Make sure you plan ahead!!

This was our 4th trip with Royal Caribbean and we were very disappointed with our trip!  Don't get me wrong, the ship itself is beautiful but there were way too many people!  The biggest ship we were on before Anthem of the Seas was Freedom of the Seas and I couldn't wait to sail on a newer and bigger ship.  Believe me when I say "bigger isn't always better".  I booked through BJ'S Wholesale Club and the only thing I was told to do was to go on-line to Royal Caribbean and set up our Set Sail Sea Passes before we left.  However, since we have sailed before, I knew that I could go to Royal Caribbean's web site and reserve shows before we left instead of waiting until we boarded the ship.  They had entertainment every night but there were only 3 shows that required reservations.  2 of the shows I was able to reserve and the 3rd one was already all booked up so we had to wait in a VERY LONG line to see it and the seats that were left were not very good.  On Freedom of the Seas you had your choice of eating in the dining room and men didn't have to wear a sports coat.  On Anthem of the Seas your dining experience is completely different.  If you plan on eating in the grand dining room men must wear sports coats.  We didn't know this and my husband didn't pack any sports coats so we couldn't eat in the grand dining room.  On this new ship they have 5 or 6 restaurants that you can eat at for free but we didn't know you had to have reservations for them until we boarded the ship.  When we tried to make dinner reservations on the first day everything was already booked up.  You could still eat at them but you had to wait in a long line and that usually meant you didn't get seated until 8:30 or later.  We were looking forward to sleeping in and eating breakfast whenever.  After the first 2 days we learned that if you wanted to eat at a table in the Wind Jammer you had to be there when they opened or you couldn't find a table to eat at.  So every morning we set our alarm clock for 6 a.m. So much for sleeping in!  Like I said before WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE!  If there is ever a next time for us I will make sure I book through AAA where they know about all the reservations and different dining preferences they can make ahead for you.