Anthem of the Seas Review
Nice time, great service, but some major RC issues
Rating by category
Additional details
My husband and I first cruised on Celebrity then took our family on two Norwegian cruises. This was our first Royal Caribbean experience. Let me start out and say that a vacation is mostly what you make from it. We always thought that Royal Caribbean would be a step above Norwegian from the reviews we read and friends we spoke with that had been on Royal Caribbean cruises. Maybe we set our expectations too high.
When we arrived, everyone was helpful and courteous – from the porters, to the security and at check-in - was VERY fast!!! We walked on to the ship and wanted to eat right away since we really didn’t eat all day. Very disappointing - not many options on the first day. On Norwegian, we had the option to sit down at the main dining room and have a nice lunch to avoid the craziness of the buffet. On the Anthem, we were directed to the buffet which, as we expected, was a nightmare! So many people. No plates. Food picked over. We gave up and left to try to find something else. Tried The Café at 270. Were not impressed. But excited for dinner later, we ventured back to our room. Our room was available when we first arrived on the ship at 1pm and by 2:30, our luggage had arrived.
On-board Activities: Here is when it went all downhill. NOT happy about the inconvenient policies of Royal Caribbean. NOT happy that my husband or I had to interrupt our relaxing time to "supervise" our 9 and 12 year old. Waivers were signed, but we had to wake up early "supervise" roller skating, rock climbing, flo-rider, bumper cars, trapeze or any of the activities that we signed waivers. We could not sit by the pool because our 9 year old wanted to rock climb. On other cruise lines such as Norwegian, they could enjoy activities without us constantly supervising them. My husband and I did not enjoy our cruising experience because of this!!! Having to watch your kid rock climb is absolutely ridiculous. This is our biggest deterrent from sailing on Royal again. On Norwegian, our second youngest could be left to rock climb and enjoy other activities all afternoon.
Cabin Review
Ocean View Balcony
Spacious cabin! Amazing view from our balcony. Wish they included body wash in the shower. Lots of outlets for charging. The bed was not by the balcony. This room is very conveniently located near the front stairs and only one flight up to the Solarium Bistro for breakfast as well as just one flight up for the pool deck. I was concerned that there would be a noise issue due to the location near the elevators and stairs, but I never heard a sound! These rooms are very quiet! The balcony was not obstructed either. I will keep this in mind on next time cruising to be so high up near everything. Our cabin attendant, Clayton was amazing until he had to leave due to a family emergency in his home country. The attendant that took over did a great job as well. Our room was always clean and made up.
Port Reviews
King's Wharf
We got off and took the ferry to Hamilton where we shopped and enjoyed the town there. We had to catch the ferry back by 1:40 since that was the last one offered that day. When we got on the boat, we did the NorthStar which was perfect to do in Bermuda!!! We could see so much of the island. Happy we decided to do this then and not while at sea!