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

[FionaMG]

I learned something interesting today. The island of Tenerife's flag is virtually identical to the Scottish flag. I had no idea! I asked the man in the souvenir shop why there were magnets with the Scottish flag and he told me it's also the island's flag. Apparently one suggested reason is that they both have Saint Andrew as their patron saint. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[FionaMG]

Our cabin had nice bright sunshine this morning so I was able to take some decent pics.

It's 6560, an obstructed balcony cabin that is largely unobstructed. It is very conveniently located right by the entrance to the forward lift lobby. However, the entrance is very narrow because of the configuration of the structure, which has a jutting out part that effectively reduces the width of the entrance.

I would happily choose this cabin again.

 

 

 

 

 

[FionaMG]

Lunch was in the WJ, which was pretty busy but not a complete zoo. I found a very nice roll that I wish I'd thought to take a pic of but I wasn't expecting it to be so good, so just a heads-up if you spot them to give them a try. They look like cinnamon swirls, except instead of cinnamon in the swirls they have cheese and tomato and they were lovely and soft and yummy. 😋

[FionaMG]

We left Tenerife shrouded in clouds and with a smir of rain. Looks like we may be in for some heavier seas between here and Funchal. There is noticeable movement and the barf bags are out on the stairs. 🫣

[Glide]

Really helpful Blog, thankyou. Could you be so kind as to let me know how many formal nights there were in this 12 night sailing?

 

Many Thanks

[FionaMG]

14 hours ago, iceburg1 said:

Thanks for all the great information you are providing. If you have a chance,  could you try to post the Solarium Bistro Dinner menu. I think it is the same menu every night.

Thanks.

 

Here you go. Starters and desserts are self-serve and the main course is waiter service.

[njkruzer]

2 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

 

Here you go. Starters and desserts are self-serve and the main course is waiter service.

That's what I remember. 

[FionaMG]

3 hours ago, Glide said:

Really helpful Blog, thankyou. Could you be so kind as to let me know how many formal nights there were in this 12 night sailing?

 

Many Thanks

My pleasure ☺️

Formal on nights 2 and 9

Smart casual on nights 3, 6 and 11

Tropical on day 8 (That's today and I can't say I've noticed anyone wearing a tropical outfit)

And casual for all other nights.

[FionaMG]

Tonight's dinner menu:

 

Salmon and shrimp fritters. I'm not quite sure what to make of these. They had a very firm texture whereas I was expecting something softer and they were spicy even though there was no mention of that in the description. They tasted ok but I can't say I'd go out of my way to have them again.

 

Chicken marsala. This was quite nice. The sauce wasn't too sweet.

 

DH didn't fancy any of today's main courses so he just went with the strip steak.

 

Red and white cheesecake. I'm not a huge cheesecake fan but I gave it a go because it was a bit different. DH loves cheesecake and declared it very good. 😋

Edited September 30, 2022 by FionaMG
Sp.

[RandomUser123]

I would have gone Shrimp and Lobster Bisque in the appetizer tonight 🙂

[Kdmansfield]

On 9/29/2022 at 6:58 AM, Another_Critic said:

Your husband says ... enough with the pictures, it's time to dig in.  🙂

Thank you! We will check out this place on our cruise! Looks delicious 😁

[Kdmansfield]

Wonderful live posting! Thank you for taking the time during your cruise to share. It really does help, not only for the information (during these covid times), but is lovely to see from your perspective. Brava! Thank you for your beautiful photos and insight 😁

Edited October 1, 2022 by Kdmansfield
Spelling

[FionaMG]

Welcome to Funchal, Madeira, one of the most beautiful ports ever. We only have until 2 pm here, sadly.

 

Today's compass

 

 

 

 

[FionaMG]

8 hours ago, RandomUser123 said:

I would have gone Shrimp and Lobster Bisque in the appetizer tonight 🙂

I did try that on a previous cruise and found it too salty but perhaps I was just unlucky. I should probably give it another try. 🙂

[FionaMG]

What a pity our stop in Funchal was so short. It really is a lovely place.

 

The MSC Meraviglia was also in port with us but they were staying longer, lucky things.

 

We walked all the way along the seafront, then up to the farmers' market, where we had some Madeira bananas and took advantage of the public toilets (very clean and free to use).

 

Then we headed back along the city centre streets that run parallel to the seafront until we reached a pretty little garden where we stopped for a rest on a bench. There was a taxi rank right next to it and we decided to hop in one to go back to ship. Cost just under 7 euros.

 

The ship was offering a shuttle bus to the centre at a cost 10 dollars return per person, so the taxis are a better option unless you're travelling solo.

 

Artwork on the seafront outside the CR7 Hotel and Museum. The piece is by Portuguese artist Bordalo II who specialises in making art from rubbish.

 

 

View of the ship from the seafront promenade with us and a stupid bin in the foreground. Did not notice it until it was too late. 🙄

 

Bird of paradise flowers along the seafront

 

Moving up off the seafront, the cathedral

 

And the outside of the farmers' market

 

Inside the farmers' market, every kind of fruit and veg imaginable

 

Including Madeira bananas, much smaller and sweeter than the ones normally on offer in grocery shops. They need to be brownish on the outside to be ready to eat. The yellow ones aren't quite ripe.

 

 

This is the fresh fish part of the market

 

The long black fish in this pic are scabbardfish, a Madeiran speciality served with fried banana and the big chunk next to them is fresh tuna.

 

The following pics are of the little garden we found as we were heading back towards the ship. There were some little handicraft stalls set up there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FionaMG]

Back on the ship we headed to the WJ for lunch and as we expected it was packed. However, we somehow managed to snag a table in the small outdoor seating area at the back, which turned out to be very lucky as we had a fabulous view for sailaway.

 

 

I also found some more of the tomato and cheese rolls I mentioned in an earlier post, so I had to have one and this time I remembered to take a pic

 

We had intended on finding a sunny spot after lunch but a strong wind had got up so we headed to the solarium instead and since most other people were still.on the outside deck, we somehow managed to get front row loungers.

You can't really complain about a view like this, can you? 😁

 

 

[FionaMG]

Tonight's dinner menu

 

Mushroom puff pastry, absolutely packed full of mushrooms

 

Crispy crab cake. Not really what I'd call crispy but it was very nice and did have some real crab in it.

 

Shrimp linguine which was DH's pick. He said it was good.

 

Butter chicken. I really liked this and the mango chutney that came along with it was yummy.

 

 

 

Royal cheesecake but this time we made a point of asking for strawberry sauce with it.

 

Warm chocolate lava cake. A bit of a disappointment. I asked the waiter to make sure it was hot and he did, but even hot it was not molten in any way, shape or form. 😕 It tasted ok but I wanted it to spurt lava when I cut into it and it was completely solid. So, bit of a thumbs down for this one, I'm afraid.

 

 

 

[FionaMG]

The headliner show this evening was Jack Pack who were Britain's got talent finalists a few years ago. The theatre was packed and they were outstanding. Even DH, who generally falls asleep at the shows, stayed awake for the entire performance. Definitely recommend.

We had seats in the balcony for this show (on this particular cruise, if you don't go and grab a seat at least 30 minutes beforehand your chances of getting a decent one are slim to none) so the pics aren't great.

 

 

 

[robandlil]

I’ve been following the MDR dinner menus waiting for lobster night.  Did I miss it?

[FionaMG]

10 hours ago, robandlil said:

I’ve been following the MDR dinner menus waiting for lobster night.  Did I miss it?

You didn't. It's tonight. For some reason they didn't have it on the second formal night, which was yesterday.

Talking of formal night, lots of folks dressed up. I think many Brits still adhere to the tradition.

[FionaMG]

Today's compass

 

 

 

We had a la carte breakfast this morning so I could try the breakfast burrito 🌯. It was very tasty although perhaps just a tad on the greasy side.

 

After breakfast we stopped off at the Voom desk to get my free D day transferred to DH and from there we wandered into two70 to get some pics of the breakfast set up there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are at sea today and although it's sunny, it's very windy out, with some parts of the upper decks closed off.

There are a very few hardy (crazy?) souls on the loungers swathed in a dozen or so towels so as not to freeze to death. 😂

We have taken refuge on some comfy sofas in the seaplex, where the bumper cars are in full swing.

 

Looks like today is going to be a good day to go around taking pics of the indoor areas of the ship.

 

 

Edited October 2, 2022 by FionaMG

[Tin can]

1 hour ago, FionaMG said:

 

Talking of formal night, lots of folks dressed up. I think many Brits still adhere to the tradition.

 

Something that we also noticed on Anthem in June, almost universally observed.

[tfo2000]

Yes, lobster night was on day 10, a sea day,  for us too.  Our waiters brought out an extra tail each for our party and cut the meat out of the shell for us!  The head waiter then brought us a third tail.  It was such an excellent meal and we were so well treated in American Icon.  

[FionaMG]

4 minutes ago, tfo2000 said:

Yes, lobster night was on day 10, a sea day,  for us too.  Our waiters brought out an extra tail each for our party and cut the meat out of the shell for us!  The head waiter then brought us a third tail.  It was such an excellent meal and we were so well treated in American Icon.  

With the exception of one night, we have been seated in Silk every evening, always in the same section and have also been very well looked after.

[FionaMG]

Some of the art on the midship stairs