I have been on many Royal Carribean cruises over the years all out of the south Florida ports. This was our first time sailing out of New Jersey on the quantum class for a NE cruise. Our cruise prior to this one was on the allure of the seas , so this ship had big shoes to fill! After reading some of the poor reviews for the anthem of the seas I was not sure what we would find, but all in all we were pleasantly surprised! The ship itself had some neat modern amenities, and a great variety of different activities we never experienced on other ships. We really enjoyed the iFly, trapeze, bumper cars , roller skating, the escape room , the North Star , bionic bar and much more. We didn't care for the dynamic dining as much as the traditional large dining room and the food was good not great. The ship main areas were not as grand as in the allure and we did miss the large promenade seen on other ships.

This was our first time doing the inside cabin because of the virtual balcony. This was a neat amenity but didn't really take the place of a balcony and the room was MUCH smaller than a balcony room. We tried to upgrade once on ship but was unable too. We had the ultimate drink package and definately got our monies worth out of it. The bar service was great and plenty of bars! A highlight of the cruise from us was boarding the ship and going to the top of the ship and seeing the nyc skyline and Statue of Liberty. We weren't expecting that! The captain gave us a special trip when leaving port past the Statue of Liberty ! The ports themselves were beautiful and a nice change from the Carribean , we really enjoyed the fall weather too! We rented a car in Portland Maine and drove to kennebunkport seeing the lighthouses on the way. In Halifax we also rented a car and drove to Peggy's cove. This was a great was to maximize these ports. St. John NB would have maybe been better enjoyed with a car. The reversing Rapids wasn't worth seeing. Bar harbor we rented bikes and rode Acadia national park and that was beautiful .

The last thing I will comment on, and I think it was more due to the longer itinerary , but this was a much older populated cruise, average age was about 70, and my husband and I are in our 30's, but we still had fun!