Spring Break Anthem of the Seas Review 3/27-4/8

[queenL]

Quick question about the pools? Is there one that is open 24 hours?

 

I just checked the cruise compass. It says select pools and hot tubs open 24hrs. I'm guessing that it probably varies depending upon which ones they are cleaning.

[clochette]

Kids Club

 

Wonderland- We ate here on the first night. (Specialty restaurants are 20% off the first day) Plus, on Quantum I waited to eat at Wonderland, then when I went to make a reservation they said they were completely booked. I didn’t want to take that chance this time. I did like it. However, Wonderland is for the ambience, the food presentation, the innovation of the menu, the taste of the dishes was just so-so. Some foods were good and some foods were awful. I hated the “dirt” made of pumpernickel bread. It was a great experience one time, but I don’t think I’d go back on future cruises.

 

Chef’s Table- AWESOME! It always is the best meal at sea IMO. The food presentation, combinations, textures it’s just a great experience for any foodie. We don’t drink and hate the idea of paying so much cover for alcohol we don’t consume. So we always pre-arrange for other beverages and they discount the cover by at least half the price.

 

.

 

did you book the specialty restaurant on board to get the 20% off at wonderland and the reduced Chef's table, I am traveling with my 19 year old who cannot drink and would love to have a reduce price for her.

[Peeker28]

Thanks

Edited April 15, 2016 by Peeker28

[queenL]

did you book the specialty restaurant on board to get the 20% off at wonderland and the reduced Chef's table, I am traveling with my 19 year old who cannot drink and would love to have a reduce price for her.

 

Yes! I booked both Wonderland (as soon as we boarded) and Chef's Table on board. I spoke with the manager in Chop regarding the Chef's Table. (That's where it is held)

[riclop]

Back from another great cruise! Overall things went well. A few minor criticisms but nothing major. Weather was a little chilly leaving and returning to NY. There were choppy seas for at least one night while we avoided a storm. I will write a detailed review here over the next day or so. I'm still digging out of the piles of dirty laundry. :) If there are any questions I'll try to answer them.

 

Looking forward to it.

[M_BA]

The RoyalIQ App is downloadable free from the Apple App Store and Google Play.

 

Hi Bob,

 

I tried to use the RoyalIQ app on Liberty of the Seas but I was not able to get it to provide any useful information. Does it work on all ships, or just some of the newer ones?

 

I ended up using ShipMate for deck plans.

[Clarea]

Hi Bob,

 

I tried to use the RoyalIQ app on Liberty of the Seas but I was not able to get it to provide any useful information. Does it work on all ships, or just some of the newer ones?

 

I ended up using ShipMate for deck plans.

So far, the app only works on Quantum class ships. However, I've read that it will work on the new Oasis class ship Harmony.

[Keith1010]

Enjoying. Thank you.

 

Keith

[queenL]

Sorry for the delay but I'm finally finished...My taxes were calling me too :)

 

Entertainment-

 

Spectra’s Cabaret was very disappointing to say the least. I loved Starwater on Quantum. Even though it still had great visual effects and technology, the show itself left much to be desired.

 

The Gift- We missed this show.

 

We Will Rock You- I had little appreciation for this show too.

 

I did think the comedian was hilarious. We also enjoyed the aerialist couple Donovan and Rebecca and the magician Puck???.

 

I fly- I LOVE I fly! We flew twice this cruise. You can take 1 flight every 7 days. Since we knew this prior to boarding we scheduled the first flight on Day 1 so that we could take another the latter part of the cruise. Both my kids flew too. They loved it. The second flight was a walk up. They wouldn’t let us reserve a second flight, instead allowing us to go standby. We waited for about 30 minutes and sure enough someone missed their appointment and we jumped in.

 

Roller skating

We roller skated several times. It was a lot of fun for all.

 

Bumper cars - Sometimes there was quite a wait to ride. I usually found it was better to wait about an hour into the session or an hour before it closed in order to minimize the wait times. Ages 8+ could ride alone in the bumper car. Under age 5 couldn’t ride at all. This was great fun. We rode many times.

 

Circus school/Trapeze school. - We did the Trapeze class on Quantum. We thought it was a lot of fun. We didn’t get a chance this time. We tried twice but they were already full with the maximum number of cruisers they could take for that session. I believe it was only offered certain sea days. If this is really important to you show up at the beginning.

 

Puzzle Break- This was a lot of fun. We signed up the first day. I don’t think a lot of people know about it. It’s challenging but doable. It is important that your group work together. We did solve the puzzle in time, but the majority of groups don’t. I think she said only 40% of groups do. So don’t feel bad if your group doesn’t make it.

 

North Star – I never got to ride on Quantum because the lines were sooooo long. I was scared it might happen again so we went literally as soon as we boarded (carry-ons still in hand). No reservation is required on embarkation day. We waited about a half hour. I thought the view of Manhattan was nice but it was nothing that couldn’t be missed.

 

Cruise critic party- It’s always great to meet the people you have corresponded with. The Meet and Mingle was the 2nd sea day in the morning. We did get some freebies. I skipped the cabin crawl since I felt the cabins would be the same as the Quantum.

 

Debarkation- This was this most organized debarkation ever. They stopped calling colors and numbers. No aggravating early morning announcements. You simply go to your assigned meeting space and they announce in those rooms only. We missed our departure time by about an hour. There were no long lines. We just walked right up to security and signed out. Our bags were there waiting for us. Customs had a bit of a line, but that was it.

 

Post Cruise tour of Manhattan

 

We took the ships (Manhattan Highlights tour) the last cruise. I liked it but we did just get the highlights of Manhattan. We didn’t get to stop anywhere for souvenirs nor in the places we really wanted to spend time. This time I booked a late flight leaving us the day to explore.

 

We planned to give Uber a shot to get to Manhattan. However, we downloaded the app and to our surprise there were no cars in the area for the next hour that could accommodate us. We didn’t want to wait, so we ended up taking a cab. It was a little over $100 for a taxi SUV. Our plan was to head to Schwartz Luggage 357 W 37th street. However, there happened to be a Courtyard by Marriott a few doors down. I remembered reading from someone on Cruise Critic who ended up tipping a bellhop at a local hotel in order to avoid paying luggage storage fees. I thought what the heck. We stayed at Courtyard pre-cruise, even though it was a different location we hoped that they would still stash our luggage. They did! We gave the bellhop a nice tip and we were off to explore Manhattan. A great savings for us because we had somewhere between 8-10 bags.

 

I had purchased HOHO tickets online with Big Bus Tours. There are many hop- on hop- off services in Manhattan. We chose this one because kids under 5 were free and because you could show your tickets on your smart phone enabling you to start the tour at any point. There was a stop a few blocks away from Scwhartz, near Times Square. We did a complete circle of the red line. This took us past most of the major sites. It took about 2-3 hours with traffic. We stopped at Greenwich Village for shopping, and hung out in Times Square awhile.

 

We returned to our luggage. We actually took a cab to the Port Authority. It is close enough to walk but we had sooo much luggage to manage. The Port Authority shuttle was $16 per adult. They didn’t charge for either of my kids. I’m glad we didn’t take the Blue Line tour too, because the line for airport security was AWFUL. I’ve been in a lot of airports in my lifetime, in many different countries. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a security line as backed up as that one was. There were many people who missed their flight waiting to get through security. I think it took about 2 hrs to check in and clear security for a domestic flight.

 

Ports of Call

 

Labadee Haiti

Labadee always makes a great beach day. We’ve been here many times before. Today we decided to spend a few hours on the beach. Then the kids played near Adventure Ocean sprinkler area. We returned to the ship early so we could maximize time on a half empty ship.

 

San Juan

We arrived in port early but it was still very close to the scheduled time before we were able to debark. We seldom take ship excursions. However, I had trouble finding definitive information on taxi tours to El Yunque. So we booked a rental car and went to El Yunque Rainforest on our own. If I could have found some information on a taxi tour prior to the cruise we might have taken that. Hopefully it will help the next person though….. there were taxi tours holding signs for trips to the rainforest for about $50pp. There were also taxi tours advertising between 10-20pp to tour the Old San Juan area.

 

We waited for about 20 minutes for the shuttle to take us to Charlies Car rental. It took about 15 minutes to get to Charlie’s and about 10 minutes to complete the paperwork. This is significant because El Yunque closes at 6pm. So we knew that every minute counted in order to maximize time at the park.

 

It took about 40 minutes to drive there. We arrived about a quarter to 5. The gift shop/observatory closes at 5pm. We had just enough time to get a map and they were closing. We drove past La Coca falls. We made a quick stop for photos and continued on our way. We wanted to hike La Mina Falls. A short, 30 minute, relatively easy hike for a person without disability or young kids.  My husband and I hike frequently but this was the first time taking our children and we weren’t sure what their capabilities would be. We began the trail about 5:15. It was a little after 6 before we reached the waterfall. Again the kids slowed us down quite a bit. I think if it was just hubby and I we could have hiked there in about 20 minutes maybe faster if we jogged a portion of the way. I was hoping that the 6oclock closing wasn’t enforced. That turned out to be the case. No one kicked us off the trail at 6pm. As a matter of fact we didn’t see anyone else in the park period until around 7:30pm. We got back to the car about 7pm. By the time we reached the car there was very little daylight left. We had just enough light to see our way on the trail. For future cruisers who try this bring a few flashlights. It was DARK driving out of the rainforest. Didn’t see any street lights etc. Just the high beams on our rental and an occasional vehicle we passed on the way down.

 

Note to future drivers gas up after you leave the rainforest. There were plenty of gas stations then. We didn’t. There were no gas stations on the same street as the car rental return. We had to double back in order to get gas. We returned the car in Isla Verde because the closer location we picked the car up from closed at 4pm. We took a cab back about 15 minutes ($20). Another note: Charlie's called an official cab for us. They warned that if we hailed a cab they might rip us off and try to increase the rate once we were inside the cab. We got back to the pier about 9:15 before a 10:00pm departure. Yeah we played it a little closer than we had hoped. We lost time doubling back for gasoline and we stopped for about an hour in Walgreens.

 

St Maarten to St Barts.

We’ve been to St Maarten MANY times. It is one of my favorite islands. The last time we took the ferry on our own to Anguilla. This time we wanted to do something different so we booked (EGADS) St Bart’s on Your Own ship tour. I tried to do this on our own literally but the ferry schedule just didn’t work for our times in port. The ships tour met about 9:30 and we left for St Bart’s shortly after 10. You do need your passport and they checked and sent you back to the ship if you didn’t have it. It was a ROUGH ferry ride over. I had heard this before, but they were not playing. When they give you Ginger ale and show you the location of the barf bags as you board….they mean it. We had several people who puked the entire ride it seemed. We didn’t get sick but I completely acknowledge that this ride is not for the faint tummies. There were times when I literally felt we were flying above the water and landing.

 

Anyways we arrived just before 11. The 4 hours on your own time starts as soon as you arrive. We were given a 3pm return time. We walked around a bit before we decided to take a taxi tour. Many of the stores started closing about 1pm. So, if you really want to do some shopping you need to do this first. Hindsight, I wish we would have done the taxi tour first and then walked around. We missed the opportunity to split cab fare with others. We ended up paying about $80 US for a 1hr tour of the island. A one hour tour is sufficient though as it is a very small island. He returned us at Shell Beach were we spent about a half hour. My kids wanted to pick up sea shells and there were a TON of them to pick from. We walked back to the ferry area (a few blocks) and browsed for souvenirs on the way back. We were warned to prepare for sticker shock here. That was so very true. A kid’s meal (burger and fries) was almost $20 US dollars. Typical souvenir t-shirts averaged 30 to 80 Euros. Most of the stores here are your high end stores, Cartier, Ralph Lauren, Dolce and Gabanna, Versace, Prada etc.. If these are not the typical stores you frequent, don’t plan on a day of shopping. There were no flea market style vendors to bargain with.

 

St Barts was really nice. I’m glad we went there. It’s worth it to go if you have never been. The seas going back were very smooth by comparison. We had a little time to look around St. Maarten and then we were back on the ship.

 

Martinique

This was our first visit to Martinique. We were really excited because it is rare we get to visit a port we’ve never been to. We got off the ship about 9:30 and found a taxi tour. We haggled back and forth trying to negotiate a rate. They started off about $60pp and we were able to talk them down to $40pp. The tour lasted about 3-4 hours. We stopped at a Depaz Rum distillery and Sacre Coeur de Balata. If you have been to the one in Paris there is probably little need to see this one as they are very similar. We stopped at two lookout points for photos, travelled through St Pierre, a rainforest and stopped at a black sand beach. Martinique is a pretty island and we enjoyed our day here. It was difficult finding any tours. The tour that is popular on cruise critic was booked and it was slim pickings for other options. I did see buses from Caribbeanopentour.com at several of our stops. I got our tour guides (Erick) business card but I didn’t look at until I was back on the ship. It only has a Martinique mobile phone number listed: 06 96 25 02 76-06 96 32 28 12. I would use him again, but his English was limited. We had a fluent French speaker in our group so this wasn’t a problem for us but it might be a problem for some.

 

Barbados-

We decided to visit Harrison’s Caves on our own today. We visited it may years ago before kids and wanted to take our children. We found a taxi that was taking several other people to the caves for $20pp (no charge for my kids). We had to wait around for about 20 minutes to find enough people going. The taxi driver said that most cruisers who go to the caves have already departed. So a note to future cruisers if you plan to do this you may want to get off as soon as the ship docks. It was about a 30 minute drive to the caves. We showed up with no reservations and were able to quickly reserve spaces for the tram tour departing 20 minutes later. I think it was about $30 US and half that for the kids. The tram tour lasted about 40 minutes and it was very nice. The tram stopped twice so that we could get off and take photos. My kids learned a lot about the “stag-tites” as my 4yr old says. The taxi driver was there waiting for our group and took us back. We had plenty of time leftover when we returned to the pier, however, the stores were closed because it was Sunday. Keep that in mind if you are visiting then.

 

St Kitts-

This was a disappointing day for us. We had planned to visit Nevis on our own. We like St. Kitts but we wanted to visit Nevis since we had never been there. We quickly walked to over to where the ferry departed. We waited and waited and waited. No staff showed up. No security, no ticket person, there weren’t any visible employees. The number of people waiting for the ferry continued to build. Finally, a local came over and told us he had heard that the ferry was cancelled due to mechanical troubles. The next ferry would depart at 1pm. Unfortunately for us if the 12 o clock ferry was out of commission that reduced the number of return ferries as well. That would mean there would only be 1 return ferry (before the ship departed) for the day at 4pm. We were uneasy with those odds. Given St Kitts “island approach” to ferry schedules, I definitely didn’t want to bank on only 1 return ferry. So we decided to abandoned plans to visit Nevis. Perhaps I should have booked the ships tour here too.

 

We sat down for a few minutes to come up with a plan B. We had already been to Brimstone Fortress, Black Rocks, Romney Manor etc. on a previous cruise. So we ended up going on Big Banana Safari Tours ($20pp free for kids) with Michael Bridgewater. michaelbigbanana@yahoo.com (869) 663-5115. He promised a tour of the other side of the island. We had a lot of fun. He has a great personality. We did go by Romney Manor again but no one in the group wanted to stop. We also stopped at Wingfield Estates, did a drive by of Frigate Bay and stopped at a beach for those that wanted to stay. It ended up being a nice day after all. Hopefully we will get back to St Kitts soon to see Nevis.

 

That's it I'm done!

[BekkaW]

Great review, thanks! We're hoping to try Quantum class in the future. Ovation is coming here this summer but prices are crazy high so we might wait a year.

Edited April 17, 2016 by BekkaW

[queenL]

Great review, thanks! We're hoping to try Quantum class in the future. Ovation is coming here this summer but prices are crazy high so we might wait a year.

 

Well it's definitely worth trying whenever you do. Since we've done both Quantum and Anthem no Ovation any time soon. If we sail RCL next I'd rather shoot for Harmony.

[cactusflower]

Thanks so much for your review! Which airport did you fly out of? (Sorry if you already said and I just overlooked it).

[queenL]

Thanks so much for your review! Which airport did you fly out of? (Sorry if you already said and I just overlooked it).

 

EWR/ Newark Liberty

[Karma5]

I was also on this cruise and must say in depends upon taste because Spectras Cabaret, The Gift, and We Will Rock You, were all Great shows!

[DaniDanielle]

We loved We Will Rock You so much that we are booking it again for our July cruise!!! The other shows were visually entertaining. We are in our late 60's and still enjoyed the shows.

[RealDeal]

queenL: I'll be on Anthem next week. Is it necessary to download the RoyalIQ app? If so, how is that done? If I want to change a reservation or something, can't I just do that w/out the app?

[Clarea]

queenL: I'll be on Anthem next week. Is it necessary to download the RoyalIQ app? If so, how is that done? If I want to change a reservation or something, can't I just do that w/out the app?

Download the app from the iTunes or Google Play.

[born'4'cruisin]

Great review. We will soon be visiting the Eastern Caribbean on Anthem. I'm sure this is a silly question, but of the smaller, bistro- type restaurants, are they a la carte or included with your fare? (Solarium Bistro, cafe270, hot dogs etc.)

[Leslie K]

queenL: I'll be on Anthem next week. Is it necessary to download the RoyalIQ app? If so, how is that done? If I want to change a reservation or something, can't I just do that w/out the app?

 

 

You can make changes, add items via TV in cabin or go to restaurants or staff at designated times and locations

[Life is Good Cruising]

Quick question about the pools? Is there one that is open 24 hours?

 

All pools on Anthem, indoor, outdoor, hot tubs and the solarium pool are open 24 hours.

[Life is Good Cruising]

Great review. We will soon be visiting the Eastern Caribbean on Anthem. I'm sure this is a silly question' date=' but of the smaller, bistro- type restaurants, are they a la carte or included with your fare? (Solarium Bistro, cafe270, hot dogs etc.)[/quote']

 

Solarium Bistro and Cafe 270 included, don't eat Hot Dogs so I can't answer that question. There are rumors flying on this board that Solarium Bistro will be for Suite Guest and Pinnacles only, soon, don't know the facts yet.

[RealDeal]

You can make changes, add items via TV in cabin or go to restaurants or staff at designated times and locations

 

Thank you & thanks Bob.