Anthem of the Seas Review
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We chose this cruise for the ship and what it had to offer our kids, aged 15 and 12. We have been on several cruises, our boys have joined us for half of them. With every cruise that the boys have been on, they always come to us, saying, "we're bored, what can we do". Let's just say, we hardly saw my kids on this cruise and it was AWESOME. I know that may sound harsh but the reason we wanted to do this cruise was because we wanted out boys to enjoy themselves, without, stressing us out. This is probably the first cruise we never heard the words "We're bored". We hardly left the ship and it was wonderful. We were supposed to have 4 sea days, which turned into 5. Our day at Coco Cay had to be cancelled due to strong waves. That was a disappointment but what can you do. We had an extra day at sea but that was fine because there is so much to do on the ship. To be honest, I am glad that we had so many sea days. I think that if we had more days in port, we wouldn't be able to enjoy the ship.
Lets start with embarkation. I have never been on a ship so fast. We drove up to the cruise terminal and dropped off our luggage. We went to the parking lot that we had reserved, parked the car and had shuttle service back to the ship. We got to the terminal at 10:30 am. We were onboard at 10:50 am...incredible. In the past, we have gone to a cruise terminal, dropped off our luggage and then had to wait for hours before we could board the ship. Uploading the picture online prior to arrival and having online check-in completely finished was amazing. I have always done the online check-in prior to arrival but it has never really seemed to assist in the embarkation process. Royal Caribbean has figured out a system that just works.
The ship was probably the best ship we have ever sailed. We have sailed on Celebrity, Carnival, Princess and Norwegian. I can honestly say we have never really complained about the other cruise lines or the ships and I still wouldn't, however, I can definitely say I think we are now hooked on Royal Caribbean. The ship had everything covered. I loved the layout, the amenities, the décor...everything.