Anthem of the Seas review 4/2017

[Shana9136]

Just back from 8 night Bahamas/FL cruise on Anthem of the Seas! Here's a (long) review while it's fresh in my mind. I was traveling with a friend (we're both women in our mid 30s) I've lost track of how many cruises I've been on as many were as a child and before they applied such records to C&A status (a true shame!), but I'd estimate 15-ish.

 

Embarkation: We used Dial 7 car service from Newark/Liberty airport. It was around $77 - clean and efficient. Just to compare, the cab we took on the return trip was $70, so not much more to use the service. Sometimes they have coupons on their website for a discount but unfortunately they didn't apply to our ride. (The only reason we didn't use the service for the return trip was we weren't sure what time we would disembark). The cruise terminal in Bayonne/Cape Liberty is very industrial looking, and the entrance is such that you feel like you're driving through an industrial wasteland and don't actually see the ship at all until the very last minute. This was a bit disconcerting for us as we felt perhaps our driver was lost! But have no fear, the ship will be there.

 

The porters were right there to take our bags and inside the terminal it was confusing per usual with inadequate signage (or perhaps there was adequate signage but too many bodies in the way to see it!) but just ask any port worker or cruise employee and they will direct you. Once we got through security and check in (very fast, we had already done the online check-in and uploaded pictures for our Seapass cards) it was time to wait. There were numbered seating areas but I'm unclear if people were assigned those numbers or it was just a free-for all. There were no empty seats at all so we stood by a wall until they opened another room of the terminal and directed those without seats in there. I would say we arrived around 10:30 or 11. That other room ended up being a bonus because they allowed us onto the ship before the main room we had started in!

 

Lunch/270: After boarding we went to Café 270 for lunch. I will probably be tarred and feathered for saying this, but throughout the week I was a little underwhelmed with this dining venue. The Hummelweck sandwiches were good (seasoned roast beef on rolls with different condiments) and the paninis were ok but otherwise I wasn't a big fan of the cold sandwiches (very tiny partial wraps) and salads. Dining aside, I do love the venue itself, and often would hang out in there by the windows for a little relaxation. TIP: the line for hot sandwiches can get very long, but if you just want a salad you don't have to wait in that line, just go up to the salad counter.

 

Cabin: We were in 13290 - aft/portside balcony cabin on deck 13. The balcony was larger than most but did have a bit of an overhang. This didn't bother me but I found if I wanted to take a picture of a sunset/sunrise I had to zoom in a bit to get the overhang out of the shot. It had 2 deck chairs that reclined with footstools so they could act like loungers. Although it was under the Windjammer we never heard any noise. Except in the shower! Oddly enough the shower drain appeared to have some connection to another room and we could hear entire conversations and goings on from whomever was on the other end. Very strange. So watch what you say in the bathroom!

The bathroom was fine - the curved glass door does make the shower feel more spacious. With 2 women and a variety of shower products we found the single small corner shelf in the shower didn't quite cut it, and we were wishing we had a little hanging caddy. The storage by the bathroom vanity was more than adequate though, with multiple small shelves to one side and a large shelf underneath. TIP: be careful of the underside of the shower door. It sweeps the floor only a few inches off, and if you don't keep your feet clear you may catch the corner like I did and cut my foot and make a small crime scene that probably scared our room steward!

The cabin itself was as expected - little vanity/mirror setup with a bureau next to it, plenty of drawer space. The fridge/cooler was coded like the safe which was odd, but perhaps to keep kids out of any liquor? Our sofa was closest to the balcony which is too bad - I like it when the beds are closer to better hear the waves and get that fresh ocean air. The way the closets were set up on either side of the bed when you're lying down you can't see the balcony at all which was also unfortunate.

For 2 ladies we found the closets a little frustrating as her side closest to the bathroom was all closet without drawers, and my side was 10% closet with more shelves and drawers. We prefer to keep our clothes separate so it just made for some creative arranging. It was probably the closest 2 beds have ever been together in our experience, with barely enough room to sidle between them sideways, and the nightstand in the middle that I used was probably only 8 inches wide and had the phone on it, so pretty unusable. I wouldn't dare put a glass or anything on it as it would surely topple during the night, but it did have 2 small shelves underneath in a pinch. Her nightstand was bigger (or maybe just seemed bigger without the phone) and had a plug for charging devices. Many reviews complained about the beds being too hard but I didn't feel they were uncomfortable.

TIP: bring an old Seapass card or other card you don't care about (not a credit card!) to use in the cabin light slot by the door. You need a card in there to activate the room lights and A/C (though our A/C was always off anyway because we literally never shut our balcony door). When we would leave the room we would just pull the card out slightly to deactivate it and allow things to shut off and conserve electricity, but it was handy to not always need one our Seapasses available.

 

Main Restaurants: We ate in Silk every night that we used the main restaurants. We did My Time Dining and had made all reservations several months prior (and even then there were some nights where nothing was available until 8pm) There are 2 lines as you approach American Icon and Silk - to the left is for reservations, to the right non-reservations. Downstairs where Chic and Grande were it was traditional early/late seating. I had read reviews that even if you make reservations you have to wait but we didn't find that to be the case. We had a table for 2 each night (we didn't request that, just how they seated us) and usually the same wait staff. Everyone was very nice and accommodating. The food was good - on par with other cruises I've been on in the last 5 years but alas not as good as it used to be 10+ years ago. But any night I don't have to cook dinner and clean up is a win in my book!

On formal nights (there were 2) it was a mixed bag of gowns/dresses, tuxes and suits, all the way to denim shorts and tshirts in the restaurant. There did not seem to be any sort of dress code enforced that we observed. I would call it "formal optional"

 

Solarium Bistro: We ate dinner here twice and a few brunches (they are open 9:30-1:30 for brunch). Again made reservations for dinner online in advance (though it was never crowded, I doubt you'd have a problem just walking in). They do buffet style for appetizers/desserts and order off the menu for the entrée. The menu doesn't change throughout the week. It was ok - it's nice to get a sampler for appetizers but overall I didn't find the food to be that exciting. Probably because it was healthier! My friend really liked the chicken kabob they have. Brunch was similar to the Windjammer with eggs, waffles, oatmeal, pastries etc. In this particular venue they REALLY pushed the upcharge items (lobster, steak etc). It got a little obnoxious and we had difficulty even interjecting "no thank you". This never happened in the main restaurants, thankfully. We didn't eat here on formal nights but other nights it was casual, shorts were fine, but someone was turned away for coming in wearing a wet tshirt over her bathing suit and no shoes (it was brunch, but still not ok!)

 

Windjammer: We had breakfast here most mornings and lunch a few days. I like that they have a hand washing station now at the entrance as an option instead of Purell (though some people, despite being funneled into there by the staff, would either walk right through or "fake" washing their hands and leave. Maddening. Just wash your hands folks! It's not that big of a deal, don't be gross!) It was a little tricky to find tables even though we ate pretty early (7:30 or 8 most days) but it seemed very few people ever went all the way aft to the outdoor tables. Food was typical Windjammer - perfectly acceptable, lot of variety. We never had dinner there.

TIP: Do a lap around the Windjammer the first day or two for breakfast and lunch to orient yourself, because I often saw things I liked as I was leaving with a full plate to find a table that were in an odd spot.

 

Johnny Rockets: We had lunch there once just because it was there. It was just ok - my friend asked for just a plain cheeseburger and I ordered the regular "original" which has all the fixings, but they both came out as plain cheeseburgers. It took so long to get them though that I didn't bother to ask for a new sandwich. A "just ok" plain cheeseburger at sea is still not bad!

 

Café Promenade: I went there for coffee early most mornings (it's always open, and also the only place to get water etc to bring back to your room if you don't wish to go to a bar etc) They have little pastries, cookies, fruit etc that are free.

 

Sorrentos: We had pizza there once. Underwhelming, but underwhelming pizza at sea is still good!

 

La Patisserie: They had Starbucks coffee and pastries/candy for a fee. I got a couple macarons - the cookie part was great but the filling was really thick, almost like fondant. The other pastries they offered look amazing but HUGE - more than I could eat alone (or at least without feeling very guilty after!)

 

We didn't eat in any of the other for-fee restaurant venues so can't comment on those.

 

 

I went to the gym a few times - it's very well equipped, and even though some cardio machines were broken I was still always able to find something to use.

 

Bars: Bionic Bar with the robots is a novelty that I felt I had to do once, but once was enough. It's cute, it's fun, the drink was passable, that was it. I'm glad I did it for the experience but wouldn't make a point to go back there again. It was a good spot to people watch though, looking over the rail down at the Esplanade. I often would get a drink at the Schooner bar and carry it back to sit at the Bionic Bar! Schooner bar is the usual, cozy, dark wood, lot of whiskey drinks which I like. Music Hall bar was pretty good too with an interesting menu. Boleros had a coconut mojito that I enjoyed. North Star bar is quieter than the pool bars but with equally good views (and the bartender when I was there had a VERY heavy hand, much appreciated!) We didn't go in Vintages but it looked like a nice spot.

 

On board activities: I did Ripcord by IFly and loved it! Wear socks and sneakers (tightly laced sneakers) - if you forget sneakers they have some to borrow but socks are a must. Remove all jewelry including wedding rings - if they're so tight they can't come off they'll let you keep them on, but otherwise you must remove them, and the lockers there aren't locked so most people wouldn't feel comfortable leaving fine jewelry around. I imagine it varies by who your guide is but ours gave the option of families taking turns allowing one to video or take pictures while the other did the experience, and then switch. There was no ship photographer for our group but I did observe one with other groups. They did weigh each person in my group prior to the activity (highly depressing as I did this later in the week... up a bit since I left home!)

I didn't do Flowrider but enjoyed watching it! I love seeing people wipe out.

I wanted to do the rock climbing but every time I asked the staff said the hand grips were too hot to use. You may have better luck on a cloudy day, and they did offer evening rock climbing a couple of days.

TIP: You can sign the waivers for all those activities right from your room tv to save time.

North Star was great - we did it on the day we were in Nassau. They no longer swing the arm out over the side of the ship (or at least never did that I saw that week) but just going up and down was still beautiful - and VERY warm. I felt badly for the guy operating it, standing in that sweatbox all day!

I did the 20/20/20 spa deal on the day we were in Nassau (your choice of 3 - neck/shoulder, ankle/foot, arm/hand, scalp massage, or facial for $99). This is heavily dependent on which masseuse you get as my friend did the same thing and LOVED it, but my experience wasn't as pleasant (just odd and rather painful massage technique). Oh well, worth a try!

We didn't go to the SeaPlex, casino, or any shows beyond the opening day one with a comedian. My friend caught a few of the performances in 270, virtual symphonies and whatnot and she said they were entertaining.

 

Shops: The onboard shops weren't my favorite - lots of high-end jewelry stores, one high-end clothing store with eclectic taste, especially for men's clothes, a small makeup/perfume store, a sunglasses store, and a handbag store. The RCI themed store had the usual souvenir trinkets, t-shirts etc and of course liquor. There were a few specials during the week where they brought out other products like the less expensive jewelry sets, other watches, tote bags etc but nary a pashmina to be found which is always a cruise tradition for me! If you want to imagine what it's like to swim with piranhas, go to the designer handbag sale. 30% off Kate Spade and the women were INSANE.

 

Public areas: My favorite place to hang out for sunning was the aft section of deck 15 - overlooking the wake, could get up to watch the Flowrider or Ripcord, and was rarely crowded. On the days it was really windy with a nip in the air it was lovely in the Solarium if you could nab a seat (chair hogs in full force!), and in a little section starboard and port on deck 15 overlooking the indoor pool. It was inside but under the glass ceiling so you got sun but it was sheltered from the wind (except when people would go in/out of the doors out to the deck). There they are chairs with footstools, not loungers. 270 is a nice spot to take a cup of coffee and relax - very quiet when there isn't an event going on. I did most of my people watching from the Bionic Bar by the railing or outside of Michael's Genuine pub (I never ordered any food but their tables were usually empty so good place to take a drink and observe the crowd).

 

Ports: Port Canaveral we took a shuttle to Cocoa Beach - we initially said we wanted to go to Jetty Beach but the people at the taxi stand said you had to pay $15 on top of the cab fare to get in (I think they could drop you off outside of the park to avoid that, but I didn't press the issue). Cocoa Beach is a little further south and it was $13/person round trip on the shuttle. They drop you off across from Ron Jons and it was a short walk to a nice spot on the beach where there were showers/restrooms and a rental stand for chairs and umbrellas. 2 beach chairs and an umbrella were $30 for the day (slightly less for max of 3 hours) - they asked for photo ID both to rent the chairs (kind of odd), and to get back into the terminal to the cruise ship, but my friend forgot hers and they were still able to look her up. There are restaurants around there within walking distance but amazingly we managed to survive the day without starving to death, having already eaten our weight in foot at every meal up to that point! The beach was pretty but had a lot of seaweed that day, and the water was ROUGH - lots of surfers enjoying it though!

TIP: they have a strict no glass policy on the beach and it didn't even occur to me that my water bottle was glass inside the plastic sleeve, so I kept it hidden in my towel just to be safe. If you wish to avoid breaking the law like me, bring plastic!

 

CocoCay was beautiful as always. The Cruise Compass said tender tickets would be given out in 270 starting at 7:30am but I headed down around 6:45 as I was up already. There was already a line! The staff ended up handing out the tickets early, starting just before 7. We got tender #2 and they weren't supposed to start the tender process until 9:30, but they had cleared customs early so started by 8 or so! That was great in a way but we weren't prepared so by the time we ran back to the room and get our stuff together, they had passed our number and were up to tender #5, which meant a lot of milling about by the stairs in a crowd of confused passengers until space was available on another boat. If you really want to get off first thing, show up early for tickets, and be prepared to leave early as well despite what the schedule may tell you. We walked the nature trail on the island which was beautiful and took you past a lot of really secluded spots

TIP: wear supportive shoes if you plan to do the nature trail - I had on sneaker-like water shoes but my friend had flip flops and struggled in spots. Also, the gulls there are adorable, little black winged things, but AGGRESSIVE. They were swarming small children, seemingly aware kids would get scared and drop their lunch plates, and even adults if they put their plates down for a second unattended just to get a napkin or something, forget it, gone. Guard your food, and watch for bird poop!

 

Nassau wasn't a big day for us. We wanted to get day passes to one of the resorts but as our itinerary changed a couple of months prior to cruising, it put us in Nassau with 3 other cruise ships and all the day passes were sold out. We got off briefly to walk through the Straw Market (not my cup of tea - I know they're just trying to make a living but I can't shop under pressure and the constant hovering of the seller) and walked the main street. Unfortunately many stores were closed as it was Good Friday, but we got a few gifts. That ended up being the day we did the North Star and our spa visits so worked out just fine.

 

Voom: we paid for Voom Surf & Stream when it was on sale prior to our cruise ($175 for the 8 days for 2 devices, our two phones) - that was cheaper than each of us individually paying for a device. It worked great - never crashed that I noticed, and although I've read both on reviews and on the instructions they provide that it signs you out after 2 hours of inactivity, that never happened to us. It could be our phone settings though - mine is set to auto-remember wifi passwords so it was likely reconnecting automatically. (I have checked my cell data usage just in case! No problem - we just put our phones in airplane mode and manually turned wifi back on) It worked for basic email, FB including FB live and lots of pic uploads, and FaceTime as well as FB messenger and iPhone text messaging. I didn't try to stream movies or anything so not sure how the speed would be for that. It did download several ebooks for my Kindle app very quickly (I decided I'd finally give in and read the Harry Potter series this trip - nearly finished in the week!)

 

Royal IQ app: I installed this on my phone prior to our cruise. Once connected to ship wifi it was able to show us anything we had scheduled that day and you could access the cruise compass and browse activities. I found it not very intuitive and always struggled to make a new reservation - I kept thinking it would be an option under the activity itself when I searched but it wasn't. I always figured it out (this was how we booked North Star as it wasn't available for online booking prior to our trip) but every time it was a challenge to find the spot to actually make the reservation. (This could definitely be operator error!) Anything you book outside the app like the spa doesn't show up, which would be a nice improvement should they update it in the future. I never used the messaging on it as we had Voom but I've heard it's glitchy. There were also tablets throughout the ship to use if you didn't have the app on your phone.

 

 

Disembarkation: We had a 12pm flight out of Newark/Liberty so we didn't bother with self-assist luggage. We ended up in group 8 which got off the ship around 7:10 or 7:15am. We waited in 270 until our number was called, and then it was very quick to get off the Anthem, go through customs, find our luggage, and hop in a cab. I'd say we were in a cab no later than 7:40am and there was very little traffic. As noted above the cab (that we shared 2 other passengers) was $70 per couple ($65 flat rate + $5 for tolls). I did notice now they say to have your luggage outside the room the night before by 10pm. It used to be midnight and I rather preferred that - I feel like 10pm made it so we had to cut our evening quite short, but I'm sure the crew greatly prefers it!

 

 

As always we loved our cruise. All the little hiccups are minor details - it's just about a week away in a beautiful setting. I've read a lot of reviews of people who seemed to really dislike the Anthem but I can't understand why myself. No ship is perfect, and what the Anthem does well she does very well. Now I feel spoiled and want to be on ships with Ripcord by IFly and North Star all the time! I miss her already, but you have to come home so you can start planning the next one, right?

 

[Ashland]

Thanks for agreeing with me about those tiny sliver's they call nightstands :eek:

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Shana9136]

Thanks for agreeing with me about those tiny sliver's they call nightstands :eek:

 

Haha right?! I don't need a lot, just a spot for my phone and glasses or some water. But my goodness. Oh well. Got my lazy butt out of bed to go put my phone on the vanity. Those 2 extra steps clearly mean I can have an extra dessert the next day!:')

[Jenjer]

Thank You very much for the info. I have a question about disembarkation. We are a party of 5 and all the luggage that means. Do they have van cabs we can just hire after we disembark or do you think we need to make car service reservations ahead of time?

 

We are getting to the ship the morning before with a shuttle from out hotel so that's covered.

[hp_slash]

Thank you for the review! I am heading onto the Anthem in September and it's much appreciated!

[cathy1227]

Thank you for your review! There were a lot of tips in there I plan on referring to when we embark on Anthem in 20 days!!

[Clarea]

Very nice, detailed review, thanks!

[cruisinck]

Thank you for your review we leave on 5/11. What time did you fly in on embarkation day? We get in at 9:30am and plan on getting uber. Just wandering how long it took to get to the port.

 

 

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[Shana9136]

Thank You very much for the info. I have a question about disembarkation. We are a party of 5 and all the luggage that means. Do they have van cabs we can just hire after we disembark or do you think we need to make car service reservations ahead of time?

 

We are getting to the ship the morning before with a shuttle from out hotel so that's covered.

 

There is a taxi dispatch stand right outside the terminal, just across the road, though we didn't even make it to there before a van pulled up next to us to scoop us and another pair of passengers up! No need to make reservations in advance if you don't want to. We had 4 in our van and easily could have fit another and luggage

[Shana9136]

Thank you for your review we leave on 5/11. What time did you fly in on embarkation day? We get in at 9:30am and plan on getting uber. Just wandering how long it took to get to the port.

 

 

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We arrived around the same time and our car service picked us up around 10:30. It's only maybe 20 minutes to the port if there's no traffic

[Jerseygirl1416]

Thank you for all the information

[jsswish]

Loved the attitude of this review, many people seem to focus on the negative or things that aren't absolutely perfect and it brings everything down with it, not here. Thanks for sharing.

 

Also we felt the same about Johnny Rockets, the burger was decent (and made correctly in our case) but not good enough to have more than once. The burger we really enjoyed on our trip, and will have again next time, came from Michael's Pub.

[shepherdqueen]

Thank you for this well balanced review. We're on her in November and can't wit!

[Biker19]

I've lost track of how many cruises I've been on as many were as a child and before they applied such records to C&A status (a true shame!), but I'd estimate 15-ish.

If you have any kind of proof of those cruises you could ask C&A to credit those.

[Ashland]

There is a taxi dispatch stand right outside the terminal, just across the road, though we didn't even make it to there before a van pulled up next to us to scoop us and another pair of passengers up! No need to make reservations in advance if you don't want to. We had 4 in our van and easily could have fit another and luggage

Were you going to EWR and what was the cost of the van (taxi) per couple ?

[Shana9136]

If you have any kind of proof of those cruises you could ask C&A to credit those.

 

All I have are embarrassing old pictures! The 80s and early 90s were not a kind fashion period! I'll have to ask them what would constitute sufficient proof

[Shana9136]

Were you going to EWR and what was the cost of the van (taxi) per couple ?

 

$70 per couple ($65 flat rate + $5 toll). Yes EWR. As noted in the original post this was only $7 less expensive than private car service that we used at the start of our trip

[amr2323]

We will be going on Anthem two weeks from today! Do you have any info on the entertainment in the bars (piano player in Schooner or guitarist in pub)?

 

 

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[Biker19]

All I have are embarrassing old pictures! The 80s and early 90s were not a kind fashion period! I'll have to ask them what would constitute sufficient proof

A picture with you and the ship and dates of the cruise may be enough.

[Jenjer]

There is a taxi dispatch stand right outside the terminal, just across the road, though we didn't even make it to there before a van pulled up next to us to scoop us and another pair of passengers up! No need to make reservations in advance if you don't want to. We had 4 in our van and easily could have fit another and luggage

 

 

Great that's what I was hoping for. Since our flight home has changed a few times and gone from 12:30 to 3:30. we have no need to rush off the ship to get to the airport.

[easyboy]

Thanks for the review.

[mems]

Thanks. Great review with much information.