Cruised with Royal Caribbean before and have had good experiences with them in the past. This is the first time on a larger ship and don’t really care for it. Embarkation went smoothly out of Bayonne. Had balcony cabin which was kept very clean and stateroom attendant was excellent. All the staff was excellent. Best bet for dining is the main dining room. Ship had great comedians. Pools and jacuzzis were always crowded but that’s to be expected. Our few excursions were very poor though. Was very rushed through Kennedy Space Center and Essential Nassau was also very rushed. Wasn’t able to book private cabana or beds for coco cay. They went too fast. Best time to utilize jacuzzis and pools in Solarium is port days or dinner time. We were unable to use our balcony on one day due to maintenance and the smell was very unpleasant. That’s my only complaint in regards to our room. I do feel like you get nickel and dimed a bit. Read Less

We stayed in the owners loft suite which includes access to the Royal Genie. Are gratuities were included. All food and drink was included in our fare. When we got to the terminal we were quickly escorted around the rest of the people in line to an expedited Lane. Our royal Genie Wendy ensured we got on the ship quickly. During the entire cruise Wendy took care of everything that we needed. She saved us seats at all the shows we attended so that we could walk right in. We called her when we needed food and it was promptly delivered to our suite. Wendy took care of making all restaurant reservations. She also provided recommendations when we were looking for something to do. Wendy was great and made sure things like food arrived to our stateroom on time as well as our laundry. Wendy has a can do attitude coupled with a strong desire to give you a great vacation. Our are Loft attendant Brian was excellent. At least two times or more a day he cleaned the suite and made sure everything was in top-notch condition. Both Brian and Wendy were very pleasant to be around and you could tell they took a genuine interest in people. The specialty restaurants food was top-notch. We especially likes how unique and delicious Wonderland was. Read Less

It was a gift from our children for our 50th anniversary.. easy on we were on the 13th floor right under the pool. First night was terrible, they were doing repairs above us and were moving things around all night. Did not get any sleep.. called guest services and was told I could get another room.. it was three days when I got another room .they told us they shampooed the rug and it had to dry. Happy we changed room. My tour was cancelled and one show cancelled.. we got a different tour and they corrected show.. after that everything went well. Our cabin workers were great Johnaton and Rosnet.. dining room was very nice and our waiter Jhonny and I Nengah were great. The workers in the dining rooms are hard working and do a great job. Entertainment was great all around. Shows very entertaining and games fun. Service was excellent Ports are good. Cape Canaveral very interesting. NASA. Coco bay awesome.. Bahamas junkaroo beach very rocky... long walk tho beach. Lots of shopping. Debarking easy.. been on royal Caribbean before and debarking was terrible. A lot better this time. Over all it was a very nice trip. Would go again but different ports. Read Less

This was our 11th Royal Caribbean cruise and second time on Anthem, we did not travel with children and we are both 55 years old. I was not a fan of the entertainment on the ship, boring And just mediocre (the shows) Heath Harrison the comedian, Three Tenors and Ron Lucas the ventriloquist were all VERY good. The crew were friendly pretty much through out the ship.We did Wonderland restaurant which I recommend, the food was very good you won’t come away hungry that’s for sure. We also did Chops which was also good but their meat is more like choice cut rather then prime cut. We have had better quality before. The wait staff was excellent though . My time dinning was not well organized even though we had 6;00 reservations everyday. They seemed like they didn’t know where to seat people. The food quality has come down a lot from prior cruises in my opinion.We did a lot of the activities bumper cars, I-Fly, North Star and enjoyed them , it was to windy to do rock climbing wall and didn’t get to use the run/walking track or flow rider do the high winds. There are plenty of places to relax on the ship,if your looking to go to the pool area /solarium get there early. We were in room 8 262, with a balcony, I was very happy with the room although at bit noisy at times, structural sounds , popping and vibrations at night. We rented a cabana bed at cococay , it was so worth it, It came with 4 water bottles,lunch and 2 floating mats. In Nassau we did Blue lagoon and dolphin encounter, everything went smooth and was very well organized. We did see a lot of glasses plates etc, start piling up on promenade and windjammer about day 3, not enough staff to keep up I guess. All in all it was a decent cruise, but I think we will venture out side of royal Caribbean and look at other cruise lines. Also we did not use the drink package this time, to expensive . But we also had a good amount of on board credit we used for drinks. Read Less

We took this cruise for our sons spring break. We brought our family...two 17 year olds, 16, 14 11 and 8 year olds. The 8 and 11 year olds were bored out of their minds. Kids activities are few and far between. Nothing is open!! They advertise bumper cars and roller skating but fail to mention that it is only open for an hour a day. You have to pay extra for everything or carry a stupid cup around (pop package) to get pop. And they do not give you a way to wash the cups!!! The rooms were WAY smaller then Disney’s fantasy. Most of the staff was great, but a few sucked (beware of the bigger man in Sorrentos!!!). There was never much cleaning happening compared to other boats. The boat is fairly new, but it is very warn out. Carpets look bad, walls are dented up and cracked. The food was just ok. I would have been just as happy cooking myself. The smoking section is on the same deck as the outdoor pool, which is very poor in my opinion. Kids had to walk thru smoke of 50 people to get to pool. The crowd was very rude. No manners what so ever towards other guests or staff. We have been on Disney several times with my entire family(16 of us) and have never had a bad experience. I will never take this line again or ever recommend it. The only positive thing I can say is thier private island was very nice but beware!!! It is only half open. When it is completed, it is so large that you will never be able to find your family!!! Read Less

We booked this cruise four months prior to cruising. We have six people and three balcony cabins. We purchased the key program for all of the people in our party. I felt this was a good deal as it gave us the internet package which which was $11 per day by itself. For the extra $8 a day the perks seemed reasonable. I checked with Royal Carribean twice before our sailing to verify the time we would be able to board the ship. During both calls I was told 9:30. I also asked how many key packages they sold. I was told 50. Upon arriving at the dock we were told they would load the ship beginning at 11:30. I spoke to several other people who purchased the key and they confirmed they were all fine the same 9:30 time. We ended up boarding at 10:45. Once on board we enjoyed a great lunch at Chops and began to explore the ship. One of the other major key benefits was reserved seating at the shows you have made reservations for. During the first two shows we attempted to see the first did. It have enough seats in the key section to allow our party to sit together disputed having reservations. At the second show there was no signage indicating where key members would sit. One we located the area there were no seats available at all. After complaining we did get several phone calls asking us what happened but no one offered us any thing to make up for our inconvenience or refund us for the services not received. We also learned that there were 180 key packages sold, not quite the 50 we were told earlier. The priority dembarking at the ports was wonderful. No long lines. We found the service in the dining room to be lacking. Our dirty dishes sat in front of us for nearly 15 minutes one night and our drinks sat empty. There were a few standout dishes but most were merely ok. While all of the other food venues had a large variety of offering nothing really stood out as great. We really enjoyed The Gift but felt Spectra was just weird and Will Rock You only ok. The journey tribute band was great! The movies on deck were a fun stop at night and most of The game shows left everyone laughing. The pool areas in this ship are outstanding with a wide variety that will fit the bill for everyone. The seaplex was fantastic and our teens really enjoyed all the activities that were offered. All in all we had a fun vacation but it didn’t knock my socks off Read Less

We chose this cruise because we wanted to go to the Bahamas and Coco Cay. This was one of the best cruises I have ever been on. The Captain was very informational, the Cruise Director Dennis Charles was fantastic, and the ship and it's activities were all top notch. Unfortunately, we had to make a detour on the way to Port Canaveral for a sick individual who had to be helicoptered off the ship at 2:30 am which caused us to be late getting in to PC. The 4 hour difference caused many excursions to be cancelled, but a life was saved. Coco Cay was great, we rented a Beach Lounger and were shuttled to the location which was away from all the hustle and bustle of the island. We had our own bar which was not busy. The shuttle took us for lunch to the eating area and the choices were many and the service was pretty good for the crowd that was there. Next we went to Atlantis and took a tour called Essential Nassau, this was more of a shopping trip then an actual tour of the island. We went to the Rum Cake Factory, the distillery, Atlantis. We did see a bit of the island but spent most of the time shopping. The shows were great especially "We Will Rock You". Two70 is absolutely fantastic, good show Spectre and many activities and learning opportunities here. The Captain and Cruise Director had a question and answer session and we really learned a lot about the ship and how things operate on the ship. The casino was hopping, a man won $50,000 on a slot machine the first night of the cruise and there were several other $4,000 and $5,000 winners too. Last formal night we had lobster that was delicious. Our servers Terry and Antonius did a good job of keeping with our table of ten. We could always find something good to eat in the Main Dining Room. Breakfast was had at the Wind Jammer and we could always find a seat. Lunch was at many different places on the ship and we tried them all. The massage at the SPA was one of the best I have ever had. We rode on the Northstar, a ten minute ride up and down. This is an amazing ship and even though this was my 19th cruise I have to say it was right at the top. Will be going on Harmony OTS in November and will see how that compares. Read Less

This was our 14th cruise and 10th on Royal. We choose this cruise for convenience and wanting to sail on the Anthem. Parking was a breeze along with embarkation. We walked in terminal and checked in and walked on the ship. All before 11 a.m.. Service was very good. We did not dine in any speciality restaurants. We were very pleased with the choices and layout of the Windjammer. We did my time dining. We went before 5:30 and never had difficulty getting a table. Don't miss the roast beef sandwiches and view in 270. We enjoyed the All AccessTour. The tour took us from the laundry room, thru the kitchens, freezers, the bridge even met the captain up there. It was a very comprehensive tour by Bernardo. Well worth the money. We had made reservations for the ifly experience along with North Star. Both really neat to do. My husband is almost 81 and loved the ifly. We met friends in Port Canaveral. We have been to Coco Beach, WDW, Universal and Space center before. All worth a visit if you have never been. We arrived in Port later than expected due to having to medivac a passenger during the night. So anyone with plans for Universal or WDW did not get to go. If you have done all of the above there is absolutely nothing else to do there, unless you buy an excursion. Coco Cay was outstanding. There is plenty to do there. I would suggest you do your research before your trip so you don't miss anything. We rented a beach lounger before we left. They go quickly. They are located away from the crowds Shuttle service is available to take you everywhere. However, the walk from the ship to the areas on island to get shuttles is long. It would be nice if shuttle was available from ship for passengers who had difficulty with that long walk. The Cruise Director and his team were outstanding. Be Sure to reserve all your shows prior to sailing. Each one is wonderful. The staff is so talented. We have been to Nassau many times. We stayed onboard . This was the day we did the North Star. Amazing views of the island from 300 feet above sea level. Unfortunately, the young man operating North Star could not answer any questions we had about what we were seeing from the pod. It would have been nice if he was able to point out various things and knew something about the island. They could prepare the info and he could just read it. All in all a very enjoyable cruise. Read Less

We had an opportunity to try out a bigger ship at a highly discounted price. For us, the package would have to be very good one for us to go back on Anthem. It wasn't that there were a lot of disappointments, but there were very few "WOW" moments. I was expecting a lot of WOW moments. The disembarking process was one of the most organized I've seen. We were out the door 15 min before our promised time of 7:30. For the boarding process, we went through it pretty quickly, got here around 10:15. The checkin lady sent us to the right were all the regular guests were sitting. Hubby is like, "No, this is wrong, we should be with the Suite people". He asked someone directly people and sure enough, we had been sent to the wrong side to wait. We only waited with the suite people about 15 min and then we go to board by 11. Everything when smoothly. The room (a Junior Suite) far far exceeded our expectations and eating dinner in the Coastal Kitchen was a great and yummy experience and the staff were the best of the staff.. We don't like formal nights and didn't really want to dress up, we were all about relaxing this time around. We feel the smaller ships offer the ability to interact with the same people over the course of the cruise. Windjammer lunch was like a free for all with kids running and rude people pushing in front of you to get to the food or open table. I've always taken a power strip with me (last 7 cruises) and this time it was confiscated and hubby had to go and get our luggage. we will keep to the smaller ships... we did a transatlantic on Brilliance and another on Freedom. We didn't go to any of the shows (not our thing) and the night we had scheduled for North Star was too windy (Thur). It also seems like the new "customer service" area as a disaster area. The staff couldn't answer every question or gave me wrong answers. The boards on each floor that was supposed to help were either down and asking for a PIN or never had the menus we were looking for. We essentially just gave up on them. It was nice to use the TV to see the menus but why is it the more technology on the ship, the less it seems to work consistently? It seems like RC would like to do away with the customer service and have it all done on kiosks and lose the human touch. Not a good move. Overall, I gave the cruise great ratings. This cruise was for us to unwind and just chill out and not try to do everything possible we could. I go in several naps a day and some reading as well. That is what we were looking for. The elevators were the biggest joke every. Everyone soon learned that you have to get in a Down elevator to go UP!! This was because by the time got your floor (13 for us), the elevator was full so we took the stairs many times. Same thing with going to lower floors, like 4 & 5. You would think with so many elevators, there would not be long lines of people standing around to try and get somewhere. All in all, the cruise was not a terribly bad experience, just a rather disappointing one. I'm sure for those with kids it was heaven to send them off on their own. That was the other thing that I noticed, more unsupervised children running around and playing on the steps and trying to run you out of the way. I was walking with a cane due to a bad knee and almost got ran over several times or had to move aside to avoid getting ran down. Not may idea of fun.. Read Less

I was a first time cruiser so naturally I was a bit wary about seasickness and the overall experience on the ship. I was pleasantly surprised with my experience. The first thing I noticed was how clean the ship was! There were always plenty of activities to do on board on both sea and port days. The food in the main dining rooms for dinner was excellent and breakfast at solarium bistro was awesome! I only have a few negatives: 1) our arrival to port canaveral was majorly delayed due to a medical emergency on board early in the morning. That’s uncontrollable but our excursions were cancelled and on the Royal Live TV channel, the cruise director stated they’d try to get us transportation to nearby activities. Well, when we showed up to port- we were docked on the opposite side of the port and they had no transportation available to even get to the other side of the port. An Uber was $60 ONE WAY! That was a bummer. 2) the main dining rooms breakfast and lunch were not great. Sub par at best. The selection from the menu wasn’t great and the buffet offered wasn’t anything to write home about. The dinner was excellent. 3) Brass and Bock- idk if my group showed up at the wrong time (8pm isn’t too late for a bar) but my party of 6 ordered lobster Mac and cheese wedges, poutine fries and nachos-and it came out as plain Mac and cheese (no lobster or wedges), just nacho chips, and fries with minimal cheese on top-no meat! We were so disappointed with the food and waiter we got our money back at guest services. Despite these negatives my overall experience was amazing. I would highly recommend Anthem of the Seas and Royal Caribbean to anyone! Read Less