LIVE from Anthem of the Seas, 23 September to 5 October 2022, "Discover the Canaries"

[FionaMG]

We boarded Anthem this morning for this 12-night cruise calling at Vigo, Lisbon, Lanzarote, Gran Canária, Tenerife, Funchal and La Coruña.

 

Fastest boarding ever. Fifteen minutes tops from getting out the taxi to stepping on board.

 

For those wondering about the negative test, required for this sailing because of the length, I actually brought the test cartridges all the way from Portugal to Southampton 😂. The check in agent barely glanced at them; they could have been anybody's.

 

I'm sailing with DH so will only be posting a couple of times a day (usually when he's napping or contributing to Royal's coffers in the casino).

 

I will be happy to try and find the answers to any questions if anyone has any.

 

There are no compasses available at guest services. Instead there is a QR code you can scan to get a digital pdf compass on your device. However it turned out our stateroom attendant had put one in our room for us and I told him we would like one every day.

 

We are in an obstructed balcony cabin 6560 that is not very obstructed, only to the right hand side by the thingy that holds up the lifeboats and which I have totally forgotten what it's called. Senior moment. 

 

I will do cabin pics at some point when it's a bit brighter and the view is of something a bit prettier than the port structure.

 

We did embarkation lunch in Jamie's, which was very nice but far too much food for us. However, it was great not to have to battle the crowds in the WJ.

 

Meat plank

 

Tagliatelle Bolognese and prawn linguine

 

 

Amalfi lemon cheesecake and epic brownie

 

 

Today's compass

 

 

 

 

Sail away is in about 30 minutes and they're still calling out for some people who haven't done their muster drill. 🫤

 

Finally, I'm going to finish off this first post by tagging my blogging buddy @Rogueperson because he always tags me on his live reviews and he has one going right now. We are sailing at the same time but on different ships and in different parts of the world. Have fun, Rogue. 😊

[sgmn]

Thanks for doing this Fiona. Love Anthem. We should of been doing the same cruise, only previous one, but had to cancel due to family commitments.  We've never cruised from  Southampton to Canaries so following with interest 

[Rogueperson]

Yay!  You decided to do a live thread!!!  At least you're not staring at a hurricane going by and wondering how much damage it will do the Bermuda.  Hence why my thread says Bermuda (maybe).  We've already been instructed to arrive an hour later than our assigned boarding time.

 

[vjmatty]

Thank you for this live thread! I am sailing on Anthem for the TA from Southampton October 17 so I'm looking forward to your sharing this experience.

[Another_Critic]

59 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

We are in an obstructed balcony cabin 6560 that is not very obstructed, only to the right hand side by the thingy that holds up the lifeboats and which I have totally forgotten what it's called. Senior moment. 

I had the same cabin on the May transatlantic.  Great location.  🙂

 

The thingy is called a davit.

[FionaMG]

1 hour ago, sgmn said:

Thanks for doing this Fiona. Love Anthem. We should of been doing the same cruise, only previous one, but had to cancel due to family commitments.  We've never cruised from  Southampton to Canaries so following with interest 

My pleasure. 😊

It's our first time both on Anthem and out of Southampton.

I hope you'll get the chance to do it in the not too distant future.

[FionaMG]

32 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

Yay!  You decided to do a live thread!!!  At least you're not staring at a hurricane going by and wondering how much damage it will do the Bermuda.  Hence why my thread says Bermuda (maybe).  We've already been instructed to arrive an hour later than our assigned boarding time.

 

Fingers, legs and eyes crossed for you. 🤞

[FionaMG]

20 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

Thank you for this live thread! I am sailing on Anthem for the TA from Southampton October 17 so I'm looking forward to your sharing this experience.

My pleasure. 😊

If there's anything you'd like me to try and find out for you just let me know.

[FionaMG]

20 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

I had the same cabin on the May transatlantic.  Great location.  🙂

 

The thingy is called a davit.

Haha that's it! The word just completely obliterated itself from my mind! 😂

[alibabaxx]

Food so far looks lovely.  Is that speciality dining?  We have been on Oasis previously and loved that ship.  Never sailed out of Southampton before but looking to do this in May on Anthem.  Is it basically the same ship?  Would be good to know how the sailing through the Bay of Biscay goes, if seas/weather is rough?  Look forward to your updates 😁

[Another_Critic]

2 minutes ago, alibabaxx said:

Food so far looks lovely.  Is that speciality dining?  We have been on Oasis previously and loved that ship.  Never sailed out of Southampton before but looking to do this in May on Anthem.  Is it basically the same ship?  Would be good to know how the sailing through the Bay of Biscay goes, if seas/weather is rough?  Look forward to your updates 😁

Anthem is Quantum class, Oasis is Oasis class.  Many, many differences between the two classes.

[alibabaxx]

2 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Anthem is Quantum class, Oasis is Oasis class.  Many, many differences between the two classes.

Ah cool.. thought they were the same class. will do a bit of research on this ship then 🙂

[FionaMG]

Alpha, alpha, alpha call just went out. I hope whoever it is will be ok. 😕

[FionaMG]

44 minutes ago, alibabaxx said:

Food so far looks lovely.  Is that speciality dining?  We have been on Oasis previously and loved that ship.  Never sailed out of Southampton before but looking to do this in May on Anthem.  Is it basically the same ship?  Would be good to know how the sailing through the Bay of Biscay goes, if seas/weather is rough?  Look forward to your updates 😁

It was Jamie's lunch. Half the price of dinner and pretty much the same menu. 

We actually prefer Oasis class but they have very limited itineraries so we don't mind switching it up a bit.

I have never done Bay of Biscay. Will probably take some motion sickness meds this evening in preparation. 😂

[vjmatty]

Just now, FionaMG said:

It was Jamie's lunch. Half the price of dinner and pretty much the same menu. 

 

 

Good to know.....I got us the Key because it was $15pp, but since I'm a vegetarian and hubby's not a big steak fan,  Chops lunch won't be very useful. I might just sign us up for Jamie's lunch anyway.

[FionaMG]

28 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

 

Good to know.....I got us the Key because it was $15pp, but since I'm a vegetarian and hubby's not a big steak fan,  Chops lunch won't be very useful. I might just sign us up for Jamie's lunch anyway.

There looked to be several dishes on the menu that might be suitable for vegetarians.

[vjmatty]

5 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

There looked to be several dishes on the menu that might be suitable for vegetarians.

 

Oh thank you!  That is good to know.... definitely booking lunch if the site gets back up again lol

[FionaMG]

So, update from the bridge on the alpha call earlier. Unfortunately the guest is in critical condition and we are heading back to Southampton to rendezvous with the coastguard and evacuate them. They originally wanted to do a helicopter evacuation but apparently the conditions are not suitable.

I really hope the person will be ok. This is so sad. 😕

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, FionaMG said:

So, update from the bridge on the alpha call earlier. Unfortunately the guest is in critical condition and we are heading back to Southampton to rendezvous with the coastguard and evacuate them. They originally wanted to do a helicopter evacuation but apparently the conditions are not suitable.

I really hope the person will be ok. This is so sad. 😕

Doesn't look like Anthem is heading back to Southampton.  Bad news?

[RandomUser123]

I will be on Anthem Oct 29th cruise out of Cape Liberty NJ. I cannot wait. Your itinerary is definitely better than mine 🙂

[FionaMG]

53 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Doesn't look like Anthem is heading back to Southampton.  Bad news?

We haven't heard anything more. 😕

[FionaMG]

MDR menu for tonight:

 

Maryland style crab cakes. A bit of a let down. I always enjoyed these even though I've been told they're nothing like the real thing, but they are not the same and not as good.

 

Prime rib and chicken saag. Both good, although obviously for the latter you need to like curry. The prime rib usually comes with mashed potatoes but DH wanted chips (fries).

 

 

Pear cobbler and cheesecake.

 

 

 

The cobbler was quite nice aided by the ice cream. The cheesecake was a bit disappointing. In the past it's come with some strawberry sauce but today it had none and DH found it a bit dry.

Not the best meal we've had on Royal but we didn't leave hungry.

 

We have My Time Dining and I made a standing booking for 8pm every evening.

There was virtually no queue at that time. 

 

 

 

[FionaMG]

Oh no. We've just had another alpha call. 

[wolfcathorse]

who is the captain for this sailing?

[FionaMG]

Tonight's entertainment was Spectra's cabaret in two70. Very dynamic and high energy. DH loved it and (most unusually) managed to stay awake for the whole performance.

I enjoyed some parts more than others but on the whole would give it a thumbs up. However I just can't get enthusiastic about the space as a performance venue. There are so many bad sightlines that you can end up missing a lot of the action.

A few photos from during the performance: