---> !!ANTHEM OTS REVIEW!! <--- Complete Pictorial Guide! [June 02, 2016]

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Day 3

A Misguiding North Star -

 

I am so excited to share my day in Bermuda with you all. The pictures came out great, but I can assure you I'm not bragging; Bermuda is the most photogenic land!

 

I hopped out of bed praying for sunshine. I knew there was a system somewhere on the east coast and was assured by a meteorologist on board that we wouldn't run into trouble, but you know how the atlantic can we around this time of year! The ends of my mouth started rising and soon my smile grew immensely as I ferociously opened up the curtains to find sun lighting up the harbor! Of course I couldn't breathe in the fresh Bermuda air because we were in a virtual balcony after all.

 

We headed up to the Solarium and got breakfast in the "Solarium Bistro". It is like a hidden gem up there! Nobody really knows they have complimentary breakfast on select mornings, so we easily got food and a table. They serve the main breakfast offerings you'd find in the Windjammer buffet such as eggs, yogurt, bread, fruit, sausage, bacon, cereal, etc.

 

We hopped off the ship as soon as we could and made a dash for the ferry to Hamilton. The ferry cost us $45 total for 5 of us and it was round trip. You get a little token to get on. We literally just made it on the ferry, otherwise we would've had to wait an extra 30 minutes!

 

The ride was gorgeous and it was a great opportunity to see some beautiful homes and yachts. Hamilton is absolutely stunning. It is essentially like being in a caribbean island setting, but with a very kept up and safe town similar to something of the likes of West Palm Beach or Boca. We went in a few shops although some were still closed as they will either open at 9 or 10 am. Eventually we made ourselves to a bar for some refreshments! Even though I can now legally drink, my refreshment was getting back on the internet with their wifi! I know, I know, but I am a millennial after all! I caught up and posted on Facebook for a little. Eventually we left and tried to make our way to the main bus stop. Bus #7 will take you to Horseshoe Bay Beach. We got there and found a huge line... someone told us they had been waiting nearly an hour with no bus. So we went searching for a taxi and found a nice guy that told us a little about the island during the drive! I don't recall how much it was, but I think it was reasonable. It was about a 15-20 minute drive. All of the roofs are white and have a lime wash on them to purify rainwater as mostly everyone on the island collects the rainwater to use as public water is very expensive. We actually passed the #7 bus stop and saw the people who told us about the long bus line getting off. We got dropped off right at the beach and the people on the bus had to walk about 1000 feet or more to get to the beach, so it worked out for us better in the end anyway.

 

Let's have some pictures do the talking now. And let me tell you, they can't truly give you a real feel for how beautiful it is in person!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I have a few more photos from the evening to share and a couple stories for you, including our disaster at the North Star! I am going to bed, but I will return tomorrow afternoon with the rest of Day 3, so stay tuned!!

 

What did you all think about the Bermuda photos?! I just couldn't stop snapping those blue waters. Truly a relaxing and remarkable place! :cool:

 

See you tomorrow! :D

[kuddles14]

What kind of a camera did you use?

[JamesEM]

Following along, great photos.

[scottygirl]

Great job! Bermuda looks gorgeous, I can't wait. Thanks

[dedosr]

First let me say that I am loving your review, and the photos are some of the best I ever saw posted on Cruise Critic, GREAT JOB!

 

Tips:

 

Always do on line check in, it only takes a few minutes, and will save you time in lines at GS trying to set up your account.

 

In the future, send an email to rcldining@rccl.com with your name and reservation number and that of who you want to dine with, and they will link your reservations, and notify Dining, and then you will all be seated together with no problems. We will be on the Anthem in July, and are looking forward to continue reading your review.:)

[Ocean Boy]

I share your enthusiasm for Bermuda. The place is just a gem.

 

Did you go to Gibb's Hill Lighthouse? I always look forward to climbing up and the view from the top is pretty spectacular.

[grod316]

Ahhhhmazing review! I am so absolutely ecstatic to board the Anthem and head to Bermuda and this just added more fuel to that fire lol. Thank you!

[deliver42]

Thank you for the review and great pics. The ship looks amazing. Unfortunatel I cruise out of Florida, which is driving distance, and by the look of it I'll have to wait a long time for a Quantum class ship here.The Ovation is going to China.

[Lady_831]

Bermuda looks gorgeous and your pictures are amazing!

[nekzaadvakil]

Have to agree with some of the other readers here, your pictures are some of the most clear and amazing ones we've ever seen on a review. Great stuff, keep it coming. What camera did you use?

 

I've just finished checking 'cruising on an Oasis class ship' off my bucket list and a Quantum class ship is next.

 

Cheers!

 

Nick

[wv4dmb]

I get out of college (hint: WE ARE!)

 

 

 

Did you go to College at Marshall?

[SDA1125]

Beautiful pictures - thanks for taking the time to post all the pics and the compassesand passing along all the island information !

[Alter Ego]

Enjoying your review. Hard to believe it's only been a month since I've been on her. I'm not even a beach person, but I also fell in love with Bermuda. I'm not one to go to the same place multiple times, but I will be returning there!

 

I also really liked Dru! At first, I thought he may be too serious because that's just his look. But, he was great! Also agree about the Schooner bartenders - was always crowded up there.

 

Keep the photos coming - love to re-live my cruise!

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I'm back! Sorry for the delay, was working all day. Let's see where we left off. I am going to pick up from when we got back on the ship!

 

(North Star rant...)

We made a reservation for North Star at 4:00 pm on this day because we thought it would be awesome to go up in while we were sailing away (departure time is 4:00 pm). We made this reservation as soon as they opened up for our cruise through Royal's website. On Day 2, we got notification that due to port regulations, we we're rescheduled to 6:30 pm since they could not operate at 4:00pm. Not a big deal, but it kind of defeated the purpose of booking at the time we did. We would've thought Royal would know they couldn't operate during sail away and wouldn't have allowed us to make a reservation. Anyway, I haven't really seen many reviews of Anthem yet and didn't know much about North Star. We saw it operating while docked at the port, so I thought maybe there was a glitch in their system. I walked up to North Star about 3:30 full of hope when we got back on to just ask and see if they really weren't going to operate at 4. The lady was very nice and found our reservation at 4:00 and told us to return at 5:00. We were delighted that it would be 5 instead of 6:30 as it would work much better! We got there around 4:50 and I started talking to everyone in line. I believe the 4 groups of people in front of me were also told to come back at 5:00 from their originally planned 4:00 reservation. This crew member from the U.S. was there telling all of us we needed to come back at 6:30. Well my family and the one behind us did not like that because we were told by a person to come back at 5! After asking what the issue was, the crew member started to get very snippy, which really took us by surprise. He started checking the first party behind all of us and they weren't even on the paper but got let on. Someone had asked why they got on without a reservation on their paper and the crew member was really sassy! I've worked at Disney before and know as a professional that no matter how many "dumb" questions you get, you do not talk back to the guests and we were sure Royal Caribbean would expect the same. It was honestly humiliating and many of the people around us couldn't believe how rude this guy was! I can handle a lot from people, but this was bad. We ended up leaving after we got his name, which was also an ordeal. He stuck it out and started yelling his name. :eek: We walked to Guest Services just because it has been one thing after another so far, besides last night's dinner. We just wanted to talk to someone who was in charge to calm us down and to let them know our frustrations with what has been happening. We did not want anything from them besides to just let them be aware of what's happening. The Guest Services manager was right there and took us to a separate room so we could talk. We just told him honestly what has been happening ever since we embarked the ship (credit card mishap, 2 nights of messed up dining, abnormally rude crew encounters, etc.). Now trust me when I tell you that I am a huge fanboy of two companies: Apple and Royal Caribbean International. I will talk up their product and ships anywhere and to anybody, but even a build up of all of these situations was overbearing for a vacation my family has paid thousands for. The GSM was very understanding and apologetic. He offered us some nice compensation, but we did not take up on it because that was not what was important to us. In the end he ensured that he was thankful for us telling him because if we had not, they would not be able to improve. He had the sports manager call us so we could reschedule a new North Star time, which we really appreciated. After this, it was smooth sailing as far as guest service or issues, thank goodness!!

 

I thought I would share this because the crew are very vocal about how much they dislike working on this ship. They wouldn't really go into specifics, but I think there is low employee morale on this ship. This situation only exemplifies the issue at hand. I am honest with my review and don't want to sugarcoat RCI just because I love them so much or bash them because we didn't get exactly what we want. We got connected with many great crew, some are even friends on Facebook with me now, but they will tell us they hope to have a contract on a different class of ship.

 

Dinner was in American Icon Grill tonight and the food was as good as always. It was our first time in this restaurant! Although we had a new wait staff, we were near our girl "Walmart" from the other night! She came over and talked to us for a moment, which we thought was nice! Periodically throughout the rest of the cruise she would do the same thing, even filling our waters, which really confused our own wait staff, haha! After dinner I went to Two70 and watched "Dancing with the Stripes". It was really funny and definitely worth going to no matter what age you are! Tonight was also the White Party in the Solarium, but everyone had gone to bed in my group, so I only went up to check it out. I left after a few minutes because I wanted to head down to the Royal Theatre for Late Night Comedy with Jessica Kirson. She is incredibly funny! I was actually hoping she would have another performance later on, but I was out of luck!

 

Overall today was a good day! We did not fret the North Star situation. People will be mean, technology will not work perfectly and it's just life. After all, we were on a beautiful cruise ship and not at home! :D

 

 

 

Music Hall

 

 

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That is where the pictures end tonight! I will post the Cruise Compasses next! I am about to go have dinner and then drive to my dad's house. Once I'm there I will pick up with Day 4! ;)

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