Anthem OTS Norwegian Fjords Review, 9-3-23

[aubreyc1988]

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Then after spending a relaxing afternoon out there, we went to the buffet for dinner. Honestly, the buffet was better than the MDR. They had so many good choices vs what normally is offered on North American-based sailings. there was BEEF WELLINGTON for lunch one day in the buffet and it was chef's kiss.

And if you are patient, you can get some good seating, which isn't always the case in the MDR.

 

 

[aubreyc1988]

The next day, we were in Haugesund, Norway. For this port, we decided to not book an excursion and just do this scenic walk on our own. Back in pre-cruise planning mode, I thought this was a GREAT idea. But IRL, I was exhausted at this point and my body was BROKEN. But I was determined to make it as far as I could with the plan

 

Here was our resource: https://www.fjordnorway.com/en/inspiration/day-trips/haugesund/walk-the-coastal-trail-in-haugesund

It was also really hot this day, which kind of sucked. So many people were rejoicing about this weather, most likely Londoners but being from Dallas, I was hoping for 50-60F weather  It was more like 85, almost 90.

We stopped for a cupcake at Jåblom Bakery before our hike, which was very good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also took a couple of cute photos of these two randos while waiting to get our own shots and I was going to be nice and airdrop it to them, but whenever they came to where we were on the path, they were SUPER rude so I didn't lol (sorry not sorry if you two are reading this LOL)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[aubreyc1988]

I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty miserable this whole walk. My body was broken after DAYS of long physical activity, ti was 85F and I was just TIRED. The scenery was pretty, but to be honest, Haugesund didn't appeal to me as much as the other ports. Maybe I was just grumpy, idk. Probably should have booked a proper excursion.

 

 

The sheep were cool, but because of them, basically sh*t everywhere and you had to be very careful to not walk in it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2023 by aubreyc1988

[aubreyc1988]

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[aubreyc1988]

Now, before I go into my last day in London, I'll talk about some pros/cons of the Anthem of the Seas

- the casino was brutal, but at least it was nonsmoking. I heard a lot fewer handpays than other ships I have been on, but could be circumstantial. The dealers were nice, but really had no idea how to deal the games.

- Shows were Spectra's Caberet, The Gift, and We Will Rock You. Spectra's was good, I thought The Gift was dumb, and We Will Rock You was good. I was disappointed with the seat saving and how Royal Caribbean really does not give an F. I got to WWRY about 30 min early, people were saving whole rows. When I confronted these seatsavers about how it's against RCI rules to do this, they laughed. So I went to get a crew member who was working helping people find seats and said "Hey, this person over here is saving a whole row of seats, isn't that against your policy" and crew member was like "Yes it is" and I was like "Can you help me with this" and they were like "not really"

-Game shows were kind of funny, because apparently British people only like to watch these things and not participate so it was mostly Americans who were contestants and whatnot.

-Loads of trivia, and I am terrible at it LOL

-Ship layout was OK, but the elevator banks were kind of strangely placed. Like I would constantly be walking PAST them. 

-Food was pretty good, especially in the buffet

-Drink service and quality was on par with other Royal Caribbean ships = poor but free for me 

-I love the balcony rooms on Oasis and Quantum class ships, they are so spacious and have really good storage. In fact, they were about 2x the size of my room in London.

-Diamond Lounge sucked. The coffee machine rarely worked and whenever I had a small issue with something, the concierge couldn't give a sh*t less. Honestly, she was terrible, probably the worst staff member I have encountered on Royal Caribbean and she's supposedly supposed to be a concierge? She never even said hello whenever I entered the lounge while she was sitting at her desk. Very impersonal and somehow rude? Bizarre.

-The Solarium is great on this ship, with lots of mini pools and hot tubs. Wish we would have had more time to indulge. I also really like that there is an additional indoor pool area as well as an outdoor pool

-I did the free version of iFly by Ripcord and it was so much fun. My husband didn't enjoy it as much as I did but for free it was a good value. We didn't get a chance to do bumper cars, but did do the North Star viewing pod which was OK, esp for free. I wouldn't pay to do any of these things

The best venue was the Music Hall, a shame that the cover band on this trip was SO BAD, imho

 

Some more rand om photos I forgot to splice in

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[aubreyc1988]

After disembarking the ship, we had private van transportation lined up to take us back to London House Hotel. This was through a company called Jewel Transportation and OMG was it awful. I paid extra for a meet and greet (you know, the signs with name of it) so I could quickly see who my driver was and get on our way.

He calls me at 6:50am asking where I was. We were scheduled to meet him at 7am, and I was making my way through customs at the time and I told him I would be there shortly. We were done with customs at 7 AM exactly and whenever I was looking for the van, I didn't see a sign or anything with our name on it. So I call him, and he picks up and then exits from one of the vans. He barely says two words to me before loading our stuff into the van. He then asked "WELL, where are the other two people" and I said "Oh, they cancelled the cruise so it's just us" and he grunts and we get in. The actual van was OK, but nowhere near as nice as the one we took to Stonehenge. Then on the ride back into London, it got crazy, This guy was basically asleep at the wheel, driving all over the place, and couldn't stay in his lane, it was unreal. Then he had such a hard time getting us to the hotel, even though the address he had was correct, it was unbelievable. But we did make it there alive, which was a miracle.

On our last day in London, we went to Borough Market for breakfast, then did Buckingham Palace.

 

 

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I liked Buckingham Palace, but honestly, it was a ***** show inside. No photos are allowed, and apparently, no food or drinks either, and no bathrooms until you leave the Palace. In addition to that, if you brought a backpack, you had to hold it in your hand the whole time. So it was super hot inside, everyone was dehydrated, everyone had to go to the bathroom, and guards were yelling, which honestly brought the  enjoyment factor WAY down.

 

Then we took the train and walked to Borough Market

 

 

 

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*TJ took a photo of these guys because they had Leica cameras as well 

 

We went to the Transport Museum, walked around Covent Garden again, then found a pub to do Sunday Roast for dinner 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This actually was the best meal I had IN London and for both of us with drinks it was only 60.00. It was a little cold when it came out but it was still decent

 

 

 

 

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Then we took a ride on the Uber Boat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[aubreyc1988]

And then made our way back to our hotel (Stayed at London House again, couldn't beat the price)

Once we checked in and freshened up, we checked out the local pub, which had live music, which was AWESOME
 

 

 

 

Next morning, our flight was at 12:50pm so we headed to the airport at 8am on Elizabeth Line again, and spent a little bit of time in the airport lounge before boarding.

We felt fine until after 3 hrs into the flight, our throats started to get sore

By the time we were back at our house in Dallas, we definitely didn't feel well at all and TJ tested positive that night. It took two days for me to test positive but my symptoms were much more mild than his.

At this point in time, I'm pretty much over it, but TJ still has a slight cough.

Anyhow, that's a wrap for this trip! In about 2 weeks, we are doing Vegas for three days, then taking a short flight to Long Beach CA to do a 3 day cruise on Navigator of the Seas. The theme of this trip is RELAXATION and hopefully GAMBOL REDEMPTION haha!

 

 

 

 

 

[Crazy planning mom]

Hope you both feel better soon.  Enjoy Vegas and the Navigator.

Great review as usual.  Planning a land trip of Paris & London and this review was helpful.

[dmrrn73]

Great Review and pics! Norwegian Fjords (Norway in general) has long been a bucket list trip for me. Hoping to do it soon. 

[bunzini]

Thanks for the review!  The pics are stunning.  We are sailing on the Anthem in November.  When is the FREE Ifly and North Star?  On certain days?

[Dolby1000]

Outstanding review, we hope to do Norway in 2025, your pictures are an inspiration.

[Norwich Cruiser]

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to write such a fantastic honest review I think your style is great.

 

 

[Biker19]

10 hours ago, bunzini said:

When is the FREE Ifly and North Star?  On certain days?

On port days - look for Ripcord early in the sailing as those book up fast. Standby slots are usually available on Northstar.

[A&L_Ont]

On 9/19/2023 at 11:31 AM, aubreyc1988 said:

As soon as I finish this review, I am leaving a negative review on this tour. 

I mean, the first thing he said after we got into the car was "I hate cruise ships and tourists". OK then, GREAT start as we are tourists who came by cruise ship. And then throughout the tour, he kept on kind of shitting on Norway and how much he just wanted to leave, etc. Whenever I asked a mundane question just to make it less awkward, his answers would be like "Tourists ruin this" and "Soon they won't allow you guys to come" - And I'm not saying he doesn't have a point, tourism does tend to ruin things, but c'mon, what a wet blanket. He was saying how much he wants to tour Miami and I thought to myself "hope you find a good tour guide" lol

Whenever the tour ended, I think he expected me to tip him, but one of the few times I had not tipped someone. Really pissed me off, to be honest. I paid a ***** ton of money, esp since my inlaws didn't get to make it, to be told over and over how much he disliked tourists and cruise ships. Like jesus, keep that to yourself for 2 hrs and maybe you would get a tip.

 

After reading about these interactions, perhaps your guide was the "Troll" of Norway that you were meant to meet.  He sounds like the "ugliest" thing you saw there.

[aubreyc1988]

12 hours ago, bunzini said:

Thanks for the review!  The pics are stunning.  We are sailing on the Anthem in November.  When is the FREE Ifly and North Star?  On certain days?

everyday slots open up in the evening at 8pm, so you just have to watch in the cruise planner! 

[gavvy]

I was on this cruise too. Agree about the casino. Very few hand pays going on and the slots were bad. Thry did loosen them on the last night saw a few hand pays then but it was too late for me then.

[aubreyc1988]

1 hour ago, gavvy said:

I was on this cruise too. Agree about the casino. Very few hand pays going on and the slots were bad. Thry did loosen them on the last night saw a few hand pays then but it was too late for me then.

too late for me, should have just stuck with tables the whole trip and I wouldn't have lost so much lol 

[gavvy]

I am convinced the machines are server linked and they can alter the odds. As when the casino was busy they were tight and when it was less busy people seemed to be getting more play and wins

[TravelinTess]

On 9/18/2023 at 1:06 PM, aubreyc1988 said:

The next morning, we got up early to walk around in Kensington Gardens before our timed visit at 10 a.m. to Kensington Palace. We started walking around about 7 a.m., and stopped for breakfast at about 9 a.m. Here are a bunch of photos I took on our walk
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stayed at the Grand Royal our first trip to London. Beautiful hotel but the rooms are the size of a postage stamp, even by European standards 😀 Love the pics!