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7:37am bag checked and through security, seated in the Delta lounge at Terminal B EWR.
I had a bit of wait for a Lyft ride as the closest driver was finishing up a ride before coming to get me, other wise I would have been about 15 minutes faster.  Sunday morning, no traffic.
Cruise Summary
It was interesting to sail into Miami and be on the inaugural visit.  Getting a glass block on this cruise will remind me of this visit to Miami every time I look at it.
Missing CocoCay was of course a bummer but I knew that was a distinct possibility when I booked.  Bring on the pier!
I actually never left the ship the whole cruise. The ship was the destination.  
Seeing both Nick Weir's presentation and later in the cruise the backstage tour of the Royal Theater has given me new insight and respect for the entertainment that Royal produces for its ships.  I'm going to make a bigger effort to take in some of the broadway musicals I might otherwise have skipped.  Maybe even Cats (or at least half of it).  I know some people especially in North East wish that Anthem would get different shows but I have a much understanding now why logistically its not possible to move shows between ships more frequently.  Anthem is well suited to winters in NYC and no other class of ship would work as well there in the colder months.
I was very pleased to be able to use my balcony on the last day even as far North as we were in January.  Pleasant surprise.  I used to question why on earth would I fly to NYC to cruise when Florida is so much closer to the Caribbean but since I love sea days I've gotten over that.
Nine nights was too short and I regret not doing a B2B this time however that would mess up my Symphony glass block strategy so...
The changes to the diamond lounge and Music Hall were at first a disappointment but as it turns out those bartenders knew me and served many of us that remained loyal to this bar as if it was still the diamond lounge extension it used to be.  Tipping them for each drink certainly helped.  I figure if I'm getting free drinks and avoiding the cost of a drink package what's a handful of dollars each night?  They were great bartenders who kept our glasses full.  Loyalty does pay (as does tipping).
Cruising solo comes with a tendency to interact with the crew more.  I continued to meet new crew and this morning as I stood in the self-carry line to disembark my cabin attendant from my last cruise more than 30 days ago remembered me and came over to say hello.  I still haven't met a grumpy crew member.  Even our diamond concierge who lost his uncle back home while we were in Nassau put on a brave face and executed his duties without missing a beat. 
Given the gratuity increase this year I decided not to leave a cash tip for my cabin attendant in addition to the auto gratuities.  Half the time I told him not to service my cabin and when he did it was pretty quick as I'm not a messy person.   
I'll be back on Anthem one day and I'm looking forward to meeting her sister next January.  Until then, bring on Liberty!

On my Disney cruise last year, we were in Grand Cayman end of March and weather was really nice :) I really enjoyed my Stingray City excursion and am hoping to return soon! 

On an unrelated note, I received an email from my mother who is currently on a cruise and was docked in St. Thomas yesterday. It's just no fair goddamnit, it's -8 C (18 F) right now :( 

End of the Last a Sea Day and Reflections on the cruise:
After killing a couple hours on deck 12 after the Sexiest Man competition, which had some alcohol induced cringe moments between one of the judges and Flavio, the Activities Manager, we did some much needed napping there and a little later in the Solarium. I was sad that I was still too full after Chops to have another Kummelwick. 


More napping was to be had, so that continued to happen into the evening.

We had intentions of going to the farewell show before dinner. That did not happen, so we opted for the drawing to guess the carat weight of a piece of tanzanite jewelry in order to win it. I missed it by a half carat, and someone else nailed it. Congrats to him!
We listened to some music by the Kronos Band, and I shared a couple of scopes. They moved from country to Jimmy Buffet, and are my favorite musical ensemble I have heard at sea. Their range goes from Sinatra to Otis Redding, and country to metal. They were extraordinary. 
Screenshot from the Periscope
When 8:30 pm came around, we headed to the MDR for dinner. 

When we arrived, we made sure that we expressed our gratitude to two amazing waiters, Arturo and Lyudmylla. One of my favorite parts of cruising is this connection that develops which I believe is sincere on their part. I have yet to experience a cruise where a short, temporary friendship develops at a minimum and some are Facebook friends to this day. 
So, we love giving some extra to these fantastic people! We also had a chance on disembarkation day to express the same gratitude to Bernardo, our stateroom attendant. I hope that everyone appreciates how hard they work to make guests’ experience wonderful. I will make sure they get our highest evaluation on the email request to do a survey.
Final Thoughts
Embarkation — A+
There’s something about Terminal 6 in Tampa that has it over on Terminal 3. I certainly don’t know all of the behind the scenes contributions to the experience for guests, but it was superior than my previous experience embarking on the Empress.
Stateroom 4014 — A+
access eas early layout was perfect size was perfect everything worked it was close to the forward elevators the Centrum was easily accessible This is by far my favorite stateroom in any of my cruises. I have stayed in a jr suite, Superior OV with balcony, Inside Promenade, Inside. I think it is easily the best value I have experienced, and while balconies are nice, I have rarely used them when I had them. Stateroom Attendant, Bernardo — A Main Dining Room — B
while beautiful, it is over-crowded and there were some organizational and procedural issues that affected others as well as us. I think it had to do with communication between the Head waiters at the two seatings   Waiter and Assistant Waiter, Arturo and Lyudmylla — A ++ I cant speak highly enough of them. They made what could have been a difficult circumstance into not a big deal. In my view, they should run the dining room. They were that good. If you are sailing on Brilliance within the next two months, ask for them.  Food — B++ I could be wrong, but I sensed that some of the organizational issues affected the food quality at times. It was never bad, it just wasn’t as good as I have experienced on other ships.  Windjammer — A
The Windjammer on Brilliance was my favorite I have experienced. It may be because the honey stung chicken was as good as billed, and I finally knocked it off my bucket list. They executed breakfast really well. The made to order omelets were the best I have had at sea. I love the open area at the back. Love. It. I consider Rita’s part of the Windjammer and would like to see Royal Caribbean commit to it or change it into something more appealing. It seems like they are just letting it sit there without any availability of their old menu except on certain days in the Windjammer. Specialty Dining (Chops) — A
i would rate it higher if the Chops on Empress didn’t edge it out by a smidgen. Solarium — B++
I would rate it higher if it was a little larger. I think the Solarium in Enchantment is larger, and remains my favorite. It is a very beautiful spot on the ship.  I really like the Park Cafe and the offerings there. They do Kummelwick roast beef sandwiches during lunch, which was a very nice surprise.  Gym — A
good staff, layout and assortment of exercise options Shopping — B-
they didn’t have a good selection of logo gear, and a limited size availability. I didn’t really look at anything else. Bars
Pub — A+ — favorite pub I have experienced in a ship R-Bar — A
Vintages — B+ — the liquor package seems to be a necessity because the a la carte pricing is quite high. The ambience and location on the ship is great.  Schooner — A — great spot for a cocktail. I really like the location on this ship Solarium Bar — A- — its a little small. The service is really good.  Entertainment — B+  
what we saw was nice, but not set apart from other experiences.  Music — A
The Kronos Band was just great. The options at Schooner are mixed. The Pub singer was pretty good, but we didn’t listen that much.  Movie Theater — A
we saw two movies here, and this is such a great amenity. When you want to chill out. I’d like to see more of these in the fleet. Special Events - A+
The effort and fun out into the College Football National Championship game experience on board was far over and above expectations. It was great, and I would have rated it the same had my team not won.  Dis-embarkation — A +
We self assisted with our luggage. Actually, we have never used the ship’s service. That’s what wheels are for. We were able to walk off with no lines at about 8:45. There was a five minute line at customs. This is the first cruise where we did not have to fill out a customs form. We were in our Lyft 10 minutes later, and having breakfast #2 by 10:30 am. Other — This is just an observation
I’ve never seen so many Pinnacles in one place as on this sailing. Everywhere I turned, I saw a name badge with Pinnacle Club on it. Overall — A-
Some aspects of this cruise could have been better. The ship has an overcrowded feel, especially in the MDR. The beauty of the ship, the well known connection to the sea, the many amenities and especially the crew make for an amazing experience. 

On my Disney cruise last year, we were in Grand Cayman end of March and weather was really nice :) I really enjoyed my Stingray City excursion and am hoping to return soon! 

On an unrelated note, I received an email from my mother who is currently on a cruise and was docked in St. Thomas yesterday. It's just no fair goddamnit, it's -8 C (18 F) right now :( 

I'm hearing whisperings of an overnight stay here in Nassau and a missed call on CocoCay for tomorrow.  Waiting for the Captain to announce it.  

Day 6 - Nassau
We arrived early with the morning mist yet to be burned off as the sun began to rise.


First into port this morning.


Soon after we docked another Royal Caribbean ship entered the harbor.

That's Independence of the Seas executing a turn so she could back into the slip beside us.



Nice day here today.  Later in the day I was walking laps around the ship and caught Gigi looking whimsically at me with North Star looming over her shoulder.

I know the feeling, love solo travelling myself :D Looking forward to my first solo cruise on Adventure later in December!

Since this was Anthem's first visit to Miami I went overboard taking pictures.  Go figure, me taking pictures.  Here are some of them:
























And with that it was time to leave...

Day 5 - Miami
This will mark the first time Anthem of the Seas will have ever been to Miami and an inaugural visit of a ship is a big deal.  Somewhere on the ship, often in the bridge or elsewhere you will find plaques presented to the bridge crew whenever a ship makes a port for the very first time.  I suspect a new plaque was presented to the Captain today.
The day started out early for me and I made my way to a bridge wing way to catch the early signs or a sunrise.  


We were still beyond the 12 mile territorial limit at this point as we slowly made our way to intercept the navigational path into the Port of Miami.

They raised North Star to it's highest position which I later learned holds a Guinness Book of World Records as the highest viewing deck of any ship. 

It was empty and would remain here for the rest of our arrival into Miami.

The weather wasn't the best but it began to clear as we moved closer to the channel and picked up our pilot.
What isn't obvious in these photos is the distinct channel that leads to the mouth of the Port.  It isn't very wide and the Captain did a perfect job keeping us in the center all the way.

We passed the new Royal Caribbean Miami terminal that is under construction.  This will be eventually become the home for Symphony of the Seas. 


Several crew came out to the fore deck to take in this special occasion. 

Miami is home to Royal Caribbean's headquarters and it isn't far from the terminals.


Towards the end of this channel is a turning basin which barely looks big enough for a ship this size.

Our Captain made it look easy and with our turn complete we were pointing 180° back in the direction we came from.

Our terminal for today is located directly adjacent to the Royal Caribbean HQ building.

Our bridge crew slowly nudged us to the pier and with that the first visit of Anthem of the Seas to Miami was officially in the books.


Apparently along the way a water cannon salute was accomplished according to our Activities Director however I missed it.
A news helicopter did a fly past and we made the local CBS news:
http://miami.cbslocal.com/video/category/spoken-word-wfortv/3797274-cruise-capital-of-the-world-gets-glimpse-of-anthem-of-the-seas/

I strongly encourage anyone to live blog their cruise right here on RoyalCaribbeanblog.com.  After all...
(stolen from my previous Anthem live blog)

Seriously I enjoy reading other live blogs because they cover things I don't cover or think about.  I cruise differently which is what is great about cruising and it's nice to see things from another perspective.  

The best camera is the one you have with you.  Seriously.  
It's like buying a boat.  Someone always has a bigger, faster, shinier boat compared to yours but that doesn't mean you can't have fun in whatever boat you have.  

I rarely take my 'good' camera to dinner.  These are all iPhone 7 Plus photos.  

Let's talk Jamie's.  Hope everyone has finished dinner.  
Jamie's is located towards the aft on deck 5 in 'The VIA'.  It's is right beside Vintages.  There is indoor seating both along The VIA (like patio seating at a city café) as well as indoor seating deeper inside the restaurant.  There is also outdoor seating on the port side of the promenade deck that is covered by glass and truly outdoor.






Dinner tonight at Jamie's started with some Garlic Bread.

I tried the Vegetable Plank this time along with the Peperonata Bruschetta (again).  It was so good last time I had to anchor this meal with some things the same.



I had the meat plank on my last visit so in the interest of trying something different I tried the vegetable plank.  I've always strayed towards the meat plank but the vegetable plank has much better flavors. I'll be doing both again.
 
For a side dish I had the Crispy Polento Chips.

For my main course I tied the Simple Baked Lasagna.  I was going to try something else but the waiter suggested this and he was right.  It was very good.  Very hot and very filling.  After finishing three quarters of it I raised my white napkin in surrender. 


I didn't include the dessert menu in the Jamie's post a few nights ago so here it is:

I was going to try the Raspberry Rippled Pavlova but my waiter warned me it's very sweet so I took his advice and went with the Epic Chocolate Brownie.  

Section O, Row M, seat G.  If anyone has ever seen Monty Pythons Life of Brian when the waiter offers 'a wafer thin mint', that is how I feel right now.  Don't google it, trust me.  I'm not sure I'll eat for the rest of the cruise.

Back from my massage.  I feel like melted butter.  I may need to make this a cruise habit from now on.
I've booked Jamie's again for dinner and I'm looking forward to exploring more of the menu.
For the rest of the afternoon I'm enjoying an empty ship.

Quick look at Sorrentos during a quiet lunch while many guests off the ship in Port Canaveral.




Pepperoni wasn't bad.  A lot better than some other cruise lines where the oil runs off the pizza.

Day 4 - Port Canaveral
We've arrived in Port Canaveral pulling into port as I slept.  I could feel the ship maneuvering but closed my eyes and drifted back to sleep. 
After a quick breakfast I walked the track on deck 15.  It finally feels like a Bahama cruise.  In fact it feels like it could be become a hot day out there.
Last night I ate in the My Time MDR.  I've posted most of the MDR menus in my December Live Blog on Anthem so I'm not going to repeat them here.  That live blog can be found here:
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/5068-anthem-112517-712-b2b/
Service was fast, food was good.  No complaints.
I'm staying on the ship for most of the day.  I've got a massage booked this afternoon.  After that I may venture off just to check out the terminal.  Last time here we were on the other side of the harbor.

Day 3 - Sea Day
For the record, here are the SeaPlex activity hours for this cruise:

It's Playoff Sunday!

North Star ride this morning timed perfectly for some sunshine (the liquid variety).



Lunch at Café Promenade.  I like the small sandwich offerings after a couple of days of some big dinners.  

With regrets I'm only accepting applicants who have Pinnacle status or above at this time.  ?
Glad I could help to contribute to the economy using your wallet. ?
I prefer the 'indoor' seating.  There is seating that is part of The VIA but you have people walking past you all throughout dinner.  Arrive a few minutes early if need be. 
Thanks! I had my CPL on.  With the cold temperatures there was an inversion layer clouding the distance.  All I did was add some vignetting to draw focus towards Lady Liberty.  

I woke early to the hints of a sunrise so I grabbed my camera and headed up to deck 15.







It's 7am and hardly anyone is up.  Windjammer is open so off to breakfast.  
The wind is picking up but Anthem is handling it quite well.  I had a 9:30am North Star reservation but it's closed due to wind speed.  They told me I could go into the SeaPlex to get a new reservation.  Bumper cars was justing starting so I jumped in line for a ride.  
With the motion of the bumper cars I thought I could get creative and by using the panorama feature on my smartphone I was hoping for some funny distortion.  I was not disappointed.  Meet the new mini bumper car:

After this I changed my North Star reservation to tomorrow morning.  
I had visited NextCruise yesterday.  I have been keeping my eye on an Ovation cruise to New Zealand in 2019.  The few studio balcony cabins that exist tend to go quickly.  I was hoping the NextCruise OBC would be enough to push me into it.  Sadly only $100 OBC for a 12 night cruise, in a balcony cabin more than six months away, non-refundable with $100 deposit.  My agent was $75 less on the base fare, fully refundable with no deposit so with inventory going I pulled the trigger with my agent. 
I do like the Quantum class ships.  They are different than other classes but I like that.  I do love Oasis class but now I get to experience New Zealand in another class of ship I love.
With that it's time.  KummelWecks are calling.

North Star Bar.  
You can't see it in this picture but on the other side of the white chairs there is a small deck area a few steps down that is part of the Moet and Chandon reserved seating.  However the white chairs are not in that area and they are for any one to use. 

My Voom strategy of waiting for day 2 worked and I didn't even have to wait until day 2.
When I boarded Voom with C&A Diamond discount was priced at $156.92.  
At 11:30pm they turned on 'Cellular At Sea' which prompted me to look at Voom again.  

The price was now $136.93 with C&A discount.  The day 2 pro-rated whole cruise price for Surf & Stream was offered the evening of day 1.
By waiting a few hours I saved $20 compared to on-board pricing or a savings of $7 compared to the advance cruise planner pricing. I'll put that directly into a BOGO drink coupon in the pub later today.  
In other news my Glass Block was delivered.  Crossing the Crown and Anchor Society 140 point threshold on this cruise made me eligible for one.  

After dinner I ventured up to deck 15 to see where we were with the medical diversion.  I caught the end of a helicopter lift.


At this point we were just off Coney Island and Brighton Beach.

After the helicopter departed the Coast Guard stood by just off the starboard side then an NYPD police boat came along side.


Apparently an 80 year old experienced a cardiac condition.  Details on the local news:
http://abc7ny.com/nypd-rescues-80-year-old-passenger-from-cruise-ship/2970901/
I'm guessing the police boat may have taken some family off the ship but that's purely speculation on my part.  While on deck 15 I observed the crew putting fire hoses away.  Some crew were in full firefighting equipment complete with self contained breathing apparatus.  Helicopters generate a lot of static electricity and these kinds of aerial evacuations are complex.  The crew on board were likely prepared for anything that might occur including sparks from a static discharge during the helicopter hoist. 
Very professionally executed.
After this we resumed our departure. 

Somewhere around 5:30pm in the lounge I was talking with the couple I had met on Anthem in December.  We had both then promised to forget each other's name and we both held true to our word.  As we were catching up we both stopped when we felt the ship shudder.  It was subtle but we both knew something was up.  We were turning back.  Sure enough the Captain came on to inform us of a medical situation and announcing our return to an anchorage point for one of our guests.  
I had a 6pm reservation for Jamie's so off to dinner I went.  It was fantastic.
Dinner started with some garlic bread.

I wanted to try several items but was concerned about too much food.  My waiter assured me he would adjust the size of the meat plank for one person.  

The Peperonata Bruschetta was incredible.

Tonight I would have the Lamb Chops Scottadito as my main entré with a side of Funky Chips.

It was delicious and my mouth is watering as I write this remembering the flavors. 
I thought about ordering more but knew it would be too much so I opted to move forward and have dessert. A Lemon Meringue Cheesecake.

It was an incredible meal.  Just wow!
On Harmony I was left with a "just okay" experience in Jamie's and based on that I wasn't going to visit Jamie's on Anthem.  I am so glad I did and now am thinking about lunch one day.  Maybe in warmer waters in the outdoor Jamie's area on deck 5.

Cabin tour!
Standard balcony room, deck 6 forward.  Cabin 6122.



Most deck 6 balconies have an obstructed view due to the position of the life boats.  The exception are the forward cabins that are ahead of the life boats.

At we started our sail away we moved out of our slip and into New Your harbor.  You know its cold when the bouys have ice on one side of them.  

On my previous Anthem cruises we had delayed embarkation which pushed us behind schedule just a bit.  On this cruise we were right on schedule and the Captain informed us we would have a New York city harbor tour to start our cruise.  This amounts to turning North and heading towards the city rather than simply heading South and straight towards the Verrazano-Narrows bridge .

We sailed right past the Statue of Liberty.









We continued North towards the city.



Next we sailed past Ellis Island.

There were many boats in the harbor with tourists enjoying the views but our vessel was the largest.

We then turned 180° and started South.

NorthStar was operating.

We had amazing view of both sides of the Hudson river but most eyes were on lower Manhattan.

With NYC behind us we sailed past Lady Liberty on our way towards the ocean.


This was a pretty great way to start a cruise.  It was 37° F outside and with the sun going down it was getting colder.  Time to warm up.

IT'S CRUISE DAY!!!
Departing Cape Liberty (Bayonne, NJ) I have two sea days, Port Canaveral, Miami, Nassau, CocoCay then two sea days back to Cape Liberty.
I haven't booked excursions and plan to work some days.  Some of these ports are places I've visited many times.  As always I'm hoping we make CocoCay but since it's currently a tender port that is always a game day decision for the Captain. Finger's crossed.
I flew in last night and stayed at a hotel near the Newark airport.  On the plane I checked Anthem's position on a ship tracking site and was surprised to see she was beating me into NJ.  Apparently there was a medical incident that precluded helicopter evacuation so they sped up to make port.  
This is my 3rd cruise on Anthem after a back to back in December.  That seems so long ago but then again it was last year.
I'm in a balcony cabin on deck 6 forward this time.  Most deck 6 balconies are obstructed view due to the position of the life boats however I'm far forward enough to be away from them.  
I'm planning to purchase Voom on board as it never went on sale in the cruise planner.  Since we are in port much of today I'll wait until day 2 to buy Voom to save some money since the on board plans are pro-rated based on how many days are remaining.
Yesterday I changed planes in Atlanta.  It was very odd looking out the window of the plane and seeing some snow on the ground.  My favorite airline lounge has an outside deck which was closed yesterday because of the snow.  Where I come from this isn't considered a lot of snow but for this part of the country the recent storm was snowmageddon. 
 
Here in Newark it is 28° F this morning.  There is something about boarding a ship when it's below freezing that just seems weird.  I think I'll skip the sail away and Verrazano-Narrows Bridge event on deck 15 this time.
With that it's time to finish re-packing my bags and hail a Lyft.