Anthem of the Seas is a large cruise ship with many interesting/innovative features that provide a bit of a wow factor with the trade off being its a large ship with a lot of other passengers. The buffet at normal/peak times is overcrowded, the shows require advance booking and are overhyped (Spectra was in particular nothing more than a series of special effects and stage tricks strung together with no apparent reason other than to use the facilities and capabilities of the room) and cleaning may be somewhat overlooked (we discover a large clump of hair in our shower drain that stop the drain the first time we used shower). From what we could see, cruise appealed to the local market and lacked the more sophisticated cruisers one sees on cruises from other ports. The food is on par with other lines and not quite up to its sister line Celebrity. The public spaces are attractive although crowded at times and Anthem does a great job with my time dining. But again, crowds sometimes get in the way. The myriad of activities and opportunities for children may make this a better choice for families but, in the end, a cruise is about the experience and, in this regard, Anthem of the Seas is just average.