Kirsten

We will be sailing on a 4-night out of LA to Catalina and Ensenada. It's me, my husband, and our 9 and 11-year-olds. I booked the La Bufadora tour, but I'm not sure if it's worth it. I'd like to get off the ship for at least an hour or two. Opinions on the tour? If you don't recommend the tour, what else is there for a family of four? A lot of the tours that looked interesting were a minimum of 10 or 12 years old.

Aug 21st on Navigator.

My experience on Anthem last month was similar to yours. I was disappointed at first that they didn't have the classic nightly menu anymore, but I always found something that I enjoyed. The food was great, our waiters were fantastic, and they checked on us often. We never had to send anything back and we got a variety of meals. I found the Indian dishes to be tasty- I ordered Indian if chicken was in the dish and the chicken was very tender.

Yes- they added the refreshment package to our children's sea passes and took them off of ours. There were no additional charges for that. And we ended up paying 67.99 per person for the DBP, when we had originally gotten them for 66.99 or 65.99. ETA: sorry if my original post was unclear- I was still recovering from our cruise!

We just got off Anthem and had only purchased the refreshment package in advance. We had bought and canceled the DBP before buying the refreshment package, but two drinks in, we realized that it would be more worth it to get the DBP, so we transferred the refreshment package to our kids and got the DBP at buy one, get one 50% off on the ship. The cost was only $2 more per person, per day. It might vary depending on the ship.

Totally off-topic, but as a mom of future teens, what class do they prefer and why?

Good to know- thanks! I will tell him to see what's available at the Solarium bar.

We are cruising on Anthem soon and my husband enjoys a smoothie after a workout. Is there a place on the ship that makes smoothies? On Oasis they made them at the Vitality Spa cafe, but not sure if Vitality has a cafe on Quantum class ships.

This being your only post in this forum, I take what you say with a huuuuuuge grain of salt. This will be my second time on Anthem and I'm actually bummed that there are going to be conflicts between choices of what I want to do. My first time on Anthem was a 9-night cruise that ended up being a 10-night due to a medical emergency and my husband and I had a blast. If you're bored, that is on you, as there is plenty to do on the ship (especially if you don't have kids, which I do). Between shows, game shows, dancing, trivia, comedians, roller skating, bumper cars, etc, there is no shortage of activities; however, it's on you to seek it out.

How was this excursion? We are thinking of booking but are on the fence.

What makes it your favorite? We were on Oasis in May and I'd love to hear how Symphony is different.

Any balconies that are obstructed on deck 7 are listed as so when you book. We chose an obstructed balcony and were shown what was available on 6 and 7. We found a larger balcony on 7 that is supposedly obstructed, but we'll take the extra space over the view.

I was going to suggest the library as well.

I'll be on this one; it will be our second time on Anthem. Looking forward to it!

Thanks for the info! We were platinum on our last cruise (made platinum on the cruise prior to it) and didn't receive pins. I might inquire about it since I think my kids would like to have them on their lanyards.

At what status do you get a pin?

We were on Adventiure in August and it was the only cruise out of four (so far) that we didn't take our kids out of school. There were a good amount of kids on the cruise, but in my opinion, it didn't seem overrun by kids. The Adventure Ocean club is great way to occupy them so that their parents can get a bit of alone time- whether it's to see a show, shop, go the the casino, or just hang out in the cabin for a bit.

I was on Adventure at the end of August the smell of smoke was noticeable outside the deck 3 MDR, but I have a strong sense of smell, hate cigarette smoke, and didn't really notice it in other nonsmoking areas. I was even able to deal wit the nonsmoking area of the casino.

Congrats! We are heading to Bermuda on Saturday and the 4 of us tested negative this morning, so I totally get it!

I was wondering this myself. I am gluten free and can have wine, Truly, any hard liquor (vodka, tequila, rum, whisky, etc), club soda, regular soda, and many of the liquers, so I don't really see how being gluten free would affect the ability to have the DBP.

Praying for someone or blessing them doesn't pay the bills.

I totally know what you're saying. We were on Oasis in May and there was a great Billy Idol cover band. A lot of people got there early and took up the seats on the first floor, but didn't seem to know anything about the music. It was kind of annoying, frankly. I didn't let it stop me from dancing, though. So much fun! Looks like you had a wonderful time! We loved Oasis and I can't wait to go on it again (having a suite definitely enhanced the experience). Totally agree with you regarding the Suite Lounge, Suite Deck, and Coastal Kitchen.

Azova offers proctored video tests for Covid tests bought outside on the US. https://athomevideo.azova.com/

I say yes. I sailed on Oasis in May when it was at least 75-80% capacity. We originally had a Boardwalk balcony room (got a great deal on it to begin with) and won our minimum bid for a 2 br Grand Suite. If we had booked that suite, it would have cost us over $10,000. Our total cost was under $4,000, which also included internet for all 4 of us, Coastal Kitchen dining, free drinks in the suite lounge, etc.