Beautiful Ship!! Overall Experience Good Not Great!

First the positives. Checking in and checking out were very easy (5 stars). And Anthem of the Seas is truly a beautiful ship!!! You are in awe from the moment you step on the ship. The views from the two70 and solarium are amazing. We had a superior oceanview room on the 10th floor. I loved our room. It was spacious and well appointed. And even though we sailed with over 4000 people (the trip was sold out) we never felt crowded. There is an overall feeling of spaciousness on the ship. Sailing from New York in November meant Sunday, Monday and then Saturday were fairly cool. Thankfully, the ship has multiple indoor pools and other areas (like the Seaplex) where you could still enjoy yourself indoors in the cooler weather. In fact there are plenty of activities, unfortunately they are not all available at all times. The are multiple eating options on this ship. The food is good not great. But the pizza and cookies at the Café Promenade were a favorite for my husband and son. Actually, the cookies were a hit for everyone in my group. 

Some of the negatives. The food in the Windjammer was only fair (we only ate breakfast there). Overall the staff throughout the ship seemed rather unenthusiastic (in comparison to staff on previous cruise). Although our wait staff (Ricordo and Chris) and our room attendant (Ceon) were great. Overall the atmosphere was rather subdued, again in comparison to our previous cruise with Royal Caribbean (RC). Because of the number of people on the ship you had to make reservations for some activities and reservations filled up on the first day (i.e. the North Star). So several things that we enjoyed (i.e. I-fly and bumper cars) we couldn't get on over and over again. You really have to plan your time to get to the activities you want. The cabaret show Spectre, which is generally rated as the best of the shows on this ship, was NOT GOOD in my opinion. But I've read other reviews where people loved it (personal taste I guess). Unfortunately, my group just didn't have as much fun on this ship as we've had on other RC ships. And some in my group have sailed many times with RC.

Overall - I did enjoy myself. It was a good trip, not great (but we expect GREAT from this cruise line). I would certainly sail Royal Caribbean again but probably not this ship.

***I gave 4 instead of 3 stars because the ship truly is beautiful and Anthem has very good amenities. With some tweeking this could a great cruise.