Family and I love cruising and do so often. I've been cruising since I was a teen and have continued that tradition with my family. (My kids are now teens themselves - how is that possible?!) We've cruised Royal Caribbean many times, last time on the Anthem. It was nice to go back to the smaller ship. We love the layout of the Adventure and ships similar to her. Overall, the ship is in great shape! We stayed in an inside Promenade room, which was roomy albeit compact. Beds were fine, although a bit on the firm/hard side. Plenty of room for storage and sitting. Entertainment options left much to be desired. We caught a movie out on deck and the ice show. The sound mixing in the ice show was horrible, which made it less than enjoyable. Skaters were good, although they made a few mistakes. But, hey, I can't even stand in skates forget about doing tricks on a moving ship! ;) The rest of the shows were not of much interest. We did trivia once, which was a lot of fun. If you decide to participate, get there EARLY or you won't have anywhere to sit. Staff service was a mixed bag. Some bartenders were great - happy, friendly, and served good drinks. Others seemed to be in a bad mood and were inconsistent with their drinks. There was a bartender just outside of the 5th floor dining room who remembered our names by the third evening. Asked hubby for me by name when he went to get an after dinner drink without me! Our waiter in the main dining room was outstanding! Attentive and went out of his way to help with special requests. Truly made it memorable! First time ever I have negative feelings about our stateroom attendant. She never introduced herself, we got towel animals one night only, and she often forgot stuff (like making one of the beds without a top sheet over the duvet!). She was usually fine with towels, emptying garbage, and making beds, so I guess it was sufficient. I just missed the chatting and kindness of previous attendants. (Even when we passed her in the hallway and said hello, she barely cracked a smile.) The food was a bit of a disappointment this time around. Promenade pizza was actually pretty good and perhaps one of the highlights. It had a crispy crust with decent sauce and cheese. The sandwiches were repeated fairly regularly and weren't very good. For instance, the salami sandwich had one slice of salami folded, a few shreds of iceberg lettuce, and a glob of mayo. I took to asking for extra salami and prosciutto and scraping off the mayo. Windjammer breakfast was lame. They had a buzzer system to get your omelette when it was ready, which was nice. But the omelette was meh. For ham, they used this minced ham meat which had horrible texture. The biscuits looked worse than something you'd find out of a can in the fridge section of your mega mart. The potato patties were ok, sometimes greasy/soggy, but definitely something pre-done and frozen. You could grab eggs over easy, which was nice. And the toast station women were great. Lunch and dinner at Windjammer were pretty repetitive. At lunch it was hamburgers, hot dogs, and pastas, with a salad bar and then a few other items. The carving station meats were usually painfully dry. Dinner each night had a theme, but nothing really stood out. It was seemed like institutional food. Missing from previous cruises were the interesting Asian hot sauces. In fact, sometimes along the buffet line there were empty bowls labeled for a sauce that was nowhere to be found. We did lunch once in the dining room, because I HAVE to have my Tutti Frutti salad. That didn't disappoint! The burger from the menu was unimpressive. It was supposed to have sauteed mushrooms, and there were two small slices. They also had a steak and egg station and small buffet in addition to the items on the menu. It was a nice change to be (mostly) served and sit and relax as opposed to the hustle and bustle of the Windjammer at lunch. Dinner in the dining room was hit and miss. Some items were ahhhhmazing (lamb chops, garlic shrimp, and cilantro crusted cod come to mind) and others were meh to forgettable. There were a lot more "standard" choices on the menus than our previous cruises. In fact, dessert menu was fairly standard with one regular item and one sugar free item changing daily. Having said that, the apple pie and cheesecake were OUT OF THIS WORLD. Ports of call included Bermuda, Nassau, and Coco Cay. We've been to Bermuda a bunch of times, and due to yucky weather and a broken foot, decided to forgo the beach day, shop a bit in town, and enjoy the quiet pace of life on an empty ship. In Nassau we took the Tru Bahamian Food Tour (not through RC). We've done food tours before, and love how it really gives you a "taste" of the islands/ports. This one was disappointing, though. Our tour guide was sweet, but didn't share as much as we expected. And some of the tastes and stops were unimpressive. (For instance, one stop was a rum cake shop where we heard a few minutes about rum and got the same samples people off the street can get.) Coco Cay was fun! We were impressed with the island overall. Definitely hit the snack shack for their crispy chicken sandwich. We didn't eat at the buffet, but it was soooo much nicer than what they put out in Labadee (the other private beach stop). DH and DD did jet skis and had a blast. It must have been low tide, as we saw much greenery coming out of the water, so we spent our time at the lagoon. The front area is super crowded and loud, but the back area was nice. Bartenders at a few of the bars had trouble keeping up with the orders, so there were long waits. Towel exchange guy was less than friendly, and didn't want to give up his towels. Shopping was overpriced touristy stuff, and I missed the interesting crafts and artwork found in Labadee shopping. Embarking and disembarking were easy enough. Don't bother going straight to Windjammer on embarkation day - the line was out the door and down the halls! They must have realized this is a problem, as they had a burger station by the Promenade Cafe. Our favorite thing to do was to find a quiet area and play cards, chat, read, and relax. Viking Crown Lounge was great for that! And you can also find nooks and crannies in other places on the ship. Just before our trip we read about Cruising Ducks (see FB Original Cruising Ducks). We hid about a dozen, but saw two scooped away by staff. We bumped into someone one day holding our duck, and we were sooo excited! Hope others found some, too. And we even found one! This was super fun and exciting! Final word of caution is to check your statements. We were charged for two un-returned pool towels. We used towels twice -- once by the pool on ship in Bermuda and once for Coco Cay. Each time they swiped our cards in and out, but the pool towel people never looked fully alert or interested in their jobs. It took two visits and a call to Guest Services to get the charge removed. Not the most fun thing to do on your last day of vacation! All in all, it was a fabulous family cruise! Read Less

We were celebrating my son's high school graduation, my birthday, and my cousin's birthday. There were twelve of us. Three of us had balconies and my sister and her family had a junior suite. I really have no allegiance to any particular cruise line. This was my eighth cruise and I have not been on the same ship more than once. I tend to cruise every other year. I am a school teacher so my time to cruise is normally in the summer. I was originally going had plans of flying into Islip Thursday, spend the night at my mother's and then take a car service to the port. We were scheduled to take the 6:40 PM on Frontier from RDU into Islip. We got to the airport almost three hours ahead only to find out that there were storms and our flight was cancelled. Make a long story short, we ended up driving and spending the night in Baltimore. We stayed at the Radisson Inner Harbor Hotel, we arrive at almost 1:00am. It was a great hotel and we were perfectly happy. We ended up driving to the port Friday morning. No traffic until we got almost to the port. We paid the $22/day. I would consider doing this again, even if it was not my first choice. If we do fly, we would definitely fly two days ahead of time. I am so glad that we were not still living in Phoenix or we would have might had a problem. We always have travel insurance though. We did Horseshoe Bay while in Bermuda. We have been there several times before. Several of us purchased the two loungers and umbrellas for $50. It is crowded and on other occasions we walked to the far left of the umbrella stands and it is less crowded. However, my mom has mobility issues so we didn't do much walking. Leaving Bermuda, we did have a medical evacuation and ended up returning to the dock. We weren't even that far away from the dock, so we did not lose that much time. My son and I purchased the Atlantis beach day through Atlantis. The dig was nice but I don't know if I would go back. The beach was just okay. My sister and cousin and their respective families went to Cable Beach and rented jet skis and had a great time. My parents stayed on the ship. I had never been to Atlantis so I wanted to at least go but it is more of been there done that. Cocoa Cay was all of what Royal Caribbean said it was be. I had booked the hot air balloon excursion prior to the cruise. Unfortunately, due to weather restrictions, it did not happen. It did not hinder my enjoyment while we were there. My sister and her family as well as my cousin and hers, did ziplining. My son, sister, and cousin also did the half day pass for the water park. They stated that it was good except lines on the big slide were crazy and four of the seven people had received burns due to the lack of water on the slide! We did let the cruise director know when we returned to the ship. It felt that they did not have enough water running down the slide. If you have mobility issues, they had many trams and personnel to assist those who needed it. I really wish they would increase the amount of time that we were there. We did have an extra hour there, but it would have been nice to have more. The WindJammer's set up is not the best. There are other cruise lines that have a better set up. Some ships have a barbecue section, pizza section, etc... However, the flow on this ship did not really flow well. One big line to get food. The quality of the food was not terrible at the WindJammer but not the best either. Most days, we ate breakfast and dinner in the main dining room. We had early seating, which sometimes was sometimes a bit too early but most of us thought the later time was a bit too late. Since we had twelve people, we decided a fixed time would be easier. Prior to the cruise I had reached out to Royal Cruise dining department and requested a table for twelve. They sent me an email with the dining table confirming a table of twelve. As you can guess, we got on the ship, none of us were sitting together. We went to the head waiter on the 4th floor and showed him the email with the copy of the table assignments. He wrote cabin numbers and tables and said he would change and contact our cabins. At the time of our seating, we decided to go to 5th floor dining room since the majority of us were on the fifth floor. The head waiter on that floor was very nice and accommodating. She joined a table of eight and four and put them together. Which actually worked well, we put the adults in one table and the kids at another. Food was much better in the main dining room than the Wind Jammer. Our waiter Manuel and assistant waiter Shadrul were excellent. They were probably one of the best waiters we have had on a cruise. They were both very attentive and went out of their ways every night to make sure we are happy. Five of us did Chops one night. Food and service were very good. Our waiter James was interesting to say the least. Not sure if it was an act or Tourette’s but he did a very good job. He certainly was very amusing. The shows were okay. We enjoyed the acapella group, the juggler and the last comedian. The final show was pretty good. We did not go to the ice show. I heard that the first comedian was not that great but we did not attend. Due to the craziness of the first day and the late night before, we did not go the welcome show. I do know that the most of the group did go to the piano bar the first night and said he was pretty good. Battle of the Sexes and Quest were fun to do. We did have children ranging from age 10 - 18. However, they did not use the kids program. The pool area was very crowded and chair hogs were in abundance. Even at 7:00am it was hard to find a chair. However, I did notice that they were taking items from chairs that were not being used and placing them at the foot of the chair. The solarium area was much more quieter. My son who had turned 18 in April, was happy about being able to use it. Overall, we all thought the ship was very nice. She may be an older ship but she is in great shape. They were consistently disinfecting and cleaning the ship. There were many places that were not crowded. They did make many announcements of not depositing anything other than toilet paper in the toilet. I heard later that there several issues with toilets. I did smell septic by the elevators on deck 7. I think there are pluses and minuses to all ships. As stated before, I have not been on any ship more than once. I have enjoyed all of them. I think Carnival's Lido area definitely has a better layout. I would sail them again, only if I could get the rest of my family to do it. Read Less

We were so excited about this cruise but by the end of it disappointed in so many ways and also ill. We both had to see doctors within 48 hours of leaving the ship (full blown URI's). Yep, we did the wash your hands often, use the dispensers around the ship, don't touch elevator buttons, etc. But everywhere you went on the ship was sticky, stained carpets, the elevators at times were filthy. I saw crew members clean spilled or dropped food or drinks from the floor or tables and use the same cloth to wipe other tables. I think this is the first time I never witnessed crew members doing on purpose sanitizing and disinfection cleaning. Our cabin stewart left a lot to be desired. They never vacuumed the carpet, had to leave notes to change the bed sheets and remove a previously used urine stained bed padding. We keep our cabin very tidy and organized so it was easy for the cabin stewart to just run in change the towels, make up the bed and leave and do nothing else. We noticed the sand from the Bermuda beach day was still on the carpet on the last day. I shouldn't have to chase them down just to keep the cabin clean. We honestly don't think it was cleaned before we arrived. Proof is once we were allowed in our cabins we went in and started unpacking. I hid to two empty squeeze bottles in the cabinet to be refilled and used in the fitness center. Next day i searched for the bottles and they were gone. Tells me cabin stewart went through the cabinets after we arrived. I was not happy. Embarkation Checking in and getting on the ship went very well. We were on the ship by 12 pm. Kudos for that. The reps were using some new system which seemed to work out well. Food Not great experience for us this time. Last year we were on the Anthem and treated ourselves to the UDP which worked well for us. Wish we had done that again but we wanted to experience the Windjammer and main dining room. First off, service by everyone in the Windjammer and Sapphire Dining Room was great, fast efficient and friendly. The food in both not so much. The Windjammer Of course this time of year it was very, very crowded and at times hard to find a table. But with patience we managed. Though the Windjammer offers a very wide selection of foods it basically is the same thing everyday with small variations. My husband basically ate hamburgers and fries everyday. He's not a chicken, casserole, curry, rice person. I did find one day they served a few different side entree's and I sampled them but the chef/cook had poured sooo much salt on the food I was not able to eat it. The salad bar was right at the front as you come in and maybe it's me I just didn't have a good feeling about the openness of all the salad items so close to the door/entry. My phobia I guess. Most cruise lines usually have a more covered area/sneeze guard for certain foods. I stayed away. Main Dining Room Again, service was great, presentation of the food was great, friendly and willing to please wait staff. Problem: Basically eating the same menu with the exception of a few items added or changed every night. I kept saying to my husband let's just go, it's actually the dining experience that I enjoy so much but how many times when you look at the menu it's basically the same selections no matter how well it's being served. Finally the last two night we didn't go. And we missed a chance to say goodbye to the wait staff and a few new friends. Entertainment The ice show as always was great though it hasn't changed in quite some time. More effort could have been put into the Welcome Aboard show. It was very short with a not so funny comedian. Company of Men were pretty good. Third cruse this year so we didn't do the Love & Marriage, Karaoke, etc. shows. Saw some of them on the tv. Movies were good on deck. Can't believe they are still doing the 70's Party on the promenade. Come on. So for us the entertainment was mediocre and same ole same. Ports Bermuda was great as always. Minibus's right by the ship was so convenient. Nassau was hot, hot. Arrived at 1 pm, stayed on the ship. Perfect Day CoCo Cay was all the hype advertised. Enjoyed the whole day there. Loungers and umbrella's provided plenty available loungers, Lots to do. Great. In Summary We have been cruising since 2003 and all of the cruise lines have been changing, offering less and less and more leaving the with URI's. Not enjoying as much as we use to. The things cruise lines use to do to keep their passengers don't seem to no longer matter. So we will start to back off and do some different things. All good things come to an end. Read Less

We chose this ship because of the destinations and the activities on board for young adults and children. The ship did not disappoint with regards to on board activities and ease of access to destinations. We were also pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food and service in the main dining room, as well as the décor of the ship. We were pleased, having been on Norweigan and Carnival ships of similar size that there seemed to be more pool space available to everyone, and also no fighting over chairs around the pool. The entertainment at night was good, but the comedians and the illusionist, as well as the juggler were all good. I especially liked the adults only comedy shows. I also found entertainment in the Imperial Lounge to be fun and family oriented. The only thing that I wish was better was the size of the cabins. We had 2 balcony cabins for family, and it seemed cramped, with not enough drawer or closet space compared to other balcony cabins on other ships. The shower was very small, and water temperature was an issue. The fitness center had plenty of equipment. Read Less

This was our 7th cruise on Royal Caribbean but our first on the Adventure of the Seas. We have been on the Sovereign, Majesty, Enchantment, Quantum, Freedom, and Oasis of the Seas. We chose this cruise because it is a short ride to the port from Pennsylvania, and we wanted to visit Bermuda again. Embarking was quick and smooth. We arrived in port at 10 A.M. and we were on the ship by 11:15. We had two joining interior staterooms, and they were both ready at 1:00. The rooms were a little smaller than the bigger ships we went on in the past, but that was fine with us. My wife, 20 year old son, and two 18 year old daughters do not go on cruises to sit in the cabin. Our cabin steward, Raffy, was fine. Nothing special but he got the job done. We ate breakfast and lunch every day at the windjammer. It drives me nuts when people complain about the variety. They do a great job providing food to thousands of people every day. They offer omelettes, eggs, pancakes, french toast, waffles, cereal, oatmeal, pastries, fruit, etc. every morning. What else is there for breakfast? We ate in the main dining room all 8 nights. I thought the food was better on this cruise than the Oasis and Freedom. I think the food on the smaller ships is usually better. Our servers Edmund and Yue worked hard and did a good job. I thought the entertainment was average...does not compare to the mega ships. The Royal Caribbean singers and dancers had two shows. They are talented, but the shows were not our thing. There were two comedians. One was just ok while the other one was really good. The illusionist was the highlight show...unbelievable! We were sitting in the front row and could not believe what we were seeing. The juggler was entertaining, and the a cappella group was good too. Now my gripe. My family loves cruising. We know the crew works extremely hard. What gets me are the passengers! I can’t believe how disrespectful they can be. I think the crew does a great job keeping their composure. How about saying a simple thank you to a crew member? Or maybe clean up a little after yourself. How about this...watch your kid! There were over a thousands kids on this cruise. Some parents were great, others let their kids do whatever the heck they wanted. The Solarium should be 21+ and not 16+. I did see security throw out a few young teens, but it was impossible for them to keep up. Also, some of the 16 year olds act like 8 year olds. So my gripe is not with the staff but the rude passengers. Bermuda was fantastic as usual. Nassau is not worth going to. Wow...Coco Cay was amazing. There were things to do for everyone. The lunch was fabulous. Ten times better than the old Coco Cay lunch. Coco Cay used to be an after thought, but it may have been one of our favorite stops. We will be Emerald members after our next cruise. While this cruise did not blow us away, it was fun and relaxing. The ship is clean, the staff works hard, and there is plenty to do. Just don’t let the other passengers ruin your time. We are looking forward to our next cruise. Read Less

We chose this cruise because it went to CoCo Cay. After getting our room we noticed that there was no cold water just hot water either on cold or hot, stateroom 1362. We notified the guest services and maintenance throughout the 8 night cruise. Not only did they say it was fixed, but then there was no water at all when you turned it to cold. After several attempts to fix the issue they said it was fixed the 2nd to last night of the cruise. At the point it was warm water no matter what setting for the sink and shower. Every morning and evening there was someone smoking on their balcony and leaving ash all over ours. We reported this to security and our stateroom attendant. Several day and this continued. We were not on the smoking side of the ship so it was not a downdraft from that. We are not smokers and this is disgusting! None the less after several complaints we gave up because nothing had been done about it. We had several bad experiences with a waiter Joel in the windjammer 3 days in a row we finally decided to have a different seating section so he would not wait on us. We ordered room service one night and although the service was quick I'd rate that a 10, the food quality was very poor. Our Main dining room experience was amazing. Iwayan (hope I got that right) and his assistant Ramnath were the best wait staff we have ever had. At CoCo Cay the dare devil's peak slide did not have enough water running though it and it scrapped up my back. I had 2 deep burns/scrapes down my back. When we notified the lifeguard they just gave me a band-aid. This left me in paid for the rest of the cruise. We ran into several other guests and they asked if I got the scrapes from the slide and they did too. This should be investigated! We returned all our pool towels on the last night and we were assured our balance had 0 towels. On the morning we were first to get off at 730 am. We find an invoice for $50. Now we had to wait the huge line in guest services to get a refund. I was refunded for the pool towels, and we expressed our concerns and issues we had while on the boat. The guest service attendant said she noted them on stateroom. After coming of the Anthem of the Seas we would not recommend Adventure of the Seas due to the lack of service and maintenance. We spent about $4000 (including the drink package) for the trip and we both were disappointed. We both filled out the surveys at the end of the cruise expecting someone would contact us but they did not. It goes to show you they do not have the best customer service nor do they probably read the surveys. Read Less

Just came back from an 8 day cruise to the Bahamas, Bermuda and Coco Cay. The main dining room had fantastic food, our servers were great, no issue. Our stateroom attendant was great too. The majority of the cruise ships were friendly. The imperial lounge had 1 female bartender that I felt need to go to training again.. one of the most nasty bartender I ever met. The rest of the bartenders at the Schooner bar and everyplace else was great. I went to every activity from the sushi making class, to the wine tasting, which was great. I also took the bottom brunch galley tour. I took one in the past and I was really disappointed. It was a brief tour. You don't go to the refrigerator area, or bridge, or the laundry area.. If I knew it was this brief I would not take it. I would rather see more of the ship than have brunch at the end of the tour. Also another issue I had is I prepaid for all of my spa treatment for me and family but for some reason I was still charged for the treatment. If you are going to the spa, make sure you are not charged again for any prepaid treatment. this happen several times for me. Overall it was a great trip for me and my family. It was memorable. Read Less

We chose this cruise because we loved the ports and wanted to drive to Cape Liberty to avoid flying. Embarking and disembarking was fast and easy. Our inside cabin was tiny, only 150 square feet, but we were only in it to sleep, so we made do. Our son is 15, and he made friends the first night onboard, but the teens had to find stuff to do on their own, since activities were lacking. They gave the kids a dance party, but scheduled it for 2pm one day? No one showed up of course, LOL! Do NOT waste your money on the VOOM internet package. We had bought the most expensive surf and stream option and it was HORRIBLE! Royal should be ashamed to market it as being fast! We would send one text or email and it would take eight hours to go through, if at all. The line to complain at the VOOM table was consistently long the entire week. every single person that I met on the cruise was furious about the internet not working. If you are considering the soda package, please know that the Coke Freestyle machines are only in the royal Promenade and in the Windjammer, so if the Windjammer is closed, you have no access to the machine. Also, the machines were down or out of certain drinks quite frequently. You may bring one case of soda per stateroom on board, so take advantage of that instead! The food was just fine. We are not picky eaters. The staff tries hard to please and the Windjammer had something for everyone. The lines at the buffet were long all week, and not many people went to the Main Dining Room, except for Lobster night, when the dining room staff was completely overwhelmed by the packed house! Coco Cay is the Perfect Day, I could not find fault with how amazing the island is. Get there early to get a free locker for your stuff, they are all taken after the first hour. In Bermuda we booked a snorkeling trip to the coral reef through Hat Trick Charters. They only take 6-12 people to the reef and you will find that they have a perfect rating on TripAdvisor for good reason!!!!! In Nassau, we booked a room at Comfort Suites Paradise island to get free passes to the Atlantis resort for the day in port. ( it is across the street from Atlantis, a few steps away literally.). We saved so much money, compared to the people that booked through Royal Caribbean. We saved hundreds and got twice the amount of time in Atlantis as well. LOL! Read Less

Adventure of the seas 8N cruise Bahamas and perfect day Stayed overnight at doubletree Hilton. Free airport shuttle and $25 to the port. Wasn't happy they threw my luggage in the back of their free airport shuttle and as only 2 other people the bad slid around and was black not red! I still can't get it clean. Hotel excellent, and had swimming pool, cafe and Starbucks. Cruise Check in was quite quick although the queue for security was long and this was 10.30am. Once onboard there was a long queue waiting for the buffet Windjammer restaurant to open. Best avoided so went to cafe on deck 5 for a cheese and ham sandwich instead. Signs at guest services saying no upgrades as full. I did receive several emails since I paid for my cruise asking me to bid for an upgrade so it would appear unlikely you would now get any free upgrades or be able to pay for any onboard, instead they will go to the highest bidder. I selected my balcony cabin location right by the elevators so didn't want the upgrade anyway. Cabins opened just after 1pm. If you have ever bought a new build house you will understand what I mean when I say I then went on to 'snag' the room for issues. The TV volume would not turn down and was so loud I had to keep it off. The cabin steward said he has reported it but on day 2 I called maintenance myself and they sent an electrician within 30 minutes who advised it was a faulty cable. Several hours later after dinner they swapped the cable and it then worked fine. The sink tap was spraying water all over me as was probably clogged with lime scale and spraying everywhere, the cupboard door to the safe was loose on one of the hinges and almost fell off and one of the balcony chair seats was very dirty. The air con also doesn't seem to work properly either. Again my room steward said he reported these issues on day 1. On day 3 I rang maintenance again myself and within half an hour the tap spray was swapped and works perfectly now and he called a colleague who sorted the cupboard door also. Should I really have to do these things, I would suggest the room steward or supervisor should test these things. You should book my cabin 8622 I have had it fixed! Surprisingly I didn't have to ask for my free drink and welcome gift for crown and anchor which I normally spend two days chasing so that was good. I pre booked arcade credit as it came with a bonus amount so I had a letter in cabin to go to the arcade and dial a number. I did this and was told to just put my card in the machines and it will work out the credit. A nice man appeared and was very helpful, showed me how it all worked. A lot of machines were broken, poorly stocked or simply would not accept the sea pass card. You win tickets and can claim them at a machine in the arcade room on the last evening from 7pm. Needless to say we had to stand around waiting for someone else to arrive as the machine was broken! Then we had to wait whilst all the kids took forever choosing their prizes. Casino credit - was told can use OBC in the casino at no charge. You transfer the money on the machines. They have instructions in the casino. Unfortunately the casino was ruined by the smoking as usual. It goes through the whole casino and not just the smoking section. This is very poor RC. The staff are very unhappy here and are worried about the smoke to their health. People were using the casino as a smoking room instead of going outside. I walked through when it was closed and there were 2 people smoking. Entertainment was good. Mix of dancers and comedians as well as a fabulous entertainer. Dinner was busy in the windjammer most nights which is unusual. It was often busy but plenty of tables in the evening for those not wanting to go down to the restaurant. I had to live on Frosted flakes for breakfast as there were no weetabx. They also had no salad cream which normally I manage to find a bottle hidden away. The restaurant manager told me they've never had it. My reply was that on my last 20+ cruises, I must have imagined it then! I struggled to find any cooked vegetables, broccoli some days but lots of fried food and potato wedges - same all week. It was much better last year. Lovely man in the Windjammer looked after me and was very helpful. He even went to get me some French fries the last evening when they were not on the buffet. Diamond lounge - lovely to see Christopher there again, nothing was too much trouble and he even helped me find something to do the last day whilst waiting all day for my flight. Buffet continental breakfast is served in the diamond lounge although they don't have cereal in there now so was a bit disappointed. Also no snacks during the say when I went in there. I guess it gets wasted so no point putting too much out but would have been nice to find a few cookies. Diamond and above guests please note that guest services advised RC's new policy is to open all cans in the happy hour promotion (5-8pm offer). So where we get 3 X free drinks per day, if we choose to have soda cans, they now open them. I was given two cans of Coke Zero open which I then wasted as couldn't drink two at once. I like to save one for the next afternoon. Apparently they tell me they now open them so we don't give them away! I said look, I don't drink alcohol so I want my free cans of soda to enjoy when I like. If this is your new policy I will still give them away opened or waste them. I suggested RC stop those people who are costing them a fortune drinking for 3 solid hours alcohol at the free bar each night rather than worry about a few cans of soda. I am really cross having got to diamond plus I may now have to switch to P&O!!! The 3 free drinks is a perk I have spent a lot of money with RC to get. Port info: Very little information on each port, maps were not given out unless you went to some sales talk! They just wanted to talk about the overpriced stores and bamboo sheets. I assume they get commission? The Ship ha the usual merchandise, and overpriced general items. I even gave one guest some Ibuprofen for a headache as they were a small fortune in the shop. Usual $10 tat sale as I call it. Day 3 Port Canaveral - very hot! Harmony of the Seas had taken the best dock right by the Exploratory Tower so we ended up too far away to walk to anything by the Port and certainly is this 90F plus heat. There was nothing you could walk to and one of the few attractions nearby was also closed Sunday's. I got off to check I hadn't missed anything but just got bombarded by these giant flies which were everywhere. If not been before, would have done the trip to Kennedy but as we did that in November we stayed on board. Disappointed we couldn't walk to anything. Other people cancelled their tours to Disney as it was just so oppressively hot. Found some people who went to Universal Studios and they said it was unbearable and couldn't queue in this heat. Day 4 Miami - loads of cruise ships in port as you would expect. We docked on the starboard side, walked through the terminal to the HOHO buses. I booked this $49 tour on board as had lots of OBC otherwise would have bought cheaper on shore. Lots of people selling tours ashore and cheaper. They didn't tell us that we would queue for 45 minutes to get a bus that then dropped us off 5-10 mins away to then stand and wait for the proper bus to start the tour. We were left stood next to buses with engines running, it was so hot, 91F/33C in the shade plus the heat from the buses. A lady then shouted we were in the line for the blue route and we would not get on the next bus so would have another 30 minutes to wait after the next one arrived, so she said we could queue for the red bus route and moved us further along. There was no organisation, it was a free for all when the bus came. Nobody dare get off as they knew they would not get a seat back. No air con downstairs, I guess as open top buses but very poor for a hot city. I wouldn't be surprised if people were unwell due to the heat. Even with the windows open downstairs there wasn't much of a cool breeze, in fact it was a warm breeze most of the time. Other than then beach and shops, there wasn't much to see. After the tour ended we had to get off the bus and wait another 20 minutes for the bus back to the Ship. Total waste of $49 as had been to Miami before. Took 4 hours to do nothing. I did give the diamond concierge feedback which he did log and I would have left it at that but as I was infuriated at being given two cans of coke open (total waste) I went to guest services to complain. The excursions manager did call me to discuss and offered a 50% refund which was fair. Day 5 Nassau - docked furthest away so four ships in front of us. On the port side so I had a view of the ocean, ships the other side. I booked the morning essential Nassau tour in advance saved ten dollars. This was a fantastic tour. The only thing I was unhappy about was the man who decided to walk us from the furthest dock to the bus (a good 5-8 minute walk) just as the rain fell down. To say we were all soaked was really an understatement. I took out a cardigan to cover me but it was literally wringing wet. Needless to say the rain stopped after ten minutes and the man abandoned us for another ten minutes. Like they couldn't have waited for the heavy shower to pass! It took 2 hours to dry out. We went to the rum cake factory, Atlantis, the rum factory and more, it was great. Restrooms at every place. Had 3 other ships in with us so was busy around the shops/market right by the port. You can walk wall around this area. There is even a McDonalds just round the corner by the Hilton. Be prepared to haggle at the stalls though. Change was given in local currency at one of the shops on the tour so ask if paying cash whether it's USD change or Bahamas currency. Day 6 the much talked about Perfect Day, Coco Cay We docked on the left as you look at the island so the whole island was to the back of the ship as we had turned around. Grandeur was also in port. Little open mini buses took us from the ship exit to the island. They were driving a little fast! The water park looks amazing. There is also the balloon but it looked too swaying to tempt me. There are a number of shops in huts to the left of the island. Unfortunately I am very fair skinned to cannot stay out in the sun for more than a hour or so, even with factor 50 on. They were selling factor 70 and one lady factor 100 cream in the huts. There was very little shade on the island, some under the food places but not all tables were in the shade. Also you had to venture off the path through sand and sharp shells to find a table. They need to work on this which I'm sure they are doing. Also all the restrooms all had queues for the ladies. Enjoyed seeing the island but too hot for me and set my heat rash off! Internet package $15.99 for the basic one device if purchased for the duration of the cruise, 24 hour pass gone up to $22.99. Slow connection but handy to keep in touch with family and friends. I tried to download the Uber app for cheaper taxi to the airport but the pictures where you have to select store fronts etc. just would not load as it was too slow speed. Disembarkation - transfer to Newark airport it was $27.50 and left at 7.40am only! The excursions booklet had 2 X 4 hour tours leaving at 9.30am (note meeting time is 8.30 in lounges to get you out, collect luggage and through customs etc). At the back of the booklet it said have a late flight, after 3.30pm we have late tours - what they actually meant was the tours in the booklet would get you to the airport for flights after 3.30pm - total waste of time confusing people! They went on to do the same with just airport transfers saying if not in a hurry and flights after 3pm book a transfer to Newark ($27.95) or Times Square ($44.95)Again, they meant only one bus for each, both at 7.40am!!! Seriously! Excursion desk were not helpful at all. They offered no long tours or later tours and said latest time to get off her ship was 9.45am. I was going to book one of the tours but they were all cancelled as they didn't have enough people to run them. So, I was left with nothing to do and a flight at 10pm at night! RC were not helpful at all. I asked if there was luggage storage at the airport and they gave me a leaflet for storage in New York. I google one near the HOHO bus and it said sorry this location is temporarily closed. The rest appeared to be self storage. For those not knowing New York this was not good. Can someone please set up a business collecting luggage from the cruise ship on departure day and returning to the airport or nearby later. Surely a profitable business. I opted to leave at 9.30am, but was told final call to leave around 8.30am. I was going to get a taxi but there was a shuttle for just $20. Ok, so it went to the Hilton and Best western first but didn't take long. Far cheaper than a taxi if just one person. Met a lovely family also from the UK on the shuttle. Worth noting you can get a day room for around $79 plus tax $90 if you have a late flight. Newark Airport - Delta wouldn't let me check in nor offload luggage saying had to wait for virgin Atlantic (code share) staff at 5.30pm. No luggage storage they say after 9/11. However, I was able to walk all around the airport and get within 50 feet of aircraft on the AirTrain with a suitcase that had not been scanned/checked. This is really poor security. So I had 12 hours to kill before my flight. A lovely man in the shop suggested I take the shuttle outside P4 on the AirTrain to The Mills at Jersey Gardens shopping mall. I took the AirTrain around the terminals, just 2 stops and was at P4. The shuttle was outside waiting. $5 one way, $9 return. They accept luggage and even put it onboard for me. The mall is 10 minutes away, buses every half hour and he even gave me the timetable. It is huge! I never covered half. Really good prices and on designer stuff like handbags. I'm not a big shopping fan but really enjoyed this. Luckily I had my suitcase so wedged some things in! Another option with a late flight is to take the train to Manhattan. Follow signs to AirTrain at Newark airport and buy a ticket at the machine right at the AirTrain entrance (I think they were orange/blue). Buy a ticket to New York Penn station (not Newark Penn station). This ticket will cover both the AirTrain and the N Transit train. Take the AirTrain to Newark Liberty International Airport AirTrain station. Takes 10 mins max. Then get off the AirTrain and get on the NJ Transit train going to New York Penn Station. There are signs at the station. Download a map online. Once there, you can either walk around or get the underground to the main sights. You may be able to find a luggage storage location! Read Less

I was on Anthem of the Seas last spring and had an amazing cruise with a group of six people, which was my very first cruise. A week after being on Anthem we booked another cruise on Adventures of the Seas, this time we added two more people to our group making it a total of eight people. ( 5 women and 3 men ) The women in our group all had issues with cleanliness of the rooms and not completely satisfied with their dinner meals. Overall I was pretty pleased with my cruise however the music being played throughout ship was horrible to say the least. Half of the music selection was in Spanish and the acoustics were also terrible and even worse if someone was trying to make an announcement over the speakers. I found that the selection of music that I could actually understand ( English ) wasn't upbeat at all and the few songs played that were actually good songs were actually depressing songs. One would think being on a cruise the cruise director would want everyone to be upbeat and cheerful. Perhaps my next cruise I'll have to make sure to bring my own music and entertain myself. The staff on Adventures of the Seas, were all very nice and professional from my experiences with them however the crew didn't appear to be happy. Which was the complete opposite from Anthem of the Seas, their staff was very enthusiastic, fun and entertaining. Before disembarking Adventures of the Seas we stopped by the Next Cruise desk and to our surprise the next cruise offer was twice the price for one less day than the current cruise. Needless to say not one of the eight people in out group was up for paying double, so we will look for other options for our next cruise. Read Less

Sailing out of Bayonne (40 miles from home) was luxuriously convenient. This ship was larger than our first cruise (on Brilliance), but never really felt crowded. We were less-than-impressed with food in the main dining room, and will probably plan for upgraded/specialty dining every night on future cruises. The three specialty restaurants were all excellent, as one might expect. Our cabin was amazing - much larger than we expected, and very comfortable. Needs more outlets, though. Our room attendant, Emina, was wonderful. In Bermuda, we did a five-hour wraparound tour of the island with Juanita, the owner of Bermuda Island Tours and More (booked through Viator). She is a native Bermudan and former police officer on the island, so she knows everything there is to know. Highly recommended. In Nassau, we did the half-day Pearl Island excursion. Lovely beach island and a nice lunch (BBQ chicken and fried grouper, with rice-and-beans and cole slaw). Overpriced drinks, but that's to be expected. We had dinner at the Green Parrot Harbourfront, which was a very nice restaurant - but even though it's only 3/4 mile from the ship, walking there is NOT recommended. We walked through a pretty sketchy part of town. We were disappointed with the piano player in the Schooner Bar. Somewhat limited repertoire. We very much enjoyed the Champagne Bar, and the Rockstar cocktail (or a variation thereof) is going to be my new summer sipper. We did not attend any of the entertainment (my husband did karaoke one night and had a lot of fun, he told me) nor did we use the fitness and recreation facilities. We indulged in a hot-rocks couples massage at the spa, which was wonderfully relaxing. Read Less

We traveled on Anthem with our two sons (4 and 6) and my mom (71). We purchased The Key, and the original reason is because although my son has autism, RCI does not offer priority disembarking for ports of call. It was completely worth it to skip the lines getting on and off the ship. We had a special lunch at Jamie Oliver’s Italian which was just okay. Occasionally RCI would leave us treats like fruit or cookies in our stateroom, which was pleasant. And the day we disembarked, we had a fabulous special breakfast in the dining room. The VOOM internet service is the fastest at sea, which makes me feel sad for anyone using slower internet. Streaming was near impossible. I downloaded iQ app which took at least 15 minutes. If we didn’t get it with The Key I wouldn’t have paid for it. The Royal iQ app left quite a lot to be desired. It would have been nice to actually see menus for restaurants, give shop opening hours, and allow you to chat with guest services. The service set the experience apart from other vacations. Almost everyone was helpful and nice. Our dining room hostess, Elizabeth, was amazing. She really took the initiative to get to know us and our children. Every morning the boys looked forward to seeing her. Our housekeeper, Daisy, was also great. She set up the impossible pull out bed every afternoon. Adorable towel animals always accompanied our turn down service. And she always wanted to know how she could help make our stay great. We sent the boys to Adventure Ocean kids’ club, which they liked. At first they split the boys up according to age, but that made my older son with ASD uncomfortable, so the next time we asked if they could stay together and they said okay - and after that they had a wonderful time. The pools were nice and of course on a nice day you’d need to fight for a chair or encounter some children being wild or jerks. Nothing atypical. They were clean and of average size. I liked how they offer life vests for babies and little kids. The food was generally okay. Windjammer was basically cafeteria quality. Dining room was good - breakfast excellent, dinner just okay. You can get anything customized which was good for our picky children. We ate at Chops which was a disappointment, unfortunately. My steak was over cooked and the lobster bisque too salty. We were there 90 minutes and decided to skip dessert because it was taking so long. Izumi was really great, yummy ramen. The Dog House had excellent hot dogs. Jamie’s featured gummy calamari and only 4 shrimp in my pasta. The bread was good though. Everything is expensive if you want something more than what you get with your ticket. Shop prices exorbitant. $10-13 for alcoholic drinks, which were just okay. Cococay was beautiful. It’ll be better once they finish the new water park. We loved the pool. The lunch was better than on the ship. The only drawback was the super long walk, and once you get on the island there are very few paved paths, making it take forever to get anywhere, especially with little kids. The on board activities were fun. My husband and son did the iFly and enjoyed it. They liked the bumper cars and the games like table tennis and corn hole toss. We skipped roller skating after we met someone who broke her leg after someone crashed into her. We went to see “We Will Rock You” and the sound was mixed so badly our chests hurt from the bass. Combine that with rough waters and my seasickness was so bad we left 30 minutes in. The story was disappointing anyhow (not RCI’s fault) so we didn’t feel like we missed much. My younger son got a fever and we had to take him to the infirmary. It turned out to be an ear infection. What a smooth experience - I wish urgent care on land was so efficient. They saw us in triage, we waited 5 minutes more, saw the doctor, he checked our son out, and we had antibiotics. The entire encounter was less than 45 minutes. Unfortunately even with an ear infection, my son had to be quarantined to our cabin for 24 hours so we missed our excursion to Nassau. No problem, though. Our money was refunded. All in all, we had a very nice time. I’m not sure I’ll go again, just because of my seasickness. RCI runs a class act, fabulous service. Read Less

We were a group of eight, but knew 40 people on this sailing ranging from Elementary school to adults and grandparents. Everyone had an amazing time. We were in adjoining rooms 11286 and 11288. Room 11288 was larger with an angled balcony. I believe it is considered a hump room. It was set up for our children with the couch in the front and their beds in the back. I much preferred that set up, to the king bed in the front of the room of 11288 because it made the room feel smaller than necessary. By my measurements room 11288 has about 5 extra inches in width. The balconies can be partially connected, but there is still some portion blocked. But having both of them was really a nice feature. Our dining staff were exemplary and went out of their way to assist with our allergies. At no time did it feel like I inconvenienced them, and they always took my concerns and needs very seriously. I do wish they had better dessert options for dairy allergies, but I know the chef tried to come up with items. It would have been nice if they had dairy free desserts. Overall the food was good, and the service impeccable. We did the ifly and the north star. Both were really fun. Our ifly instructor was incredibly calming and funny. He helped us go beyond the basics for those that had done it before, which was really appreciated. For those in our party that were afraid, he helped them overcome their fears and succeed in creating amazing memories. We took RC excursions to NASA. They used a company with yellow shirts, although the man on our bus said we could ask any guide with a yellow shirt questions in the park, when I tried to do so, a woman with the company said I did not pay for her tour guide services, merely to ride on their bus when I asked what the best attraction for children would be. I had no idea that there were two different tour options, but that was not a pleasant response. She had not begun any tour as I would not have asked that of someone giving a tour, since we were all congregating around the main entrance I figured a question on where to go was appropriate. So be forewarned that they don't give advice. Coco cay was lovely. It is a long walk on the pier, so wear comfortable shoes. The beach is beautiful and there are plenty of chairs. The pool is fantasy. I loved the white chairs in the water, as well as the swim up bar. There are plenty of chairs with umbrellas to use. The shops have decent souvenirs. Be mindful of the trees as they are planted in cement and I unwittingly stubbed my toe on one. The Atlantis is huge. It really helps if you know where you are going. Please look for a map before going to really understand the resort layout. They have dole whips which are great, near the kids pool play space. Because of height requirements I would recommend going with children who really exceed the limits. The rides are a lot of fun, but I saw kids who were too small denied access to the slides quite miserable. Please make sure to look at the height and weight of your child to not disappoint them. I have to speak about the shows on board. While the acting, singing, stagework, anamatronics, musicians, lighting all did an excellent and amazing job, the overall stories of the shows were confusing at best, and disturbing at worse. If you have a dying family member, skip the gift. The story was terrible. We sat next to someone who saw it 10 times and still could not figure it out. It was just a terrible plot and unnecessarily sad. Spectra's Cabaret was very loud, please bring ear plugs to save your hearing. The TVs were cool, and the stage work was excellent. I enjoyed the music and the showmanship. The bumper cars were a huge, huge hit with my family. I wish we got towel animals daily, but only received two. What we did get were interesting, a frog and a dog. My in laws got a peacock. The one issue with the ship is that the elevators were always going out of order in the aft section of the ship. I spoke with maintenance in person after we were stuck inside the elevator. From speaking to numerous other guests, our experience was not isolated. The elevators would stop on floors and not open doors until someone outside of the elevator would push for the elevator. Sometimes, even when you had a floor pushed and the elevator was going in that direction, it would stop and change directions missing your floor, or not taking you to a higher level floor. The forward elevators seemed to work properly, but with a room in the aft section it made traveling slightly difficult. Overall the ship was great, the staff excellent, and the weather wonderful. We already miss being on board. We were sad to see no April 2020 ships from NJ, except a transatlantic ship which does not fulfill our spring break needs. Read Less

Cruised with Royal Caribbean before and have had good experiences with them in the past. This is the first time on a larger ship and don’t really care for it. Embarkation went smoothly out of Bayonne. Had balcony cabin which was kept very clean and stateroom attendant was excellent. All the staff was excellent. Best bet for dining is the main dining room. Ship had great comedians. Pools and jacuzzis were always crowded but that’s to be expected. Our few excursions were very poor though. Was very rushed through Kennedy Space Center and Essential Nassau was also very rushed. Wasn’t able to book private cabana or beds for coco cay. They went too fast. Best time to utilize jacuzzis and pools in Solarium is port days or dinner time. We were unable to use our balcony on one day due to maintenance and the smell was very unpleasant. That’s my only complaint in regards to our room. I do feel like you get nickel and dimed a bit. Read Less

Anthem of the Seas 4/6/19-4/13/19 This was our first trip on Royal with 4 cruises with NCL and 4 cruises with CCL. I am 60 and DW is 52 and we live in northern Vermont. While my review will include comparisons with our other cruises I can say that hands down Anthem exceeded our expectations and is easily our favorite ship. When I compare Royal with other cruise lines I will make allowance for those things that are strictly Anthem, such as the shows. As some of you know I did have reservations about sailing on such a large ship after being stationed on an aircraft carrier in the Navy (and Anthem is bigger than that carrier) but I would say that I would sail on Anthem anytime the price is right. 4/6/19 Embarkation Day We left our hotel in Albany at 5:45 and boarded the Yankee Trails bus at 6:30 and the bus left on time at 7. There were no stops along the way to pick up extra passengers so we got to the port at 9:30 after a very relaxing ride. We waited for our luggage to be off-loaded and after the porters had it loaded we were cleared to leave the bus. We walked into the terminal at 9:50 and were checked in and sitting down in zone 8 by 10. Staff members came around handing out copies of the cruise compass and boarding started at 10:30. We started boarding at 11 and we were sitting in Two70 for lunch by 11:30. First impression of Anthem was definitely “WOW”. We made immediate use of our drink package and had two Royal Lemonades in hand by noon. Royal uses paper straws which can get soggy if you drink your drink too slowly. I had a Cuban pita pocket which had ham, pork, swiss cheese, pickles and mustard and DW had an avocado wrap with an avocado BLT salad. Food was tasty but my pita pocket was microwaved which made it a little chewy. Walked around Esplanade and stopped to by voom and surf for $19.99 a day (this package is needed for Facebook). Stopped at Brass and Bock Pub and Boleros for drinks in each venue. Cabins were ready at 1:30 so we went up and found our luggage already there. Our key cards were in the mail slot and we saw our cabin, 6142, for the first time. Nicely put together balcony cabin with lots of storage available (including two large storage areas over the head of the bed). We had the beds together but couldn’t visualize them being apart. Muster took place at 2:30 in the Royal Theater and went fairly well for muster drill. There are no life jackets in the cabin. After the drill we walked about for a bit and then went back to the cabin to freshen up for dinner. Our cabin steward was Ikomang. We were in the early seating in the Grande MDR and our wait team was Dominic, Bayyr and Maksim. We are assigned to a two top and it is close to the two top next to it, so we were able to converse with the couple at that table all week who are from Massachusetts and very nice. Bayyer offered to push the table together to make it a four top but there wasn’t that much separation and we decided to keep the tables as they were. I ordered the calamari and escargot, prime rib and crème bruelle. DW had mushroom soup, spaghetti Bolognese and chocolate cake. DW said it was the best spaghetti she’d ever had. I found the prime rib to be a little better than CCL’s, mostly because it was a thicker cut. DW mentioned to the waitstaff that she had a seafood allergy and couldn’t have iodized salt and from that point on one of the waiters would give her the next night’s menu at the conclusion of each meal so she could order it ahead of time, something neither NCL nor CCL did (yes, they would have if we had contacted special needs, but the waitstaff on each of those lines were each told the same thing and while they made sure to not let her order anything with seafood Royal took it a step further). Dinner took almost 2 hours but it was our fault, we were busy talking with our “table mates”. Walked around Esplanade after dinner then went to the Welcome Aboard show at 8:30. Dennis Charles is our CD and he told us that there were just over 4880 passengers with just under 900 kids. The comedian was okay (we enjoyed the next night’s adult show much better). We went to a show in Two70 that demonstrated all that venue had to offer and it was entertaining. We called it a night early and easily made the drink package worth it throughout the day and the drink waiters at the different venues did a good job of getting our drinks for us. A very good start to the cruise. General observations- the elevators have a plate in the floor with the day of the week that changes each day. The elevators have a button designated for the gangway so you didn’t have to remember what deck the gangway was on. For being such a large ship Anthem is easy to navigate and there are excellent maps to let you know where things are by the elevators. It’s hard to tell how large the ship is because sight lines are broken up so well. I was surprised to feel the ship moving because of the wind and waves, something I didn’t expect on a ship so large. The lights in the passageways dim and will brighten when motion is detected. A card needs to be put in the slot by the door to keep lights and AC on. The thermostat can’t be set lower than 68 degrees. Cabin has one standard plug by the bed, two in the vanity, two USB ports and one 220v plug. There is a low voltage plug in the bathroom for a shaver. 4/7/19 Sea Day I was up at 6 and had a nice shower. The shower is a bit smaller than what we have at home and of course the bathroom is cozy. I had to walk around a bit to find coffee because nothing was open until 7 except for Café Promenade, which is open 24 hours. It’s 41 degrees top side. Went to Windjammer when it opened and there are a good number of choices and lots of action stations. There are sinks at the entrance and you are expected to wash your hands before entering. Had some more coffee and grabbed a donut. Woke DW at 830 and went to the Solarium Bistro for breakfast. There is a nice buffet selection, including pre-made omelets and eggs benedict. We had a ten minute wait in line. Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle was at 10 in the Music Hall and we got there just as it was starting. Dennis said that he reads CC (and sometimes posts to correct misinformation, but he didn’t reveal his screen name) and a raffle was held for two backpacks with Royal stuff in them. There were light refreshments available and we had about 40-50 people there. We did a gift exchange and while I was talking to another couple from New England (who turned out to be two cabins from us) everyone split. Spent some time in the Solarium hot tubs and soaking pools. Went back to the cabin to change out of our wet things and then went to the Vet appreciation event in Two70. There were a good number of vets with wives there and even some none vets who showed up to show support. Dennis walked around the room to each vet and had them introduce themselves and tell where they’d been stationed. At the end of the event they played taps for those who never came home. The event lasted about an hour. Walked around a bit and made use of the Bionic Bar just for gins. We went to Brass and Bock and ordered a couple of Dublin Ice Teas. DW didn’t like hers so I took it back up to the bar and originally the bar tender said we had to wait ten minutes for another drink but once he understood that DW didn’t like the drink he took it and made her a screw driver. Went back to the cabin with a couple of drinks and enjoyed them on the balcony before getting ready for dinner, the first formal night. I ordered the shrimp cocktail (which are smaller than on CCL), duck l ’orange and cheesecake. DW had fruit plate, port shank, and carrot cake. Watched the captain introduce his officers on the Esplanade and chatted with HD Michael for a few minutes. We had reservations for The Gift this evening and thought it was an awesome show. Had few drinks in Boleros before heading to the adult comedy show in Royal Theater with Heath Harmison and he was hilarious. Back at the cabin we filled out the room service card for coffee to be delivered between 9 and 9:30 the next day. General observations- a sign at the Solarium Bistro advises that they have almond milk, soy milk and lactose free milk available on request (didn’t see this sign in other venues but don’t see why it wouldn’t be provided if asked for). The “do not disturb/please make up room” sign is magnetic and sticks on the door. At dinner we saw some shorts and some tuxes but more suits and business casual. 4.8.19 Port Canaveral I slept in until 6:15! Went down to solarium and perused the library since I didn’t bring any casual reading material with me. There were books in several languages available (English, Spanish and German were the ones I noticed). I found a Reader’s Digest from December 1962 and took that to read. Of course I had more coffee at Café Promenade. Back at the cabin I put my suit in for next day cleaning for $15 (less than what I pay at home). Room service called a couple of minutes before delivering our coffee and he was surprised when I gave him a tip. I had ordered two coffee and two decaf coffee and the carafes easily held 8 cups. The milk that I had ordered was in a glass and the half and half was in individual packets (on CCL the half and half is in a small pitcher). We went up to Windjammer for breakfast at by the time we arrived some items were getting scarce both because it was busy and it was close to the time when they transitioned from breakfast to lunch. After eating breakfast we watched some of the belly flop contest (ouch!) before getting ready for our excursion. We met in the Royal Theater for our excursion which was transportation to Universal. We left the theater at 12:10 and were underway on the bus by 12:30. We arrived at Universal and had to go through a security check point before entering. We had purchased one park tickets online before the cruise and chose to visit Islands of Adventure. We wanted to visit Hogsmeade and Jurassic Park so we did those two areas first and then worked our way back to the entrance. We had plenty of time to walk around and see everything but we didn’t do any of the rides, and most of them seemed to have wait times of around 45 minutes. We got back to the bus area at 6:50 and it left when it got full which was by 7. Got back to the ship around 7:50. Changed into swim wear with cover ups and then grabbed a bite to eat at Windjammer. This was our first evening meal at a buffet on any of our cruises and while it was tasty we still prefer the MDR it did the trick this night. Wait staff does come around asking if you want drinks so we grabbed a couple which were the only ones we had this day on our drink package. Went to the Solarium and soaked in a hot tub for a bit but the bar was closing when we arrived (around 9) and the pools were already closed down. 4.9.19 Coco Cay Up at 6:15 again and down to Café Promenade for my coffee. I chose this morning to walk around the ship to take pictures and got most of decks 4 and 5. Stopped by Guest Services to have a couple of erroneous charges from day 1 at Boleros removed which was done quickly and efficiently. Once DW was up we went up to Windjammer for breakfast and had two Captain’s Calls (spiked coffee) since it was Cruise-Thirty. Pulled into the Cay a little earlier than scheduled and we got off the ship at 10. Loved being able to use the pier. It took about 40 minutes to get from our cabin to the clam shell area. They had transportation available to take us over to South Beach. We grabbed the clam shell in the back row that was closest to the bar and had a good view of the water. The water was chilly at first but because it was so shallow it warmed up quickly. We lounged, drank Coco Locos and waded the day away. While wading we saw many fish, including rays and sharks. At one point we were 15 to 20 feet away from a 4-5 foot shark. We left our clam shell around 3 pm and did some shopping at the straw market before heading back onto the ship. Made it back to the cabin around 4 to prepare for dinner. We didn’t eat anything on Coco Cay because we had eaten a large breakfast. At dinner I at escargot, beef with Yorkshire pudding, and chocolate cake. DW had the onion soup, fried chicken and pastry puff. Had a few drinks after dinner while waiting for the show. Comedian/ventriloquist Ron Lucas performed and I remember watching him years ago and he is still very funny. Grabbed a couple of drinks to take back to the cabin since we have to be up early tomorrow for our excursion. Despite liberal applications of sun screen we both got burnt on Coco Cay (next time we’ll use lotion instead of spray). General observations- The crew and other passengers are friendly and the crew is always cleaning. I spoke to the concierge for the clam shells on the Cay and he said that they live on the island for a month at a time and then have one week off (he lives in Nassau). 4.10.19 Nassau Up at 6 again but DW had to get up with me for our excursion. We went up to the Windjammer for breakfast (it opened at 6:30 this morning). There were very few people so breakfast went quickly. We went to the theater at 7:30 to meet up for our sea lion encounter. We were off the ship by 8 and met up with Blue Lagoon hosts to receive our wrist bands for our encounter. There didn’t seem to be much organization but the process went smoothly and quickly. The boat ride to Blue Lagoon took about 30 minutes and the tender crew pointed out the rich people’s mansions (Oprah, Michael Jordan, Beyonce’, etc.) as we passed by and danced with us to pass the time. We arrived at Blue Lagoon around 9 and we were split into groups for our encounter with one group doing the water portion and our group doing the dry portion first. We posed for photos with Charlotte, a 7 year old female, who was a real character. After that we proceeded along the dock to our underwater platform (we were required to wear life vests anyway) for our encounter with Roxie, a 5 year old female. After our encounter we grabbed a couple of drinks and enjoyed people watching before heading to the photo shop for our pictures. We decided to get all of our pictures on a flash drive for $154 and it included a video of our encounter with Roxie (and a release so we can get the photos printed). Since we hadn’t eaten too big of a breakfast we grabbed a buffet lunch for $22 each and then boarded the tender back to the ship. Did some shopping at the stores inside the secure area before heading to Solarium for more hot tub time. Went to the cabin at 4:15 to get dressed for dinner. I had shrimp cocktail again (ordered two this time), chicken parmigiana and tres leche. DW had Caesar salad, chicken parm and crème bruelle. The chicken was served with mashed potatoes and ratatouille which seemed a bit odd. Back to the cabin to change and then grabbed a seat in the Music Hall. As had become our habit we tried different drinks on the menu and really liked Metalliquor. We watched karaoke and family feud. For family feud they handed out tickets to pick people to play but many didn’t respond to their number when it was called. Called it a night early. General observations- They have lifeguards on duty at all pools including the shallow ones in Solarium. Ship’s officers seem to be always present walking around, we have seen the captain several times and have spoken to the HD a couple of times. Discovered a food station all the way aft on Windjammer with outdoor seating that doesn’t seem to be too busy. Photographers aren’t as aggressive as on CCL and casual shots when leaving the ship on the pier are limited in number. Received only three towel animals during the week. The seats in Royal Theater aren’t very comfortable. 4.11.19 Sea Day Up early again and after grabbing coffee walked around decks 14, 15 and 16 taking pictures. After waking DW up we went to breakfast at Windjammer and then lounged around the pool deck, Solarium hot tub, etc. Our reservation for Northstar was at 1 so we went to that. It takes you up 300 feet above the water and from one side of the ship to the other (they get more people through that way versus taking the arm out all the way). Dropped the camera off at the cabin then went to We Will Rock You and what an awesome show! Then we went back to get ready for the second formal night. Luggage tags were in the cabin waiting for us for disembarkation day, a stark reminder that we weren’t going to be on the ship much longer. Had more photos taken before heading to dinner. I had caprese salad, lobster with rice and veggies, and molten cake. Asked for peanut butter on the side but they said they didn’t have it (had I known this I would have grabbed a couple packs of peanut butter from WJ). DW had the Caesar salad, grilled chicken breast and molten cake. The waiters did a parade. Desert was a little delayed and the ice cream was partly melted (and the cake was cooked too much so no “molten”). Did some shopping and then went to Two70 for Spectra’s Cabaret. My review- I actually dozed off a couple of times and DW and I agreed that the show took third place of the three main shows (The Gift and WWRY are a toss-up for first and second because we enjoyed both shows for different reasons). Stayed in Two70 for the show Red which is a dance party. Left there and caught the late night comedian, Steve Caouette, who was hilarious. General observations- many people have the Wow band and many have said that they have broken and needed to be replaced. When someone with a band ordered a drink they had to remove it in order to have it scanned. Johnny Rockets wasn’t open for breakfast on any day that I saw although I may have missed it. I had read on Cruise Critic that it was table service, you ordered your food and it was delivered to your table, but the signs indicated that you placed your order and picked it up at the counter. 4.12.19 Sea Day Up at 7 today (wow, I slept in!). The photo gallery (which has screens to view your pictures after scanning your cabin key) was closed and the casino was also closed (it opens at 8). After the casino opened I obtained a voucher from the cashier for $100 charged to my cabin for a $5 charge. I played the slots for 10 minutes which cost me $30 and I earned 10 points (you earn a cruise with 2,400 points). After DW woke up we went to Two70 for some spiked coffee (Cruise-Thirty) and watched the towel folding demonstration. Windjammer for lunch. We went to bingo and decided to play. They draw receipts to give out door prizes and I won a t-shirt and a bingo fish. We were one number away from winning the free cruise. Freshened up for dinner where I had coconut shrimp, New York strip, and apple pie a la mode. I forgot to note what DW had. The New York strip comes with a gravy that gives it a pot roast flavor so if you like your meat plain make sure that you tell them no gravy. Went back to the cabin and finished packing and put our luggage in the hall, then went to the farewell show in the theater. Quest was held in Two70 and this was followed by virtual fireworks. Our Quest team took third place and we agreed that Royal Quest was the second raciest we had attended, with NCL being the raciest and CCL the third. The virtual fireworks were pretty cool. 4.13.19 Disembarkation Day Up at 5:30 and last coffee at café promenade to go over the final bill. The drinks on the drink package were not reflected on the final bill although they did show up on the invoice displayed on the cabin TV. We are assigned zone 23 with our time for disembarkation between 8 and 8:30. We had our last breakfast in Windjammer and it wasn’t too crowded, surprisingly. Waiting areas for disembarkation are the theater and Two70 and the gangway is located mid-ship. Disembarkation started at 7:40 and our zone was called at 7:50 (up through zone 27). We hit the gangway at 8:05 after we used the restroom one last time. There is a machine in the terminal that takes your picture and compares it with what’s on file and as long as all is okay you don’t see a CBP officer. Closing thoughts- I know at one point that we ate at the Dog Shack but can’t remember exactly when, but the Coney Island I had and the Brat that DW had were very tasty. We definitely got our money’s worth with the drink package, even with only having one drink each on the day we were in Port Canaveral. When events let out of the theater there is a crowd of people waiting to use the elevators, etc. but this is to be expected. In comparing Royal to Carnival there are some minor differences. As I mentioned Anthem is far and away better than any other ship we’ve sailed due to her age (just turned 4), size, shows, etc. We found the activities (trivia, karaoke, family feud, Quest, etc.) to be comparable between all of the lines we sailed. The waiters did “dance” three nights but it was half-hearted and not really well done. The linens (towels, bedding) are comparable to CCL and NCL. CCL and NCL both have body wash in the shower, Royal uses bar soap. The food and service on Royal are a little better on Anthem then they were on CCL or NCL. Royal really impressed DW with how they handled her allergies and this made her feel special. We were favorably impressed with Royal and will definitely sail with them again whenever price and itinerary match up, but I am willing to spend a little more to sail with Royal. How much more? That remains to be seen. Read Less

We took this cruise for our sons spring break. We brought our family...two 17 year olds, 16, 14 11 and 8 year olds. The 8 and 11 year olds were bored out of their minds. Kids activities are few and far between. Nothing is open!! They advertise bumper cars and roller skating but fail to mention that it is only open for an hour a day. You have to pay extra for everything or carry a stupid cup around (pop package) to get pop. And they do not give you a way to wash the cups!!! The rooms were WAY smaller then Disney’s fantasy. Most of the staff was great, but a few sucked (beware of the bigger man in Sorrentos!!!). There was never much cleaning happening compared to other boats. The boat is fairly new, but it is very warn out. Carpets look bad, walls are dented up and cracked. The food was just ok. I would have been just as happy cooking myself. The smoking section is on the same deck as the outdoor pool, which is very poor in my opinion. Kids had to walk thru smoke of 50 people to get to pool. The crowd was very rude. No manners what so ever towards other guests or staff. We have been on Disney several times with my entire family(16 of us) and have never had a bad experience. I will never take this line again or ever recommend it. The only positive thing I can say is thier private island was very nice but beware!!! It is only half open. When it is completed, it is so large that you will never be able to find your family!!! Read Less

This was our 11th Royal Caribbean cruise and second time on Anthem, we did not travel with children and we are both 55 years old. I was not a fan of the entertainment on the ship, boring And just mediocre (the shows) Heath Harrison the comedian, Three Tenors and Ron Lucas the ventriloquist were all VERY good. The crew were friendly pretty much through out the ship.We did Wonderland restaurant which I recommend, the food was very good you won’t come away hungry that’s for sure. We also did Chops which was also good but their meat is more like choice cut rather then prime cut. We have had better quality before. The wait staff was excellent though . My time dinning was not well organized even though we had 6;00 reservations everyday. They seemed like they didn’t know where to seat people. The food quality has come down a lot from prior cruises in my opinion.We did a lot of the activities bumper cars, I-Fly, North Star and enjoyed them , it was to windy to do rock climbing wall and didn’t get to use the run/walking track or flow rider do the high winds. There are plenty of places to relax on the ship,if your looking to go to the pool area /solarium get there early. We were in room 8 262, with a balcony, I was very happy with the room although at bit noisy at times, structural sounds , popping and vibrations at night. We rented a cabana bed at cococay , it was so worth it, It came with 4 water bottles,lunch and 2 floating mats. In Nassau we did Blue lagoon and dolphin encounter, everything went smooth and was very well organized. We did see a lot of glasses plates etc, start piling up on promenade and windjammer about day 3, not enough staff to keep up I guess. All in all it was a decent cruise, but I think we will venture out side of royal Caribbean and look at other cruise lines. Also we did not use the drink package this time, to expensive . But we also had a good amount of on board credit we used for drinks. Read Less

We booked this cruise four months prior to cruising. We have six people and three balcony cabins. We purchased the key program for all of the people in our party. I felt this was a good deal as it gave us the internet package which which was $11 per day by itself. For the extra $8 a day the perks seemed reasonable. I checked with Royal Carribean twice before our sailing to verify the time we would be able to board the ship. During both calls I was told 9:30. I also asked how many key packages they sold. I was told 50. Upon arriving at the dock we were told they would load the ship beginning at 11:30. I spoke to several other people who purchased the key and they confirmed they were all fine the same 9:30 time. We ended up boarding at 10:45. Once on board we enjoyed a great lunch at Chops and began to explore the ship. One of the other major key benefits was reserved seating at the shows you have made reservations for. During the first two shows we attempted to see the first did. It have enough seats in the key section to allow our party to sit together disputed having reservations. At the second show there was no signage indicating where key members would sit. One we located the area there were no seats available at all. After complaining we did get several phone calls asking us what happened but no one offered us any thing to make up for our inconvenience or refund us for the services not received. We also learned that there were 180 key packages sold, not quite the 50 we were told earlier. The priority dembarking at the ports was wonderful. No long lines. We found the service in the dining room to be lacking. Our dirty dishes sat in front of us for nearly 15 minutes one night and our drinks sat empty. There were a few standout dishes but most were merely ok. While all of the other food venues had a large variety of offering nothing really stood out as great. We really enjoyed The Gift but felt Spectra was just weird and Will Rock You only ok. The journey tribute band was great! The movies on deck were a fun stop at night and most of The game shows left everyone laughing. The pool areas in this ship are outstanding with a wide variety that will fit the bill for everyone. The seaplex was fantastic and our teens really enjoyed all the activities that were offered. All in all we had a fun vacation but it didn’t knock my socks off Read Less

Cruised 3/30 to 4/6 from Cape Liberty NJ on the Anthem of the Seas. Ports of call were Port Canaveral Florida, Cocoa Cay and Nassau. Booked a Grand Suite (Cabin #8236) and was very much looking forward to the trip. This was our 9th cruise overall and 4th on Royal Caribbean. Let's start with embarkation at Port Liberty. Organized and efficient but the Teal Sweater Brigade know nothing about cruise status. What I mean by that is when you book a cruise in a Suite or pay to be a Key guest or are just a frequent RC cruiser, there are certain perks... shorter security line, quicker check in, etc. Teal Sweater Brigade continually dumps people in the general line without even asking to see their cabin or cruise status. Not a major inconvenience, but I had to tell them we could go in the shorter security line. Then when we got through security, we were placed in the general check-in line. I pointed out to the Teal Sweater talking to me that we were in a Suite and could go to the Suite check-in line. It seemed like this was new information to her. Again - not a huge inconvenience, just a bit annoying that I had to keep pointing this out. Once on board, we were able to go to Coastal Kitchen for a quick bite of lunch while we waited for our cabin to be ready. Coastal Kitchen was fantastic and the wait staff was just tremendous the entire time we were on board. Shortly after 1pm we went down to our cabin and it was prepared and ready for a week's vacation. The location of this cabin is perfect. Right off the rear elevator stack - convenient to everything. And being on deck 8 was great because you could easily use the stairs to go up or down when the elevators were busy. Let me address the title of my review now. On all of our past cruises we had a fantastic time and were treated like royalty. The staff on the ships couldn't do enough for us and anticipated our needs like they were mind readers. This time out the staff was good. Not great or outstanding but solidly competent and did a really good job of taking care of us. But it just wasn't the usual level of excellence. It could have been the crew, they might have been new to the ship or maybe the cruise line is making cuts that are starting to show. Hard to say. For example... there's always been a language barrier but the crew were always well versed in their specific area of expertise. I may not be able to ask a waiter about the casino, but the waiter knew all of the foods, what allergies were and the different types of liquor that were available. I must have asked a dozen waiters in different restaurants for a Bacardi Oakheart and Coke. The short version is an Oak and Coke. Not one understood what I wanted and delivered some interesting drinks in its place, but none of them were Bacardi Oakheart and Coke. This was somewhat confusing because it was on this same ship three years ago when we sailed to New England and Canada (awesome cruise by the way if you ever get the chance) that they told me I could order it by calling it an Oak and Coke. Not a big deal, but it made ordering drinks a little difficult. My wife wanted a glass of Cabernet by Robert Mondavi. Tried unsuccessfully to order it by name and literally had to point to the wine in the menu. I would think that the language of one's job would be taught to them by the other staff and by RC. Again, it could've been just this crew or maybe RC is cutting corners. Not sure. All of the food was excellent but they did make a small change since we sailed with them last time. On the Anthem of the Seas, you would rotate through the four dining rooms (Grande, Chic, Silk and American Icon) with varied menus. Now they all serve the same food and you can sit wherever you like. We use the MyTime dining, so the only place we couldn't eat was Grande because that was for the fixed meal times. We also made use of the Windjammer Cafe and the food was quite good. I will say the bus staff was a little slow at cleaning tables. Often there were many (9 or 10) tables within eye sight that remained dirty for upwards of 30 minutes. Things didn't work like this in the past. It's possible RC cut back on the bus staff or they just weren't good at their jobs. Everything else was wonderful. Our cabin attendant Agus was great. Took very good care of us and kept our cabin spotless. Only two towel animals during the cruise which disappointed me because I really get a kick out of those. We sailed to Alaska on the Radiance a few years back and our cabin steward did such a good job, we kept all of the towel animals in our room for the whole cruise. We had an entire menagerie by the end of the week. Ports of call were very good. Port Canaveral was excellent because we got to go to Kennedy Space Center. We had done this excursion before when we cruised on the Crown Princess but I would never miss a chance to go to Kennedy. Great tour and always educational. Second port of call was Cocoa Cay, Royal Caribbean's private island. What's not to like. Sun drenched beaches, blue skies, 85 degree weather, alcohol, food and water. We had an awesome time that day. The Suite guests do get to go to a VIP area and enjoy an upscale BBQ. So rather than hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken and ribs, we were able to have lobster tails, steak and corn on the cob. Very nice touch! And our final port of call was Nassau. I'd never been there before and it was every bit as beautiful as I imagined. We had a lovely time walking through town and checking out the shopping and bars. Overall a great time. Then two days at sea to get home. Read Less

It was a gift from our children for our 50th anniversary.. easy on we were on the 13th floor right under the pool. First night was terrible, they were doing repairs above us and were moving things around all night. Did not get any sleep.. called guest services and was told I could get another room.. it was three days when I got another room .they told us they shampooed the rug and it had to dry. Happy we changed room. My tour was cancelled and one show cancelled.. we got a different tour and they corrected show.. after that everything went well. Our cabin workers were great Johnaton and Rosnet.. dining room was very nice and our waiter Jhonny and I Nengah were great. The workers in the dining rooms are hard working and do a great job. Entertainment was great all around. Shows very entertaining and games fun. Service was excellent Ports are good. Cape Canaveral very interesting. NASA. Coco bay awesome.. Bahamas junkaroo beach very rocky... long walk tho beach. Lots of shopping. Debarking easy.. been on royal Caribbean before and debarking was terrible. A lot better this time. Over all it was a very nice trip. Would go again but different ports. Read Less

We stayed in the owners loft suite which includes access to the Royal Genie. Are gratuities were included. All food and drink was included in our fare. When we got to the terminal we were quickly escorted around the rest of the people in line to an expedited Lane. Our royal Genie Wendy ensured we got on the ship quickly. During the entire cruise Wendy took care of everything that we needed. She saved us seats at all the shows we attended so that we could walk right in. We called her when we needed food and it was promptly delivered to our suite. Wendy took care of making all restaurant reservations. She also provided recommendations when we were looking for something to do. Wendy was great and made sure things like food arrived to our stateroom on time as well as our laundry. Wendy has a can do attitude coupled with a strong desire to give you a great vacation. Our are Loft attendant Brian was excellent. At least two times or more a day he cleaned the suite and made sure everything was in top-notch condition. Both Brian and Wendy were very pleasant to be around and you could tell they took a genuine interest in people. The specialty restaurants food was top-notch. We especially likes how unique and delicious Wonderland was. Read Less

We chose this cruise because we wanted to go to the Bahamas and Coco Cay. This was one of the best cruises I have ever been on. The Captain was very informational, the Cruise Director Dennis Charles was fantastic, and the ship and it's activities were all top notch. Unfortunately, we had to make a detour on the way to Port Canaveral for a sick individual who had to be helicoptered off the ship at 2:30 am which caused us to be late getting in to PC. The 4 hour difference caused many excursions to be cancelled, but a life was saved. Coco Cay was great, we rented a Beach Lounger and were shuttled to the location which was away from all the hustle and bustle of the island. We had our own bar which was not busy. The shuttle took us for lunch to the eating area and the choices were many and the service was pretty good for the crowd that was there. Next we went to Atlantis and took a tour called Essential Nassau, this was more of a shopping trip then an actual tour of the island. We went to the Rum Cake Factory, the distillery, Atlantis. We did see a bit of the island but spent most of the time shopping. The shows were great especially "We Will Rock You". Two70 is absolutely fantastic, good show Spectre and many activities and learning opportunities here. The Captain and Cruise Director had a question and answer session and we really learned a lot about the ship and how things operate on the ship. The casino was hopping, a man won $50,000 on a slot machine the first night of the cruise and there were several other $4,000 and $5,000 winners too. Last formal night we had lobster that was delicious. Our servers Terry and Antonius did a good job of keeping with our table of ten. We could always find something good to eat in the Main Dining Room. Breakfast was had at the Wind Jammer and we could always find a seat. Lunch was at many different places on the ship and we tried them all. The massage at the SPA was one of the best I have ever had. We rode on the Northstar, a ten minute ride up and down. This is an amazing ship and even though this was my 19th cruise I have to say it was right at the top. Will be going on Harmony OTS in November and will see how that compares. Read Less

I was a first time cruiser so naturally I was a bit wary about seasickness and the overall experience on the ship. I was pleasantly surprised with my experience. The first thing I noticed was how clean the ship was! There were always plenty of activities to do on board on both sea and port days. The food in the main dining rooms for dinner was excellent and breakfast at solarium bistro was awesome! I only have a few negatives: 1) our arrival to port canaveral was majorly delayed due to a medical emergency on board early in the morning. That’s uncontrollable but our excursions were cancelled and on the Royal Live TV channel, the cruise director stated they’d try to get us transportation to nearby activities. Well, when we showed up to port- we were docked on the opposite side of the port and they had no transportation available to even get to the other side of the port. An Uber was $60 ONE WAY! That was a bummer. 2) the main dining rooms breakfast and lunch were not great. Sub par at best. The selection from the menu wasn’t great and the buffet offered wasn’t anything to write home about. The dinner was excellent. 3) Brass and Bock- idk if my group showed up at the wrong time (8pm isn’t too late for a bar) but my party of 6 ordered lobster Mac and cheese wedges, poutine fries and nachos-and it came out as plain Mac and cheese (no lobster or wedges), just nacho chips, and fries with minimal cheese on top-no meat! We were so disappointed with the food and waiter we got our money back at guest services. Despite these negatives my overall experience was amazing. I would highly recommend Anthem of the Seas and Royal Caribbean to anyone! Read Less

We had an opportunity to try out a bigger ship at a highly discounted price. For us, the package would have to be very good one for us to go back on Anthem. It wasn't that there were a lot of disappointments, but there were very few "WOW" moments. I was expecting a lot of WOW moments. The disembarking process was one of the most organized I've seen. We were out the door 15 min before our promised time of 7:30. For the boarding process, we went through it pretty quickly, got here around 10:15. The checkin lady sent us to the right were all the regular guests were sitting. Hubby is like, "No, this is wrong, we should be with the Suite people". He asked someone directly people and sure enough, we had been sent to the wrong side to wait. We only waited with the suite people about 15 min and then we go to board by 11. Everything when smoothly. The room (a Junior Suite) far far exceeded our expectations and eating dinner in the Coastal Kitchen was a great and yummy experience and the staff were the best of the staff.. We don't like formal nights and didn't really want to dress up, we were all about relaxing this time around. We feel the smaller ships offer the ability to interact with the same people over the course of the cruise. Windjammer lunch was like a free for all with kids running and rude people pushing in front of you to get to the food or open table. I've always taken a power strip with me (last 7 cruises) and this time it was confiscated and hubby had to go and get our luggage. we will keep to the smaller ships... we did a transatlantic on Brilliance and another on Freedom. We didn't go to any of the shows (not our thing) and the night we had scheduled for North Star was too windy (Thur). It also seems like the new "customer service" area as a disaster area. The staff couldn't answer every question or gave me wrong answers. The boards on each floor that was supposed to help were either down and asking for a PIN or never had the menus we were looking for. We essentially just gave up on them. It was nice to use the TV to see the menus but why is it the more technology on the ship, the less it seems to work consistently? It seems like RC would like to do away with the customer service and have it all done on kiosks and lose the human touch. Not a good move. Overall, I gave the cruise great ratings. This cruise was for us to unwind and just chill out and not try to do everything possible we could. I go in several naps a day and some reading as well. That is what we were looking for. The elevators were the biggest joke every. Everyone soon learned that you have to get in a Down elevator to go UP!! This was because by the time got your floor (13 for us), the elevator was full so we took the stairs many times. Same thing with going to lower floors, like 4 & 5. You would think with so many elevators, there would not be long lines of people standing around to try and get somewhere. All in all, the cruise was not a terribly bad experience, just a rather disappointing one. I'm sure for those with kids it was heaven to send them off on their own. That was the other thing that I noticed, more unsupervised children running around and playing on the steps and trying to run you out of the way. I was walking with a cane due to a bad knee and almost got ran over several times or had to move aside to avoid getting ran down. Not may idea of fun.. Read Less

This was our 14th cruise and 10th on Royal. We choose this cruise for convenience and wanting to sail on the Anthem. Parking was a breeze along with embarkation. We walked in terminal and checked in and walked on the ship. All before 11 a.m.. Service was very good. We did not dine in any speciality restaurants. We were very pleased with the choices and layout of the Windjammer. We did my time dining. We went before 5:30 and never had difficulty getting a table. Don't miss the roast beef sandwiches and view in 270. We enjoyed the All AccessTour. The tour took us from the laundry room, thru the kitchens, freezers, the bridge even met the captain up there. It was a very comprehensive tour by Bernardo. Well worth the money. We had made reservations for the ifly experience along with North Star. Both really neat to do. My husband is almost 81 and loved the ifly. We met friends in Port Canaveral. We have been to Coco Beach, WDW, Universal and Space center before. All worth a visit if you have never been. We arrived in Port later than expected due to having to medivac a passenger during the night. So anyone with plans for Universal or WDW did not get to go. If you have done all of the above there is absolutely nothing else to do there, unless you buy an excursion. Coco Cay was outstanding. There is plenty to do there. I would suggest you do your research before your trip so you don't miss anything. We rented a beach lounger before we left. They go quickly. They are located away from the crowds Shuttle service is available to take you everywhere. However, the walk from the ship to the areas on island to get shuttles is long. It would be nice if shuttle was available from ship for passengers who had difficulty with that long walk. The Cruise Director and his team were outstanding. Be Sure to reserve all your shows prior to sailing. Each one is wonderful. The staff is so talented. We have been to Nassau many times. We stayed onboard . This was the day we did the North Star. Amazing views of the island from 300 feet above sea level. Unfortunately, the young man operating North Star could not answer any questions we had about what we were seeing from the pod. It would have been nice if he was able to point out various things and knew something about the island. They could prepare the info and he could just read it. All in all a very enjoyable cruise. Read Less