It was a big birthday & I thought of being on the ship on my big day to celebrate. It did not disappoint! Many frequent cruisers on the ship complained re: how different it was, with rotating restaurants & reservations even if you chose dynamic dining. Personally, I don't know how these people have cruised so much, being so inflexible! However, we liked changing restaurants and the many choices. By the way as of Nov. 27th or so they are eliminating dynamic dining. We heard the waiters complained about not getting their extra tips. This was only our 6th cruise but we go by destination & have never repeated an itinerary. We have been on some long ones so after this cruise we are already at 73 days at sea.

As for the ship, we liked the layout. It really did not seem so big & was easy to navigate. If you were lost you simply looked for an elevator which pointed you quickly in the right direction. We heard people complain that there were no neighborhoods. So what! The food was good just maybe a bit too salty (especially soups). The shows were excellent! We liked the concept of the venue 270. You could take breakfast & lunch from the nearby Cafe & sit in 270 area. It has a commanding window view of 270 degrees. It's a quick way to grab a meal, especially those roast beef sandwiches! At night it shifts to becoming a theater. Yes the Windjammer Buffet is always crowded but if planned correctly, by eating early or bring food to the pool area, it is not a big deal. My only real complaint was service at breakfast in the dining room. It took forever! The ports we visited were good except they could skip Portland, Maine (not much to do on Sundays) and instead stay overnight in Bar Harbor or Halifax. I would recommend to anyone to sail on the Anthem. I know I would go again! Also one final comment, disembarking in Bayonne was just horrible. There were only 4 custom agents to inspect 4200 passengers! It took well over 1 1/2 hours to get out of the terminal!!