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Anthem of the Seas - The Questions I Had Answered

jbr5049
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jbr5049

jbr5049

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So I just got back from a 7 night Bayonne - Bermuda - Boston Cruise on Anthem of the Seas and I wanted to share some of the learnings I had... mainly things I did not see answers to on here.

 

Embarkation:

 

 

We arrived to the port @ 10 am, you are literally driving through what looks like an abandoned warehouse district until BOOM you see the ship. Follow the signs for Cruise Port, because putting in the actual address confused our GPS and was going to take us into a residential area. There was about 5 minutes of waiting in line until we dropped off our bags with the porters, another 5 minutes we were parked onsite in the garage ($20 a day, bring your ticket with you because you have to pay at a self service meter before you leave. Meters take both cash and credit.) So at about 10:15 am we walked into the cruise terminal. It was rather underwhelming, we were directed to go through security before checking in. Security allowed us to enter with bottles of water in our backpacks, but threw out any that were open. From there we were directed into the standard lines you see at other cruise terminals to complete your set sail paperwork. We had done our photos online as well as completing our documentation so this process took about 5 minutes in total. They did take our photos again because they said ours were not close up enough on the face.

 

 

From there you get your set sail paperwork stamped which will allow you onto the ship. You DO NOT get a set sail card (Room Key) until you get to your room @ 1pm. They will be in an envelope outside your state room. This means the paperwork you have will be used for anything you need to buy before you get your set sail cards, these papers do allow you to use your drink packages, the bartenders will just scan them.

 

 

Suite guests are stationed at the far left corner, right near the bathrooms. There was a small station setup with coffee and tea, not sure if it was suite only because I could have easily grabbed a cup if i wanted. They sell the usual lanyards and take your photo before you are stationed in your boarding zone. Boarding started @ 10:30 a and we were on the ship at about 10:45 a (Platinum).

 

 

You spit out onto Deck 5 on the top of the Royal Esplanade, and are off to explore the ship.

 

 

Dining Packages:

 

 

This was the first time we had ever used a dining package, it was $100 per person for 4 premium dining nights. With the prices for premium dining on Anthem, you really can't go wrong. I was nervous though, because with the Dining packages, you make your first request for dinner on either Day 1 or Day 2, but do not know if you will get your time, or if you will get the dining venue you want. We printed out a list of the venues we wanted on the times and days (1,2,3, and 7) all for 6 pm with our stateroom number. We walked over to Wonderland which was stationed with the Restaurant Manager. We asked if he could make our reservations for the 4 nights of the package, I handed over the print out, and 2 minutes later we got all the venues and times we wanted. In this case the Dining worked out perfectly, I do believe that part of the success was due to running directly to Wonderland and getting this taken care of immediately. We ate at Chops, Jamie's, Izumi, and Wonderland, but I will talk more about this later.

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jbr5049

jbr5049

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Reservations:

 

We had 2 friends join us last minute ( 2 months before set sail) and all Northstar and iFly reservations were full online. So we were directed to head into the royal theater (Deck 5 Forward) where they had 5 stations setup to make reservations for shows as well as Northstar and iFly. Our friends were able to get similar times (Either right before or right after us) for both Northstar and iFly. We were in here right about 11:00 am and had only short lines, no issues at all getting these booked.

 

From there we did run up to the vitality gym to get reservations for the Tour De Cycle that is held on sea days (3x total classes). Again, we were up there around 11:15 and all of the class signups were empty. We all signed up without issue (They are sheets where you write your own name and cabin number).

 

So on the ship for about 30 minutes and we got all of our reservations done, I highly suggest getting on EARLY if you need to make dining reservations or failed to get show/iFly/Northstar reservations at the time/day you wanted online. They can cancel and re-schedule anything you need, but these will fill up quickly on embarkation day.

 

Lunch on Embarkation Day:

 

270 cafe (Deck 5 Aft) has a large assortment of lunch options. This is the "Veteran" move to avoid the windjammer on day 1. We arrived there around Noon and found a rather long line, I guess the secret is out! It took about 10 minutes to wait in line and get our food. They have about 6-8 different sandwich options, fruits, fruit cups, as well as a make your own salad bar, and some light pastries. You can then easily find all sorts of seating in the 270 venue just steps towards the rear of the ship.

 

Sail Away:

 

Immediately after muster (Held in dining or entertainment venues on deck 4 and 5) we ran up to the solarium at the front of the ship. There are bridge wings that are open to the air and accessible through the front of the solarium. They are on both port and starboard sides and offer a very unique perspective of the ship as well as a quiet area to celebrate sail away. About 10 other people were out there with us, and the solarium bar was almost empty, so it was easy to get drinks while standing out there.

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jbr5049

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Tour De Anthem:

 

The cycle class on Anthem is held in the Vitality gym on sea days @ 8:00 am. The class is 45 minutes long and costs about $12.50 per person. We had read online that the shoes used with a Peloton bike would work (Delta Look Cleats) on the bikes with Anthem. Unfortunately that was incorrect information, the SPD cleats are the ones that work on these bikes (Google SPD Cleats) if you are not sure which ones you have. They do have Toe Cages that you can use your regular running shoes with, but the mechanism used to tighten the straps was less than intuitive, so all 4 in our group did some portion of the ride with loose cages and did have to re-adjust more than once. The class was "Eh". The instructor did not have much personality and bounced between "60%" "80%" and "100%" effort amongst some 90's Techno. I did sweat in the class, but was not impressed. We did decide to cancel our other 2 classes we had signed up. These bikes are in a separate area in the gym and there is signage stating that the bikes are reserved for classes only. We did not attempt to wander in there outside of the class time, but you might be able to get away with it.

 

Running Track:

 

If you have sailed an oasis class ship, you know they have a running track on deck 5 that is a dedicated running/ walking track. Anthem does have a running track, but it is located on the top deck where people usually walk. Frequently you will be faced with a narrow lane blocked by people walking 3 deep alongside each other. If you are planning on running, I highly suggest getting up there no later than 8. After that it gets very busy and can be a frustrating run trying to dodge others, or waiting for someone to move over.

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jbr5049

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Wow Bands:

 

One of the things we did on Day 1 was get the WOW bands. These are RFID bands that can be used in addition to your sea pass cards. The bands were just under $6.00 each and you are assigned the band that will reflect your muster station. They have a bunch of different colors, but you are only able to get the band that has your specific muster, so in our case we had the option between white and black. Now let me preface this by saying that we were in Disney last year and used their Magic Bands and absolutely loved them. Disney really thought out how to implement the band to replace cards and hit it out of the park.

 

The Good about the Bands:

 

They are easy to bring with you as they fit snugly on your wrist. They also work very well to unlock your stateroom door without fumbling for your sea pass card. Because they have your muster station on them they can be used to get filtered into the correct muster station. They also work very well if you are buying anything in one of the shops onboard as the RFID reader is right next to the register where you will be standing.

 

The Bad:

 

You have to take them off if you are going to be ordering anything at the bar. The RFID readers at the bars have a very short cord so 99% of the time you will have to hand over your WOW band. This is a little annoying, but makes it even more annoying when you have multiple in your group with the same color WOW band, you have to hope that the bartender remembers whose is whose. We tried writing on them with sharpies, but the ink quickly came off, so we used our cards over the bands at the bars. The WOW bands also cannot be used to embark or disembark at any ports. I attempted to use mine while leaving in Boston and was quickly scolded by the security guard, he requested I present my card to leave the ship (I understand you need your card's information to clear port security to come back). I also was not able to get my band to successfully register in the casino at the slots for players points or at Bionic Bar to order a drink. Each time after a failure to read on the WOW band I pulled out my Sea Pass and was able to have it register immediately.

 

My Verdict - Wow bands:

 

They have so much potential, but due to some limitations right now with reading the bands I would suggest holding off. If bartenders had mobile reading ability like they do in Disney you would never have to take them off to pay for a drink. I also think they could improve the signal so that you get positive reads on all the different things you use them for on the ship.

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jbr5049

jbr5049

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Bionic Bar:

 

They have 3 Sony Tablets on tables in front of the Bionic Bar. If the tablets are out the bar is open, if the tablets are not out the bar is closed. You have to scan your sea pass or wow band at the top right corner to unlock the tablet. You have to enter your birth year to be able to order a drink. There are a few options to get classic or signature drinks (Think Long Island Iced Tea or Jack and Coke) or you can make your own drink. You max out at 4 parts or 2 "shots" of liquor per drink you make. You can add different sodas or mixers as well as grenadine or lime cordials. The process to order a special drink is intuitive and does not take much time. Interestingly enough you can order 2 alcoholic drinks at a time through one set sail pass. The drinks were decent, and only take a minute or two to make. Steer clear Day 1 as there will be huge lines. Day 2 - 7 it will be almost completely empty, it's kind of sad this area does not get much more attention as it is rather cool to watch the robots make drinks.

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jbr5049

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iFly:

 

I showed up 15 minutes early for my appointment, but they were taking guests up until 10:30a when the actual appointment was (I had read elsewhere they turned people away if they weren't early).

 

You will watch a safety video ~5 minutes that teaches you 4 basic hand signals, Chin up, Legs Bent, Legs Straight, or Relax. There really wasn't much to the video. You spend about 10 minutes getting geared up in the jumpsuit, goggles, and helmet. LEAVE ANYTHING VALUABLE IN YOUR ROOM. Folks were told to remove all loose jewelry and leave it in the group changing area. There were diamond rings, cell phones, watches all just sitting out on shelves where the different groups will be coming and going for their reservations. Someone could have easily walked through and stolen these items as it is not secure in any way shape or form. There is a photographer there that will ask you for your state room, they might also write a number on your helmet that will correspond to the stateroom so they know who's state room to attach the photos to. They will also hand out ear plugs, these are disposable. Make sure to wear closed toe shoes, they do not allow flip flops. They do have some shoes they will offer you to use as long as you have socks.

 

After you are geared up the instructor brings you up single file to the iFly area, the person in the front of the line sits to the far left of the tube on a bench. This person will go first, and the person on the far right will go last. Everyone gets about a minute in the tube and then you get a 2 minute demo from your instructor on the cool things you can do. It was a great experience and was a lot less intense than you would think.

 

For those of you that are germaphobes... the helmets they use get sprayed with lysol in between each use, but the instructors all seem to use a sort of bandana to cover their hair before putting on their own specific helmet. Might not be a bad idea to bring one if you are sketched out putting something on your head that has been on thousands of others' heads.

 

The iFly registration area (Right near Gi-Gi) is also where you can sign your waver and get the activity band for the flowrider and rock climbing. The Flowrider staff was friendly as always, and the experience is certainly worth a shot. Numerous people had never done the boogie boarding, but were able to successfully stand up on the flowrider board their first time with some help.

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jbr5049

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The obstructed balcony:

 

We were cabin 6584 which is classified as an Obstructed Balcony. Deck 6 Mid Ship balconies have either a Davit or a Life Boat restricting the view out from the balcony. They are also 1 deck above the life boat loading zones which is a guest accessible area which allows you to almost walk the length of the boat on port and starboard sides.

 

We saved about $150 total selecting this option as opposed to a D8 balcony. We had the lovely view of a yellow lifeboat for about 40% of our view, the other 60% was some ocean, but mainly the sky. This means that at night you cannot look down and see the ocean reflecting from the light of the boat or the moon. You also will have light from the deck 5 walkways reflecting against the lifeboat and into your room at night unless the curtains are closed. You will also get a decent amount of noise from people sitting, walking, or hanging out down there. Sadly we only spent one late night eating Sorentos pizza out there, the noise and light were enough to spoil the experience. In the future we will pass on the marginal savings and go for an unobstructed view and experience.

 

The rest of the room:

 

Aside from the balcony, the room was wonderful. The layout works well, and as noted in other posts you can see the ocean from the round tube shower (No shower curtains here!). There are no soap dispensers in the shower, instead you get shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in independent travel size tubes. The TV is mounted to the wall and much larger than we have experienced on other ships. I would estimate the size was in the 30-42 inch range and was a welcome surprise. The safes are numeric (no card swipe here). When you walk into your room for the first time you will notice that none of the lights or HVAC will work until a card is inserted into the small holder outside the bathroom. This is an energy saving feature hoping that people won't leave the lights on or run ac when you are outside of your stateroom. Just bring an old card with you and you can leave it in there the entire cruise. I happened to have some business cards so I put 2 together and it was enough to trick the system. You obviously could use a credit card, but leaving that out is probably not a good idea.

 

There is TONS of storage in the room, and the beds are raised to have multiple large suitcases stored underneath them. Our refrigerator came empty and other than 2 bottles of evian water there were none of the impulse snack items you see on other ships. You can lock your refrigerator with a numeric combination if you so choose. The outlets at the desk/vanity area have 2 usb ports, but the other outlets are the standard 3 prong used in the US. The room felt very clean and modern. There was limited "Wear and tear" in the room which emphasized the youthful feeling of sailing on a newer ship. We never heard either of our neighbors, and there was no noise bleed from the esplanade below.

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wilsonwilksmcgee

wilsonwilksmcgee

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From there we did run up to the vitality gym to get reservations for the Tour De Cycle that is held on sea days (3x total classes). Again, we were up there around 11:15 and all of the class signups were empty. We all signed up without issue (They are sheets where you write your own name and cabin number).

 

I assume Tour De Cycle are Spin Classes im Interested in these as I have a Tri to do when I get home so how much were these? and were they worth it?

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dancersp119

dancersp119

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So I just got back from a 7 night Bayonne - Bermuda - Boston Cruise on Anthem of the Seas and I wanted to share some of the learnings I had... mainly things I did not see answers to on here.

 

Embarkation:

 

 

We arrived to the port @ 10 am, you are literally driving through what looks like an abandoned warehouse district until BOOM you see the ship. Follow the signs for Cruise Port, because putting in the actual address confused our GPS and was going to take us into a residential area. There was about 5 minutes of waiting in line until we dropped off our bags with the porters, another 5 minutes we were parked onsite in the garage ($20 a day, bring your ticket with you because you have to pay at a self service meter before you leave. Meters take both cash and credit.) So at about 10:15 am we walked into the cruise terminal. It was rather underwhelming, we were directed to go through security before checking in. Security allowed us to enter with bottles of water in our backpacks, but threw out any that were open. From there we were directed into the standard lines you see at other cruise terminals to complete your set sail paperwork. We had done our photos online as well as completing our documentation so this process took about 5 minutes in total. They did take our photos again because they said ours were not close up enough on the face.

 

 

From there you get your set sail paperwork stamped which will allow you onto the ship. You DO NOT get a set sail card (Room Key) until you get to your room @ 1pm. They will be in an envelope outside your state room. This means the paperwork you have will be used for anything you need to buy before you get your set sail cards, these papers do allow you to use your drink packages, the bartenders will just scan them.

 

 

Suite guests are stationed at the far left corner, right near the bathrooms. There was a small station setup with coffee and tea, not sure if it was suite only because I could have easily grabbed a cup if i wanted. They sell the usual lanyards and take your photo before you are stationed in your boarding zone. Boarding started @ 10:30 a and we were on the ship at about 10:45 a (Platinum).

 

 

You spit out onto Deck 5 on the top of the Royal Esplanade, and are off to explore the ship.

 

 

Dining Packages:

 

 

This was the first time we had ever used a dining package, it was $100 per person for 4 premium dining nights. With the prices for premium dining on Anthem, you really can't go wrong. I was nervous though, because with the Dining packages, you make your first request for dinner on either Day 1 or Day 2, but do not know if you will get your time, or if you will get the dining venue you want. We printed out a list of the venues we wanted on the times and days (1,2,3, and 7) all for 6 pm with our stateroom number. We walked over to Wonderland which was stationed with the Restaurant Manager. We asked if he could make our reservations for the 4 nights of the package, I handed over the print out, and 2 minutes later we got all the venues and times we wanted. In this case the Dining worked out perfectly, I do believe that part of the success was due to running directly to Wonderland and getting this taken care of immediately. We ate at Chops, Jamie's, Izumi, and Wonderland, but I will talk more about this later.

 

 

 

 

Did you purchase the package once onboard ???

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maggie416

maggie416

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Hello and thank you for the great information ! Do you happen to know (once onboard) where to sign up for the Puzzle Break Room ?

I signed up for the puzzle break room on line a few months before sailing. When I got there that day people were waiting for no shows because all spots were taken. When you get on the ship go to the seaplex, that's where the escape room is. Find a staff member and try to make reservations with them. From what people told me it is a bit difficult to book once on board,they have you going from guest services and the seaplex. So, my advice just keep checking the cruise planner every day.

Marg

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Clarea

Clarea

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Are there laundry specials? If so, what and how often?

There is usually a wash & fold bag for $35 offered once per 7 day cruise. All you can fit in the bag, limited to things like socks, shorts, underwear, t-shirts, pajamas, etc.

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koxler

koxler

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I signed up for the puzzle break room on line a few months before sailing. When I got there that day people were waiting for no shows because all spots were taken. When you get on the ship go to the seaplex, that's where the escape room is. Find a staff member and try to make reservations with them. From what people told me it is a bit difficult to book once on board,they have you going from guest services and the seaplex. So, my advice just keep checking the cruise planner every day.

Marg

 

Did you sign up for Puzzle Break on the Cruise Planner? I didn't see it there under entertainment or activities. Thanks in advance.

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