Review- Anthem 2/9-2/16

[VernRDH]

Just some highlights of our 8 night cruise on Anthem from Bayonne, NJ. Sailing are myself (53F) and DH (54M). We are D+ with this being his 5th and my 3rd time on Anthem. 

 

Cabin- 7658 balcony, just aft of aft elevators. Great location and we like the layout of these cabins. Shower is a rectangle, not the bullet. Plenty of room and storage for the two of us.

Dining- Early seating in American Icon, we ate half our meals here and the rest at speciality. Food is subjective, but the menus are stale and some of the offerings are just not great. The prime rib on night one and the tenderloin on day 2 were excellent, but after that nothing really stood out. I ate 3 appetizers on night 3 instead of a main, but that was Super Bowl night. I wish we had known that they would offer free hot dogs and hamburgers at the theater for the game, and then we would have skipped MDR.

 

We ate breakfast at Solarium Bistro each morning, the first two days the food was not very good. Eggs were cooked HARD (both scrambled and over easy) with whole yolks in them! At least I know they used real eggs. Improved for the rest of the week. We don't really eat lunch, just grab a snack.

 

Specialty dining- we had Jamie's booked for Valentines day and once again it did not disappoint. We had the garlic bread, aranchini , bolognese and the short ribs. Wonderful meal and good service. 

We did Izumi one night and we just order ala carte. I have a shellfish allergy, so there are only a few things I can order safely, but again it did not disappoint. 

Johnny Rockets- its such a shame it has declined, it used to be a really great meal. $37 for two is a bit much. We skipped the milkshakes.

For only $18 for two we got a WAY better burger at Brass and Bock, which we ate at the last night. We plan to add this to our rotation in the future. 

 

Ports- we had planned to go to Disney in PC, but they changed the excursion time from 9:30 (which IMO was already late since we were docked at 7am) to 11:30am. This would realistically only give you 3 hours in a park and at $150 per person, the juice wasn't worth the squeeze on this. We stayed on board and enjoyed our regular hangout, the Solarium. 

Coco Cay- well, it wasn't a "Perfect Day" more like a "Perfect 3 hours" Captain Tony said it would rain at noon and he was spot on. We spent a bit on time on Chill Beach, went in the ocean (it was a bit cool but ok), shopped a little, and had lunch (had to get my funnel cake and mozzarella sticks!) By the time we finished eating, the sky was very dark and we decided to head back. Just as we got to the pier, it started to rain in earnest. Winds did not help. We were docked alongside Freedom (first time we have every been at PDCC with another ship) and the line to get back on Freedom was crazy long. Maybe the Northerners are made of sturdier stuff and were willing to brave the rain? Hard to say, but we opted to head back and hit the hot tub in the Solarium.

Nassau- We should really have our mail forwarded to Nassau as we are there so often. We shopped for trinkets for our coworkers and a new handbag for me. Had lunch at our fave restaurant Athena Cafe. It was a beautiful day with 6 ships in port- Allure and Anthem, Carnival Liberty and Freedom(?) and MSC Meraviglia and Seashore. We were right next to Meraviglia, which was nice since we will be sailing on her in October and it was nice to see her up close.

Entertainment- having been on Anthem so many times, we did not see WWRY or Spectra again. We went to the theater to see the SuperBowl and went for The BeatleManiacs, which were very good. We tried to go to Music Hall for the band one night, but it was just SO LOUD! We found the music in the bars and lounges to be very loud. And that comes from someone who is hard of hearing! 

Casino- we like to play roulette. We are strict about our gambling budget. It is extremely easy to advance more money on your SeaPass, but that bill comes due when you get home, we just can't do it. So we play until we are out of chips, but if we hit, we take the payout in large chips and put that in our pockets. A "win" is coming out even. Roulette was very popular on this cruise, as the tables were full every night with people waiting to play. The last night they had all 3 tables open. 

 

Bar service- so we cannot drink alcohol due to medial reasons, but we do enjoy mocktails. Bar staff was great about making different things for us and many knew our preferences after a visit or two. Bars were busy and they were doing a great job taking care of everyone.

 

Cabin attendant- Yudhy was a nice young man who did his best. He had soooo many cabins! We asked for distilled water on embarkation day for DH's CPAP, and he brought us a bottle of Evian. I left him a note the next day saying this isn't distilled water and his reply was they did not have any and would not get it until PC. Now this is not his fault, but c'mon RC I requested it TWICE prior to sailing. You can't have distilled water for medical device? But there was quite a few things we didn't get until PC (mostly fruits) and I get that provisions in Florida are cheaper and easier to acquire than the metro NYC area. But distilled water? 

 

Overall it was a very relaxing cruise, which is really what we are looking for. We will miss Anthem, since she is a true cold weather ship. We opted to fly next year and not go on Odyssey (which we also enjoy) due to the prices. I booked a 9 night out of Tampa in a balcony for less than a 7 night in an oceanview on Odyssey. Yes I have the added expense of pre-cruise hotel and flight, but its offset by not having to pay to park at Cape Liberty and I get 2 more nights and 2 new ports. 

 

Please feel free to ask any questions. Thanks for reading!

[jfio1021]

The indoor pool and solarium saved us this cruise lol very concerned about how oddessy doesn't have that indoor pool area. Even Coco cay was really chilly once it started to rain 

[FBgirl65]

Agree that the music was very loud. My husband and I both wear hearing aids and had to take them out. Even then we found it loud.

[toad455]

Agreed about Johnny Rockets. Just remove it from the ship already. Overpriced and not good at all.

 

Did you wait long for your food at Brass & Bock? On my January cruise, the food took over 30 minutes due to only one cook in the kitchen during lunch. Granted its the best burger on the ship, but the wait time is crazy. @VernRDH

[Tatka]

Nice review! We will miss Anthem…We loved Iconic band in MH. So talented…

[VernRDH]

21 hours ago, toad455 said:

Agreed about Johnny Rockets. Just remove it from the ship already. Overpriced and not good at all.

 

Did you wait long for your food at Brass & Bock? On my January cruise, the food took over 30 minutes due to only one cook in the kitchen during lunch. Granted its the best burger on the ship, but the wait time is crazy. @VernRDH

I think we waited maybe 15 minutes? I wasn't really paying attention, we enjoy people watching and sitting by the entrance across from the jewelry shop is a great spot.

[dbancroft]

We were also on this sailing and also had no distilled water in cabin. Room steward had one gallon that she shared with three other cabins. Evian and purified water is not what manufacturers want you to use in the machines.

The only good frozen drink we found was at the pool bar the casino bar drinks were terrible in November and last week. 

We really enjoyed the band Iconic in Music Hall a little loud but still very good. Glad they were still there.

We had snow on the Quantum when we embarked in February 2015 and was nice seeing snow on the Anthem as we got off.

We also booked Freedom out of Florida for August much cheaper than cruising from Jersey.

Edited February 20 by dbancroft
added text

[VernRDH]

1 hour ago, dbancroft said:

We were also on this sailing and also had no distilled water in cabin. Room steward had one gallon that she shared with three other cabins. Evian and purified water is not what manufacturers want you to use in the machines.

The only good frozen drink we found was at the pool bar the casino bar drinks were terrible in November and last week. 

We really enjoyed the band Iconic in Music Hall a little loud but still very good. Glad they were still there.

We had snow on the Quantum when we embarked in February 2015 and was nice seeing snow on the Anthem as we got off.

We also booked Freedom out of Florida for August much cheaper than cruising from Jersey.

It has never been an issue before, that's why I was so surprised this time. DH does have travel parts for his unit that he washes and runs in the So clean when we get home. So at least he has good clean stuff when we get home.

I don't know if the pricing for Cape Liberty is just higher since there are not a lot of other drivable options in the Northeast. And while having newer shinier ships in Bayonne is nice, I can book something else for less and get more.

Like I said we love Odyssey, but we sailed her out of FLL in October, so didn't need the enclosed pool.  It may be a tough go if the weather is like we had last week.