argyllsock

Thank you for the quick review! Quick question - are the fridges in the rooms able to be emptied and filled with water/soda?

Been offline for a bit so apologies for the late response. The fridge in our room was empty (no mini bar item) and no 'for fee' water in the room either. We stocked the fridge with water.

Great review thank you!!! As we sail in less than 3 weeks. Question... I see you spent time in the Solarium, was the age limit enforced during the cruise? How about at sail away if that’s where you were for that time, was it enforced then as well? I have read they relax that rule for sail away.

I didn't see children in the solarium during our cruise. Weather was great so they had lots of room in the indoor and outdoor pool areas. I hear that they do open the solarium up to all ages during bad weather. I can't speak to sail away as I was trapped in guest services hell trying to get our royal refreshment packages straightened out!

I would be curious if OP would read the latet thred from someone on Anthem right now concerning public places

If you are referring to the thread regarding the cleanliness of the public places, we found the ship quite clean. Staff seemed to pick up dishes quickly. The only spot that was a bit messy was the Windjammer - I think that was due to the huge volume of people there. Now, we tend to eat at off hours (late am and late pm) and avoid most of the dining areas at prime time so maybe we just missed the worst of it.

Hi Everyone,

Glad to hear you enjoyed my review.

John

I'll be posting a review of our cruise as well but thought I would post my thoughts here.

My wife and I just completed the 7 day Bahamas cruise out of Bayonne. To put my thoughts in perspective, we’ve not sailed with Royal in 5 years; our last cruise with them having been on Enchantment of the Seas in 2012 (same itinerary but departing out of Baltimore). In the interim, we’ve sailed with Celebrity, NCL, Windstar, HAL, and Silversea.

We booked this cruise about 10 days ahead of departure. For many reasons we tend to book vacations ‘last minute.’ Our criteria was a 7 day cruise departing on Saturday or Sunday out of Baltimore, New York, or Boston. Our options were NCL, RCCL, Carnival, and Disney. While we enjoyed the one Disney cruise we took many years ago, the prospect of a Halloween cruise to Canada’s maritime provinces didn’t appeal to us – the weather can be downright miserable in Nova Scotia in late October! We weren’t keen on NCL as they seem to barrage you with sales pitches everywhere on the ship! Carnival certainly isn’t for us,so we ended up with RCCL.

We drove to the port and parked at the onsite parking garage. It may be a little pricey at $20 per day,compared to the nearby lots, but it is extremely convenient. You are literally 100 feet from the terminal.

In general, we enjoyed our cruise but were disappointed in Royal’s apparent fascination with technology over all else. I think with additional staff training and clearer processes the guest experience would be much better! For us, we experienced the following issues:

1. Going to our cabin we found that there were no Sea Passes for our room. It took 40 minutes in line at Guest Services to get passes issued

2. Somehow Royal managed to omit our drink package from our sea passes even though we received a letter in our stateroom describing the package we had ordered! Again another hour with guest services to get this resolved.

3. A pre ordered gift was delivered without the corresponding card and message (small nit but it really ruined the message!).

4. We had the Ultimate Dining Package that gave us 40% off bottles of wine priced at $100 or less – but none of the specialty dining servers were aware of this. Again, a small nit but kind of annoying to have to train a server everynight.

I thought I would summarize our experiences by category:

Check In

Getting onto Anthem was extremely quick. We had completed online check in and arrived at the terminal with our paper passes. Going on board was as simple as having the pass scanned and answering the standard health questions. From entry to walking onto the ship might have been 10 minutes…and this included going through security.

The Ship

Anthem is abeautiful ship with a lot of different things to do. Easily has the most things I have ever seen on a ship – bumper cars, circus, iFly, flowrider, NorthStar observation pod,arcade, casino…the list goes on and on. We both enjoyed the Northstar and the bumper cars!

The ship is in great shape and we found the common areas were well maintained and clean.

We really came to dislike the promenade area. Royal loves to have ‘sales’ in this space and it was packed with people most of the time. This area reminded us of cruising with NCL.

Anthem could have used another bank of elevators – we always waited quite a while for an elevator.

Entertainment

Royal excels here. The evening shows were allfantastic as were the comedians and the cruise director. There are plenty of activities throughout the day to go to and participate in. Royal has more trivia contests in a day than Celebrity has for the entire week! Spectra’s Cabaret, The Gift, and We Will Rock You were all fantastic. The other ‘ship produced’ shows (welcome, farewell) were quite well done. Royal is clearly the industry leader here.

Royal apparently no longer offers any free movies in the cabin – only for fee. Movies were shown on the pool screen and a couple of times in the Royal Theatre.

Pools

Anthem has three pools: outdoor, indoor, and adult only (solarium). We stayed away from the outdoor pool as it was always crowded and quite noisy. The indoor pool was less noisy and we ended up there a few days as my wife likes to swim in the ‘deeper’ pools.

Thesolarium was adult only and beautiful. However, the tiered pools were good only for soaking in as they are rather shallow. It was a quiet oasis that we would retreat to periodically.

Movies and sporting events were shown on the screen in the outdoor pool area. However, the screen is on the starboard side and is only easily viewed by a small number of deckchairs. I don’t know why Royal didn’t place the screen either fore or aft to be more accessible.

Food

Having the Ultimate Dining Package meant that we never ate in one of the Main Dining Rooms. We ended up in Wonderland and Chops twice, and Jamie’s three times. As my wife is a vegetarian, we didn’t go to Izumi. While we enjoyed the dining we found that the limited specialty restaurant selection wore on us and we weren’t all that excited about eating by the last few days of the cruise.

A word on the Ultimate Dining Package – we found it to be a great deal as it provided for seven nights of specialty dining along with specialty lunches on sea days, and offered 40% off of bottles of wine under $100. We don’t drink outside of wine with meals so this was perfect for us. The only drawback: staff didn’t know about the wine discount.

We didn’t set foot into the Windjammer buffet until the sixth day of our cruise. We found it very hectic and chaotic – although the food was quite decent for a buffet. The biggest drawback? A staff member on the PA constantly ‘reminding’ people to give up their table so someone else could sit down. Aggravating. Really aggravating.

One thing I really liked about Windjammer were the hand washing stations located at the entrances, and the routing of everyone to them when entering. The buffet is probably the most likely place that you will contract Noro if it’s on the ship and frequent hand washing is the primary way to reduce the possibility of getting it.

We did eat at Café 270 and the Solarium restaurant most of the time for brunch (we generally ate only two meals a day on the ship). Both provided decent quick serve meals.

Cabin

We had a balcony cabin on deck 10. Royal put alot of thought into the cabin as it was very well laid out and felt spacious. In fact, it felt like the most spacious non-suite cabin that we’ve been in.

There were a couple of drawbacks. First off, Royal has installed the tiniest in room safe I’ve ever had. It barely accommodated my iPad – if you have the larger iPad or a laptop you aren’t locking it up. In fact, the safe was too small to even store my headphones! Secondly, the walls are very thin – we often heard our neighbours (thankfully quiet most of the time).

Our cabin steward was non-existent. We didn’t even meet her until our third day. While the room was kept clean, we had to ask to have towels replaced and shampoo/lotions/etc replenished. The service was a little disappointing relative to what we have experienced on other cruises.

Fellow Travellers

Anthem had a wide range of travelers from all ages. There really wasn’t a dominant age demographic. Most of the cruisers came from New York,Pennsylvania, and New Jersey with maybe 100 guests (my estimate) from outside of the United States.

Royal kept the kids and teens busy with programs and activities. We experienced none of the horrors we’ve heard about from other cruisers. In fact, the kids tended to be the best behaved of all of us on the ship!

Debarkation

When checking in online, we indicated that we would self carry and wanted to leave as early as possible. Of course, Royalhad us debarking in group 22, which was scheduled about 2 hours after debarkation started! I have no idea why they bother with asking for debarkation information and then completely ignore it.

A quickcall to Guest Services got us moved up to the first Self Carry debarkation slot at 6:30 am. Debarkation was very smooth – we were in the waiting area at about 6:25, were called to depart at 6:35, and were through immigration and heading to the garage at 6:45.

Overall

We both thought it was a decent cruise with great entertainment. The ship was beautiful and well maintained but it’s very big. Despite its size it did feel very crowded at times – in particular, the Esplanade and outdoor pool areas.

We enjoyed the entertainment but are finding that we like a bit more of a sedate cruise. The ship is ideal for younger couples and families. Not great for older couples who like quiet time.

I think we will do Royal again – but on one of the smaller ships in the fleet. We enjoyed Royal’s slate of entertainment but missed the intimacy and perceived better service of a smaller ship.

Just got off the Anthem yesterday. We used the terminal parking. It is literally 100 feet from the terminal. Drop off your checked luggage and extra passengers - they can wait for the driver at one of a number of benches they have in the area.

Drive to the garage, take a parking ticket, find your spot and park!

A couple of things to do:

1. Either write your floor number on your parking ticket or take a picture with your phone of the floor number. You likely won't remember when you get back from your trip.

2. Take your parking ticket with you as you pay upon return at kiosks set up outside the parking garage.

Thank you for the suggestions. We'll probably get a couple of bottles to bring on - most have gone to screw tops now so hopefully we can find a few decent bottles that don't need a corkscrew.

We have a dining package that gets us 40% off bottles of wine. DW likes a few glasses and this looks like a far better deal for us than purchasing the Drinks package.

Looking forward to sailing in a week!

Yes to both questions.

Thank you!

Hi Everyone,

I've been searching through the forums and can't find any recent answers (I'm sure they are there -- I just can't seem to find them).

It has been a long time since we sailed with Royal. We usually buy a bottle of wine with dinner but rarely finish it in one sitting.

Does Royal store the bottle and retrieve for the following night's dinner?

Can we take the bottle to a show afterwards or back to our cabin?

I recall that they used to allow both but I'm never sure with the changes since we've been on board.

Thanks in advance for your help!

I've been researching the Kennedy Space Center options as we are on Anthem later this month. There are a few challenges. First off, there is a lot to see at KSC! For us, Anthem arrives at noon and KSC closes at six.

There is a shore excursion available on Anthem that basically buses you to KSC and brings you back. If you are going solo the cost will be about the same as taking an Uber to the centre and back. If you are a party of 2 or more, Uber makes more sense.

Now, with either option I think you will have about 4-5 hours at the KSC to explore, since I can't see getting to the KSC before 1 pm, and I'm sure they'll be herding everyone out at six on the dot.

Doing some research it was suggested that one should book a VIP KSC excursion if available (couldn't find it for my sailing) - this apparently gets you express access to the major attractions (e.g. Atlantis space shuttle).

At the end of the day, we decided against doing the Space Center this trip -- we'd really like a full day at the site to enjoy as much as possible and to tour at our leisure. And since we'll be down in the area in the not too distant future we'll carve out a day for it then.

However, if you are not likely to be back I would go for it.

Good luck and enjoy the cruise!

I used to always get guarantee assignments pretty much the next day after paying in full (Royal and Celebrity)...but I'm on the 10/21 Anthem sailing and still have not been assigned a cabin! Sailing is no longer available for booking...hoping I don't get a surprise at the pier!

Yes - Anthem.

Thank you for letting me know!

Hi,

This has likely been answered already but I can't seem to find it. Does Izumi on AOS have teppanyaki or hibachi service?

Thanks!

Really enjoying your trip report!

Thank you!

I reached out to windstar on twitter. Apparently rough seas prevented them from going to Bequia so they ended up with an extra day in Barbados.

Sailings on 02/25 and 04/11 weren't available for booking -- they are probably both charters. i don't think that there is anything to worry about.

I didn't take a cruise, but I'm currently on Barbados and we just got in line for a cab. There was a board that listed rates according to location. However, you should ask the driver what the rate will be and confirm that it is Barbados dollars or American dollars. We did meet folks at the resort that arrived at 1:00am and did get taken. We haven't had any issues with the taxi drivers and rates, because we asked the price before we got in. Enjoy!

Thanks!

I think we will grab a cab at the airport...after confirming the rate!

Hi All,

Heading down to Bridgetown next month for our cruise. We've got our pre cruise hotel booked - just wondering if anyone has just grabbed a cab at the airport or would you recommend pre-booking? Cheaper or safer one way versus the other?

Thanks!

Cabin 1601 was a great cabin. Perfect location close to elevators. There is a deck above with cabins so u don't have a public deck over you. There is an overhang which gives you shade alot of the day, depending on sun position. It can get full sun during later afternoon depending on sailing direction. I am a sun lover and appreciated having shade due to the strong med sun. The cabin is on the hump so it is quite a bit deeper than the regular balcony.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

Thanks! Appreciate your feedback.

it's interesting how different people can have totally different experiences on the same cruise, I can never figure it out. My husband and I were also on this cruise in cabin 1601. We had a great cruise and did not experience any service issues. Of course we did notice the aggressive upselling the first couple of days but we already had the premium package and just politely declined the dining and they left us alone.

 

We loved our cabin attended Marino. He was very attentive and we did have the sparkling wine in our room upon arrival.

 

We are in blu every night except one (my birthday which we went to Murano). We ate every night at the same table and we really liked our servers, Iketut and Marina. The sommelier always filled our glasses before they were emptied and remembered our preferences night to night. Maybe sitting at the same table every night is the key.

 

We dont do cruise ship shows so cannot comment on that, we had good service at the bars, which frankly surprised me because I had read reviews saying bars were crowded and understaffed. I found myself rarely having to wait.

 

Funny you mention the kids. We totally noticed that as well. They were out of control at times. Last cruise we went on the Norwegian epic that is really a family ship and we expected it there, was surprised to see it on celebrity sailing.

 

Seems like others did not have the same experience we did, I can only figure that it is which staff you come across that can make or break a cruise.

Hi,

We are on Reflection on 09/09 in 1601. How was the cabin? I believe it has a deeper balcony and would appreciate your thoughts. Did the overhang prevent you getting much sun?

Hi,

Irons aren't allowed per celebrity's FAQ:

"Steamers or irons are not allowed onboard. However, there is a full laundry and dry-cleaning service available onboard for reasonable rates.

Regular service, picked up before 9AM - returned next day. For same day service, picked up before 9AM and returned same day, add 50% express service surcharge."

Unfortunately you are going to have to use their laundry service. However, lots of people swear by Downy Wrinkle Release as an alternative to ironing.

Enjoy the cruise!

Yes, that's what we were looking to do on the payment side. We already have USDs in a US bank account as well as a USD credit card. Now it's just a case of getting Celebrity to agree that we can pay in USD. The potential transfer to a TA would be the last piece of the puzzle.

 

Thank you

 

Randy

That is quite easily done - you just need to have one! Enjoy the cruise...and the savings!

Hi,

We always book our cruises in USD and through a US TA specializing in cruises. The conversion rates quoted are almost always much worse what you can get yourself.

Our approach (and it requires a USD credit card and USD account at a Canadian bank) is to book with our US based TA, immediately exchange our CAD for USD and put it into our USD bank account. When the final payment is due we simply put it on our USD credit card, then pay the card balance with the funds we put aside.

Benefits:

1. Better exchange rate

2. Better 'gifts' from our TA

3. Points on our credit card!

It can't work for everyone, and the annual fee of a USD card may outweigh any savings, but for us it works very well.

I am sure if you don't have a USD credit card you can probably find a way to pay the TA directly. As a bank employee I am sure you can get a no charge USD account so you can 'hedge' any fluctuations by converting and holding USD funds when you book.

Good luck!

Ive done both NCL and X in the past few recent years.

I give the edge to NCL on the entertainment but everything else hands down to X. Better food in the MDR and buffet, better fee based restaurants (a little pricier though) and great facilities.

If you are in it for the entertainment alone then NCL but I'm a bigger fan of X.

Either way, enjoy the cruise!

Thanks to all for the responses!

Very much appreciated.