We had a very positive embarkation experience. Pretty seamless and well organised. On board in less than 20 minutes, as a result of online check-in. Highly recommend this method. Very pleased with our cabin....until stepping out on the balcony on deck 6 to find we were overlooking the smoking area. Having taken a lot of time and trouble looking at the deck plans before booking, nowhere was this shown on the deck plan, and there is no way we would have chosen this particular cabin. However, we spoke to Jose in guest services immediately and he asked if we would be patient and wait till Monday morning when he could speak to the booking agents of no show passengers. True to his word at 10 am the following morning he secured us a comparable cabin on deck 9 with no extra cost incurred. So,thank you RC your service was exemplary, and we had no further problems. We like the dynamic dining experience, choosing to dine in a different restaurant each evening, sometimes booking, sometimes just turning up at a time to suit us, depending on what we chose to do each evening.The food was good and we found the choices very adequate. Service was sometimes a bit hit and miss but we were never kept waiting long. On the whole no real complaints. We enjoyed the shows, Spectras Cabaret was excellent and we managed to see it twice. We Will Rock You was okay, just not our taste. The Gift was very well performed and the scene changes were amazing. With the exception of comedian Steve Womack, who was appalling, all the evening headliner entertainment was most enjoyable. The IFlY experience was excellent and we also managed that twice. The solarium is a lovely place to relax and we enjoyed that facility on cruising days. There were a variety of activities on board so so something for everyone. We are social ballroom/Latin dancers and we had some really good classes taken by Sunny and David. Lovely people, instructive, lively and fun. There was also social dancing from 6-7.30 each evening, but the music was dictated by RC and was not entirely easy tempos to dance to. RC should really consult ballroom instructors in order to ensure a good selection of music. Several times the relevant people were approached but it was only on the last evening did we actually have a good selection of music which was downloaded from a laptop. I appreciate us dancers were in the minority but we're sure future dancing cruisers would benefit. We were disappointed with Tenerife, docking in Santa Cruz and having our beach transfer cancelled due to adverse weather conditions we decided to go walkabout on our own. Open top bus trip was pretty boring and took forever as this is a big city. It rained heavily in Madeira but it did not stop us enjoying the basket toboggan and the cable car. However not enough free time to enjoy Funchal itself. We loved Gran Canaria and did an organised trip to Puerto Mogan and return along the coastal road calling in at Maspalomas to see the sand dunes. Plenty of free time in Las Plamas upon our return. Very enjoyable, lovely beach, cafes, bars and restaurants etc...Lanzarote not to our taster either , very touristy beach resorts. However our stops in Vigo, Lisbon and Bilbao were super. Lovely to just find your own way around and explore all the amazing sights, stopping for wine or coffee breaks in the numerous cafes and bars. Overall we really enjoyed our cruise. The Anthem is a lovely ship and you can fill your days admirably with all the activities, eateries, shows etc..... It is after all your cruising experience and you just have to embrace it. People keep comparing the Anthem to the Independence. if you want that same experience then choose the same ship each time. Each one should be taken on its own merits and the Anthem has that in abundance.