Periscopes & Pictures: Anthem of the Seas June 11 – 16, 2016

[Madison81]

The Sunshine bar was never crowded as were the other pool bars on the ship, and makes a great frozen mudslide! The multi-tiered Solarium pool allows water to cascade from one pool to the next and the sound of the water adds to the ambiance of the area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Madison81]

I have seen people ask here on CC if there is a chair lift for the solarium pool. The answer is yes, it is located at the top tier of the pool as seen in these next two pictures.

 

 

 

The Solarium actually encompasses two levels, with the main entrance on Deck 14 and stairs leading down to Deck 13 where the hot tubs, swing, and loungers along the bow of the ship are located.

 

This swing was almost always in use and offers a great view of where the ship is heading. It is made of multiple colored tiles with LED lights that are lit up at night.

 

 

View out of the front windows of the Solarium

[Madison81]

 

The Solarium hot tubs are located on the port and starboard sides of the bow of the ship, down the set of stairs shown in the last post. Around the far side of the hot tub is the bridge wing and location of the photo below this one.

 

Remember this picture below as most people on the ship have no idea about these two doors, where one of them leads or how to open the other.

 

#1 One of the biggest mysterys on the ship is how to get out onto the bridge wings...not many can figure out how to open the door. Just put your hand over this circle (or you can press it) and the door will open automatically. Once open it will then shut automatically, thus locking out people who have been trying to figure out how to open it and ran over when they saw you go out onto the wing bridge, LOL.

 

#2 Once out onto the wing bridge you will be locked out...unless you find this round "button" and place your hand over it (or push it) to activate the automatic door.

 

#3 This is a "secret" door for passengers that leads to the cabin hallway and gives fast access to the Solarium especially if you are staying on Deck 13 towards the bow as we were. When in the cabin hallway on Deck 13 just head all the way towards the bow and you will see a door that says Solarium. Open that door into a small hallway with another door at the end. Open that door and you come through right into this spot.

 

 

Time to feed the dogs and get some work done. I'll be back shortly with the Indoor Pool up next.

 

Edited June 28, 2016 by Madison81

[Madison81]

Indoor Pool

 

For some reason my photos aren't as clear as the originals after uploading and then resizing them a different way then in the past. This was the first time I've done it that way, trying to save a bit of time since I was behind, and it will be the last.

 

The Anthem has the adults only Solarium previously mentioned and also an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, and a children's pool/splash area. In this picture we are in the indoor pool area looking towards the bow of the boat. Leading through the glass sliding doors at the far side is the Solarium.

 

 

Now facing the opposite direction, towards the outside pool.

 

 

[Madison81]

Indoor Pool at Night

 

 

Midnight hot tubbing with my nephew Sean. We had turned the jets off to get this picture of us reflected in the glass ceiling panel.

 

It's midnight and we had the whole place to ourselves :D

[scottygirl]

Thank you for your review so far. Looking forward to more and the Compasses!

[bkrickles01]

+1 on the compasses. Doing same itinerary July 23rd and love to plan in advance. Thanks for the great pics

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Madison81]

Outdoor Pool

 

Heading aft from the indoor pool, through a set of glass sliding doors, you come upon the outdoor pool.

 

In the below picture we are facing the bow with the glass doors leading to the indoor pool located behind both hot tubs. The smoking section is located on the port (or left) side of the photo along the glass side wall behind the rows of lounge chairs. For those who smoke, and those who don't and would like to stay away, I'll post a few shots of the smoking sections after the pool pictures.

 

Great comfy seating located at the North Star Bar, above the Sky Bar, overlooking the outdoor pool.

 

 

Now looking aft at the outdoor pool. The platform to the left of the picture is an elevated area for bands to play.

 

 

Early morning on debarkation day...the pool has been cleaned and is all ready for the new guests who will be arriving in a few hours.

[Madison81]

 

The band platform at the outdoor pool.

 

 

Early morning arrival back in NY/NJ.

 

There are showers set into the wall near the Hot tubs and Sky Bar at the outdoor pool.

 

Children H2O Zone pool area. The pool is closed because the picture was taken on disembarkation day and it has already been cleaned for the new passengers who will be arriving in a few hours.

 

Children's H2O Zone shower.

 

Edited June 28, 2016 by Madison81

[Madison81]

Early morning at poolside always brings out the chair hogs and this cruise was no exception. The Anthem has a solution to the chair hog problem that I hadn't seen in the past...little colored erasable tags that they would put the time the chair was last occupied and the time the belongings would be removed 30 minutes later if the person had not yet returned. This system was in place for the whole cruise and yet each morning the chairs would be filled with belongings all waiting to be scooped up by the Pool Police - Silly chair hogs :D

 

As the sun rises most of the chairs around the pool are filled with towels and belongings...and red chair tags

 

It seemed like every 15 minutes they would change the color of the new tags they would put out when a new chair hog came along.

 

 

 

Pool Police checking chair hog tags

 

Pool Police removing a chair hog's belongings after the tag time has expired.

Edited June 28, 2016 by Madison81

[Madison81]

Evening at the outdoor pool

 

Each evening there would be a movie poolside. Specter was the movie this night. I had planned to go wander around until the 70's party a bit later and was walking by the pool area when I heard the first note of the Star Wars theme. Frozen mudslide in hand I bolted for a lounge chair to watch some of the movie...which was definitely not Spectre, LOL!

 

What better way to watch Star Wars then from a hot tub at sea?

 

After about 25 minutes the movie abruptly changed from Star Wars to the beginning of Spectre as originally planned. OOPS! Star Wars was then seen in it's entirety the following night, as had been previously scheduled.

[scottygirl]

Early morning at poolside always brings out the chair hogs and this cruise was no exception. The Anthem has a solution to the chair hog problem that I hadn't seen in the past...little colored erasable tags that they would put the time the chair was last occupied and the time the belongings would be removed 30 minutes later if the person had not yet returned. This system was in place for the whole cruise and yet each morning the chairs would be filled with belongings all waiting to be scooped up by the Pool Police - Silly chair hogs :D

 

As the sun rises most of the chairs around the pool are filled with towels and belongings...and red chair tags

 

It seemed like every 15 minutes they would change the color of the new tags they would put out when a new chair hog came along.

 

 

 

Pool Police checking chair hog tags

 

Pool Police removing a chair hog's belongings after the tag time has expired.

 

 

Love!!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[vaborn2cruise]

Happy to hear that Anthem is taking action against the "entitled" chair hogs.

[Madison81]

Thank you for your review so far. Looking forward to more and the Compasses!

 

+1 on the compasses. Doing same itinerary July 23rd and love to plan in advance. Thanks for the great pics

 

Glad you are both enjoying it! Compasses definitely to come, I hope to get to them tomorrow evening.

[Madison81]

Love!!!!

 

Happy to hear that Anthem is taking action against the "entitled" chair hogs.

 

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the tags on the chairs and them actively removing items when the tags had expired - Hooray! I'm sure there was a great big smile on my face as I took those pics :D

[Madison81]

Smoking Areas

 

As I mentioned above I'm including pictures of the two smoking areas on the Anthem both for those looking for a place to smoke, and also for those wanting to avoid such areas. It is not intended to start debate, but for info purposes only ;)

 

The larger smoking area is located on the port side of Deck 14, along the outer glass wall of the outside pool deck.

 

This smoking area is marked with signs such as this at both ends.

 

Below is the smoking area on the starboard side of Deck 5. Although it is located outside on the deck it is enclosed in glass with 12 inch openings between the glass panels of the walls and ceiling.

[Madison81]

 

Here are a few pictures of the North Star. We didn't have reservations so I decided to save that for when my husband is with me on Anthem this coming February.

 

 

 

 

 

[maggie416]

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the tags on the chairs and them actively removing items when the tags had expired - Hooray! I'm sure there was a great big smile on my face as I took those pics :D

 

Unfortunately on our April 18th cruise there was not one towel police removing anything from the chairs the hogs left with all their belongings!! Would have been so appreciated especially in The Solarium.

Marg

[Madison81]

Ripcord by iFly

 

While we didn't have reservations to go up in the North Star I was able to grab reservations for iFly, the sky diving simulator. This was a lot of fun and highly recommended!

 

Arrive a few minutes before your reserved time. They will get you signed in and once everyone in your time slot has arrived (approx. 10 people) you will be led into a small room to watch a safety and training video. While watching the video you will learn the various hand signals the instructors will be using since it is too loud to hear in the tube due to the wind noise. Once the video is finished the instructor will come in and go over everything again, and also answer any questions.

 

Next you get fitted for a fashionable jumpsuit, goggles, and helmet. Make sure you are wearing socks and shoes with laces that can be tightened right up. If you don't have the correct shoes on they will be lent to you along with the jumpsuit. If you forget socks you have to make a mad dash back to your cabin to get them. After everyone was suited up we were given the option of using disposable ear plugs for those sensitive to noise.

 

My nephews always hang back, preferring someone else to go first. They were at the end of the line as we walked up the stairs to the iFly tube and everyone took a seat on the bench. Those who were leading were now going last so my nephews were up first LOL!

 

Here is a video of Sean and then Steven each taking their 1 minute turn in the iFly tube.

[YOUTUBE]ONx_0AFWLvQ[/YOUTUBE]

 

The instructor then went down the row with each person taking their turn. Since I was outside the tube filming my nephews I got to go last.

[YOUTUBE]wdOiN5oARwM[/YOUTUBE]

 

Once we had each had a turn the instructor took a quick spin to show us all how it is really done :D

[YOUTUBE]P45No2K2w1g[/YOUTUBE]

 

Btw, you will notice a couple of children who did the iFly in our group. When first in the tube they each flailed their legs and the instructor was absolutely great, calming them down, letting them fly like Superman while holding their ankles so they had a bit of stability and weren't so afraid. They both ended up loving it :)

 

Additionally, the iFly is free and is a 1 minute turn in the tube. It is not advertised but you can reserve private training time on the iFly for a fee, just inquire at the check in desk on the first day or two of the cruise.

 

[Madison81]

Unfortunately on our April 18th cruise there was not one towel police removing anything from the chairs the hogs left with all their belongings!! Would have been so appreciated especially in The Solarium.

Marg

 

Could be something they just started since April I guess. I hadn't heard of them being used until I saw them on the chairs and went to see what they were. Hopefully still enforce for your Anthem cruise next April :)

[floatel_lvr]

Sue,

Thanks for taking the time and effort to putting up an Anthem review. I appreciate all the "inside" info such as the Bridge Wing access. This will be helpful later this year when we are on our Anthem trip.

[MrsB05]

Early morning at poolside always brings out the chair hogs and this cruise was no exception. The Anthem has a solution to the chair hog problem that I hadn't seen in the past...little colored erasable tags that they would put the time the chair was last occupied and the time the belongings would be removed 30 minutes later if the person had not yet returned. This system was in place for the whole cruise and yet each morning the chairs would be filled with belongings all waiting to be scooped up by the Pool Police - Silly chair hogs :D

 

As the sun rises most of the chairs around the pool are filled with towels and belongings...and red chair tags

 

It seemed like every 15 minutes they would change the color of the new tags they would put out when a new chair hog came along.

 

 

 

Pool Police checking chair hog tags

 

Pool Police removing a chair hog's belongings after the tag time has expired.

 

I'm actually quite happy to see this and hope they are doing it when we're on Anthem in October. It's just not right that folks claim chairs and disappear for hours until they're ready to come sun themselves!

[MrsB05]

What are periscopes? I'm not familiar with this. Videos?

[Clarea]

What are periscopes? I'm not familiar with this. Videos?

Live videos from a smart phone to your smart phone or web browser.

[MrsB05]

Live videos from a smart phone to your smart phone or web browser.

Thanks! You always have the answers!