Anthem - May 26th Review

[m2inus]

Anthem May 26thReview

 

The details – 5 night Bermuda Itinerary

 

Who we are – Family of 4 with 4.5 and 1.5 year old girls plus our family friend

 

Cabins – two adjoining balcony rooms on the 13thdeck

 

The Ship – The ship was beautiful. My wife appreciated the modern look and feel. Many spaces seemed well thought-out. The promenade area on decks 4 and 5 is small for this size ship, and does cause some traffic when they are having merchandise sales in the middle of it. The elevators were large and able to accommodate lots of people, however they did seem rather slow and would take a long time to open and close on each deck.

 

The Breakdown:

 

Embarkation:

This was not our first time out of Cape Liberty, so we generally knew what to expect. We arrived at the port around 1030 and there was already a decent line of cars to drop off. We dropped off the family and parked in the garage where we easily found a spot. There was virtually no security line and we made it to the check-in agent pretty quick. We completed all the online check-in information ahead of time, but the agent still needed to “verify” all the information, which seemed like it took longer than filling out all the stuff initially. After the check-in you simply hold onto a piece of paper with a barcode and a stamp….as this is your boarding pass. Your cruise cards are now waiting for you at your room. I don’t know whose idea this was, but it seems pretty dumb. The only way they know you are checked in is a little thumbnail size stamp that you get at the check-in agent. You then have to show this piece of paper and stamp to almost a dozen other people before you can get on the boat. It seems redundant and a backwards move with modern technology. We were all checked in before they started boarding, so we waited in a section of several rows of chairs for everything to start. They started boarding right around 11, but the process was painfully slow. It also seemed like people who checked in after 11 went directly onto the boat and weren’t sent to the holding area. This left us waiting even longer while they processed more people. We finally made our way onboard around 11:45. Once stepping onto the boat, the security personnel scan your boarding pass….but for some reason our two kids came up as not in the system and they had to manually enter some information, which slowed down the process even more!

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Food:

The food ranged from pretty good to really good. Nothing was inedible and nothing was the best meal ever.

 

Windjammer – we stopped here for each meal throughout the trip on various days. Breakfast seems to be the craziest, lunch wasn’t bad, and dinner had some really good options and was never too crowded. There are a ton of options and a lot of seating….we never had any issues finding a spot, even right after boarding.

 

There is a large hand-washing station that you are directed into while entering the Windjammer, which is a good idea. This area gets a lot of use and it showed, all the sinks seemed a little grimy and it could use a little more TLC.

 

Main Dining Room – We had my time dining and booked a 5:30 reservation for each day. There was never really a line when we arrived, but we ended up sitting at a different table with different servers each night (at our request). Like everything else, some of the wait staff is quicker and more attentive than others. With two small kids, trying to get in and out without having a melt-down is always the goal. We did have a vegetarian in our group and the wait staff seemed to go out of their way to make sure there were enough options, and would even bring the menu for the following night over so she could pre-plan her options. It did seem like there was limited variety for appetizers and desert. There were always the same 4-5 options (Caesar salad, cheesecake, etc.) but only a couple of new items each day. The main courses did have a lot of variety and were pretty good.

 

We came for breakfast one morning, and it was good. They have a decent size buffet or you can order from the menu. It is usually only open for about an hour and a half in the morning, which doesn’t leave much time to get in.

 

Room Service:

We did the breakfast order each morning of coffee and some fruit and pastries. It was always delivered in the timeframe, and it is nice that they call you when it’s on the way so you also get a wake-up call out of it!

 

Café 270:

We had both breakfast and lunch here and it was great. It seems like a very underutilized spot and has the same type of fare as the Park Café (for anyone who has been on Oasis class). For breakfast there’s a variety of ready-made sandwiches and burritos that they heat up, and a bagel bar with all the fixings. For lunch it’s similar with a bunch of sandwiches to heat up, fresh carved Roast Beef sandwiches, and a large salad bar where they put together whatever you want. There is always tons of seating in 270, so it’s a great option to get away from the crowds.

 

Solarium Bistro:

We had breakfast here one morning and it was just a smaller version of the windjammer with less items. Less crowded, but not that impressive.

 

Chops:

The adults did Chops for a “date night” and it was just ok. The steaks were well-cooked but the sides were a little bland and sad. They didn’t seem too busy, but the wait staff was virtually running from table to table trying to manage everything. They seemed overworked and apologized several times for the delay.

 

Boardwalk Dog House:

Had the dogs here on the last sea day and it was good, but only room for one guy behind the counter and a long line, so it took a while.

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Entertainment:

We only saw small parts of two shows (We Will Rock You and the Cabaret) but we walked into both late and were able to find seats. We are not big musical production show fans, so we didn’t stay long.

 

Kids Camp:

My 4.5 year old did the kids camp every night from around 8 ish to almost 10. After 10 PM they charge you hourly. She enjoyed her time there and would usually come back with some arts and crafts project. The staff seemed very good, but there were a large number of kids in there on several nights.

 

Pools:

I knew going into this that there was no real splash zone like some other ships. There is a large kids pool with a graduated entry that is not that deep which my older daughter loved. Since my younger daughter is still in a swim diaper, she was restricted to a small play area with a little fountain (I completely understand the reasoning for this). She still had fun, but this area just seemed sad and lacking any excitement. It would be nice for more activities for the little kids that can’t go in the regular pool.

 

There is also a large indoor pool area that I initially thought was a dumb idea. However, after we had a couple cool days and some rain, I greatly appreciated the area. I still like being outside by the live music (which was great), but it is a good alternative.

 

Since it rained in the mornings on both sea days, we never had a major issue finding chairs – it seemed like there were no chair-hogs on this cruise.

 

Bermuda:

Bermuda is obviously awesome. Our first day there we went to Snorkel Bay Beach – which is the only beach you can walk to from the boat. There is a $5 per adult entry fee, and you have to pay to rent lounge chairs and umbrellas, but it was a nice area and very convenient. Apparently it turns into a big party at night too!

 

We did the shipwreck snorkeling excursion through RCCL. The excursion was good, the ship captain gave us a good tour and history of the island and the boat was nice. The snorkeling area is a decent ways out in the Ocean, which led to some choppy and cool water and a current. It took a lot of effort to stay around the snorkeling area and not get swept farther out. If you are not a very strong swimmer or want something a little less strenuous, there are other snorkeling trips that stay closer to the island where the water is calmer and easier to maneuver.

 

Disembarkation:

Disembarkation was fairly easy. We walked our own luggage off, so we left our room when they made the first announcement at 7:30 AM and found a line that snaked all the way to the back of the boat to get to the gangway. It was a bit of chaos and it seemed like RCCL could do a better job of delineating where the line is and prevent people from just jumping in. Once off, customs was pretty quick and we were in our car by 8:15.

 

Royal IQ App:

The App was pretty bad. Half the time it wouldn’t load the cruise compass. I also thought it was weird that it did not have any map option, so there was to see where things actually were. Also, as others have said, if you have an iPhone and are on the Wifi (not on the internet package), you can text other iPhones, which was a big help.

 

The Wrap-up:

It was a great trip, the boat was nice and entertaining and a 5 night itinerary is good with little kids who can’t hang for too long. Also, being able to drive to the port and not worry about flights is always a plus. I’d highly recommend Anthem if it works for you!

[voyager70]

Thanks for your review, I really enjoyed. I was on Anthem last July for the first time and she is my favorite ship.

[Clarea]

Thanks for the detailed feedback.

[PokrChick]

Nice review!! Don't suppose you still have the Compasses from your cruise?

[LoveSummerFun]

Thanks for the review, will be on Anthem September 6th