LIVE from Anthem of the Seas, 23 September to 5 October 2022, "Discover the Canaries"

[FionaMG]

And some more

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FionaMG]

Random ship photos from our photo tour

 

Arcade

 

Glass floor looking down

 

The Via: Jamie's, Vintages and the two expensive shops that we daren't enter.

 

 

 

 

Not many people buying this morning

 

Guest Services. As you can see there is no queue. It has been this way the entire cruise!

 

Sorrento's, the English pub and the offerings at La Patisserie.

 

 

 

Diamond lounge for a coffee break. Although it's tucked away and you have to go looking for it, it's a very nice room with windows to the outside.

 

 

The photo shop, Wonderland, the Schooner bar, the Music Hall and the casino.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not many people playing in the casino at this time of day. I think that might be a cultural thing too: I definitely remember the casino being busy at any time of day on our sea days in the Caribbean. Very interesting.

[FionaMG]

Pic of the sea from our balcony. Definitely not the smoothest of rides today. They just had to close the flowrider because of the sideways movement of the ship.

 

[RandomUser123]

Great pics you have been taking. Gets me more excited for our cruise on Anthem at the end of the month. My kids are looking forward to the bumper cars (and me too)!!!

[FionaMG]

2 minutes ago, RandomUser123 said:

Great pics you have been taking. Gets me more excited for our cruise on Anthem at the end of the month. My kids are looking forward to the bumper cars (and me too)!!!

Thanks. ☺️

It looked like everyone was having a lot of fun on them. There were some big crashes. 😂

[FionaMG]

Diamond treats for later 😁

 

 

DH has been given strict instructions that the brownie is mine! 😂 I had one in the D lounge the other evening and it was sooo good.

[grapau27]

6 hours ago, FionaMG said:

Random ship photos from our photo tour

 

Arcade

 

Glass floor looking down

 

The Via: Jamie's, Vintages and the two expensive shops that we daren't enter.

 

 

 

 

Not many people buying this morning

 

Guest Services. As you can see there is no queue. It has been this way the entire cruise!

 

Sorrento's, the English pub and the offerings at La Patisserie.

 

 

 

Diamond lounge for a coffee break. Although it's tucked away and you have to go looking for it, it's a very nice room with windows to the outside.

 

 

The photo shop, Wonderland, the Schooner bar, the Music Hall and the casino.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not many people playing in the casino at this time of day. I think that might be a cultural thing too: I definitely remember the casino being busy at any time of day on our sea days in the Caribbean. Very interesting.

Great photos Fiona.

[FionaMG]

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Great photos Fiona.

Thanks Graham. I'm gradually improving. ☺️

[FionaMG]

Tonight's dinner menu

 

We decided to skip the starters tonight and went straight to the main event. It was very tasty. 😋

 

As we were chatting to the couple at the table next to I forgot about our dessert pics until we were about half way through. Luckily, mine was the chocolate cake that I've already posted a pic of but DH had the baked Alaska, so we sort of rearranged it to try and disguise the missing bit! Oops. 🤭

 

After dinner we went to see the Beatles who were the headliner show in the main theatre tonight. We missed the first 15 minutes as it started at 9 rather than the more usual 10, which meant we had even worse seats than usual. Look at this stupid pillar. And there are lots and lots of them. Great design. 🙄

 

Well at least the show itself was good. Very lively and dynamic. They had the audience up dancing and clapping and singing along.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2022 by FionaMG
Duplicate pics

[FionaMG]

Today we will be in La Coruña, our last port stop. This is another one where our time in port has been cut, although only by a little bit. We will be arriving at midday and all aboard is at 5 pm.

The plan is to do the coastal walk to the Hercules lighthouse, which should take about half an hour each way. Entrance to the lighthouse is normally 3 euros but on Mondays it's free.

 

Today's compass

 

 

 

 

[little britain]

@FionaMG if the weather is bad I highly recommend the little art gallery in Coruna- and it’s free! 
 

Casino Black jack tables on Anthem started at $15 a hand. We didn’t play. 
 

Great review! 

[FionaMG]

27 minutes ago, little britain said:

@FionaMG if the weather is bad I highly recommend the little art gallery in Coruna- and it’s free! 
 

Casino Black jack tables on Anthem started at $15 a hand. We didn’t play. 
 

Great review! 

Thanks very much. ☺️

Looks like we're going to be lucky with the weather. We can see the coast from our balcony and it's a bit but hopefully it will burn off by midday. 🤞

[Sarah1974]

I planning to sail on Anthem next year so thanks for your great review.

 

In the Solarium Bistro I understand there's no charge but do you have to book?

[Biker19]

Just now, Sarah1974 said:

In the Solarium Bistro I understand there's no charge but do you have to book?

It's kinda like MTD in the MDR; you don't, but at peak times, you may need to wait a while for a table.

[njkruzer]

You've mentioned that port times were cut a couple of times.  Any reason?  Any engine issues?  We're on the TA so concerned. 

[FionaMG]

10 hours ago, Sarah1974 said:

I planning to sail on Anthem next year so thanks for your great review.

 

In the Solarium Bistro I understand there's no charge but do you have to book?

My pleasure. ☺️ The staff member at the door told me that you did need to book so I would say if you know you definitely want to go on a certain day or at a certain time you might as well do so. It's easy to do in the app. That said, if it's quiet and they have space I can't see them turning you away.

Edited October 3, 2022 by FionaMG

[FionaMG]

7 hours ago, njkruzer said:

You've mentioned that port times were cut a couple of times.  Any reason?  Any engine issues?  We're on the TA so concerned. 

I don't think there's any need to be concerned. 

We were informed back in June about the changes, which supposedly are due to routine engine maintenance. I'm not really sure I believe that; suspect it's more likely to be a fuel saving policy. I know the same itinerary back in June also had their port times cut but think (not 100 percent certain) that the cruise before ours, also identical itinerary, did not.

I have certainly not seen or heard anything on board that would lead me to worry.

[njkruzer]

2 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

I don't think there's any need to be concerned. 

We were informed back in June about the changes, which supposedly are due to routine engine maintenance. I'm not really sure I believe that; suspect it's more likely to be a fuel saving policy. I know the same itinerary back in June also had their port times cut but think (not 100 percent certain) that the cruise before ours, also identical itinerary, did not.

I have certainly not seen or heard anything on board that would lead me to worry.

Thanks.

[Cherries_Cruiser]

7 hours ago, njkruzer said:

You've mentioned that port times were cut a couple of times.  Any reason?  Any engine issues?  We're on the TA so concerned. 

Actually port times were cut in 5 out of 7 ports - mostly by a couple of hours. A 6th ,(Lanzarote) moved from 8am-6pm to 9am-7pm. For us the changes seriously impacted our plans in Lisbon, La Coruna and Madeira.

 

As Fiona said, no-one knows whether the quoted reason was the real reason.

[njkruzer]

4 minutes ago, Cherries_Cruiser said:

Actually port times were cut in 5 out of 7 ports - mostly by a couple of hours. A 6th ,(Lanzarote) moved from 8am-6pm to 9am-7pm. For us the changes seriously impacted our plans in Lisbon, La Coruna and Madeira.

 

As Fiona said, no-one knows whether the quoted reason was the real reason.

Thanks.  Looking forward to boarding in 2 weeks. 

[FionaMG]

Well, we had a lovely afternoon in La Coruña. 

 

The approach was very pretty and we passed the Tower of Hercules on the way in.

 

 

 

The weather was very pleasant so we were able to carry out our plan of walking along the seafront promenade to the Tower. It takes about half an hour. 

 

If you want to go into the tower you have to get your ticket before going up the ramp to the entrance. This is very important because they won't let you in without a ticket. Entrance is timed, every 30 minutes, in order to limit numbers inside, due to space constraints. It is not suitable for people who suffer from claustrophobia or reduced mobility. The stairs to the top (232; DH counted them!) are very steep and narrow. Tickets cost 3 euros per person except on Mondays when it's free.

If you're able to do it, the view from the top justifies the effort.

 

As you can see from the first pic below, the ramp up to the tower has large crazy paving stones and is quite steep, so would be very challenging for wheelchair users although I think it would probably be manageable for a baby buggy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These ones are taken from a different angle; I walked down to the wind rose for them.

 

 

There are public toilets at the site.

 

Since the seafront promenade wraps around the peninsula where tower is located we continued along it after our visit, giving us a view from another angle. There is more to the site than the tower itself so we would happily have spent more time here if we could.

 

Continuing along the promenade we came to a lovely large beach which is actually only about a 10 minute walk from the cruise port. If you had a full day here you could definitely split the time between the beach and the tower.

 

 

 

Sailaway was absolutely magnificent as we passed the tower again on the way out but this time with sun just starting to set behind. I don't have any pics of it unfortunately as I was on the treadmill in the gym!

 

Edited October 3, 2022 by FionaMG

[FionaMG]

Back on board, tonight's dinner menu

 

Crispy coconut shrimp. Love these but tonight's sauce was a bit spicier than I remember.

 

Prime rib and lamb shank, regulars that have never disappointed us.

 

 

Dark chocolate brownie and profiteroles. I cannot extol the virtues of the dark chocolate brownie highly enough. So chocolatey and yummy.

 

 

 

[FionaMG]

Tonight's show was The Gift. I had somehow got the idea that it was one of the more traditional production shows so I was very surprised and interested to discover what it actually was. I thought the use of technology in the stage sets was fascinating even if the story line was a bit tenuous.

For once we managed to get some decent seats with no pillars blocking our view, yay! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 3, 2022 by FionaMG

[grapau27]

9 hours ago, FionaMG said:

Well, we had a lovely afternoon in La Coruña. 

 

The approach was very pretty and we passed the Tower of Hercules on the way in.

 

 

 

The weather was very pleasant so we were able to carry out our plan of walking along the seafront promenade to the Tower. It takes about half an hour. 

 

If you want to go into the tower you have to get your ticket before going up the ramp to the entrance. This is very important because they won't let you in without a ticket. Entrance is timed, every 30 minutes, in order to limit numbers inside, due to space constraints. It is not suitable for people who suffer from claustrophobia or reduced mobility. The stairs to the top (232; DH counted them!) are very steep and narrow. Tickets cost 3 euros per person except on Mondays when it's free.

If you're able to do it, the view from the top justifies the effort.

 

As you can see from the first pic below, the ramp up to the tower has large crazy paving stones and is quite steep, so would be very challenging for wheelchair users although I think it would probably be manageable for a baby buggy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These ones are taken from a different angle; I walked down to the wind rose for them.

 

 

There are public toilets at the site.

 

Since the seafront promenade wraps around the peninsula where tower is located we continued along it after our visit, giving us a view from another angle. There is more to the site than the tower itself so we would happily have spent more time here if we could.

 

Continuing along the promenade we came to a lovely large beach which is actually only about a 10 minute walk from the cruise port. If you had a full day here you could definitely split the time between the beach and the tower.

 

 

 

Sailaway was absolutely magnificent as we passed the tower again on the way out but this time with sun just starting to set behind. I don't have any pics of it unfortunately as I was on the treadmill in the gym!

 

Lovely photos.

It was raining in La Corunna when we docked on Anthem September 8th so we took the short walk into town with our umbrellas.

Edited October 4, 2022 by grapau27

[FionaMG]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

Lovely photos.

It was raining in La Corunna when we docked on Anthem September 8th so we took the short walk into town with our umbrellas.

That's a pity. Just means you'll have to go again. 😏