Traveling on the Anthem of the Seas made me yearn for the days when vacation cruising was truly a vacation.

The fact that you are traveling with some other 4500+ people should have been food for thought. This ship was overbuilt to try to maximize the number of vacationers they could haul while sacrificing the personal comfort of the passengers in order to maximize company profits. If this is the direction the cruise companies are headed, then this was my last cruise. The overcrowded pool area was a place to be avoided unless you enjoy a very early am swim. Otherwise, good luck trying to find a place to sit anywhere nears the pool. And how about having a life guard at the pool? There were some medical emergencies at the pool area on this cruise with one 72 year old woman being pulled out of the water unconscious. “Alpha, Alpha, Alpha” seemed to be the call of the day as responders rushed to assist in the emergency calls. You would think that a big company like Royal Caribbean would employ life guards at their pools, but I suppose that would eat into their profits, so alas, no lifeguards.

The overcrowding was not just limited to the pool area, so good luck finding some respite elsewhere. Dining at the Windjammer was to be avoided due to the hoards. And if you thought you were going to get your kids on one of those cute bumper cars, don’t hold your breath. The wait line was as long as two hours for a three minute ride. And, oh, the bumper cars were in operation only from 9:30am to 12:30pm. The children’s arcade was another rip; the average game costs about $1.75 with our seapass card running up an additional $100+ for the games (it’s hard to say no to your kids when on vacation). The highly touted Adventure Club was mostly unsupervised and our kids hated it. Read more