We are back from a great cruise on the Anthem of the Seas! This was cruise #25 for me. We've sailed on all the major lines before RCL, Celebrity, Carnival, Disney, Norwegian, Princess, MSC and HAL. We sailed with DH, our two daughters, 4 & 9, my mom and her friend.
Pre-cruise
We flew into EWR a day early for a pre-cruise stay in NJ. We took the free shuttle to Courtyard Marriott Elizabeth. We enjoyed our brief stay here. The hotel had been recently remodeled. The carpet was new, could smell fresh paint etc. A mall (w/food court), additional free standing eating places (Ruby Tuesday and IHOP), plenty of stores and a movie theater were all within walking distance. There was even a convenience type store inside the mall where we could get last minute water, juice, snacks etc. We had a super early flight…arrived at the hotel about 8am. Fortunately they allowed us to check in early.
Cabin-
We booked a balcony guarantee. We were immediately assigned a D2 balcony (11318). Even though it was all the way aft, we didn’t experience any significant movement or noise. My mom’s cabin was also a balcony guarantee. She was assigned a D6 (11138) all the way forward. I couldn’t tell a difference between our cabins.
Cabins were not ready when we boarded. I didn’t use the app to track my luggage. I intended to, I downloaded it and everything. We just got so caught up in boarding and starting the cruise I didn’t remember until I saw our luggage. It came about 2 hours after we boarded.
I was impressed with all of the storage/cubbies and overhead bins. I remember there was ample storage on the Quantum to put all of our stuff away, however, this cruise my husband was with us. The additional person put a strain on the drawer space. We had a little clutter that had no place to go.