Live blog From Anthem of the Seas Transatlantic

[BourkeBlogs]

Tonight we are in Silk and so far this has been our least favourite restaurant.

 

The waiter advised the menu changed yesterday which was the 5th night and it was now more of an oriental theme and the previous menu had been more Asian based.

 

The service was really good tonight but we didn't think the food was that good. We do eat a lot of Asian / Oriental food at home and usually love it but the quality and flavours just weren't up to much unfortunately.

 

The menu and meal pictures are below:

 

 

 

 

 

[BourkeBlogs]

Prawn crackers and sweet chilli sauce. When your basket is empty the keep bringing you more

 

Pao bun trio - This wasn't good. It was heavy and the bread was like wet undercooked naan bread

 

Chicken lettuce wraps - These were ok, but the chicken didn't really have much flavour

 

Spring rolls - This was the best of the starters. They were hot, crisp and tasty

 

For mains again we shared some dishes

 

Sweet and sour chicken - Not great, taste was bland and more like a cheap ready meal than what you would expect in a restaurant. The rice served with it was pretty good though

 

Asian style duck - This was ok, the duck was pretty greasy (I know duck normally is) but the skin was greasy rather than crisp. The pancakes had also not been steamed sufficiently and were dry

[BourkeBlogs]

Spiced lamb chops - This was the really good. The lamb was tender, cooked well and had plenty of flavour. The spicy sauce it was served with was also extremely tasty

 

Lime ginger chocolate cake - This was ok, you couldn't really taste the lime or ginger though. It could have really done with some cream on the side as it was quite dry

 

Kulfi - This is what my partner had. She said it was not good and not at all authentic.

 

Overall not the best meal we have had whilst onboard, again realise this is subjective to personal taste. However, on a positive the service was some of the best we have had whilst onboard.

[Psych Cruiser]

Thank you for posting the menus. They are really helpful.

 

Noticed on the room delivery one you posted that soda was $3.25. Is that the charge throughout the ship for soda?

 

Thank you again, your doing a TERRIFIC job.

[BourkeBlogs]

Thank you for posting the menus. They are really helpful.

 

Noticed on the room delivery one you posted that soda was $3.25. Is that the charge throughout the ship for soda?

 

Thank you again, your doing a TERRIFIC job.

 

 

Thanks. We will check tomorrow. I still also need to confirm at the bar the cost of spirits for another poster

[Psych Cruiser]

What is the make and size of the stateroom TV's?

 

Thank you.

[Psych Cruiser]

I haven't noticed a menu for Coastal Kitchen. If you have, please disregard.

 

If you haven't, could you post the breakfast, lunch and, dinner menus.

 

Thank you again. This is a GREAT thing your doing.

 

Your postings are going to be where to go, for any and all, information regarding The Anthem of the Seas.

 

Thank you, thank you

 

Edited November 2, 2015 by Psych Cruiser
punctuation

[denatravels]

 

Your postings are going to be where to go, for any and all, information regarding The Anthem of the Seas.

 

Thank you, thank you

 

 

 

I TOTALLY agree that this is an amazing resource and I absolutely appreciate everything you've done.

However, we all need to be aware that there may be changes, given that Anthem has left UK and now in the American market. It may not be exactly the same.

[conandrob240]

Other than a few menu tweaks (I'll bet the entree of "Pie of the Day" disappears next week!) and some local US acts to supplement the main shows, I doubt there will be many changes in the U.S.

[BourkeBlogs]

Here's another instalment from the behind the scenes tour.

 

I realise the posts are out of order, but I'm adding when I can. When I return home I will update my website with posts in a more logical order and upload all the menus to one page to keep things easy to find.

 

After we had been to the recycling area we were taken to the engine control room. Before we were allowed access we were searched and scanned with a handheld metal detector and our sea pass cards were checked against a list of names for the tour.

 

The engine control room is not on the same deck as the engines, which unfortunately we did not get to see which I assume would be for a number of reasons.

 

The engineer gave some background and we could then ask questions.

 

For example at the time we were only running on 3 engines at about 85% power as shown on this screen

 

 

The boat can even run on one engine only when speed does not need to exceed 5knots and in fine weather. The minimum time to start up an extra engine is 30 minutes although usually an hour is allowed when it is a planned engine start such as leaving port.

 

The engines can either run on heavy fuel oil or marine diesel. They prefer heavy fuel oil as it is cheaper to run on although this needs to be pre heated before being used in the engines. At the time we were burning approximately 2.3 tonnes of fuel per hour and this increases in times of bad weather such as what we had experienced. The boat has sufficient fuel capacity to run for approximately 2 weeks without bunkering.

 

To ensure emission targets are met a scrubber is fitted in the smoke stack which is used to reduce the amount of sulphur produced. This is done by spraying salt water which is an alkali which then neutralises the acid (or the other way round)

 

When in port they may need to switch to the more expensive marine diesel to ensure they don't breach emission guidelines.

 

You may have read in another post about a power cut we had the other morning. One of the other guests asked about this. The engineer said he didn't want to go into too much detail but advised there is a high voltage power system on the boat which goes to transformers in different locations. Usually this is in a full circuit with 2 links. However one of the links had a ground fault which apparently is very dangerous on a high voltage system so they have turned this off and will be fixed when docked in New York. If you read between the lines it basically means the power system is running on just one link at the moment.

 

Someone also asked about the number of engineers on board and there are approximately 40 engineers in total on the ship.

 

Here are a few other pics from the room

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2015 by CruisenovicesUK

[Setting sail for fun]

Very interesting!

[BourkeBlogs]

The next area we visited was the laundry.

 

In the first room the laundry is sorted into colour, type etc. From here it either goes into one of the 6 machines which have varying capacities from around 20 - 80kg

 

These washers have a cycle time of around one hour so instead what it mainly used is an automated machine which takes loads of 23kg at a time

 

The laundry is placed in a hopper at one end and this is automatically fed in. The washer has multiple compartments which the washing goes through. The washing is only in each section for a few minutes which means a large volume can be processed in an hour by one person.

 

The control panel is shown below

 

 

And the machine is in the right of this picture. In the middle is the robots which transfer the washed items to the dryers on the left

 

 

Have you ever wondered how they know who's washing is who's when you send items to be laundered? Probably not, but on the ship they use this labelling machine to identify names and stateroom numbers

 

 

They also have a couple of dry cleaning machines, which now use non solvent based products.

 

There is a variety of pressing machines just for shirts and trousers, as well as manual irons

 

One of the most impressive pieces of kit was the automatic ironing and folding machine which is used for linen. The machine is huge and is fed at one end by a team of 3 people then at the other end one person just piles up the folded linen in size order

 

I asked what would happen if the automated machine breaks. They have an engineer whose job is to maintain this machine and repair it. They also have an identical machine at the opposite side of the boat.

 

Sheets can only go through this machine between 100-120 times before they are too worn and need to be replaced.

 

There are only 20 people in the laundry team who work 14 hours a day in a very hot environment, so they have an extremely hard job despite the automation.

 

The crew can get their uniforms laundered for free but for personal items they must pay for these. Alternatively there is a crew laundry available for them to do themselves.

 

Ok so that's the last update on the behind the scenes tour today. I will add the final sections tomorrow.

[cusecruiser]

Thank you for telling us about this. I can not wait to experience it!

 

CruisenovicesUK ~ Thank you so much for this daily blog. My family goes on Anthem 11/22 and I am enjoying your daily updates. I have a couple questions. 1) What is "Escape The Room experience"? and is there a bar someplace inside that is up-top where you can have a drink and watch the sailaway? When we have gone on other ships out of Bayone, we did the Sailaway at the Viking Lounge. I think it was on deck 14 and all windows. We had a birds eye view of going under the Bridge out to the open water. It looks like your not going to clear the bridge because there is so little clearance(but of course you know we are). We think it's super cool way to kick-off our cruise and wanted to do it again. Anthem doesn't look like it has a place like this to go have a drink and watch the boat clear the bridge.

 

If you stroll past a place that you think we could do this in, let me know. Thank you and enjoy the rest of your cruise!

[denatravels]

 

 

 

If you stroll past a place that you think we could do this in, let me know. Thank you and enjoy the rest of your cruise!

 

 

I would imagine the top decks would have this, since you are looking outward (not down?). I will be safely inside watching sailaway-- did the sky bar and helipad on Liberty in August. In February, I'm thinking inside is better!! Last year I did it same February week on NCL and it was THREE degrees. Not so much fun to be outside!!

[Overtyme]

Escape the Future - Puzzle Break

 

Earlier today we did the escape room. We had booked this via the IQ app once onboard.

 

I'm not going to go into too much detail as I don't want to spoil it, but basically you have an hour to solve the clues and escape the room.

 

In case your claustrophobic, there is no need to feel trapped. The room is only locked in a virtual sense rather than a physical one so you can leave at any time.

 

You can take drinks into the room with you and there is a Coke Freestyle machine in the room as well.

 

There was about 16 people in our group and they can play with up to 24. Our group had mixed ages with children upwards. The kids we're actually really good at it.

 

We managed to complete with 13 minutes to spare in the end.

 

 

You missed the most important part- do you recommend this and did you enjoy it?🤑

[BourkeBlogs]

You missed the most important part- do you recommend this and did you enjoy it?[emoji857]

 

 

Yes and yes

 

It was good fun, and if you have chance to do it I would definitely recommend as a bit of fun

[BourkeBlogs]

CruisenovicesUK ~ Thank you so much for this daily blog. My family goes on Anthem 11/22 and I am enjoying your daily updates. I have a couple questions. 1) What is "Escape The Room experience"? and is there a bar someplace inside that is up-top where you can have a drink and watch the sailaway? When we have gone on other ships out of Bayone, we did the Sailaway at the Viking Lounge. I think it was on deck 14 and all windows. We had a birds eye view of going under the Bridge out to the open water. It looks like your not going to clear the bridge because there is so little clearance(but of course you know we are). We think it's super cool way to kick-off our cruise and wanted to do it again. Anthem doesn't look like it has a place like this to go have a drink and watch the boat clear the bridge.

 

 

 

If you stroll past a place that you think we could do this in, let me know. Thank you and enjoy the rest of your cruise!

 

 

Thanks, the escape room is a puzzle activity. It is free of charge but must be booked once onboard either through the IQ app at Seaplex, guest services etc.

 

The aim is a number of people are 'locked' in a room and the timer is set giving you one hour to try and escape. The only way to do this is by solving various clues and puzzles inside the room. To be successful you need to work as a team so it's key to communicate well during the task.

 

In regards to your second question there are 4 bars on the top deck, 2 of which are covered.

 

The first covered bar is the Sunshine Bar on the Solarium at the front of the ship. The next bar is the pool bar which is next to the pool which has a retractable roof, which I imagine will be closed when leaving New York.

 

There are also 2 outside bars next to the pool which is the sky bar and North Star bar, so there are plenty of places either inside or outside you could watch sail away.

 

You can also get a beer from the dog house in Seaplex at the rear of the ship of you wanted to be at that end

[BEENSAILING]

I have been following your trip across the Atlantic. You have been absolutely wonderful in sharing information, observances and answering questions. I am sorry the weather was so rough. (My husband wasn't as enthralled with it as I was.) We both really enjoyed the food in Jamie's and have booked that for our Nov. 30 cruise. October is a tough time to cross the Atlantic and I am sure those of who have been following you will think long and hard about ever (never) doing a crossing at this time of year. It is really unfortunate some of your entertainment and activity options were cancelled. Were the live shows cancelled because the entertainers couldn't stand on stage? (I can understand about Northstar and rock wall climbing being cancelled.) We traveled across the Atlantic in May from Bayonne to Barcelona on the Quantum and it was smooth sailing. Everywhere we ate the food was wonderful. I found Wonderland quirky and delicious. (Though my husband wasn't as enthralled with it as I was.) We'll be on the Anthem Nov. 30 - just a few weeks from now. The roughest crossing we have ever had was on a smaller ship - Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas - across the Tasmanian Sea from Australia to New Zealand and then back to Sydney. (Won't be doing that route again.) I hope you'll have a chance to try a Quantum class ship in calmer seas. Again, I thank you for all of your time posts and photos. I think Cruise Critic should give you a special award for this!

[cusecruiser]

Thanks, the escape room is a puzzle activity. It is free of charge but must be booked once onboard either through the IQ app at Seaplex, guest services etc.

 

The aim is a number of people are 'locked' in a room and the timer is set giving you one hour to try and escape. The only way to do this is by solving various clues and puzzles inside the room. To be successful you need to work as a team so it's key to communicate well during the task.

 

In regards to your second question there are 4 bars on the top deck, 2 of which are covered.

 

The first covered bar is the Sunshine Bar on the Solarium at the front of the ship. The next bar is the pool bar which is next to the pool which has a retractable roof, which I imagine will be closed when leaving New York.

 

There are also 2 outside bars next to the pool which is the sky bar and North Star bar, so there are plenty of places either inside or outside you could watch sail away.

 

You can also get a beer from the dog house in Seaplex at the rear of the ship of you wanted to be at that end

 

WOW! You are fast! Thank you for answering my questions. Our kids are going with us (both legal drinking age), so we will settle at one of those places and the escape the room sounds like mad fun! I also wanted to thank you for all the other wonderful info you have provided. I have spent the last 2 hrs. reading every single post. It seems like you really enjoy doing this and you have a knack for it! It seems like you've been running all over that ship answering everyone's questions, so I'm glad to read that providing these updates has not prevented you from enjoying your holiday! Wishing you and your "OH" have calmer waters and can get some pool time!! Thanks again.

[MisterBill99]

I haven't noticed a menu for Coastal Kitchen. If you have, please disregard.

He would have to be in a suite to have those, and would presumably not be eating at the other restaurants if he were.

Edited November 2, 2015 by MisterBill99

[UK Cruiser2]

Thank you for an informative blog Mr Bourke

[AntiCat]

 

Some weeks ago a soccerball was stuck. Is it still there ? :-)

Edited November 2, 2015 by AntiCat

[BourkeBlogs]

What is the make and size of the stateroom TV's?

 

Thank you.

 

 

Hi the TV is Samsung and I would estimate the size is 40inch. Although I don't have a tape measure so stand to be corrected on that one.

 

I have read some other posts which say that the TV can be pulled away from the wall, however I assure you it can't it is firmly fixed to the wall. I have also looked the full way round the edges and there are no obvious clips to release to allow you to plug in a media streamer etc. Even if you could I don't think you could select any alternative input as the remote has got no button for this and the way the TV is set up there doesn't seem to be any options to change the input.

 

Here are a couple of pictures of the menus available, the first is where you can check account balance, calendar etc and the second is the channels available.

 

The channel list has changed slightly since we left the UK and also for a number of days we couldn't get CNN news as we were out of range to pick up tv signals by satellite.

 

 

Edited November 2, 2015 by CruisenovicesUK

[BourkeBlogs]

Morning it's day 7 and

 

 

We were in the lifts around 00:15 this morning and the sign had already been changed.

 

Here is the day 7 cruise compass

 

 

 

We had another time change last night and again the day was wrong on the notice. It happened at 4am his morning, Monday.

Edited November 2, 2015 by CruisenovicesUK

[Psych Cruiser]

Hi the TV is Samsung and I would estimate the size is 40inch. Although I don't have a tape measure so stand to be corrected on that one.

 

I have read some other posts which say that the TV can be pulled away from the wall, however I assure you it can't it is firmly fixed to the wall. I have also looked the full way round the edges and there are no obvious clips to release to allow you to plug in a media streamer etc. Even if you could I don't think you could select any alternative input as the remote has got no button for this and the way the TV is set up there doesn't seem to be any options to change the input.

 

Thank you for the TV info. Also didn't think you could input anything on the TV. They have them locked. Have tried to use my computer to watch movies on the TV on other Royal Caribbean ships and told by staff that it could not be done.

 

Thanks again.