Anthem of the Seas Review
Great first time cruise. Many lessons learned as well.
Rating by category
Additional details
The nature of my job makes it hard for me to take long periods of time off, so at the first of the year I planned a nine day period over my birthday and make plans later. About 4 months ago, my girlfriend and I decided we wanted to try a cruise. I had never been on one and it had been several years since the only one she had been on. It being the middle of summer, and us living in the western region of North Carolina we decided on The Anthem of the Sea for several reasons:
1) Royal Caribbean's reputation, which we saw from reviews and heard firsthand from friends as being top notch
2) The departure port out of Bayonne, NJ. We made a trip up early and spent a few nights in New York City as neither of us had spent any time there and wanted to check it out
Cabin Review
Interior Stateroom with Virtual Balcony
The cabin was great. It being my first cruise, I have no other baseline for my opinion but the room was very clean and roomy enough for us and our two backpacks of luggage. We stayed in a room with a virtual balcony, which is just a floor to ceiling tv screen that streams webcam footage from the side of the boat. I think Royal Caribbean upgraded us to that from a simple interior stateroom because it's a cool thing but not something I would spend money on.
Port Reviews
King's Wharf
We docked at the Royal Dockyards in Bermuda, and as soon as you get off the boat there are taxis, buses, restaurants, and shops. We were hungry so we went to the Frog and Onion based on several people (some on Cruise Critic) recommending it. I, in turn, do not recommend it. The food was decent but the service was slow, it was very expensive for a pub, and they took the liberty of adding their own gratuity to the check. We wised up quick and made it out of the touristy areas. There was a moped rental place Oleander's just a block away. So we forked over 100 bucks for a moped, they gave us a map, and we hit the road. The island is only about 23 miles from end to end, so we made it to the other tip and back in a few hours, stopping along the way wherever we wanted. We went to Hamilton, the capital, and had a beer at a pub on Front Street, then went to the Crystal Caverns, which was awesome and then on out to Clearwater Beach. We had the entire beach to ourselves! It was beautiful. We then just drove back to the ship around sunset which took about an hour. We had the moped for a full 24 hours, so the next morning we went back out to Gibbs Hill lighthouse, and then back to Hamilton for another beer before taking the moped back. Back at the dockyards, we browsed the shops for a little while and got a few trinkets to bring back for our families. But the rest of Bermuda shouldn't be overlooked, as everyone is friendly and everything is beautiful.