Anthem of the Seas Review
12-Day Cruise to Eastern and Southeastern Caribbean
Rating by category
Additional details
My family and I were interested in several features about this cruise: 1. This was the largest ship we'd sailed on, 2. The cruise began and ended in NJ which was easily accessible to us, 3. There were several ports of call which we had not visited previously, and 4. We liked a substantial number of days at sea.
That said, all the above requirements were met and we enjoyed ourselves tremendously. We purchased a 4 Specialty Restaurant Dining Plan, the specialty coffee beverage plan, and a few shore excursions. We especially loved Jamie's Restaurant! Wonderland was bizarre but exciting as all of the food items were 'packaged' with a creative flair, albeit not all of them were appetizing, but we were game to try them all.
We made early reservations for all the entertainment pre-cruise which I would highly recommend given the number of passengers. I would suggest you save NorthStar and entertainment reservations for nights or days in the Caribbean. We sailed in February from NJ and due to rough seas the first 2 nights, these things had to be rescheduled. I heard grumblings from various passengers who weren't able to reschedule or had difficulty doing so because of the number of passengers doing the same thing. Spectra's Cabaret was outstanding. The Gift was also very good, but suffered from a somewhat disjointed plot interjected with every conceivable form of showmanship available, including trick cycling. The "Rock" was a disappointment. The sound level was so high I had to leave mid performance to prevent hearing loss. The vocalists were good, but - whether by design or technology - seemed to sing everything with no dynamics (except very loud and forced) and little technical skill. I didn't find the lyrics or the music to the show very memorable either.
Cabin Review
Deluxe Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony
Cabin was well designed, except lacking privacy curtain between sofa and bed. Bathroom was small but adequate. Shower was easy to use, roomy and easy to get into and stay upright even during rough seas. The flatscreen TV fit into the wall and was unobtrusive but viewable from both bed and sofa. Bed and sofa were extra, extra firm. Cabin was very small when the sofa bed was made up, so we kept it folded up even at night to facilitate access to the balcony. There were plenty of places to store clothing and suitcases for 3 adults (4 would have been a push). Cabin was easily reachable from elevator or stairwell.
Port Reviews
San Juan
We opted to take a long walkabout through the old city. Arriving mid afternoon we had little time to explore before venues closed for the day, but we still had time to walk extensively and to have dinner onshore. Wish we would have had more time or maybe an overnight stay.
Bayonne (Cape Liberty)
This was our port of embarkation. Parking was easy and we were happy to park in the new garage (given the likelihood of winter snow!). We arrived at our prescribed arrival time only to find an incredibly long line of waiting traffic. It took us nearly an hour to reach the porters and then park the car. Embarkation was lengthy but expected.
Barbados
We walked around town, had lunch and toured the Parliament building and an adjacent exhibition. Taxi access to and from the center of town was very easy. The city itself isn't very interesting, but the free tour of the government building was very good and not to be missed. I heard the beaches are marvelous, but we didn't sample those.
St. John (U.S.V.I.)
Walked briefly off ship. Because we had visited this island before we didn't really spend much time onshore. I found the constant assailing of potential tour guides off-putting, but at least they didn't follow you around extolling virtues of their services!