Anthem of the Seas 12/21-12/29

[Poorplaya]

Loving the information so far, looking to take our 2 daughters on their 1st cruise so this has had some great info to help us out. Thank you for all the details.

[GROUPTRAVEL]

Thank you for your review --- looking forward to additional details.  

 

We're booked on our first RC sailing for next summer and will be on the Anthem of the Seas.  We're in room 9187 and according to the deck plan, there's not a cabin next to it.  If there's an opportunity, is it possible to determine if there's a utility or storage room next to it?  We're a little concerned about potential noise and would need to change cabins if the location seems questionable.

 

Thank you so much and continue enjoying your vacation!

[vidsmart]

Day 5-Merry Christmas

This was to be a very big day. First of all it was Christmas and there were 2 very excited kids to watch open presents. Though my daughter had set up a small tree in her room, there were nearly the typical number of gifts under it from Christmas at home. Secondly, we had just arrived at our 2nd stop, Coco Cay where I had reserved a beach bungalow for us, the water toys excursion for the kids, and one daughter purchased a jet ski drive and had gifted a passenger ride for me. 

 

I started with breakfast at The Windjammer where joy seemed to abound. Many, particularly adults, had on Christmas pajamas (there had been some kind of Christmas PJ’s event) and more than a few kids were carrying dolls and elves and other presents. Then the Captain came on the PA and wished everyone Merry Christmas, and then said “I’m afraid I have some bad news...” I knew right away what he was about to say as I am a regular browser of this forum. We were not going to be able to visit Coco Cay because the winds were too high to tender. You could just feel the air go out of the room. My phone blew up with texts from my family with variations of OMG and *****. (By the way, the quirk that allows iPhones to message each other without having to buy the texting package still exists.)

 

While the Anthem raced to its next stop, Anthem tried to make the best of a sad situation for the passengers: the Cruise Director Tornado Tanya got on the PA and announced shipboard activities that were added, and other previously scheduled activities such as the Flowrider surf simulator saw their time extended. I was not upset at Anthem at all as this was unavoidable (although many were quite upset; saw one man in the presence of his kids profanely berate a ship officer, telling him this was done because Anthem did not not want to pay the tender drivers holiday overtime!) I do think the announcement about 20% off spa services felt a little like a money grab. Why not 20% off drinks/specialty dining?

 

Back to 270 for lunch—this time the Reuben contained sauerkraut—and there were coconut cookies to die for. Dinner was Sorrentos Pizza given I was glued to the NBA games and missed MDR and Windjammer. Just a comment: if you do a search on this board RCCL pizza has been debated endlessly. My take is, of course it is not New York City pizza. But saying it it is no better than frozen pizza from the supermarket, is crazy talk in my opinion. It is good, not great (not quite as good as Carnival) but certainly not bad.

[vidsmart]

Day 6

Today was our port of call in Nassau, which actually had started early on the afternoon of Christmas Day because of our missed stop in Coco Cay. Much of Nassau was closed because of a major holiday there on Dec 26, Boxing Day. Furthermore, for those who had booked excursions in Nassau, the only way to get to them was via ferry as the roads were closed for a major parade in celebration of the holiday. I took my grandkids to Atlantis Aquaventure. I read somewhere it was among the world’s top water parks, and my grandkids never met a water park they did not want to conquer. The park was gorgeous being a part of the fantastic Atlantis Resort and having an integrated aquarium, but I suspect some of my neighbors in South Florida would push back on the world’s best part. (Water parks and theme attractions in South Florida are seemingly as common as McDonalds!) The kids had a wonderful time.

 

My daughters did find a Jet Ski excursion to make up for the one they missed in Coco Cay and of course it was cheaper as it was not through RCCL. They loved it and got great video to show me what I missed since I was at Atlantis. Glad they made up for that Christmas disappointment (and glad I missed it!)

 

My wife and I went to the Anthem’s flagship show, We Will Rock You. Not really rock enthusiasts but love music and theatricality and the show was very well done. I recommend it for almost anyone choosing to cruise on Anthem. My daughters and son-in-law visited Atlantis last night so they missed it, and I don’t think they would have like it because it truly was a musical and featured music before their time.

[warnocklife21]

Thanks for this review. it is extremely helpful. We are thinking about booking this cruise for 2019 and will be in Nassau on Christmas day. Did you notice a lot of things being closed or not available because of the holiday?

[pacruise804]

Very nice review.  We will be sailing in June staying in what sounds like one of your cabins - 10110.  I was surprised when you said no sauerkraut in the Reuben too - I'm glad to see that was corrected the next time.  Hope we have as good a time as it sounds like your family did 🙂 

[neckhardt]

Do you remember if there were two welcome aboard shows?

[vidsmart]

On 1/15/2019 at 2:01 PM, warnocklife21 said:

Thanks for this review. it is extremely helpful. We are thinking about booking this cruise for 2019 and will be in Nassau on Christmas day. Did you notice a lot of things being closed or not available because of the holiday?

Hi. It is actually the day after Christmas (Boxing Day) where there are a lot of closures.

[vidsmart]

On 1/16/2019 at 5:11 PM, neckhardt said:

Do you remember if there were two welcome aboard shows?

I seem to remember two--one in the afternoon and another early evening

[vidsmart]

On 1/16/2019 at 11:32 AM, pacruise804 said:

Very nice review.  We will be sailing in June staying in what sounds like one of your cabins - 10110.  I was surprised when you said no sauerkraut in the Reuben too - I'm glad to see that was corrected the next time.  Hope we have as good a time as it sounds like your family did 🙂 

Yep 10110 was one of ours. Great room and a great cruise despite missing the stop in Coco Cay. Enjoy!

[neckhardt]

1 hour ago, vidsmart said:

I seem to remember two--one in the afternoon and another early evening

Thanks, I actually found my programs from my April cruise. Yes, they were 6:30 and 8:30. I needed to know for our June cruise.

 

Neal