writersblock15

I was on the Navigator last week sailing to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta.  Here is a link to my very long and unprofessional vlog.  We had a great time and even did the Escape room on the ship. I've been on close to 40 cruises and this was the first time I had no major complaints.  The cabin we were in does need some renovations but overall, the ship was in good shape. The food was good, staff were excellent and we loved the ports of call.  

https://youtu.be/2QgqhUTfeLk

I just posted my vlog from the Aug 14th sailing of the Adventure of the Seas.  The Vlog is very long but if you are interested in just watching the review and covid policies, skip to 1 hour 26 min mark.  We only had a little more than 700 passengers sailing so it was a ghost ship. Thanks to Hurricane Grace, we had to skip Cozumel and go back to CocoCay.  Needless to say I have a lot of footage from CocoCay including their catchy song.

How much is the fee?

We just booked Dec 5th on the Grandeur. 

And for those of you who enjoy working out while cruising, I have a walk through of the gym, which was very impressive.  It's at the 29:00 mark.

It's very long (over an hour and a half) but has a lot of footage on Ocean Cay, Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya, and the ship itself. 

I just uploaded my 18 minute vlog from Ocean Cay Marine Reserve. I was there on Dec 14th. There is still a lot of construction being done but the beach we were on was beautiful. Included in the video is the Junkanoo parade the the lighthouse show. My full 1 hour, 38 minute video on the entire Meraviglia cruise will be uploaded later in the week.

https://youtu.be/ssQWQXNQf3k

My vlog and review are uploaded at

It's long and not professionally filmed (I used my wide angle Gopro) with my own opinions. If you only want to watch our personal review skip to 54:20

Nice to see the oldest house in the Key West and the old cars still on the street in Cuba. Very nice video!

Thank you.

Good review.

 

how was the AC in the cabin? We are booked in the same cabin, 8644.

It worked great! The cabin was in good shape for an old ship and it was conveniently located as well. Just as long as you know that the view was partially obstructed by a lifeboat.

Had a great time and loved Havana. Here is a link to my travel vlog. I'm not a professional videographer so the video is very long and shaky but I have a lot of footage from around the ship and in Havana. At the end I include travel tips and a review. If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them as best as I can.

Loved your review! I'm booked on Anthem to Bermuda in August and then to the Southern Caribbean in November. So far my favorite ship is Oasis so it will be interesting to see if Anthem can top it. While on Quantum did you try American Icon and if so how was it?

 

Also, maybe it's just me but the ship did not seem super crowded, especially in the pool area...am I correct?

 

Regarding the spin classes, do you know how much they were?

 

 

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When I was on the Quantum we liked all of the restaurants except Silk and went to American Icon twice. On longer sailings each restaurant changed their menus halfway through the cruise. However, all of the menus have changed on the Anthem.

The ship was a full sailing but the demographic was mostly families. Kids under 16 aren't allowed at the Solarium pool so the guests with families were at the other pools. The outdoor pool was crowded but the day we went there, we were in port so many of the passengers were still off the ship. If you want to see the crowds, re-watch my video of the $10 sale. I've never seen anything like it on other ships.

I didn't see how much the spin class was but the TRX class was $20 which I thought was outrageous considering the gym membership where I go includes unlimited group fitness classes including TRX for $15 per month. On top of that they have the nerve to add on an 18% gratuity and that is for all fitness classes they offer. I'm an ACE certified group fitness instructor and never heard of tipping fitness instructors or personal trainers.

Thanks for posting the video review! Also a Bucks County resident here, and I'll be sailing on the Anthem in November

 

Preparing myself as much as possible by checking out all the reviews and really enjoyed how thorough your coverage was.

Your welcome. Have a great trip.

Great video

 

Your not the first one that said the show "We Will Rock You" was not very good.

It was over-hyped. I was surprised how many people were walking out of it.

We just finished watching your whole video. You did a great job! I esp. love seeing all the desserts! My question - the Anthem beach bag and sweatshirt you bought - were they on sale the last day? I saw on your video all those people were there for sales- was wondering if it was in that store as well. I really like the beach bag - thanks for taking us into that store!

First, thank you.

Second, no they weren't on sale. I got them in the logo store, which was surprisingly smaller than the logo stores on their other classes of ships. The items they had on sale are the same type of items they have on sale on all of their ships. Watches and jewelry, t-shirts, scarves, hats, etc. The day of that big crowd, they had a $10 sale.

We really enjoyed your video. Just curious what kind of video camera you were using? The video quality and sound quality were excellent and you did a fantastic job filming!

Thanks for sharing!!

Thank you. I used a Gopro Hero 3+

I can tell by your video and others I have watched. Is it different in a good or bad way or its just different period? Thanks for the video, loved it. It felt like we were on the cruise with you.

That would depend on personal opinion. I liked it better than the Explorer but I liked the Allure of the Seas more than the Anthem.

The D+ coupon(?) from the Quantum and Oasis sails was 1 free day of usage or $60 towards a package.

It may have been that. The sign up form on the tv in the room didn't give much information. It just said coupon. I had to go to the VOOM specialist to be sure my D+ discount applied. All I know is that it cost $25 for the entire 5 day cruise ($5 per day).

Can you apply the D+ discount if you've already bought the package online prior to sailing? Is it cheaper to buy it the first day or online?

I signed up onboard through the tv in my cabin. There was an option to apply a coupon (which is the D+ discount) however, it didn't give any details such as how much discount or what the coupon actually was for. There was a VOOM specialist at a table near the shore excursion desk there to help out so I asked them before signing up.

I am super excited to watch your video as we will be sailing in 2 weeks. My question - is the Coke freestyle machines working? I saw earlier in the year they were not working on some cruise sailings. My kids are really looking forward to using those machines.

As far as I saw, they were working.

Can't wait to read this review. Been thinking about sailing on the Anthem.

Great ship.

If I book on line it's $9.09 per day, with the 30% discount. On a 9 nite Anthem cruise and with the D+ perc ($60) it would cost me $21.81 ($81.81-$60). However, if I can get the same plan/cost it would cost me $12.72 with the other D+ perc of 1 free day ($81.81-$9.09-$60). Either way it's the way to go.

I'm not sure what plan you're looking at but mine came to $5 per day with D+ perc but only one device and no streaming capability. And it was worth every penny ;)

Just watched the entire video and I loved it. It was very informative, better than all the so-called reviews or tours. We just booked Anthem for next September to Canada/NE and this was great to get us familiar with the ship. We were on Explorer 3 times, but not this class a ship yet. Thanks for the video.

This ship looks and feels very different from the Explorer.

What was the Voom pricing. Got a e-mail with the 30% discount. Wonder if it applies for pre-paid plans or is available on board. If it applies on-board it's much advantageous with the D+ perc.

They had several different package prices depending on how many devices you want to use and which service (cheaper for just email and surfing the net than livestreaming) I took the package for one device not using the streaming service and with my Diamond Plus discount it came to $25 for the entire sailing. I signed up onboard.

My vlog and review are uploaded onto Youtube at

It's long but inclusive.