We picked this cruise primarily because Bayonne is within easy driving distance of Toronto, and the cost of flights is a major discretionary expense we did not wish to incur. Despite a significant traffic tie-up at the port, embarkation went very smoothly, and we were on-board less than 15 minutes after parking at the pier.

Anthem is a beautiful ship, and provides excellent amenities. We particularly enjoyed the Solarium and indoor pool area. Having said that, the public areas, such as the Royal Promenade, are not as well laid out as other Royal Caribbean ships, so it is sometimes difficult to manoeuver from forward facilities to the dining areas, especially when a watch, jewellery, or clothing sale is being conducted.

We did have issues with Royal IQ, which is clearly designed to work with Apple products, and is not compatible with Android tablets, Windows phones, or Blackberry devices. While there are IQ stations in a number of areas, there were often line-ups in those areas, and the application did not work flawlessly on the cabin television - in one case, the "working on it" icon on the TV ran for three hours without confirming our reservation for dinner. Read more