afahey Cruise Review on Anthem of the Seas on May 09, 2019

Anthem of the Seas Cruise Review

afahey

Contributor Level: First Mate

50 Days Till Next Cruise

Reviews: 4

Helpful Votes: 157

Overall rating:

5 out of 5

9 Night Bermuda & Caribbean (Cape Liberty Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 09, 2019

Ship: Anthem of the Seas

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

This was our first time on RC in several years and the Anthem didn’t disappoint! The ship is gorgeous and spotless. I’ve read a lot of reviews hating on the layout of the ship but once we got our bearings, we had no issues with it. We appreciated that the casino was tucked away on deck 3 so there was no need to walk through a cloud of smoke unless you gamble (and we don’t). There was a horrible wait for elevators on the first and last days, and after any large performances in the theater but once people dispersed throughout the ship, the wait wasn’t bad at all. It pays to go the opposite way of everyone else, even if you’re trying to get where they’re going too. Take a little ride up to get down-much easier to get a less crowded car!! Aside from this, for the number of passengers on board, the ship never felt crowded, even on sea days. Our stateroom was awesome and felt larger than most we’ve had. Neat, clean and tons of storage. Our room steward, Dayson, was the best we’ve ever had in 17 cruises. He was personable, funny, always in a great mood and happy to see us. He also kept the room immaculate and our ice bucket full at all times!! Our only complaint was the utter lack of any TV channels. We don’t watch tons of TV but at night before bed, there was nothing to be found. The only available stations were children’s programming, Fox News, CNN, BBC, the usual cruise channels and European sports (ie: golf, soccer and Cricket). If you’re looking for American football, basketball or hockey, you won’t find it anywhere on the ship. All of the movies are pay-per-view at $11.95 a piece. We were very well informed on world events by the end of our 9 day (which turned into 10 due to a medical emergency) cruise!! The food was very good and was always served scalding hot, even in the dining room, which can be touch and go. The only restaurants we didn’t eat in were the Coastal Kitchen (which I would’ve loved to try but it’s for suite guests only) Wonderland and the Japanese/sushi place. The only restaurant that was a disappointment was the Solarium Bistro. The description read that it would be dinner under the stars and it’s not-it’s actually very small and has windows into the Solarium but they are all covered with curtains so you can’t see anything. The food was ok-apps, salad and dessert are all self serve. The entrees were meh. My rice pilaf was sticky and the chicken was kind of dry. We were grateful that this wasn’t a meal that we paid extra for. That said, Chops, Jamie’s Italian and the pub snacks at Brass & Bock were all excellent. I purchased a cupcake at La Patisserie that was equally delicious. We saw all 3 production shows: The Gift, Spectra’s Cabaret and We Will Rock You. The talent and theatrics in all 3 was very good. The Gift storyline doesn’t make any sense and is kind of dumb but the singing and dancing made up for it. Around the ship, my hubs enjoyed the Solarium hot tubs, I enjoyed the outdoor pool and whirlpool. I did the IFly which was awesome!!! If you’re planning on participating be sure that you bring socks and sneakers with laces. Also, don’t wear any jewelry-they will make you take it off or they will duct tape it on (trust me, it will fly off). The North Star was broken for the entire cruise which was very disappointing but hey, stuff breaks. What was more annoying is that no one made any attempt to tell you that. We had reservations but no one ever contacted us to tell us that our ride had been cancelled. I only found out prior because a woman I was sitting next to on the sun deck asked a waiter about it. We wanted to ride the bumper cars but never made it there during the adult ride times. They looked very cool though! We had a fantastic vacation and I would sail on the Anthem again in a heartbeat. I’d also like to try the other ships in the Quantum class 😃