Anthem of the Seas

• Anthem of the Seas
• Royal Caribbean
• 21 Mar 2019

Fabulous Ship fantastic food and lovely helpful staff/crew

• Anthem of the Seas
• Royal Caribbean
• 04 Oct 2018

This was the first time we have used Iglu, and I was very impressed by thier service, all the arrangements, the varrious transfers and hotels everything was spot on. On first view the ship looks absolutely huge but after a day or so, we managed to find our way around, and most of the dinng, bar, retail, entetainment areas were actually quite accessible mainly on deck 4 and 5. The Cabin, an outside with picture window was the biggest we have stayed in and was very spscious and well decorated, only slight problem was no tea or coffee facilities in the cabin. The My Time Dining was a major issue on day 1, but as lomg as you ring as soon after 0900 as possible we got pretty much what we wanted, If you want to sit at the same table then that can also be arranged. Food in the dining rooms was very good, allthough out of the 10 choices, 7 are the same for the whole of the cruise. Lobster night however is not too be missed. THe speciality restuarants again very expensive. The Windjammer, was by far the best open self service restuarant we have seen at Sea, lots of choice, some food cooked to order, free soft drinks, teas and coffees etc. The entetainment is very difficult to work out and you need to plan, as often the shows are on during meal times, but We Will Rock You was fantastic, so was a choir from Texas and the Music Hall and the Pub have live music every evening. But a very good range of activities to enjoy from bumper cars to ifly. My main issue was the tipping process, every thing you buy, which is pretty much everything, is firstly far more expensicve than say P&O and has tax and a tip automatically added, this is on top of the £14.50 per person pe day which is added to your bill. In terms of places, Bar Harbour, too small for this size of ship, but the Tour to Acadia Park was stunning. Boston, Portland, Halifax were excellent, The Tour to Kennebunkport was the highlght of out trip, again fantastic. Saint Johns NB, not a lot to do, pretty much a waste of a stop And the trip around Manhattan on the way back to the airport was very good indeed. The Ship is excellent, The Service was excellent, The North East coast of America was fantastic. but the overt commercialism on the ship was a bit too much for us and the party I was with and after 9 days started to rankle a bit. In terms of flights, Virgin was very good, but if you have walking difficulties, ensure you apply for assistance, on our flight it was a 10-15 minute walk back to Immigration and Baggage reclaim.

• Anthem of the Seas
• Royal Caribbean
• 23 Sep 2018

Although checking in on line with Royal Caribbean was a benefit, you had to be sure of doing it all at the same time otherwise you had to repeat the data input all over again each time, this wasn't clear when we started it. The result of checking in on line before departure was a definite benefit as it made the embarkation very smooth. Staff at Bayone were very professional and helpful. Although there were in excess of 6,000 people on board (passengers - 4,200 and crew 1,700) at no time did the ship feel overcrowded, which made for a pleasant experience. Food and beverage was of a high standard, very varied and plentiful. We attended the Gally Brunch tour of the ship and see just how the catering team worked (both night and day) and just how much fresh food, bakery and cakes are produced during the cruise - a massive amount. The cost of the speciality restaurants is a little on the high side and we chose not to add yet more cost to our already expensive cruise. State rooms were well decorated and maintain and the stateroom stewards looked after us very well. The shows and musical entertainment on board were extremely well produced (to West End standard) and professional ... the highlight of the cruise was watching 'We Will Rock You' - amazing. Being able to pre-book the shows either before departure or once on board was an added benefit to be sure of seeing what you wanted and when, however, you did need to get to the theatre early to get your prefered seat. Other entertainment and activities - North Start, Rip Cord, Flow Rider, bumper cars, roller skating etc etc were amazing to watch and participate in. The only negatives of our cruise was (1) we asked for the pre paid gratuities to be refundeded due to some of the services not meeting our expectations and wishing to reward staff on an individual basis. The Customer Services Manager confirmed this would be actioned and refunded to our credit card lodged at the time of embarkation, unfortunately this has not happened and feel that we have been duped into paying more gratuities than if we had stuck with the pre paid option. (2) The service charge added to every transaction at the bars is a bit excessive, when you are already paying a high price for drinks, especially when some people have already purchased a costly drink package. (3) The buffet restaurant closing at 9.00pm - we have never encountered this on any previous cruise. (4) The constant sale of items in the atrium - it was like a jumble sale and made it very difficult to walk through easily because of the throng of people milling around looking for a bargin. Therefore, we avoided that area of the ship. (5) The ships health & safety muster drill was inappropriate; commencing with an annimation of hand washing, followed by a spoof film regarding reterival of an item. The untilisation of lifejackets was demonstrated by a member of staff, but was not in full view of passengers, who were not given the opportunity to practice using a lifejacket should this become necessary in an emergency situation. I feel the muster was completely ineffectual and completed no more than a tick box exercise. All in all, we selected this cruise for the places it visited, RC could have added an additional port or a longer stay in Boston to the itinary as the first night and day we seemed to sail around in circles as the distance wasn't too far from Bayone to Boston to be reached in the first nights sailing, afterall it only took one day from Saint John in New Brunswick to Bayone on our return journey. At the end of the day, notwithstanding our comments in para 4, it was a very enjoyable cruising experience with RC which we will look to repeat in the near future.