Beautiful ship, amazing itinerary, incredible staff.

We arrived to the port early. We beat the traffic and had a minimal wait before being allowed on board. We had lunch booked for Jamie's at 1:00pm but switched it for noon when we got on board. I highly recommend this. Not only were we the only people in Jamie's, the food was delicious, and it beats how hectic the Windjammer can get the first day. It was a relaxing, fun way to kick off our trip and our waiter, Octavian was incredible. Our room was ready after our lunch and Muster drill shortly after that.

The crew: I can't say enough about the crew on this ship. Everyone we encountered was friendly, helpful, hardworking, and nothing short of amazing. Our room steward, Edward, was wonderful. Very friendly. We chatted on occassion and loved bumping into him and other workers on the 12th floor! Such a great bunch of guys!

Our waiter, Elizabeth, and assistant waiter, Deepak, were by far my favorite of any ship I've sailed on. Anyone would be lucky to be seated in their section. Very attentive and constantly went above and beyond to give us the best dining experience every night. Not only that but they were so friendly and genuine. Really awesome people.

We didn't eat in the Windjammer often but when we did, I was constantly amazed and awed by how attentive the staff was. Please wash your hands before entering!

Entertainment:

Spectra's was our favorite. A very fun show to watch. We also really enjoyed Vocal Extreme and the comedians. WWRY wasn't my cup of tea, but a lot of people seemed to like it. And it's impressive and clear how hard the performers work to put on a show like that.

Royal Swedes and DSB played on our ship. Unfortunately, unless you arrived pretty early, no seats were really available. We tried going once to these shows but gave up. They played often during the 12 nights but we decided to keep busy with other things. Too crowded and I didn't feel like arriving 30 minutes or more to an event to get a seat.

Cruise Compass:

We loved trivia. And they had it often. It wasn't always listed as trivia. Sometimes it would just say, staff activity. Some trivia was busier than others. We tried arriving about 10 minutes prior to get a seat. On occassion we had to stand but we still stayed. A few people had to be told to put their phones away while playing, we thought it was foolish that they were trying to cheat. Regardless it was a lot of fun.

We even participated in the scavenger hunt.

There was definitely a nice range of activities. We really only participated in trivia, a scavenger hunt, and some of the late night entertainment. The guitarist in the pub was outstanding!

Cabin:

We had an interior on deck 12. We found it to be large enough. We didn't spend much time there. Plenty of storage room. We didn't even use all the space given! And the beds and pillows were great. We have a soft bed at home and had no trouble with the firmness of the bed in our room.

Food:

We ate mostly in the MDR. Breakfast was great as was lunch. We didn't miss a dinner there. Minus our first lunch at Jamie's, we didn't eat in any other specialty dining areas. Food is delicious elsewhere so we didn't see the need. Dinner in the MDR was great. I'm a vegetarian and was pleased with the options. My boyfriend, a foodie and a meateater, had a wonderful experience every night. He always had positive things to say about the food and he ordered and tried quite a bit!

We did the Solarium for breakfast on occassion. We found it less busy. Sure, there is a limited selection, but there was still more than enough to choose from.

Solarium/Pool decks:

I knew before going on the ship that the pool deck and solarium can get pretty busy. I was even worried about "the chair hogs" I heard so much about. The nice thing about the chair hogs though is they tend to stay away from the top deck. It was pretty easy finding a spot to relax on the top deck. Usually toward the front or back of the ship. And it's quieter in those places too! Chair hogs also tend to disappear from each location, even the solarium, starting around 4. Some nights we had the Solarium and even the hot tubs all to ourselves. We thought it was silly to get up early to fight over loungers and pillows. Why do that when you can get the whole place to yourself in the evening?

It's still unfortunate that some people feel the need to stake their claim over a whole row of chairs, but we found it easy to find other, better places to relax. Any time of the day.

The itinerary is great. I was bummed to hear that Barbados is getting taken off the same cruise next year. Beautiful islands. We loved them all.

Overall the ship is beautiful, fun, and we can't wait to go back on her. We were worried about the crowds but it was never really a huge problem. Only disappointment was some of the passengers. Only a tiny few. But they seemed to have forgotten their manners. Niceness goes a long way and it's unfortunate that people forget this. We didn't let this damper our trip and we still can't stop thinking about the awesome time we had onboard and off!

We didn't buy the beverage package and didn't see the need. We were more than satisfied by the tea, water, lemonade, fruit juices, and coffee available.

Getting off and on the ship was an absolute breeze. No stress for 12 full days. The Anthem is great.

Interior cabin. Good sized. Tons of storage space. Awesome steward!
Comfortable bed.