Anthem of the Seas Review with Pics 9-night New England Cruise Oct 2019

[CupKayke]

 

Hello!  My husband and I just returned from an Anthem of the Seas 9-night New England Cruise out of Bayonne, New Jersey and I thought I might write a review with pics.

 

Our Itinerary:

Day 1 - Thursday Oct 24 - Cape Liberty, New Jersey (Bayonne)

Day 2 - Friday Oct 25 - At Sea

Day 3 - Saturday Oct 26 - Boston, Massachusetts

Day 4 - Sunday Oct 27 - Portland, Maine

Day 5 - Monday Oct 28 - Bar Harbor, Maine

Day 6 - Tuesday Oct 29 - Saint John, New Brunswick Canada (Bay of Fundy)

Day 7 - Wednesday Oct 30 - At Sea

Day 8 - Thursday Oct 31 - Halifax, Novia Scotia Canada

Day 9 - Friday Nov 1 - At Sea

Day 10 - Saturday Nov 2 - Cape Liberty, New Jersey 

 

Just a couple of things... I clearly need a new camera so that will be happening this month.. my apologies.  We are in our late 40s, I'm Kay and he's "J" for the purposes of this blog, we live in landlocked Missouri, we've taken at least one long trip per year for the last 12 years (we've now visited 26 countries) but we do not cruise every year.  We are not cruise line loyal but instead tend to cruise for the ports or if we get a bargain around the time we want to travel.   This cruise was a combination of timing, the ports, and a great deal found on a travel website.   We have cruised with Royal Caribbean previously and we will probably cruise with them again someday.   Royal Caribbean is doing a lot of things right and a few things that could be tweaked.  I'm opinionated and I don't gloss over anything.  Overall, we had a great time, most RC staff are top notch, and we met some wonderful people onboard.  I have been working 60-65 hours per week for the last 9 months so this was a "relaxation" cruise for us so we didn't do a lot of things most people do on ships but I'll share as much as I can of our daily information that may be helpful.  I will post a lot of pics.  If there is interest in this review, I will finish it.... so we'll see... 

 

The route we took...  

 

 

Edited November 5, 2019 by CupKayke

[timxrx]

Looking forward to your review.

[MrsKC08]

Following along. This is an itinerary that has peaked my interest but we have yet to do it. Looking forward to your point of view.

 

[MamaTene]

Following along with great interest. We were on the 5 night Bermuda sailing before yours 

[mcgore83]

Would love for you to continue this review.  Definitely interested!

[Ren1216]

I'm interested in your review!  We've been considering a NE cruise for a while now and hope to do one soon.  Looking forward to your gloss-free thoughts!

[CupKayke]

Day 1 – Traveling – Wed Oct 23

We flew out of Saint Louis Airport at 5am and landed in Newark, New Jersey before 10:30am.   We stayed at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Newark Airport.  Beautiful hotel, good restaurant, too busy bar, no Sprite or 7-up or Dr Pepper anywhere in the hotel.  Lots of lounging areas, quick and efficient early check-in with no fee, great pool, clean and renovated hotel.  We would stay here again in a heartbeat.

 

This hotel has a friendly man by the name of Sunny who offers transfers to the cruise ship at 10am and at 11am for $25 per person.  We paid him in cash. 

This hotel is supposed to have a “full-service” Starbucks according to the Trip Advisor reviews but this is not true.  They should just call it a small coffee shop which is fine but you cannot use your Starbucks cards or app and they do not offer any of the Starbucks specialty drinks – just basic coffees and teas – and none of the Starbucks pastries.   The rooms are huge, incredibly quiet and dark, and check-in was super quick as was check-out.   The bar is busy and service is slow.  The bar and restaurant area are nice.

Next door is a very large Ramada hotel also with restaurants and the Ramada hotel has a gift shop that offers all sorts of interesting medical and touristy items including some good luggage at decent prices (no kidding).  We had a suitcase handle break today so we walked next door to Ramada fairly late tonight and bought a new suitcase.   Just as a note, there is NOTHING ELSE in the surrounding area for food service so you are either calling for delivery or taking an Uber to dinner somewhere but again, the hotel’s offerings were good, the service was good, and we enjoyed our dinner.   He had carnitas tacos with chipotle sauce with fries and I had a chicken wrap with fries.

 

And now that I’ve thoroughly reviewed the hotel (ha)… let’s back-up….

[CupKayke]

We took the free hotel shuttle from the P4 train at the Newark airport to the hotel.  We checked-in to our hotel around 11am and within an hour we had booked our cruise shuttle for the next morning and taken an Uber from the hotel to Carlo’s Bakery – it’s famous for the show Cake Boss in case you don’t know.  It was a ~ $14 Uber ride plus I've tipped every Uber I've been in but one (more on that later in Boston).  We purchased goodies from Carlo’s Bakery and there was no line plus the staff were all very friendly and helpful.   I also purchased a t-shirt for a friend’s daughter and it was $20. 

 

The goodies…

 

More goodies…

 

Our stash…

 

We walked next door (literally, like a <1 minute next door walk) to Basile’s Pizza where they were semi-busy, the workers spoke Italian, and two slices of pie with a bottled water was under $10.  The slices were large and they were good.  I would recommend the sausage and mushroom or the red sauce not the white sauce I had (I don’t know what I was thinking).  My husband’s slice was excellent.

Edited November 5, 2019 by CupKayke

[LuCruise]

Following along.  We will be on Anthem for the first time in March.  Looking forward to it.  Never done a 9 night cruise but that seems like a perfect length.

[mcgore83]

Great start!  Looking forward to more and thank you for taking the time.

[CupKayke]

We then turned the corner from Carlo's Bakery and walked maybe 5-10 minutes about 2 blocks down to the Pier Park.  I believe this is also called Veteran’s Memorial Park.   Beautiful, beautiful views across the Hudson of NYC.  Lots of friendly people, some walking their dogs or babies, and some exercising.  It was not crowded.   In case anyone cares.. I do not smoke, my husband does (which is one reason why I am older than him but I look younger so there you go)  ...regardless, it is incredibly insane trying to find places to smoke these days.   My husband was able to smoke in this park, no problem.  

 

It was beautiful…

 

Views across the Hudson were amazing…

Me…

 

It was a beautiful autumn day outside… almost too nice for jackets but there was a slight wind.  Here is a view of NYC from the 7^th floor of our hotel room.   FYI - Our hotel was non-smoking but had benches and butt holders out front for smokers.  

 

 

Tomorrow…  Embarkation Day!

Edited November 5, 2019 by CupKayke

[Tin can]

Great review, we are back on Anthem in May after sailing on her in 2015 during her inaugural season from Southampton.

 

Looking forward to see if there are any changes.

[voyager70]

Very much enjoying your review.  We've only been on Anthem once but will definitely be sailing her again.  On a side note, glad you had a positive experience Doubletree/Newark Airport.  We stayed there a couple years ago during the renovations and it was not a pleasant stay.  Fortunately it was only one night.

 

 

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, CupKayke said:

  

 

Calling on all CC nerds, does anyone know why RCI's nav system makes a point of displaying Brookhaven on Long Island?

 

Biker, who used to live in the very unknown town.

Edited November 5, 2019 by Biker19

[voyager70]

Ha ha I was wondering about that too.

 

[CupKayke]

Thursday Oct 24 – Embarkation Day – Bayonne, New Jersey cruise port

Today is the day we boarded this beautiful ship! We are only one hour ahead of Missouri and seeing that I normally am awake by 4:45am, I didn't think setting an alarm was necessary. We woke-up at 9:43am Eastern time. Check-out and our shuttle to the cruise ship were both at 11:00am. It was shocking, funny, and marvelous. I had laid-out and organized everything the evening prior so we took showers and grabbed our bags. The ride to the cruise ship was the two of us and this very large extended family of a widowed mom with her grown children (in their 50s/60s) and their spouses. The men started talking about all the seafood they planned to eat on this cruise... fried shrimp, boiled lobster, baked salmon... they all sounded like Forest Gumps. It was funny.

Someone on Cruise Critic had sent me a message (I don’t know who it was) saying they would see me on the cruise shuttle the next morning from the hotel but I never met or saw anyone.  I asked our small shuttle group and they had no idea about Cruise Critic.  The shuttle situation at the hotel was a bit of a mess this morning.  We waited for our shuttle – along with many others – and in the end, they almost didn’t have room for us.  The hotel was friendly selling the transfer but they were disorganized in getting everyone on the shuttles because they also had full buses of folks going to Newark Airport this morning.

Some of the people waiting…

    

 

Note:  everyone on this ship received notice via email about a day or two prior to cruising that the Coast Guard had decided to do an inspection the morning of our embarkation.  There was some groaning on the forum prior to the cruise about how long this could take and what a mess it would be getting delayed to get on the ship.  We were told not to arrive at the terminal before 11 or 11:30am – EVERYONE – including KEY people, suites, etc.   Well, we had no choice because of the cruise shuttle so we left with the shuttle which was around 11:15am or later.  I don’t know how long it took to arrive at the ship – maybe 15 minutes?  Once we started down the final stretch of road to the cruise ship, there was a long line of traffic waiting to get to the terminal and we sat still in this traffic just barely moving or not moving off and on for at least another 15 to 20 minutes.  The local police have all the side roads block and they do a good job of keeping this as efficient as possible.  There is no turning around once you hit this road and frankly friends, I would not want to be stuck in a taxi in this traffic, just an FYI.   Once we were finally off the shuttle and had our luggage checked (super quick)… we were on the boat so fast our heads were spinning!!  We even stopped for our embarkation photo and we were still on the boat with NO lines and NO waits. Thumbs Up big time to Royal Caribbean!!  Almost 5,000 people coming onboard and this was by far our quickest embarkation on any cruise ship!

The first thing we did was walk across the entryway area to Bolero’s and get our RC wrist bracelets.  They were $4.98 each.  You can use them to open your door which is the main reason we got them and pretty much the only thing we used them for.  It was handy when you have trays, drinks, souvenirs, etc in your hands and you need to open your stateroom door.  You can also use them to buy drinks, purchase photos, get your bottled waters or etc.  I used mine to open the door.  Except today.  Today we both purchased drinks at the Bolero’s bar with them which was handy since we didn’t have our stateroom key cards yet.   Would I get this wristband again in the future?  For me, yeah… it was worth it just to open the stateroom door.  We only saw one other couple wearing these the entire cruise, but we had several people asking us about them. A lady in my cupcake decorating class told me she was on the previous cruise and everyone had them on for that sailing because they advertised them on that cruise.  Interesting.

And now a big Thumbs Down for RC…  lunch on Embarkation Day…. Oh my gosh.  There was a long line to eat while you had your backpack on or your small carry-on with you and even after you waited at least 30 minutes to get into the Windjammer… it was another 10 minutes finding an empty table.  It was packed.  We asked about the Solarium but a lady told us it was closed.  We don’t know if that was true or not because we asked another cruiser not an RC employee.  We did not attempt to eat anywhere else so maybe there were other places with no lines but it was day one, we did not know the ship layout, and this is where we were directed.  The food was fine and plentiful as was the iced tea (my drink of choice).  They had a giant strawberry and vanilla sponge-type cake that said Welcome Aboard and they were cutting everyone pieces.  Several staff members were walking around trying to find seating for those walking around with their plates in hand and nowhere to eat.  RC was doing maybe the best they could with everyone attempting to eat at the same time and this was day one when the rooms were still closed, etc. 

At exactly 1:30pm, they announced the rooms were ready. 

We had booked a balcony guarantee and ended-up with a regular balcony room on the 12^th floor Forward – 12166.  We always choose aft rooms so we were a bit leary.  This location ended-up being perfect for us. 

 

We liked the layout of the room

  

 

The bathroom is too small.  Another lady we met at the airport in Newark was complaining that she thought the rooms were smaller than normal RC ships (she’s a regular) but we thought the room was great but the bathroom teeny tiny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CupKayke]

So, for clarification.. our room was the nicest we’ve ever encountered on a cruise. The cabin drawers are soft close, our cabin had the option of soft nighttime lighting, the bathroom had an automatic night light.  We loved the room overall.

 

We were muster station B4 which is the Schooner Bar Deck 5.  We eventually headed that way and the Muster Drill was quick and painless and I was impressed with how it was handled. 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the Muster Drill, the Captain announced it was a clear day so we he was going to take the ship up to see The Statue of Liberty and turn around before leaving the harbor. You could hear the cheers throughout the ship as we hurried to our cabin balcony. She may look small in the pictures but to get an idea of how tall she is, look at the tiny people walking around at the bottom of her. Her light (flame) glows 24/7. It was neat to see.  Note: the Statue of Liberty and the NYC views are on the port side of this ship for this sailing… at least they were for us.

And...

View of NYC and Statue of Liberty before leaving port, no zoom…

 

 

You see lots of things leaving the harbor…

Edited November 5, 2019 by CupKayke

[m12e31g]

Love your review so far. We are driving in same day to Bayonne in Dec, but may have to make a side trip to Carlos' Bakery, I've always wanted to stop there. 

[HBE4]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

Calling on all CC nerds, does anyone know why RCI's nav system makes a point of displaying Brookhaven on Long Island?

 

Is it the site of Royals future Perfect Day at Brookhaven?

 

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

Biker, who used to live in the very unknown town.

 

 I know of it b/c of the nuclear power plant controversy  a few decades ago.  Pretty much impossible to evacuate Long Island when there are only a handful of ferries and the few bridges take you smack into the most populated areas of NYC.

[CupKayke]

We wandered around the ship trying to figure out our way here or there as it was crowded this first day. I took pictures of this and that. It was warm in New Jersey today – mid-60s and sunny.  I loved the elevator animals.  I believe this is a Meerkat with a Martini

 

 

This giraffe is in the aft of the boat just off Deck 15 by the Seaplex (where the Bumper Cars are located) and next to the iFly and the climbing wall and the surf simulator.

 

My husband had an appointment for the iFly at around 5pm and we got there, he watched what he called “Show-off Superman” doing some moves (it was an instructor), and he said NO WAY.  So, we passed but it was interesting to see for a bit.

He looked like the Night Monkey (ha)

 

View from the very back (aft) of the shift…

 

 

We found my husband’s favorite place for the next few days.. covered, very large smoking area by the outside pool Deck 14 Aft.  This place would range from 2 to 3 people to packed.  This was the first night and apparently no one had found it yet.  We would meet a lot of great people here and have some wonderful conversations.  I would watch movies across the way and he could walk back and forth and hang-out with me.  There are two bars just steps away which would get a lot of business from the smokers.   Again, I don’t smoke and frankly, I can’t stand the smell of smoke and he does not smoke in our home however, I had no problem sitting out here with him many times.   On the coldest and worst day we had at sea (coming home) it was still a somewhat protected/sheltered area from the pelting of rain that the other end of the deck was getting due to the wind.  Kudos to RC for offering this area because without it, my husband would not cruise.  

 

 

We had My Time Dining so we dined around 7:30pm just about every other night in the American Icon Grill and we did Windjammer the other nights.  I made reservations with the RC app.  We never had more than a 10 minute wait to get inside to our table.  We were sat at the same table every night with the same servers which I did not understand necessarily. 

 

Tonight's Menu

 

 

I am not an apple pie fan or anything but decided to order their apple pie tonight.. it was delicious. I think they put a caramel sauce in there with the apple pie which has the flakiest crust!  Hmmm Hmmmm Good

 

 

Edited November 5, 2019 by CupKayke

[Biker19]

19 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

I know of it b/c of the nuclear power plant controversy  a few decades ago

Right, but that was in Shoreham, the only thing Brookhaven is known for is the National Lab there - maybe that's why it shows up on the NAV system.

 

Biker, who usually does not derail review threads.

Edited November 5, 2019 by Biker19

[CupKayke]

34 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Biker, who usually does not derail review threads.

I don't mind.  I just don't know the answer 🤷‍♀️

[HBE4]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

Right, but that was in Shoreham, the only thing Brookhaven is known for is the National Lab there - maybe that's why it shows up on the NAV system.

 

Well, Brookhaven is the largest of NY's 932 towns and the only town on Long Island that stretches from the North Shore to South Shore. Maybe that makes it map-worthy?

 

Info is courtesy of the always accurate Wiki.

 

[Leeba25]

Great review! We’re in a cabin a few down from yours in April for a cruise down to the Bahamas, so I’m looking forward to reading more from you. Thanks for sharing!

[CupKayke]

Oct 25 – Sea Day

 

I woke-up this morning and decided to try breakfast in the Windjammer.  The eggs were runny and looked like they were covered in Velveeta cheese (they were not).  As a further note, I tried the dining room one morning and ordered their scrambled eggs and it’s the same situation.   We tried the Solarium one morning and they had the dry, normal scrambled eggs but they had a green tint to them.  This egg situation is something RC really needs to work on improving.  A frequent RC cruiser discussed this with us and she said she was on a B2B cruise and last cruise, the eggs weren’t runny or weirdly orange like they were our cruise.  They never improved during our voyage.  ☹  Two thumbs down.   I started standing in line and requesting two eggs over medium so I got two fresh eggs cooked decently.

 

We had a reservation this morning to ride the “hamster ball in the sky” as my co-workers call it – which the ship calls something else. It was a bit odd.  The RC worker got in with us, shut the door behind him, and told us “don’t move and don’t look at me!”  LOL  There was one couple that was moving and walking all over the little hamster ball and I wanted to take them down! LOL  It was neat to see the top of the ship from up there but I’m positive this little “ride” was not worth the money invested in it nor does it live-up to the hype.  We did not ride it again.

This was the group prior to us..it goes straight up and then the ball twists slowly from side to side

 

 

We began exploring the ship today… walking floor to floor and checking everything out.   We stopped for a drink.  This is a mango smoothie.  It is delicious.  You can get a “coconut” mango smoothie which comes with coconut rum.

 

I signed-up for surfing (not streaming) each day.  I paid less than $10/day for it for the entire cruise by pre-purchasing online when they had a sale about 45 to 60 days out.  I was told I could use it on any device but only one device at a time.  I used my laptop each evening and emailed my parents pictures.  LOTS of pictures sometimes.  No problems 99% of the time.  The only night it did not work was the first night leaving New Jersey.  I was not able to get a signal or use the Internet until the 2^nd night at sea around 6pm.  Also, it seemed as though sometimes between 11pm and 1am, the signal did not work.  Overall, I was happy with the service but I wish it would have been available 24/7 from day one.

Edited November 5, 2019 by CupKayke