Anthem 5/14-21 Bermuda & Boston - Comments & Random Thoughts

[cot427]

I just want to start out by saying that as an avid cruise critic, I was a little hesitant with all of the negative reviews over these last few months. They were quickly thrown overboard after a few hours on the ship.

 

Anthem is an amazing ship. From the actual ship, the public areas, the food, the service and the entertainment, I could find very little to fault. The cruise far exceeded my expectations and has shown me why I've been so loyal to royal all of these years. I have to admit, my last couple Royal cruises have been sub-par so I've been deflecting to NCL, where I found food and service superior and entertainment on par. BA and GA from NCL can't compete with Anthem!

 

Dynamic Dining - we had 5:30 Classic and did the BOGO specialty the first two nights (more about that below) so we dined at Chic, Silk and Grande once and American Icon twice. Our server team was amazing. Such top notch service, never waited long and engaged in conversation! We missed Grande and Silk the first two nights, but I have to say that they were my favorite restaurants. Lobster and escargot on the second rotation of Grande menu (not sure about the first) and all tables were offered complimentary champagne - very nice touch!

 

BOGO Specialty - I booked this online, $30 for 2 specialty dinners that must be scheduled the first two nights. The ship schedules this for you, but as others said, we did not have a pamphlet in the room with our reservations. I stopped at Wonderland to check and they confirmed Jamie's and Chops for us. Later on after dinner, we went back to the cabin and the paper was there (too late to find out via the paper for the first night.) Jamie's was very good - highly recommend the cheese and meat board. Chops was also very good but I noticed they changed the menu since I dined at Chops last fall on Oasis - slightly disappointed with some of the offerings gone. Highly recommend this package if you are offered it online!

 

Diamond Lounge - Hands down the best diamond lounge I've encountered. The lounge is located on deck 4 and connects to the Music Hall - which is used as overflow seating and we took advantage of this almost every night as the actual lounge filled quickly. Don't worry, the servers circulated a lot! I didn't count, but there had to be 8-10 servers in there. On Oasis, there were 3. I remember waiting for 20+ minutes for a drink. On Anthem, it was generally less than 5! The hot hors d'oeuvre offering were great as well. Always stocked and hot! They also had cheeses, fruits and chocolate covered strawberries!

 

Entertainment - Amazing! I'm a big broadway show buff and while I did not enjoy the story of We Will Rock You (prefer Rock of Ages) I loved the music. The singers and dancers were amazing. I have the same opinion for The Gift. Great music, singers and dancers, but don't like the story. Spectra's Caberet was great - we went twice. The reason is that during our first performance, Spectra fell and was replaced mid show. His replacement was Rachel and she was great, but I could tell he was born for that role and really wanted to see him perform. We attended the last show on Day 7 and she was still Spectra, so I think he was still hurt - I hope he's okay!

 

Other performers were comedian Richie Minervini, comedian Jessica Kirson (both late night Adult comedians) Earl Turner and Jeff Tracta. We missed Earl Turner but saw the rest. Jeff Tracta was an absolutely amazing impressionist.

 

Love and Marriage was done on a sea day at 2pm - and interestingly they decided to do it with 4 couples instead of 3 due to a competition between who to pick for the mid-range couple.

 

Name that Tune was on Primetime and done twice, I think on night 2. This was neat because it included audience participation as well as singers and dancers of the production shows.

 

Activities/Attractions - Definitely book in advance if you can. I did iFly the first sea day and it was great - now I know I wouldn't want to sky dive for real! We did bumper cars at Sea Plex as soon as it opened and waited about 30-40 minutes - not terrible. As for North Star, we were scheduled for 9:30 on Bermuda arrival day. We got a tv message saying it was rescheduled due to Bermuda gov't so it was moved to Day 7 same time. I would've preferred a view of Bermuda instead of the open ocean, but it was cool. In my opinion, this feature is a little overrated. It was good but I didn't love it.

 

Puzzle Break - I think the first step to breaking the puzzle is finding out where to sign up! I didn't see a sign up on the first day or two at Sea Plex, so I waited. The Sea Plex desk was never staffed so I went to iFly to ask. They said I had to go to Sea Plex. Finally, someone was at the desk and they said go to guest services. So I go down there and they said it's all booked, but you could try stand by. Luckily, I went early on Day 5 for the 12:30 session and we were let in. Definitely suggest this, it's a lot of fun! I just wish it was easier to find.

 

Embarkation/Debarkation - Very quick and easy. Personally, I think they need to give the iPad check in reps a desk. They just had too much to juggle with the large iPad, stickers, stamps, etc. Our rep looked like she was going to fall over. We arrived at 9:45, waited in the line of cars, dropped off luggage and then parked. Checkin and security took no longer than 20 minutes and we were onboard with the Diamond Plus group around 10:50. Debarkation was also very easy - no lines for us anywhere. We were group 3 and got off at 7:50 and were in the car by 8:15 on the road.

 

Voom - I used the D+ discount on day 2, which was about $40, so it brought the price down for the Surf package to about $38. In retrospect, I should've done Surf + Stream. Surf is unreliable and slow! It is great for JUST messaging. But if you want to look at facebook (to even view pictures or videos) you need Surf + Stream. I wasn't impressed with this. Back when there was only one option, I got it on Oasis and it was very fast!

 

Royal IQ App - I loved that we were able to use this for the compass and calendar, but that's about it. The app wouldn't tell you what time breakfast or lunch was and where (that I could find) and you couldn't view activities. For example, when you click on Entertainment, it takes you to Entertainment. But when you click Onboard Activities, it also takes you to entertainment. Just needs slightly improved.

 

Wasted Spaces - while the ship is beautiful, I think they have some wasted spaces. The Via is beautiful, but with 2 random, expensive shops, it could be used for something else. I never saw many people in La Patisserie, besides buying specialty coffee. I think the area for Cafe Promenade should've been over there and La Patisserie should've been in the very small, closet like Cafe Promenade space. Yes, you could bring your stuff and sit across the way, but I think they needed more space for coffee and a larger Cafe Promenade offering case.

 

Bionic Bar - neat idea, but it made awful drinks and spilled a bunch before pouring into your cup. Definitely not worth the $12.

 

Pool Deck - great pool deck! This is where Royal wins every time and NCL will never win. Kids pool, main pool, indoor pool then solarium (with cascading pools). I absolutely loved the Solarium. It does get warm, even when we went up to chilly Boston. I never really had a hard time finding chairs (maybe just luck.) And the sunshine bar there was fully staffed with servers walking around. Also, they did enforce no kids. I saw deck attendants kick multiple kids out, something I appreciate (no offense kids.) Stay in the indoor pool or kids pool.

 

Apologies about the order - but these were just random thoughts as I was typing. I believe Manu on my sailing was posting pictures and I apologize, I don't have compasses because of utilizing the app.

 

Feel free to ask any and all questions and I'll try my best to answer.

 

P.S. I want to thank everyone who has sailed Anthem in the past as well as anybody who has answered my questions in the past about this ship!

Edited May 22, 2016 by cot427

[Clarea]

Appreciate the feedback. Interesting about the slowing of surf-only VOOM.

[cathykb]

Great review...thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

Cathy

[hansolosmom]

Thanks for sharing the review, and the info about the BOGO specially restaurant. I was wondering how that worked.

[Peeker28]

Thank you for your review, when you were trying to book the puzzle room was that on embarkation day?

[jonj]

Thank you for the review, nice to hear a good review for the Anthem. I was getting worried last fall with all the negative reviews. with the BOGO offer for the first two nights did you have the option to change to other options or only what you were assigned. We are hoping to use ours at Wonderland and Izumi

[VTSKIandCRUISEGUY]

Thanks for the review. When in Boston, how did you get into town? I think there's a local transit bus that stops just outside the port area, for something like $2 each way.. Any idea how this was?

 

--------------

[Richst48]

Thanks for the review! We will board Anthem on June 2nd and we are really looking forward to our first time on a Quantum class ship!

 

One question- what is puzzle break? Thus is the first I have heard of it.

[Clarea]

Thanks for the review! We will board Anthem on June 2nd and we are really looking forward to our first time on a Quantum class ship!

 

One question- what is puzzle break? Thus is the first I have heard of it.

 

http://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/video/617/escape-from-the-future-puzzle-break-challenges-royal-caribbean-guests/

[cot427]

Thank you for your review, when you were trying to book the puzzle room was that on embarkation day?

 

I looked on embarkation day at seaplex deck and there was no sign up sheet. I later found out people booked via guest services early on in the cruise. Even the person who was with us in the room (who was a youth activities person) was misdirecting people. She mentioned you could book via the app which was false.

 

Thank you for the review, nice to hear a good review for the Anthem. I was getting worried last fall with all the negative reviews. with the BOGO offer for the first two nights did you have the option to change to other options or only what you were assigned. We are hoping to use ours at Wonderland and Izumi

 

When I asked the desk person about the reservations, she told me them and then said are these okay? So I think it was implied that we could change, but I got the two I wanted.

[cot427]

Thanks for the review. When in Boston, how did you get into town? I think there's a local transit bus that stops just outside the port area, for something like $2 each way.. Any idea how this was?

 

--------------

 

We actually booked the hop on hop off trolley via Old Town Trolley tours for about $35. I vaguely remember seeing public busses around, but I can't say 100% fore sure.

 

Tip - if you're into breweries, Harpoon is within walking distance to the ship if you wanna do something before you go back on.

 

Thanks for the review! We will board Anthem on June 2nd and we are really looking forward to our first time on a Quantum class ship!

 

One question- what is puzzle break? Thus is the first I have heard of it.

 

I think Bob got you covered with the link, but I'll just quickly say that you get locked in a room with a total of about 14-16 people and you have to solve multiple puzzles that build on each other in order to find the "key" to get out of the room. You get one hour. My group didn't make the hour, but it only took us 10 minutes extra, which we were allowed to do. Anthem's theme is Escape the Future.

[lovelife]

Thanks for your review. Do you know if there were any Diamond Plus special seating areas any place; i.e., theater, 270?

[ramanda]

Hi COT427,

 

I am from Massachusetts and just wanted to let you know that the City of Boston was VERY excited to be hosting the Anthem last week! It was in all the news reports and papers. It was quite an honor for the city to be hosting such a large ship. We really wanted to go and look at the ship but it was during a regular work day that it was here. We are going to see the Grandeur sail into port this coming Saturday. Very excited about that. We are booked on Allure for 8/14 and really really excited about that! So glad you like the ship.

Edited May 22, 2016 by ramanda

[cot427]

Thanks for your review. Do you know if there were any Diamond Plus special seating areas any place; i.e., theater, 270?

 

Royal Theater - yes. Balcony middle section (maybe first 3-4 rows) were for Diamond Plus, Pinnacle and Suites. We utilized it once, but it is very hard to see from the balcony on Anthem due to glass coming up from the balcony and other obstructions.

 

I cannot answer about two70. We just found seats on our own when we went to that venue. Perhaps upstairs again but I only sat up there for Quest (did not participate.) Sat downstairs in the middle of all the action for both Spectra's and I did not notice any special areas downstairs.

[cot427]

Hi COT427,

 

I am from Massachusetts and just wanted to let you know that the City of Boston was VERY excited to be hosting the Anthem last week! It was in all the news reports and papers. It was quite an honor for the city to be hosting such a large ship. We really wanted to go and look at the ship but it was during a regular work day that it was here. We are going to see the Grandeur sail into port this coming Saturday. Very excited about that. We are booked on Allure for 8/14 and really really excited about that! So glad you like the ship.

 

That's awesome! I was so excited we were on Anthem's first sailing to Boston...I saw some of the articles "Gigantic ship docks in Boston" or something like that. There were a bunch of people parked along the bridge (not sure the name) who stopped and took pictures all day long, especially at night.

[Alter Ego]

I looked on embarkation day at seaplex deck and there was no sign up sheet. I later found out people booked via guest services early on in the cruise. Even the person who was with us in the room (who was a youth activities person) was misdirecting people. She mentioned you could book via the app which was false.

 

When I went on embarkation day, there was somebody taking names and room numbers - but would NOT let me choose a time. I was told I would get a message about when to go - which I never received and frankly was okay with that. I believe janeyzee's (?) husband was later told that the computers weren't working and he too was told to get standby even though their group went up before me. Puzzle Break was one of my very few complaints. Otherwise, I really enjoyed my week onboard.

Edited May 22, 2016 by Alter Ego

[lovelife]

Royal Theater - yes. Balcony middle section (maybe first 3-4 rows) were for Diamond Plus, Pinnacle and Suites. We utilized it once, but it is very hard to see from the balcony on Anthem due to glass coming up from the balcony and other obstructions.

 

I cannot answer about two70. We just found seats on our own when we went to that venue. Perhaps upstairs again but I only sat up there for Quest (did not participate.) Sat downstairs in the middle of all the action for both Spectra's and I did not notice any special areas downstairs.

 

Thanks much.

[ramanda]

That's awesome! I was so excited we were on Anthem's first sailing to Boston...I saw some of the articles "Gigantic ship docks in Boston" or something like that. There were a bunch of people parked along the bridge (not sure the name) who stopped and took pictures all day long, especially at night.

 

Yes it was quite an occasion for the city! My husband saw it on the news and so wanted to see it. He was disappointed that we couldn't. Yes you can see the Black Falcon Terminal from the bridge that is next to it. I just can't imagine how large it was compared to the building. Boston doesn't have any webcams so that was a bummer.

[DON M.]

We were on this same cruise, and totally agree with Cot. on the fantastic entertainment.

The best we have experienced in 13 rcl cruises.

With Dynamic Dining, we discovered (late into the cruise) that while in 1 of the comp. rest.

you can order whatever you desire from any of the other comp. rest. They do not publicize this

and do not provide all those menus at each rest. Thus, you can see all menus on the room tv or on the app. or go ahead of time to the rest. and look at the menus.

That worked well for hard-to-please eaters like us. For example, we were in Chic the last eve.

and I saw that one of the wife's favorites, Halibut, was on the Grande menu. No problem. A

little more extra work for the waiter which I rewarded.

Great cruise.

[cot427]

When I went on embarkation day, there was somebody taking names and room numbers - but would NOT let me choose a time. I was told I would get a message about when to go - which I never received and frankly was okay with that. I believe janeyzee's (?) husband was later told that the computers weren't working and he too was told to get standby even though their group went up before me. Puzzle Break was one of my very few complaints. Otherwise, I really enjoyed my week onboard.

 

So you never ended up doing it? I think I was just really lucky getting in. I gave up hope after guest services and figured I'd go and get rejected. But the girl who was in charge of my session was super nice - just VERY out of the loop regarding the process of reservations.

[cot427]

We were on this same cruise, and totally agree with Cot. on the fantastic entertainment.

The best we have experienced in 13 rcl cruises.

With Dynamic Dining, we discovered (late into the cruise) that while in 1 of the comp. rest.

you can order whatever you desire from any of the other comp. rest. They do not publicize this

and do not provide all those menus at each rest. Thus, you can see all menus on the room tv or on the app. or go ahead of time to the rest. and look at the menus.

That worked well for hard-to-please eaters like us. For example, we were in Chic the last eve.

and I saw that one of the wife's favorites, Halibut, was on the Grande menu. No problem. A

little more extra work for the waiter which I rewarded.

Great cruise.

 

Confirmed about the menus. When I was in Grande, I saw a woman chowing down on some chicken wings. It wasn't until two days later that I saw them on the menu at American Icon.

 

Anyone try the "S'mores" offering at lunch? What the heck was that?! Wasn't S'mores I can tell you that. Was some liquid, with little bits of brownie, a marshmallow and some whipped cream.