Let me start by saying we are not fussy cruisers. My wife and I take most things in stride. If your looking for a brand new ship then cruise in a new ship. This one shows her age BUT....we had a great time. This was our 40th wedding anniversary and we were joined by my wife's twin sister and her husband doing their 38th anniversary (kids lol). We have cruised most ship from Oasis class down. We made diamond on our trip as well. Boarding was a breeze. We got to the port at 11:00am and were on the ship by 11:30. This was the fastest embark I've ever had. Then we had a nice lunch in the Windjammer and hit the pool and the hot tub before going back to our room for muster call. We ate at the included dinning only. The first night they wanted to split us up to 2 tables. They quickly straightened it out. While the menu is a bit repetitive we still found good food to try. The wait staff was truly outstanding. The vision class of ships have a great view from most public rooms. The smoke from the casino is very noticeable in near by rooms like Boleros. Being a non smoker this was a real downer. They need better ventilation in the casino. Finally a great shout out to Luni in guest services, Gener and Inyoman our wait staff and Martin in Windjammer. These and many others made this a great cruise for me! 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

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

I choose this cruise because of the destination and the pictures on the web. However, I quickly found out that this boat was not at all how it looked on the site. The paint was peeling on the wall of the boat inside and out. Crew was painting areas of the boat throughout the trip. The boat had nothing exciting to do. The arcade only had 4 games. It was the size of a closet. The pool was over run by children day in and day out. The hot tubs were consistently occupied by children And they were supposed to be open 24 hours but were closed each day before the pools as well. This was not a boat for couples or married pple. Only families with small children. The food was less than average and our beds were like sleeping on a slab of concrete. We had back pains every morning and tossed and turned all night. Cococay Beach was horrible. It was under construction and there was basically nothing to do there at all. Nothing like we expected. Total disappointment. Read Less

We chose Royal Caribbean based of off the vibrant brochure and commercials we wanted to go on a cruise thought wld be full of excitement. First off our room was incredibly small the shower was very small the shower head would fall off and the water didn't go down the drain completely which left it with a uncomfortable smell. The bed is like sleeping on the floor extremely painful to sleep on. Dont be confused by the pictures of the ship it is a very dull and unappealing sight. When we were on our final destination the pictures and television showed us an amazing view of a beach with a waterpark but when we got there the beach looked like a construction site there was no waterpark just a bunch of signs saying coming soon. The food was decent but again not as advertised. Also there is no iron in your room they wont tell you that but instead they will let u get ur clothes pressed for a small fee...found that out the hard way. The crew was the best thing about the cruise. We will not be going on anymore Royal Caribbean cruises I'd rather get on a raft and pedal myself than to go on another Royal Caribbean cruise. Never been so excited to get off of vacation Read Less

We travelled as a family of 3 - Mom, Dad and our 7yr old daughter. We chose Mariner as the itinerary worked for us and we’ve cruised Royal previously. We were also looking forward to the newer amenities offered since the ship’s recent revamp. Embarkation: Dead easy. We booked a Jr Suite so we were swept up to the Suite lounge once we arrived at around 1:30pm. Once our docs were checked we were onboard in less than 15 minutes. Fantastic. Cabin: Our 10th floor Jr suite - Rm 1694 - was at the very back of the ship (stern for ship folks..) with an awesome view from our balcony. This was our third time in a Jr suite but our first rear balcony and we loved it! As others have described, the room was very spacious; certainly spacious enough for the 3 of us. The pull out sofa which was made up nightly was perfect for our daughter but I imagine it would not work for a child over 10, maybe 12 years old. The bathtub was great and necessary for our daughter who still likes to take baths. It was also good for our showers. The balcony was huge... a respite from the busyness of the ship. My favorite place. Dining: We ate at Windjammer buffet, the main dining room (5th floor), Chops Grille and the Promenade. Windjammer was fine. Lots of variety and we were only challenged with finding seats on the 3rd morning. Otherwise the buffet seating was more than adequate. The food was decent enough - not great, not bad. We enjoyed it. We only ate dinner in the MDR once and it was just okay. The service was excellent but the food was average. My husband liked his steak but my short rib wasn’t very good. My daughter isn't a foodie so no real opinion from her. 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

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

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