Anthem of the Seas Review
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Additional details
Anthem of the Seas is an interesting option for one that is desiring to leave out of the NY/NJ area. The only other option available right now is NCL's Breakaway. We sailed on the Breakaway 3 years ago with the same itinerary (NYC > Bahamas). Our expectations have been much higher for RC than for NCL but unfortunately Anthem and Breakaway are just average ships with Breakaway winning by a slim margin. Let me explain.
We had booked our cruise with Orbitz. Once we had our RC reservation we were told to go onto their website and start filling out our online check-in information. Also 90 days before your cruise the reservations system for dining and other on-board activities will open up. I highly recommend that you book everything immediately. Unfortunately I started booking our activities just a week before. We had an issue with our dining. Initially we were on a waitlist for the early seating. We were not told in advance whether we received the early seating or not. Also the RC website would not allow us to reserve My-Time dining. It was stressful not knowing our dining times because not having reservations could mean waiting in long lines to get into the restaurants. Lastly make sure to print your set-sail pass 3 days in advance. We did not and had to wait in line at the pier.
Arriving at Bayonne and checking in was very easy. Although we had to wait in a line to get our set sail pass it did not take too long. We were on board the boat by 11am. Unlike previous cruises, you do not get your plastic set-sail pass/card until 1pm when it is available to you in your room. Everyone is funneled into the Windjammer for lunch. Here's a tip: cafe Two70 on deck five is open and much less crowded. Head there for a bite before getting to your room at 1pm. The first thing I did was head to the main dining room on deck 3 to finalize our meals. The staff there was able to accommodate a table for two at early seating. They will show you around the dining room and let you pick which table you would like to be seated at.
Cabin Review
Superior Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony
We had a balcony stateroom on Deck 13. It was a D4 stateroom 13258. The stateroom is smaller than a mini-suite on the NCL breakaway. The bathroom small and it felt as if the room was smaller than a similar balcony on Allure. For those balcony lovers this is not the ideal spot on the ship. This balcony had an overhang from deck 14. For some reason the boat juts in mid-ship and then back out. Balconies on deck 13 that are further forward or aft would give you a better view since you will not have the overhang of deck 14. Our friends had a balcony on deck 8 and the view of the ocean from there was much nicer than the view on deck 13. D1 balconies are bigger but again try to avoid deck 13.
Our stateroom attendant wasn't seen until day 6. He seemed like a very nice guy. We feel though that since we pre-paid our gratuities there was no reason for our stateroom attendant to greet us. Our friends on deck 8 saw their attendant every day but they had not pre-paid. It could be just a coincidence but we felt it was more than that. Cruise lines need to just add that gratuity into the base pricing and let us give extra for above and beyond service.