/granola parfait.  Scott had an egg McMuffin type sandwich.  We didn’t even know they served breakfast here.  Rich and Eileen told us about it last night.  It was pretty empty so an easy place to have breakfast.

 

We went to trivia at 10 with Rich and Eileen in the Schooner bar.  After trivia the four of us just hung out for a while.

 

We stopped at guest services to fix an erroneous charge we noticed and ask about random credit card holds.  When I was on the IPad the other day I noticed various pending charges showing up almost daily on the credit card, so just wanted to check on that and if it’s normal.  The amounts were odd amounts too.  It is normal but I guess I never noticed it before.

 

Scott and I had lunch at Izumi at 1pm.  

 

 

 

They start you off with some Edamame.

 

They brought us chopsticks and put it together like they do for kids learning to use them with a rubber band and paper. 

 

Scott showing his chop stick skills picking up the Edamame

 

We shared a poke bowl and two different rolls.  We had a salmon cream cheese roll and a Lobster in Yuzu roll.  We enjoyed this a lot.  The food was very good.

 

At 2pm we went to 270 to watch the history of Royal Caribbean part 1.

 

We walked around on deck 15 after the history show.

 

 

 

We went to Tri Bond trivia with Rich and Eileen at 4pm in the Schooner Bar.

 

We stayed for 5pm trivia - songs with color.  We tied for first place with 19 out of 20 correct and got zipper pulls.  Thanks to Rich for the win - he knew all the answers.

Edited June 29, 2019 by Noreen411

[Noreen411]

Wednesday 2/13/19 - At Sea - Continued

 

We showered and changed for dinner at Coastal Kitchen with Rich and Eileen.

 

 

 

We had Rajeev join us in some pictures too.

 

For appetizers I had the truffle risotto; Scott had the salmon sashimi and shrimp cocktail; Rich had the Iceberg Wedge.  I don’t remember what Eileen had but am guessing one of the things someone else had since I don’t have a separate picture.

 

For our entree I had the lobster.  It has too much stuff on it for me.  I later read about ordering it naked (without all the sauce on it) so will try that next time.  It was still good, I just like my food a little plainer.  Scott and Eileen had lobster but they had scallops added too.  Rich had the gnocchi.  Rajeev also brought a plate of gnocchi for the table.

 

For dessert I had baked alaska.  Scott and Eileen had the chocolate crunchy bar.  I don’t remember what Rich had.  My baked alaska was really good.  I am surprised Scott didn’t get it since he enjoyed it so much last trip.  He ended up having some of mine.

 

They sang happy birthday and decorated Eileen’s chocolate crunchy bar with whipped cream.

 

 

 

We missed the Gift.  We have seen it before so were OK with that.  We were having such a nice time at dinner and were there longer than we thought.

 

We went to the casino.

 

We saw the late night comedy show with Paula Ogata at 11 in the theater.

 

We went back to the casino until they closed.

Edited June 29, 2019 by Noreen411

[Noreen411]

Day 12 Compass and Planner

 

 

[Noreen411]

Thursday 2/14/19 - At Sea

 

We went to the gym in the morning.

 

After the normal Patisserie stop, we showered and got dressed.

 

We walked around deck 14 and 15.  It’s still very nice out, but getting cooler.

 

 

 

We stopped at the Bionic Bar.  It’s a cute novelty and fun to get a drink here.  You can get non alcoholic beverages too which is what we did.  

 

There are not many Valentine’s decorations around the ship.  A few things here and there but not much.

 

We skipped breakfast today planning to have an early lunch.  We went to the dining room for lunch at 11:30 when they opened.

 

 

 

Scott had a lobster roll without the French fries.  I had the chicken and waffles.  I didn’t like my chicken and waffles so went up to the salad bar and had a salad made.  I enjoyed the salad.

 

They had a valentine’s dessert display set up in the dining room.

 

 

 

We went to the 1pm Captain’s Corner in 270.  Someone asked a question about diversity at the top in cruises and there aren’t many females.  Diversity is a big focus at my company so it was interesting to hear about it from the cruise industry perspective too.

 

We went to the casino for a little while.

 

We went back to the cabin to pack.

Edited June 30, 2019 by Noreen411

[Noreen411]

Thursday 2/14/19 - At Sea - Continued

 

We showered and changed for dinner with Rich and Eileen at Coastal Kitchen.  Since it is the last night of the cruise most people are pretty casual.  I had an outfit specifically picked out for Valentine’s night that I wanted to wear.  It’s what I would wear out to dinner either at home or on a cruise.  It’s not super fancy but has pink in it so thought it was good for Valentine’s Day.

 

 

 

For appetizers I had the escargot, Scott had the Hamachi Crudo (forgot to take a picture of this) and Shrimp Cocktail, Eileen had the fennel soup, and Rich had the Pizzette.

 

It was seafood night in the Windjammer.  Rajeev brought us a plate filled with mussels, clams, scallops, and crab claws from the Windjammer for the table.

 

For our entrees, Scott and I had the Sesame Crusted Tuna over Cauliflower fried rice; Rich and Eileen had the Lamb Shank.  

 

We also had a plate of potato croquettes and an order of the saffron linguine for the table.

 

For dessert Eileen and I both had the sundae, Scott had Dulce Le Leche Creme Brûlée, and Rich had cookies that he got in the Windjammer.

 

We have a little portable printer that we brought with us.  Scott printed out a picture of Rajeev and put “#1” on it.  We brought it to dinner and sat it on the table.  Everyone got a kick out of it.  Other waiters, the dining room manager, plenty of people stopped by to see what it said.

 

We enjoyed our meals in Coastal Kitchen very much.  We like having a waiter that gets to know us.

 

We walked through the Windjammer on the way out and I took a few pictures.

 

 

We stopped back at the cabin to put out the luggage.  I changed out of my cute Valentine’s outfit and put on more casual clothes so we could put the Valentine’s outfit out with the luggage.

 

We went to the casino.

 

Scott’s free cruise voucher (he earned a free junior suite) was delivered to our cabin earlier tonight.  I had to check in with the casino host to get mine (I earned a free balcony cabin).

 

We said goodby to Rich and Eileen and some of the other people we chatted with over the course of the cruise.  Rich and Eileen headed out since they have a long drive home tomorrow.  We stayed until the casino closed.

Edited June 30, 2019 by Noreen411

[Noreen411]

Departure Information

 

 

[Noreen411]

Friday 2/15/19 - Disembark - Bayonne, NJ

 

We did not go to the gym this morning.  We showered and got dressed.

 

 

 

We had breakfast in the dining room.  We both had French toast.  We also ordered fruit since they didn’t have the little buffet in the dining room today where we would normally grab some fruit.

 

We left the ship after breakfast.  

 

We waited in the porter line to get a porter.  It was moving relatively slowly.  We heard that many of the porters were still helping get the luggage lined up after it comes off the ship and that they started letting passengers off too soon.

 

When it was our turn, our porter quickly got us to the front of the customs line and out to the garage.  Scott went to get the car and I waited with the luggage.  While waiting for him I took a picture of the luggage sitting here.  It’s a lot sadder to look at the lined up luggage waiting to go home than the picture I took of the luggage in the house before we left.

 

Once he got the car and loaded up the luggage, we were pulling out of the garage by about 8:30am.

 

We were home by 9:45am including stopping at the grocery store for a few items.

 

You can’t beat the ease of cruising from Bayonne.

Edited June 30, 2019 by Noreen411

[Noreen411]

Final Thoughts

 

This was another great trip on Anthem of the Seas.

 

We really like the layout of the junior suite (J1 with Large Balcony) especially the large balcony with the comfortable lounge chairs.

 

We thought we would miss some of the perks we had with the Grand Suite last year such as breakfast in Coastal Kitchen, the Suite Sun Deck, and the special seating in the theater.  Surprisingly, it was not that big a deal for us on this trip.  Mainly it’s because we’ve already seen the shows so don’t worry if we see them again or not.  Even the suite sun deck, while very nice, we enjoyed our balcony.  We did miss breakfast in coastal kitchen a bit.  On a different ship, we may want the full suite perks but on Anthem we are very happy with the junior suite.  We were able to have dinner each night in Coastal Kitchen which we liked.

 

We enjoyed the ports we visited.  We enjoy the ship.  The employees are very nice and seem to really care about making the guests happy.  It was great cruising with Rich and Eileen.

 

We will be back on Anthem again in June 2019 to celebrate Scott’s 50th Birthday.

 

Any questions please ask as I love talking about our trips and cruising in general.

 

Noreen

[Sizzlechest]

On 6/30/2019 at 1:16 PM, Noreen411 said:

I had the chicken and waffles.  I didn’t like my chicken and waffles so went up to the salad bar and had a salad made.  I enjoyed the salad.

 

 

 

Geez. I mean, that's TECHNICALLY fried chicken and waffles, but I would have never imagined it looking like that when ordering it. I don't blame you.