We have always wanted to do a fall foliage cruise to Canada and we enjoyed ourselves a great deal. This was a little late in October beautiful colors in Canada, but Maine was still gorgeous. Best advice is make reservations for everything weeks before you go on the RC cruise planner. That allowed us to get the times we wanted for dinner as well as the excursions and onboard entertainment set. We did like using the RC IQ app, even though they make you pay for it ($7.95 a person)because it did allow you to consistently look at what was going on and communicate with one another while on board.

Favorite parts of the Anthem: We were incredibly impressed with both the onboarding and exiting of the ship. Our luggage was outside our room already when we arrived after lunch on Day 1 and we were off the ship and in our Uber within about 25 minutes at the end. The entertainment was unbelievably good! The shows, particularly We Will Rock You, were Vegas/Broadway quality. Additionally the cruise director, Dru Pavlov, and activities director, Enzo, were engaging and hilarious, always adding a bit more to each activity and the daily tv update. We went up in the North Star on day 1 which takes you 300 feet up and did iFly simulator on the last day... both fun perks of the ship. Our cabin was great, a little larger than usual, with a balcony and a nice size shower. We were port side with fantastic views all along the way. Our room attendant, Elroy, was amazing and so in tune with our schedule (loved our towel animals!). In general the service was excellent. The three excursions we purchased onboard were well worth the money, efficiently run and had expert guides. We did the Acadia highlights in Bar Harbor, Peggy’s Cove and Titanic graveyard in Halifax and the top 10 of Saint John in Nova Scotia. We enjoy going to breweries and every single port had something within walking distance of the ship. We did spend the extra money to eat at Chops and thought that the food was excellent and well worth the money. Although historically we have not gone to the buffet for dinner, we were so impressed with this particular windjammer, that we went up there for dinner three times. The gym was larger than we are accustomed to, very nice. Because the weather was fairly cool, I really can’t speak to whether or not it would be tough to get a lounge chair during a warm weather cruise, however even during peak time we were able to get lounge chairs in the covered solarium.

Disappointments: The shopping was pretty appalling onboard. We usually spend at least a couple hundred dollars in the ship stores and always have felt like the merchandise changed from day to day. Here there was not a lot of variety and we were not at all impressed with the quality of the merchandise or the selection. We always take the drink package and it has historically paid off for us. I was shocked at how little was completely covered in terms of the drink selection and we were consistently paying an extra dollar or two for certain glasses of wine or specialty mixed drinks. We generally enjoy the casino and we found that this one was just average in terms of table games. We thought the my time dining in the main dining room was just okay... we generally find Celebrity’s food to be much better. I am a certified spinning instructor so I took 2 indoor cycling classes onboard (you have to pay for them). The instruction was horrific and quite honestly people could get really hurt, particularly if they were novices wanting to try out a class. Read more