Anthem of the Seas

Frozen2014

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jan 12, 2014
Anyone been on Anthem? We've been on Allure and have Symphony booked. Saw a decent price for March break 2 years out, and the fact that it's out of NY is great as it means that we have the option of driving (a long drive of about 9hrs but can be done).

Will we be busy enough after being on Oasis class? I know as well that the first day or two (and similar on end) will be colder...but looks like a neat ship.
 
We have sailed Anthem twice, a 12 day southern Caribbean cruise and a 12 day western Caribbean cruise. We love the ship, it is beautiful and there is plenty for all to do. The SeaPlex has basketball, soccer, roller skating, bumper cars, ping pong, video games, an arcade, and a trapeze school.

There are three pools, 2 indoor, one is adults only. Two70 is a fantastic venue to see shows, talks, or just relax. We Will Rock You is a great show of music by Queen, shown in the main theater.

Because most of the ship is indoor, the weather outside won't bother you going and coming from port. When we cruised in January, it was 13 F on the day we boarded and we were fine.
Denise
 
Thanks for the response. Guess one of my concerns is that some of the activities involve sign up (north star, ripcord)...where very few people go at a time. (Correct me if I'm wrong). And for the others such as SeaPlex, only 2 pools (1 available on cold days?) and only 1 flowrider, I can see it being super crowded with long lines as we are looking at school holiday time in March. When I look at the deck plans, there seems to only be activities on 2 upper decks. But having said that, we spent most of our time in pool, rock wall and flowrider on Allure anyways...in between meals and shows so probably similar...and we were kept super busy. Sounds like you were kept busy though, and your cruises were 12 days vs 7.

Are there DreamWorks events/shows?

Guess I'm also debating on another cruise (as we have 2 booked) or Disney World...but honestly, we love both kinds of holidays and the Anthem price is right...especially when considering flight to NY OR even option of driving is a big savings too.
 
I sailed on the Anthem a few years ago on a 12 day cruise out of NY. This was my first time sailing with RCL after 8 consecutive Disney Cruises and although I enjoyed my cruise I think RCL fell short when it came to my two important cruise criteria.... service and entertainment (in comparison DCL). Nevertheless, I did enjoy all the various actives on board the ship (wave machine, virtual skydiving, rock wall, bumper cars, roller skating, etc.) and the numerous paid dining options. I also thought the technology around the ship was great like the electronic maps in the various hallways and my virtual balcony was really nice. I would definitely sail on the Anthem again and other RCL ships but I prefer DCL.
 


You can sign up for north star and rip cord online before you cruise. That is what we did and there was no problem with waits or anything.

Regarding entertainment on Anthem vs DCL, Anthem stages a full fledged Broadway musical (We will rock you) with a live band, while DCL has cute Disney shows with recorded music (basically karaoke). I was much more impressed with Anthem (RCL) . I am a professional musician so I look for details like that.
 
Thanks for the replies. I'm not worried of the entertainment quality as I think Royal is amazing in that department. Saw We Will Rock You a couple times (not on ship) and loved it, so looking forward to seeing it on Anthem. I also know the style of Royal entertainment and like the variety.

What activities do you need to pay? Sky Fly? North Pad? Or is it just standard stuff like 'jewelry making' or flowrider lesson?

How crazy do the line ups get at bumper cars, roller blading etc?

I went ahead and booked us. Can always cancel it but for now, we're going. (This will be our 3rd cruise in a row so still debating if this trip should be Disney World instead)
 
North Star and Rip Cord are free. Flowrider is free unless you want a lesson. I think there is a charge for sushi lessons, cupcake decorating, things like that. Lines can be long for bumper cars and roller skating (they are old fashioned skates, not roller blades), but if you go right at the start time it moves along fairly quickly. If you can go the first day, a lot of people haven't learned about the SeaPlex yet so the lines aren't bad.
Denise
 


Thanks so much. Great....so sounds like the additional fees are similar to other ships....and not the main activities.
Too funny that it's the old skates...I'll feel more at home at least...my kids maybe not so much...lol.
We did book over school holiday so thanks for the tip about going right away. It was like that with the zipline too on Allure.
 
We did 8 night Bahamas cruise on Anthem this past March break. We are from Ontario, and almost everyone was from Ontario on March Break. There were over 1000 kids on the ship. We missed out on CocoCay (pier wasn't built yet and the waves were too big), so we only had two port days on an 8 night cruise and we weren't bored. My kids were 4 and 6. For bumper cars, trapeze, etc., we would get in line about a half hour before the event started, and would usually be in the first or second group. Note that a kid has to be 5 to do the bumper cars (my 4 year old was 2.5 weeks shy of 5 and was not allowed), but kids under 5 can roller skate if their feet fit the smallest skates and an adult goes out with them in regular, closed toe shoes. I did ask one person in the bumper car lineup in the middle of the time slot, and they had spent an hour in line. We never tried to get a ping pong table, but those looked busy. Only 2-3 of the 5 XBoxes were working, but my girls did get a chance to play Lego Marvel Super Heroes (they love the Lego games on the XBox) without a super long wait. All the indoor spaces were great when the weather was cold (March Break this year was pretty chilly). The family events, like family bingo, were crowded. They ran out of bingo cards and had to turn families away. When the weather was good, the rock climbing lines were very long. Flowrider lineups were OK when my husband tried it. My kids only went to Adventure Ocean a few times, and they got in, but I did hear that some of the AO rooms sometimes filled. There weren't any Dreamworks shows, but there was a dance with a character-type events, as well as meet and greets.
 
Muskrat, thank you for sharing! Oh oh...we are also from Ontario and booked march break 2020. So definitely sounds like lines will be really bad. On our Allure cruise, our kids had no interest in the kids club but did love the rock wall, Flowrider, ping pong...and for sure will love the Sea Plex activities and anything to do with video games. My kids will be 14 and 10 when we go so age shouldn't be an issue (and my younger one is really tall). Definitely will take your advice and line up for first activity of the day before it opens. Too bad about CocoCay as you hear that a lot (we're also stopping there in August so we could have same issue). That beach looks really nice. By our Anthem cruise, at least the dock will be built.

How bad were the pools considering there are only 2 (and I guess 1 pool on cooler days)? Would you go again at March break or just forget it?
 
I would definitely go again. On embarkation day, my kids were the first ones in the indoor pool - they had the pool to themselves for a little while! For the rest of the cruise, the pools were busy, but not unusable. It wouldn't be possible to swim laps or anything (and the pools are too small for that anyway), but the kids could play in the pool. My kids were too short for the small round pool with the current, so I didn't pay attention to how busy it was. I did notice that the whirlpools/hot tubs/whatever they call them were very busy.

When the weather was finally hot enough to sunbathe outside, it was hard to get a lounge chair.

I would definitely go again on March Break, especially for the price (no flights needed, and we got a kids sail free promotion).
 
Ok phew...really good to hear. If you would go again, then that's a good sign. Smart to bring your bathing suits and go to the pool right away. And good to hear that pools weren't elbow to elbow. Guess everyone spreads out between the activities. My kids liked the donut pool on Allure. Didn't realize there was one on Anthem too.

Did you drive from Ontario? We're in suburb of Toronto and that was why we selected Anthem....as we would have option of driving if needed. Plus, price is pretty good. Next March break we're going on Symphony and it's pretty crazy what we're paying for the cruise and flight.
 
We drove from Beamsville (between Hamilton and St. Catharines). Our cruise left on the Friday, so we drove on Thursday. We were ready to leave earlier if there was a snow storm or something. I liked the fact we were driving so it was easier to be flexible. It turned out there was a snowstorm on Wednesday, but the roads were clear by the time we were driving on Thursday. Driving also let us bring more stuff. We had a regular balcony room and there was tons of storage space.
 
Oh true...March can still bring snow (and even this past mid-April we had an ice storm so you never know). And yes, that's the beauty is that you can change the day you are planning on leaving around weather and other....vs having a flight booked. Our cruise leaves on Sunday so we would leave Fri or Sat. I have a bad back though so splitting the drive up into smaller segments would be better...and good its a Sunday departure (may need to return in one day as kids return to school on the Monday).
Great to hear you had lots of storage. We have booked interior rooms, but 2 of them so should be ok for any extra suitcases. :-)
 
Oh true...March can still bring snow (and even this past mid-April we had an ice storm so you never know). And yes, that's the beauty is that you can change the day you are planning on leaving around weather and other....vs having a flight booked. Our cruise leaves on Sunday so we would leave Fri or Sat. I have a bad back though so splitting the drive up into smaller segments would be better...and good its a Sunday departure (may need to return in one day as kids return to school on the Monday).
Great to hear you had lots of storage. We have booked interior rooms, but 2 of them so should be ok for any extra suitcases. :-)
Luggage fits great under the beds!!
Denise
 
I was on the Anthem last year for a 5 day Bermuda cruise (my first ever cruise) and I loved the ship. With it only being a 5 day cruise, I didn't get to see the whole ship. I just booked another cruise on the Anthem for June 2019 for a 9 day eastern Caribbean and at this time I will get to see more of the ship.
 
I was on the Anthem last year for a 5 day Bermuda cruise (my first ever cruise) and I loved the ship. With it only being a 5 day cruise, I didn't get to see the whole ship. I just booked another cruise on the Anthem for June 2019 for a 9 day eastern Caribbean and at this time I will get to see more of the ship.

So nice to hear. What did you like best? Did you spend a lot of time indoors or could you enjoy outside too? Guess it depends on time of year (and June will be no issue at all - would love to do 9 day but will "settle" with 7)
 
So nice to hear. What did you like best? Did you spend a lot of time indoors or could you enjoy outside too? Guess it depends on time of year (and June will be no issue at all - would love to do 9 day but will "settle" with 7)

My friend and I had a balcony room on the 13th deck, so some of the time we spent it on our balcony and I would venture to the pools and the decks above to sit and relax. We traveled in September, so the first night was a little chilly (light coat) and then the 2 days in Bermuda were great, and we were off the boat most of the day until dinner time. We did the late dinner (8:15pm) and then we went right to the night time entertainment.

One piece of advice, once you get on the boat and have some lunch (and can get into your cabin), go up to the top deck and watch the views of leaving NYC. I found the best place to watch is back by the Flo-rider.

Going on the longer cruise next year, I will have more time to do some of the other things on the ship. I definitely want to go on the North Star...a couple of people in our group went on it and they loved it!!

I know they did tell us that the one pool that has the roof on it can retract on warm days. We had warmer days, but we didn't have "hot" days.
 
Thanks for sharing your experience. And great tip about catching great views when leaving NYC. I'll keep that in mind.
I'm surprised that Sept was cool...but guess it depends on the year the weather in NYC (I'm from Toronto, which has similar weather). We're going March so expect cold weather when close to NY (which happens to be our cruising days - which makes sense as it's travelling to warmer weather)
I definitely want to try North Star too...and my son will want to try iFly. Great you're able to go again on a longer cruise.
 
Hi, Guys! We are DCL Gold and have also cruised on two smaller lines, but we have never cruised on such a large ship before. We are booked on the Anthem of the Seas for June 2019 5-night Bermuda. My friend and I and our two daughters; two connecting rooms. Since we're so used to Disney I have a few questions: What sort of beverage package do we need if we like soda (I'm assuming there is no self serve 24/7 beverage station?). And can anyone give me a run down on the difference between Traditional and My Time dining? We always opt for 1st seating (5:45pm) on Disney. Just curious. Thank you in advance!!

We have sailed Anthem twice, a 12 day southern Caribbean cruise and a 12 day western Caribbean cruise. We love the ship, it is beautiful and there is plenty for all to do. The SeaPlex has basketball, soccer, roller skating, bumper cars, ping pong, video games, an arcade, and a trapeze school.

There are three pools, 2 indoor, one is adults only. Two70 is a fantastic venue to see shows, talks, or just relax. We Will Rock You is a great show of music by Queen, shown in the main theater.

Because most of the ship is indoor, the weather outside won't bother you going and coming from port. When we cruised in January, it was 13 F on the day we boarded and we were fine.
Denise

We did 8 night Bahamas cruise on Anthem this past March break. We are from Ontario, and almost everyone was from Ontario on March Break. There were over 1000 kids on the ship. We missed out on CocoCay (pier wasn't built yet and the waves were too big), so we only had two port days on an 8 night cruise and we weren't bored. My kids were 4 and 6. For bumper cars, trapeze, etc., we would get in line about a half hour before the event started, and would usually be in the first or second group. Note that a kid has to be 5 to do the bumper cars (my 4 year old was 2.5 weeks shy of 5 and was not allowed), but kids under 5 can roller skate if their feet fit the smallest skates and an adult goes out with them in regular, closed toe shoes. I did ask one person in the bumper car lineup in the middle of the time slot, and they had spent an hour in line. We never tried to get a ping pong table, but those looked busy. Only 2-3 of the 5 XBoxes were working, but my girls did get a chance to play Lego Marvel Super Heroes (they love the Lego games on the XBox) without a super long wait. All the indoor spaces were great when the weather was cold (March Break this year was pretty chilly). The family events, like family bingo, were crowded. They ran out of bingo cards and had to turn families away. When the weather was good, the rock climbing lines were very long. Flowrider lineups were OK when my husband tried it. My kids only went to Adventure Ocean a few times, and they got in, but I did hear that some of the AO rooms sometimes filled. There weren't any Dreamworks shows, but there was a dance with a character-type events, as well as meet and greets.
 

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