THANK YOU to all who helped…

[matt1]

Tomorrow is my last day on Anthem of the Seas, and I wanted to take the time to say THANK YOU for all of the help and inspiration I’ve received leading up to this cruise.

 

You are all remarkable and unique and amazing in your own ways, and I love each and everyone of you for it.

 

It’s time for me to disappear again until “next time”. 
 

🥰

[Merion_Mom]

3 hours ago, matt1 said:

Tomorrow is my last day on Anthem of the Seas, and I wanted to take the time to say THANK YOU for all of the help and inspiration I’ve received leading up to this cruise.

 

You are all remarkable and unique and amazing in your own ways, and I love each and everyone of you for it.

 

It’s time for me to disappear again until “next time”. 
 

🥰

 

You are going to hit a random warm day when you disembark.

[cindyscruise]

Hope to see your next review. Please do a recap of the Anthem.  Your enthusiasm is wonderful

[matt1]

So, I’m on the elevator very early this morning heading down from Deck 10 with my carry-ons, and it stops on Deck 8 to pick up a family - husband, wife, and two teen sons. I’d run into them several times during the cruise, always in the elevators, and a round of Good Morning’s was exchanged.
 

After a brief moment the oldest son turns to the dad and says, “You know the best part of us being Pinnacle and staying in a suite, is that you get to leave before the rest of the ship”. A round of approving nods from the other family members. 
 

I chimed in and said, “Or…you can have The Key, be a lowly Gold Level member like I am, and leave the same time yaw get to leave”. I flashed my blue cruise card. The family, now fidgeting with their luggage, allowed a modest chuckle to escape. 
 

The elevator doors open onto Deck 5 and there’s a short line that’s just now leaving by the ship. The family in the suite are directed to a different line as I head for the one designated The Key. As I offer my sea-pass card and am DINGED off the ship, the suite family is still standing there for some reason.

 

Down the ramps, through to collect my luggage over in the section reserved for The Key, and processed through Customs (there was no line at all). Out to the parking garage, pay the attendant at the machine, and wait for the elevators - up to the 2nd floor I go. Load my luggage, head out, and (according to my Drive Safe and Save app) am on the road at 7:25am. 
 
That alone made The Key worth it for me. 

 

I wanted to again thank everyone for the kind words and support expressed on this forum, it didn’t go unnoticed. And I meant what I said, when I wrote that all of you are remarkable and unique and amazing in your own ways, and I love each and everyone of you. 
 

I listened the the catalog of HEART (Ann and Nancy Wilson) - some of the lyrics really spoke to this past week and literally hit hard my emotional side - on the drive back to West Virginia:

 

“Where the fog lies kissing the mountainside
You want to be sleeping, deep inside
Believing that the hungry world won't find you

Well, that's just fine, that's just fine
You've got to believe,

and I don't know, I don't know
What I believe anymore,
Whether to leave, or whether to stay
Or what I can say
To make you know
How deep it goes…

Somebody turned on the dirty blues
I know you don't like the blues
Cause the words are always the same
And they kind of remind you
Somebody turned the blues on me
I don't like the blues cause I can't see
Through the tears that come and make it hard to find you.” 
 

Trust me I was absolutely devastated, and yes, I cried. It took a long time to recover. By that time “my journey” was almost over. 

“The sky was dark this morning
When I raised my head
I stood at the window- darkness was my bane

Suddenly a sunbeam arch
Thrilled me to my weary heart
It was the prettiest thing I'd ever seen

I knew I had to keep my love
Keep my love alive”. 
 

I smiled for the first time is days. 

 

“When we're old
How will the story be told
Windswept smoke,

used by time,
Waiting for the bus
Will that be us?”

Time to move on. Let the past be the past. Too much too look forward to.
 

This was, after all is said and done - and bad parts aside - a fabulous cruise, despite the fact that I quite literally never got off the ship to venture out into the ports of call. Anthem of the Seas is a stunning vessel (the Christmas decor made even more gorgeous), and a remarkable technological achievement. The food, activities, and entertainment, were sometimes hit and miss, but mostly wonderful. It had to be for me to have taken over 1700 pictures and videos. I’ll never have time to upload these into albums LOL, and if and whenever that happens, Anthem will be back in Europe or I’ll be retired. 🤣

 

With a cat now purring in my lap, and a living room full of unpacked luggage and carry-ons, it’s good to be home.
 

The countdown begins for the next Anthem of the Seas cruise - 357 days. 

 

This has been fun. 😁
 

Thank you for everything. 

 

🥰
 

[Arzeena]

Thank you Matt, hope you had a safe trip home.

Why are you not trying other Royal Caribbean ships? Just wondering.

[Oceansaway17]

you are a rare breed on these threads. 

I do not agree with how your posts were handled on the other thread and some of my later comments were deleted.  oh well.

stay positive and nice.  These boards can be tough.  

I had to laugh at the comments in the elevator.

 

Please let us know if you though the Key was really a good thing

Also, glad you got to see both of the shows and go up in Northstar.  I did not on the 3rd trip on Anthem

but I did get off in Port Canaveral for a shore excursion.

[matt1]

54 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

Please let us know if you though the Key was really a good thing

 

Also, glad you got to see both of the shows and go up in Northstar.  I did not on the 3rd trip on Anthem but I did get off in Port Canaveral for a shore excursion.

The early embarkation Chop’s luncheon in American Icon was a very nice, totally relaxing, and peaceful way to begin the cruise.
 

I had booked The Key prior to the “cut-off date” in which “full benefits” were then reduced, so I had:

 

- free unlimited room service 24/7 (which I never used)

- 25% off onboard booked specialty dining (I already had all of mine booked pre-cruise in the Planner, but did get 25% off my meal at Johnny Rockets)

- carry-on luggage delivered to your cabin (this was great since rooms didn’t open until 2pm)

- the “private” time of some of the activities, as well as Early Access to shows (never used, so don’t know if it exists)

- Choice Departure (yup, this was fantastic) and the debarkation day private á la carte breakfast in American Icon (didn’t eat there, used the buffet)

 

All in all, even based on what I actually used it for, and now with some reduced benefits, depending on the further cost of my next Anthem of the Seas cruise, I would still buy it for some of the perks since I’m only at the Gold Level membership. 
 

 

North Star was a blast. The complimentary one in Bayonne was just OK; the Coco Cay schedule was wide open (so I booked another complimentary ride); the views are amazing, especially if there’s another ship docked with you (did a time-lapse video by laying my phone sideways on the floor and letting it rip); and the Extended Version at sea was worth every penny, the views over the side…breath-taking.

 

As for the entertainment, in order of “best” to “least enjoyable” IMHO that I personally attended:

 

- We Will Rock You (simply the very best show on the ship, hands down; DO NOT miss this; and don’t leave when they do the curtain call bows, the BEST is yet to come)

 

- The Beatles Celebration (these boys NAILED it, definitely another “Don’t Miss This” show)

 

- High Voltage in the Music Hall (loved this talented group, and the electric guitarist / keyboard musicians were simply amazing and mesmerizing, the singer sultry and seductive)

 

- Spectra’s Cabaret (sometimes stunning visuals wrapped around The Harmony Sisters (annoying) and slow motion “artsy” dancing (Oy vey); overall this isn’t a show you really have to see - and you probably should, just to say you have - but this disjointed, What In Wide Wide World of Sports, mind-numbing, jumble left me wondering what the heck did I just witness

 

- Frankie and the Dreamers (this is the textbook definition of a a train wreck, plain and simple: 10 minutes of Jersey Boys songs; 20 minutes of Rap, Hip Hop, Vanilla Ice, Slim Shady, and Madonna; 15 minutes of I’m not sure what; ended with Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s RELAX. Everyone I personally talked to absolutely hated it. 

 

Didn’t stay long enough in Belero’s, the Schooner Bar, or Brass and Bock to listen to anyone. 
 

😁

Edited December 12, 2021 by matt1

[F27TW]

 ....

Edited December 12, 2021 by F27TW

[matt1]

1 hour ago, Arzeena said:

Thank you Matt, hope you had a safe trip home.

Why are you not trying other Royal Caribbean ships? Just wondering.

Not sure. 🤔 The only ships in the RCI fleet I’d book now would be the Oasis-class and Anthem of the Seas or her sisters.

 

As many cruises as I’ve done - this across seven different cruise lines - the smaller and medium ships really don’t do it for me anymore. Need lots of amenities and space. Even as much as I enjoyed the Century- and Millennium-class ships of Celebrity, the Volendam and Rotterdam of HAL, and Ruby Princess of PCL, none would now fit what I’m looking for in a ship.

 

However I truly LOVED the size and amenities of Royal Princess, with her elegant and strikingly beautiful interiors. 

 

Haven’t ever tried NCL (and most likely never will) , and won’t go back to Carnival Cruise Lines (nothing personal, but the demographics are just not “me”).

 

Time marches on, and for some of us, so does the taste in our choice of vessels.

 

😁

Edited December 12, 2021 by matt1

[Luckynana]

Thank you, matt!  My cousins used the Key for the first time, and absolutely loved it!

 

Loved your elevator experience this morning!  Well done!😊