Anthem Cruise Review (March26)

[playingpossum]

Sorry it’s a little delayed in posting. 

 

My wife and I went on the Anthem of the Seas again and wanted to do a write up to possibly help others with this port and cruise itinerary. 

 

We left a day early and drove down from Ontario Canada to a small area just outside of Newark called Parsippany.  We stayed here because it was located in a nicer area then the cruise terminal is located in and is much more reasonable to stay here.  There was several nice restaurants near our hotel as well.  Our trip last year we stayed much closer to the terminal and found that the area was not very nice or safe in comparison.

 

The departure day out of port Liberty was as easy as it gets.  We took the scenic route though on the way there and saw some of the rougher areas near the port(we got lost lol).  We did manage to get back on track though and were at the port right around 10:30.  I got the car parked in the port parking area($25.00per day paid when you leave after your trip)  We had a arrival time at 10:30 and to us this is the perfect time to get to the pier as they are just starting to load the ship around 11:00am.  We were on the ship shortly after that and in official vacation mode.

 

We had the luxury of being on this ship last fall so we got to see the old menu vs the new ones and we were still really happy with the food.  It was nice trying some new dishes and still seeing some of the old ones too.  The portion sizes were perfect for us and the new additions were tasty.  We ate at the main Dining room 5 of the 7 nights of our cruise.  The other 2 nights we ate at the wind jammer and Chops.  We have done many cruises and this was our first one that had a specialty dining one.  We were very impressed with chops and would definitely do that again.  We both had the fillet minion and it was melt in your mouth good.

 

I am a big Flowrider nut so those of you who are not may want to skip this section.  The Anthem has a mat style Flowrider and it is a one of my favorite waves.  There was a slight low pressure spot up on the very top of the starboard side which affected some people.  The wave overlap was not bad and did not affect anyone on board.   We had a nice group of about 7 regular riders who were at varying levels.  The first day we had good weather and I was in a full wetsuit.  The temperature was warm for late March (about 65)when we left port.  It is neat to be on the back of the ship when it goes under the bridge leaving New York. The sports staff on this cruise were very good.  We were allowed to do most tricks that we wanted to try.  Any new riders wanting to try were not discouraged from doing so.  The upper deck was closed due to weather 2 of the sea days so the Flowrider was closed as well.  We found that this cruise lost quite a bit of time because of weather and a scheduled maintenance break on it.  On day 3 the Flowrider was down as they had to drain the tanks for a yearly inspection. The tanks are drained while at sea so all morning sessions were canceled.  I didn’t get a chance to go and see if it was open later in the day as we were in port.  One issue I was not happy about at all was how the app did not match the Flowrider times in the cruise compass.  Next cruise I will be going back to the old ways of requesting a paper copy the night before.  For most people this would not be and issue but for someone who only does stand up surfing and plans accordingly it was a real let down.  I did show up one session to be told sorry the times changed and yet their app showed a different time.  On our 7 day cruise there were 26 hours of time for stand up surfing/mixed wave and we lost 6 of those for reasons stated.   I still had a great week of surfing with the last day being the best as there were very few who wanted to brave the cold conditions.

 

 

 

 

Excursions:

I stated in another topic that I would time the excursions and report back how things went. 

 

Day 3 was in Port Canaveral and we decided to go to Disney for the day.  Here is a break down of how our day went.  We were sent a paper copy of our passes and instructed to go to the theater at 12:15 the day before. We were organized and sent out to join the bus and boarded at 12:40. Bus departed the port at 12:48. We past the Walt Disney world welcome sign at 1:45. Bus pulled into the parking lot at 1:53. We were not allowed off the bus until 1:55 as they didn’t know we were coming and where to let us off.  Got through security at 2:05 and had to get a bag check. Took the monorail to magic kingdom. In park at 2:15 While in park we went and got dole whip at 2:45. Went on pirates of the Caribbean afterwards. The line for it was almost a walk on because we timed a reopening.

After that we went across the park towards Tomorrowland. There was a parade going on while we were took over which allowed us to get a picture right in front of Walt and Mickey’s statue in front of the castle. We then went on people mover and buzz light year. Both had fairly short lines and we got through them in about 20 minutes each. We then proceeded to do a little more shopping in the main shops. We bought a couple items and got a gift card later this year. We had some time to spare at the end and used it by looking at some pins. We then made our way back to the entrance of the park and took the monorail back at 5:30. We were back on the 1st bus heading back to the port by 5:45.

Overall it was a good day. We did accomplish what we had set out for goals. Dole whip check, ride 3 low wait time rides check, got a couple pictures check, do a little shopping check. Don’t miss the bus back to the pier big check.

Would we do this excursion again?  Yes.  If we did not have season passes to Disney though? Probably not do a park as it is just not long enough to justify the cost.  There were a lot of people going to do different things while there so it is really hard to say if it is worth it for most. Lots of people enjoyed the day and said they would do it again.  We have season passes to Disney so for us it was a bonus day at the park we would not get otherwise.

We got back to the pier at 6:50 and went to the windjammer to eat dinner.

 

Day 4 was Nassau.  We had the opportunity to go to Atlantis and took it.

We were docked by 12pm and went to the area where we were to wait for the designated group as soon as we could. We had to wait for them to get a rough head count and then have the group head towards the bus area.  It was not a well organized excursion as they had 2 people looking after everyone and seemed overwhelmed.  We were then taken by bus to Atlantis and dropped off. There were approximately 300 people in the group we were in to go there. We had to log on to the Atlantis ap and sign a waiver prior to getting in a line to get our wrist bands(a major pain as wifi does not work where they want you to do it). We got our bands and were allowed in by 1:30. Some of the other passengers were pretty upset by the way things went and the cost for this excursion. We went in and wandered around a bit. We did go through the underwater aquarium area which was pretty impressive. The number of fish and displays was very nice and felt like a very high quality aquarium. 

We then went to the water park area. It is a huge park and complex.  There were a lot of people in this water park and I would say it was more crowded then a sea day on a ship. We were not able to find any chairs at first. We did after a bit more searching.  We rode around in the raging rapids for a bit. Unfortunately DW was not able to ride the water slides so I can not comment on them. The lines for the slides were really long though and I likely would not have waited for them by myself. 

We did walk over to where the dolphin excursions were and the facility is very nice and a completely different feel than the rest of the complex. The area was spotless and looked to be a very nice place to experience a dolphin encounter or swim.  The cost for the excursion is pretty high compared to others. 

The Casino was under construction renovations and there was quit a bit of area partitioned off. We did gamble a bit and won some which was nice. The casino didn’t have any smoke in it which was a bonus for us as well. There was a few good slot machine games in there as well. Wonder Woman is one of my wife’s favs. They had one I love as well. Royals casino has terrible slot machines in comparison.

Overall we had a good day at Atlantis but would not go back as it is a 1 and done for us. We both felt the value for the money was just not there.  The 5pm bus ride back was okay. The island is still in really bad shape but they are working on some areas to make it better.

 

 

Day 5 is the day a lot of passengers are waiting for.  Last fall we booked the water park and it truly in a great experience that makes Atlantis seem like a bit of a let down.  This trip we did not have the kids with us so wanted to relax and just enjoy the island.  We did go on the north star early in the morning prior to getting off the ship.  Seeing the island from that view point is very nice.  We got off the ship around 10:30 and wandered the island.  There are lots of chairs here so finding one was not hard.  We sat in a cove area that looked towards the ship.  For lunch we ate at the snack shack and enjoyed the motza sticks and chicken burgers(a must for many).  Entertainment was provided by a couple who thought sea gulls would not eat food left in a private cabana.  That was quite entertaining to say the least lol.  Everyone we have talked to loves this stop and Royal has definitely done an amazing job of making it a great destination.  We felt relaxed and just loved being on the island for the day.  We look forward to coming back here on our next cruise.

 

So general comments.

 

NJ Port:  The port is small and somewhat crowded.  It is efficient though and got us on the ship very quickly.  Departing was easy as well but a bit hectic outside of the terminal.

 

Shows:  We enjoyed the shows again on this cruise.  We love we will rock you as it is very well done.  The comedian for the opening/closing show was very good.  The wish is a pretty good show and pretty unique.  We skipped the spectra's caberet show this time though as its not for us.

 

Cabin:  This time we stayed in a d2 balcony cabin on deck 8.  Our room was looked after very well and we did not notice a difference from last years service.  Our bed was turned down each evening the same as before.  We were very happy with our room steward. We loved having a balcony.

 

Bartenders:  We had excellent service and the bar tenders were very good.  Drinks were made promptly and most were very happy to be serving everyone.  We did find a couple we really liked and they were always happy to see us. 

 

Main dining room service:  We had a very good waiter for this cruise who was probably the most attentive we have ever had.  Our assistant waiter was likely not feeling well this trip as she was absent a couple nights.  For those of you who are using diamond drink vouchers they did not bring us paper copies to sign for on this trip.  They did mess up the first night charging for 3 drinks but since we did not use all of them it was not an issue.

 

Customer Service:  I went here twice on this cruise.  The first time was to complain that the app did not reflect what was going on on the ship.  The reason I was upset about this was because we came back from a port day early to flowride and the app did not match the compass.  As I have said this happened more then once.  The 2^nd time I went to the desk was to ask if they could make sure my email was right so I would get my after cruise survey and general emails.  I like to mention the people who make our trip more enjoyable in the survey and provide feedback.  I did not get a survey even after being reassured it was fixed.  I am sure Royal Caribbean needs to revamp the whole IT department.  Unfortunately guest services was basically a waste of time and maybe I should have talked to the loyalty embassador and the sports manager instead.  I am glad we have a travel agent that looks after making sure we get our emails and proper dining requests.

 

Food:  We enjoyed the new menu and found something good to eat every night. Food is pretty subjective and everyone has likes and dislikes.  Breakfast was great in the windjammer.  We did eat lunch 2 time in the dining room and it was pretty good.  We had the chicken and waffles the one sitting at lunch and Disney does it much better.  Chops was a special treat for us and we really enjoyed it.  The only complaint I have is the lack of late night food.  Trying to find a cookie after the buffet closes is hit and miss at the pizza place.

 

Starbucks:  My wife loves coffee and the service she gets is always top notch.  Everyone gets to know her and she loves the little things they do to make her smile.   Some even remembered her preference from our last cruise back in November.

 

Ship:  We were on a sailing wit 1060 children so this cruise was a little busier for us.  The last cruise we had under 500 and there were several areas that were hot spots for kids.  The ship was very clean and well maintained.  It feels like a luxury ship and is a very nice destination in itself.

 

Next cruise staff:  We decided to go back and book 3 cruises and were very happy with the experience.  We did link it to our current travel agent for a little extra obc and even better then onboard booked price.  Combining the next cruise with our shareholder benefit helps with the onboard gratuities next trip.  Our travel agent made the changes to our upcoming sailings without even being asked. 

 

Conclusion:  We had a great time on this cruise.  Driving vs flying has been pretty good to us.  We enjoyed ourselves enough that we did book this same trip again for next year on March break and probably again in October(open booking).  In comparison on our November cruise we felt that the staff were not burnt out and this trip they were back to being amazing.  We learned that a trans Atlantic prior cruise equals a lot of very fatigued crew members which is totally understandable.  We look forward to being back onboard again soon.

 

Hope this helps some out there.  

 

[Tatka]

Thank you for the great review. We are also Anthem fans.

Enjoy her till she leaves.

She will be missed greatly!

[miaminautigal]

Thanks for a great review, we're leaving on 5/1 TA sailing.  We're surprised by the lack of specialty restaurants for a 12 night cruise and a new ship/