Anthem 3/5 - 3/12 review in a Grand Suite

[expectthebest]

Greetings cruise junkies !!!

 

New to these RCL boards as this was our first cruise with the fleet. 
 

First, a little about me and the family:

Wife and I are early 40’s with two boys age 5 and 13. We brought my DW parents with us because they adore the grand kids and are always fun to be around.. we are married 20 years/ cruising for 20 years… mostly Princess and NCL.. decided to try RCL 

 

Here goes:

 

Our kids get a spring break from school every March so we always try to either cruise if the dates work or go to Disney (but never a disney cruise.. way to many kids I’ve heard)

 

We picked Anthem out of Bayonne NJ b/c it’s a few hours driving distance and no need to fly (save a few bucks).

 

Driving to the pier in one SUV yes 6 of us with 2 large suitcases actually fit and parking was an absolute breeze.. pull up.. drop your bags.. tip the porter.. and pull into the garage.. easy peasy.. so far so good..

 

We booked a Grand Suite with large balcony and my in-laws booked a balcony 3 doors down from us. Our room was 13234 can’t remember my in-laws  exact room number.

 

We arrive at pier about 10:30 and get ushered through a security section for ‘suite’ guests ( we asked if her parents can stay in our line with us and we’re told ‘absolutely’.. security took 10 mins and then directed to another line with only 3 couples in front of us… we present our identification/ birth certificates at the check in counter and we’re then ushered down a long hallway and onto the ship… wow that was fast…but wait.. we didn’t get our actual cruise cards… we mention to one of the workers onboard and they say the cards are outside your suite in an envelope.. then we were told to go down to level 4 where the main dining is and  check in for the safety/ muster drill.. took another 5 minutes… this is great so far… so now we want to go up to 13 and see the suite!!! But not to be.. we take elevator up to 13 and we’re greeted by 2 locked/ closed heavy steel doors with a sign stating doors will open at 1pm.

 

Our hungry bellies needed to be satisfied so we headed to the wind jammer for some food.. yes it was busy but everyone had the same idea as we did.. get some food and then explore the ship!!

 

Food in windjammer:

They had such a large variety that there was something for everyone.. the food was hot and fresh and very good.

 

First impression of the ship: 

We thought it was very clean/ well taken care of for a slightly older ship and the staff we encountered were very friendly. The kids were overjoyed so we were happy 🙂

 

We explored the outside decks/ pool areas/ kids areas because sail away weather that day was about 50 degrees..

 

just after 1 pm we went to see our rooms.. we did a ton of research before this cruise by way of YouTube and I must say that the videos of the grand suite with large balcony that we watched made the room look sooo much bigger then in person.. not sure how big I was expecting but it just seemed a lil small. And my in-laws balcony was pretty much normal size compared to other cruise lines..

 

our large balcony that had a separate door on the balcony that when opened formed almost an ‘L’ shape and when we looks out to the right we could see my in-laws on their balcony which the kids enjoyed. The plastic wicker furniture on the balcony was in so so shape and prob a few more sailings I would recommend complete replacement.
 

we met our room steward ‘Fernando’ and he was awesome… right from the start he asked what our preferences were with the lavazza coffee machine/ if we wanted extra pillows.. made nightly towel animals for the kids.. always greeted us with a warm hello.. seemed like he enjoyed working on the ship.

 

Sail away was so easy and smooth we didn’t realize we were moving at first.. we joined everyone on the top deck as we went under the verazzano bridge!! 
 

we chose anytime dining which we still had to make reservations for 60 days before the cruise or so… which was odd to me but let’s go with the flow.
 

I knew we could have our concierge ‘Stacey’ arrange/ rearrange times for our dinners so not a big deal. 
 

being a suite guest we had access to the suite lounge and coastal kitchen but cruising with non suite in-laws it made it tough to enjoy these perks b/c (understandably) they were not allowed in.. again, not a big deal.

Suite Lounge:

Every night about an hour before we met her parents for our table for (6) in the main dining room my wife and I and the kids would go to the suite lounge and have a few drinks and enjoy some apps…it was never crowded… always seats available… and that is where our concierge was stationed.. which made it very convenient.

 

Main dining room:

we ate all dinners in the main dining room as a table of (6).we would show up to get in line for the main dining room which I thought was odd b/c we had a reservation… but I guess they seat a bunch of tables in blocks of a certain time so the line moves very fast… never more then a 10 minute wait..

 

we read horror stories recently about menu changes so we didn’t know what to expect. Let me tell you.. the themed menus were great.. so I could not get shrimp cocktail every night as an appetizer.. so what.. there was always something that peaked our interest..food and the service was outstanding.. the desserts needed a little more imagination but no one left the table hungry..well our 5 year old was carried from the table asleep on two occasions lol when he awoke the next morning first thing he asked was what happened to his cookies from dinner ( thank god they wrapped them to go)

We were so lucky to have our server named Sakoro and assistant server Sheldon wait on us that we requested them every night!!! They were so good with our kids and after 1 day they knew our bar drinks and how we liked our steaks prepared..they were top notch and made every dinner so amazing..

 

Shows/ Live music:

our nights were over by about 9:00pm having 2 kids with us so we didn’t get to attend any show productions or live music but we did pass by brass and bock and there was a guy playing guitar in the pub that sounded pretty good.

 

bumper cars: 

we did the bumper cars 3 times on the ship.. it was fun.. it lasted 2 mins exactly and the lines were long but the kids enjoyed it.. the trick is to get there about 30 mins early to line up. There is also a little hotdog stand right but the bumper cars in case you need a little something while you wait. 
 

they had open court basketball during special times but the hoops (6) of them were all at 10 foot regulation so our 5 year old wanted nothing to do with it b/c he couldn’t reach like he can at home when we lower it to 7 feet.

 

pool tables on the ship:

after most dinners we would pass  a lounge that had 3 pool tables and one night no one was playing so our 13 year old decided to give it a go.. he had a blast trying to play on a moving ship when all the balls were moving with the rocking of the ship. The pool sticks were in rough shape and there was no chalk to be found but it was fun to say the least. 

 

ports of call: port Canaveral 

We were having some engine trouble en route to Florida so we got to port very late like 5:30 pm instead of noon but still had to be back on the ship by 7:30 so we decided to just stay on the ship. We checked our shipboard account and b/c of the delay they face us $900 refundable credit which was nice.

 

our next port was the Bahamas and we got off the ship in the morning and headed through the straw market and grabbed a old beat up VW Bus that was our one way taxi to cabbage beach.. cost was $5 per person non negotiable for the taxi. So to get to cabbage beach was $20 plus a $5 tip.. cabbage beach is literally right on the side of Atlantis… same beach.. same sand… same view.. free to get on unless you want an umbrella $30 and 2 beach chairs $15 each. We were on the beach until about 4 pm and left the beach to a line of waiting taxi busses $5 per person same as before.. 

this is weird: it seems like the entire island shuts down at 4 pm… my in-laws got off the ship and went into town to a few bars… they were saying last call at 4 pm b/c they were closing…the entire

town seemed like that was it.. hit the switch it’s 4 pm shut it down.. but the ship stayed in port until 8pm so that was odd.. you

had until 7:30 to get back on the boat but what were you going to do? Everything was closed…

 

perfect day was great.. first time there and we enjoyed it.. it was windy so lots of activities were cancelled but the place still had lots to see around the entire island… our boys lined the kid area… the food options.. jet ski and balloon were cancelled but better to be safe than chance it..

we all agreed that if RCL has a trip like Bermuda where you stay over 2-3 nights but have it at perfect day we would take that trip every year. You were spread out in small areas but close enough that after lunch you get up and change the scenery. We were very impressed with perfect day..

 

being March the 2 days of sailing back to NJ got progressively colder and the seas a little more rough… we were all enjoying the indoor pool during that time.. hot tubs were always full of adults and kids… mostly kids but that’s what you get when you sail during spring break.

 

final thoughts:

we had a great time and RCL puts out and outstanding product for the money we spent. I don’t think we would cruise in a suite next time on Royal  because aside from a larger room I didn’t feel the perks were really used by us and I think a balcony would have been large enough to make it work and save 4k in doing so. The service was great throughout the entire ship and we felt very welcome wherever we went.
 

Being parents to a 5 and a 13 year old we realize that these vacations are on borrowed time. Our 13 year old really enjoyed being the ‘big brother’ on this vacation and having their grand parents along with us makes these vacation memories that much sweeter.

 

thanks for taking the time to read this 🙂

 

[Roybthered]

We have been on Anthem a couple of times and it is a nice ship, we sail on her twice later this year. First is a 2 night Southampton to Paris (in a suite) when it arrives from the US after its transatlantic and the second is a 12 night to the Canary Islands in a balcony. We usually just book a balcony every time we sail but the 2 night one is a special occasion so thought we would book it. Glad you enjoyed it.

[Havin'fun]

Thanks for the review. Anthem looks like a great ship.  I will find out for myself next month ☺️

[LouChamp]

Aloha.  Loved the Anthem and glad you did too. Thank you for your review 

[expectthebest]

6 hours ago, Roybthered said:

We have been on Anthem a couple of times and it is a nice ship, we sail on her twice later this year. First is a 2 night Southampton to Paris (in a suite) when it arrives from the US after its transatlantic and the second is a 12 night to the Canary Islands in a balcony. We usually just book a balcony every time we sail but the 2 night one is a special occasion so thought we would book it. Glad you enjoyed it.

It was one of the better cruises we have taken… now we are looking at RCL for the next one!! 

[expectthebest]

4 hours ago, LouChamp said:

Aloha.  Loved the Anthem and glad you did too. Thank you for your review 

Thanks Lou… I have been reading so many reviews on this site it felt good to take the time to write one for everyone 

[franncos]

Great review

[teddie]

Thanks for the review. We loved the Anthem!
teddie

[expectthebest]

On 3/28/2023 at 3:08 PM, franncos said:

Great review

Thanks Franncos!!

[expectthebest]

19 hours ago, teddie said:

Thanks for the review. We loved the Anthem!
teddie

We were very happy for our first sailing with RCL… we will sail the line again!!