Brief Review - Anthem 9/22/16 New England and Canada

[Irvineatty]

Summary – My wife and I had a very enjoyable 9-night cruise through New England and into Canada on a beautiful ship. While the Anthem of the Seas is very large and carries a lot of passengers and staff, it rarely felt crowded and delivers a high quality cruising experience. We were expecting many problems based on reading so many negative reviews. Thankfully, the many plusses far outweighed the few minuses, and I give the cruise an overall rating of “very good.”

 

Stateroom – We had a junior spa suite on Deck 7 which provided ample room to move around the cabin and lots of drawers and cabinet storage space. We liked that this suite has separate shower and toilet stalls, with sinks in each. Our cabin was on the “hump” within a few steps of the main elevators and stairs, yet we never heard any noise. As many others have mentioned, the bed was extremely hard. Our room was made up with two mattress pads under the fitted sheet and it still felt like we were sleeping on concrete, with hip points screaming for relief. Several days into our cruise, I discovered that our room had extra comforters stored under the bed and I took advantage by sleeping on one of the comforters, which made the bed tolerable. The pillows were horrible. For a long cruise, I would recommend bringing a pillow from home.

 

Our stateroom attendant left us many creative towel decorations and was very responsive to every request.

 

Restaurants – As suite guests, we were able to dine at Coastal Kitchen, located next to the Windjammer buffet on Deck 14. The service and food in this locale was outstanding. I enjoyed several of the finest meals I have had anywhere, including a very large veal chop, and numerous appetizers and deserts. For breakfast and lunch, we ate mostly at Café 270 (small buffet) and at Grande (sit down dining and/or buffet). The Kummelweck beef sandwich at Café 270 was very good. We had several breakfasts at Windjammer Marketplace buffet, and we had no complaints. On the days at sea, it became harder to find tables, but there were always some available. We did take advantage of Jamie’s Italian specialty restaurant and we found it to be very good, especially the many appetizers and the lasagna. I noted that at most of our meals, the servers and their managers would visit the table and ask if we were satisfied and if we would like anything else. Our only meal disappointment was with the Solarium Bistro, where our dinner food was cold and our server seemed disinterested. We ate there only once.

 

We were very worried that we had not made dinner reservations months ahead of the cruise, and by the time we did try to reserve mealtimes on the website, there was little availability. We found it to be very easy to make reservations and changes with the staff of the various venues once you were on the ship, and they always seemed able to seat us, whatever time we arrived.

 

The ship is very proactive in getting passengers to "washie-washie" their hands before going into the Windjammer buffet, and we appreciated the effort to keep things clean. There were Purel sanitizer dispensers everywhere on the ship.

 

Shows – Of the show venues, we enjoyed We Will Rock You the most, we found Spectra’s Cabaret interesting, and we were disappointed by The Gift. Our advice for anyone trying to see a theatrical show in the large Royal Theater is to arrive 45 minutes early and try to get a good seat on the lower level. Our seats for The Gift were in the balcony and we could see only a small corner of the stage. The two comedians that we saw were very funny. The bands playing in the smaller Music Hall and Boleros venues were very good, with lots of opportunities for dancing.

 

(Is it just me or are the seats in the Royal Theater designed to be uncomfortable? Maybe they have the same padding as the beds.)

 

Excursions – We booked all of our excursions through the cruise line, as my wife is fearful of being late back to the ship and missing the boat. Our first three were good; the last two (with hop on and off buses) disappointed. In Boston, we took the Cape Cod bus trip and boat tour. Our guide was fabulous and the short boat trip to see the Kennedy compound was interesting. In Portland, we took the bus trip to Kennebunkport and again we had a short boat trip on a lobster boat to see the Bush compound. We In Bar Harbor, we had a lobster lunch (they served hundreds of us in a large banquet hall) and a bus trip through Acadia National Park. In Halifax, we booked the “Best of Halifax” tour which was a combination of the hop on and off bus around town and a bus trip to Peggy’s Cove. The line was so long for the hop-on and off bus (and they seemed to have an inadequate number of buses running) that we would have missed the Peggy’s Cove portion of the tour. We ended up taking taxis to visit sights in town. Royal Caribbean did give us a credit for the taxi rides, but we believe they should have done a better job of communicating that you need to allow at least 4 hours for the hop-on and off bus. Peggy’s Cove was a small tourist trap and in our view a waste of time. In Saint John, the bus ride takes 90 minutes to make the loop of this small town, with at least 30 minutes spent driving back and forth within a few blocks of the port. It takes more than an hour to get to the sight of the two-way falls.

 

Other Activities – We were lucky enough to get on Northstar observatory without a reservation when the ship was leaving port in Bayonne and heading around the Statute of Liberty. I found the Jacuzzis at the front of the ship to be a favorite spot to relax. I tried the Wave Rider and amazingly was able to stand up surf. (I am over age 60 and not very athletic). The staff was very helpful and encouraging. I also tried the Ripcord Ifly experience which proved exciting and easy to do. We enjoyed watching several of the robotic and visual electronic shows in the 270 Theater. You can also watch the entertainers rehearse in the 270 Theater if you time your lunch visit right.

 

Stores and Casinos – Lots of opportunities to spend your money on board. There was always a special “once in a lifetime” promotion going on. We did purchase one of the photos that we had taken in front of the sculpture outside Jamie’s restaurant. (We called it the “Bean” since it looked similar to the Bean located in Chicago Millennium Park.)

 

Would we sail on Anthem again? Absolutely. It is a beautiful new ship with many choices of on board activities and entertainment.

[champagne123]

Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful review!!!! :)

[trump]

Thank you for the review. We will be taking the same cruise next September. What was the weather like onboard for sitting by and swimming in the pools ?

[CleverFirst]

Thanks for this review! Do you happen to have any photos from the observation pod sailing out of Bayonne? Would love to see them!

[cincicruisers]

Thanks for sharing your review with us.

[Irvineatty]

Thank you for the review. We will be taking the same cruise next September. What was the weather like onboard for sitting by and swimming in the pools ?

 

To be honest, I stayed in the enclosed Solarium at the front of the ship most of the time. Our temperatures were mostly in the mid 50's, and we did see some very light rain and lots of clouds on our sea days.

[Irvineatty]

Thanks for this review! Do you happen to have any photos from the observation pod sailing out of Bayonne? Would love to see them!

 

Try this link to my pictures of the Statue of Liberty and skyline taken from the Northstar shortly after departure from Bayonne.

 

https://goo.gl/photos/8gPFxgocppnmeiVe6

[ScottR714]

I was on the cruise too. The first sea day was beautiful with temps in the 70's, calm seas and little to no breeze. Was a fantastic day with plenty of deck chairs available unlike sea days in the Caribbean.

 

 

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[Irvineatty]

I was on the cruise too. The first sea day was beautiful with temps in the 70's, calm seas and little to no breeze. Was a fantastic day with plenty of deck chairs available unlike sea days in the Caribbean.

]

 

Yes, I think you are correct that Day 2 was a beautiful day. I was thinking of Days 6 and 9, which were pretty cloudy, rainy, and foggy.

[shopperwhite]

i also was on this cruise. Found the promenade to be much more congested than oasis or allure cause te put a pub and music hall in so it was not an open promenade in thus section, Very high endstores. No interest to me. Loved the facial recognition photo gallery and te just touch your card to the cabin doors.

Found the food in the dining rooms to be much better than any of the other royal ships I have been on. Grande certainly the best, Missed the savoury bites which are no longer available.

 

Beautiful ship had a great time. Matt in schooners was terrific.

[Photofinish4]

We were also on this sailing. One thing I thought was great are the ac vents coming out of the back of the seats in the Royal theater I had never heard anyone mention that before. We had a great cruise, I thought the weather was great except for the last sea day. I loved the idea rotating to the four different restaurants and I feel royal is making a big mistake getting rid of that concept. Now the dinning is just like all the other ships. We enjoyed the escape room, north star(did it twice) and the I fly (did it twice). I thought the food was pretty good not like what a lot of people have been saying. I feel it was over all a great cruise.

[CruisingChick]

Thank you for your review. I agree about the Royal Theater. How could they spend so much money building a brand new ship and have not only uncomfortable, low seats but there are so many seats that have bad site lines. We also could only get balcony seats to the far left of the stage for The Gift and walked out after 10 minutes as we could only see 1/4 of The Stage. Why even build the theater?

 

This is one thing I really, really dislike is having to get to the theater 45 minutes early just to get a decent seat to a show. My main complaint about RCCL and Anthem cruising.

Edited October 5, 2016 by CruisingChick

[WMQueenie]

Thank you for your review. I agree about the Royal Theater. How could they spend so much money building a brand new ship and have not only uncomfortable, low seats but there are so many seats that have bad site lines. We also could only get balcony seats to the far left of the stage for The Gift and walked out after 10 minutes as we could only see 1/4 of The Stage. Why even build the theater?

 

This is one thing I really, really dislike is having to get to the theater 45 minutes early just to get a decent seat to a show. My main complaint about RCCL and Anthem cruising.

 

Loving all the positive comments! Nervous about the seats in the theater... we were on the NCL Breakaway last year and thought the seats were absolutely awful! It actually hurt to sit in them for more than 5 minutes!

[cyndepet]

Thanks for your review. We leave tomorrow on the same itinerary and are really looking forward to all the new things Anthem has to offer!

[CruisingChick]

Loving all the positive comments! Nervous about the seats in the theater... we were on the NCL Breakaway last year and thought the seats were absolutely awful! It actually hurt to sit in them for more than 5 minutes!

 

I am short, so the low seats really impacted me. Maybe that's why. I still don't like the fact that you need to make reservations and then show up 45 minutes prior to show time to get a good seat. I don't know what they were thinking when they designed the theater.

[lattelady]

Peggy’s Cove was a small tourist trap and in our view a waste of time.

 

Peggy's Cove was one of my favorite stops! (Acadia National Park was another). I found it to be very picturesque with some vibrant colors.

 

[Arubamoose]

Loving all the positive comments! Nervous about the seats in the theater... we were on the NCL Breakaway last year and thought the seats were absolutely awful! It actually hurt to sit in them for more than 5 minutes!

 

 

 

We were also on this cruise and I have to agree about the seating. This theatre was almost as bad as the Getaway!! The seats were very uncomfortable and the sight lines were awful. And it was annoying to have to arrive 45 minutes before hand with a reservation and wind up with a crummy seat.

 

 

 

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[floatel_lvr]

Thank you for your review. Glad you all had such a nice trip. So glad we are doing the Anthem in a few weeks before the DEATH of dynamic dining. We are really excited to give the ship and all of the varied dining venues a go.

[SailBadtheSinner]

Thanks for the review; we're planning a 2017 cruise to C/NE.

 

 

SBtS

[Irvineatty]

Peggy's Cove was one of my favorite stops! (Acadia National Park was another). I found it to be very picturesque with some vibrant colors.

 

I love your beautiful pictures from PC.

[LilBlackDress]

I was also on this sailing... I was going to post a review but Irvineatty pretty much nailed it.

 

Loved seeing your pictures from the North Star. We did it on a sea day, the only day it rained... still enjoyed it, but it could have been better without the rain.

 

Peggy's Cover was beautiful but, I can see understand why the OP had shared their thoughts on it. I don't think we needed to spend almost 2 hours there... I could have seen the views and the gift shop in under an hour.

 

Another excursion to avoid is 'A Taste of Maine' What a complete disappointment and waste of money!! The Authentic Lobster Roll they provided was a slice on generic white bread, a lettuce leaf, a clump of lobster (looked as if it had been frozen in balls and defrosted in the same shape) and Mayo packets. The rest of the lunch included Lays Potato Chips and a 4 pack of Oreo Cookies...