SpeedNoodles

The pier was originally supposed to be completed nearly a year ago.  March 2018, then June 2018, then December 2018, then January 2018, then March 2019.  It's a complex project that has been years in the making clearing protests and environmental hurdles along the way.
If their construction contractor (an American company by the way) notifies them of another delay they have no choice but to alter more sailings where they intended to have two Vision class ships share the pier.  That's the nature of construction underwater - sometimes you get into the project and discover something that calls for another approach and re-engineering.
Let's be clear, the impacted cruises involved two ships that were supposed to use the pier on the same day.  No pier, only one ship can visit that day.  
On the itineraries that were impacted they stopped advertising CocoCay many months ago.    I just sailed one of them.  
There were a handful of itineraries that were impacted.  That's it.  No other ships impacted.  They are not just randomly cancelling calls to CocoCay.
The intent was to have two Vision class ships share the new pier.  That will eventually happen.  When the pier wasn't ready for those ships that were double booked they had to make a decision and one of the two ships had to find an alternate port. 
For me on Vision last week we went to Miami instead.   That was changed and we were notified many, many months ago.  They stopped selling that cruise with CocoCay listed long before final payment due date.  For OP on Grandeur she was diverted to Grand Bahamas.  Same deal - Grandeur lost and Enchantment lucked out. 
There remain some Vision and Grandeur itineraries that were not impacted.  Next week for example the Vision ports of call are reversed in order compared to what I just sailed.  As a result, she isn't double booked with Enchantment into CocoCay.  That's why they continued to sell that particular Vision cruise with CocoCay still listed - it's still going there.  
Not bait and switch.

This has been my night at work.  Nothing like using company time, company equipment, and company ink to get ready.

It tells me you ought to read that cruise contract you agreed to when booking a cruise. You agreed by booking the cruise that RC is under no obligation to actually go to any of the ports advertised.  
I get that you're upset your cruise isn't going to CocoCay, but unfortunately things happen.  Sometimes rides at Disney World have to close due to maintenance or the Space Needle is not open to guests due to a private event, refurbishment, etc. Nature of travel sometimes.  But it's not a deliberate plot to fool guests into booking a vacation under false pretenses.

Love, love, love the big smile! Thanks for taking the time to blog - it's so much fun to follow!

The first few pictures look like daycare for older kids. . . No sharp edges, just alcohol and showers. . . hmmmm
 

This cruise addiction is bad isn’t it? I know that the closer that I get to my cruise the more useless I become at work.  I’m just glad that the firewall at my jobs allow this website as well as RCCL through otherwise I’d be in trouble!!??

We don't mind driving if we had the time but it adds 4-6 days of PTO, which we can't always get approved.  

Be sure to check to make sure your travel agent doesn't charge you. While possibly not the majority, some agents/agencies DO charge a service fee (I got stuck with a $100 service fee for booking my cruise with a local travel agent - she offered last week to book my flight for another $50 service fee - needless to say I've booked my next cruise with an MEI agent).

1993 more days for me! (Me? counting? Never!)

Be sure to check to make sure your travel agent doesn't charge you. While possibly not the majority, some agents/agencies DO charge a service fee (I got stuck with a $100 service fee for booking my cruise with a local travel agent - she offered last week to book my flight for another $50 service fee - needless to say I've booked my next cruise with an MEI agent).

In the 70’s, the hot place for spring break during high school and college in the Atlanta area was Daytona Beach, FL. Almost every year there was someone who died from trying to cross from one balcony to another (as with the 16yo boy that just lost his life doing this on a RCL ship). I think at that age it just doesn’t occur to you that you can die, they feel invincible. Such a sad ending and such a horror for his family.

^^^ This is hilarious!  Hubby and I were just talking over the weekend and he asked me if there were any husbands/wives on the blog messages that both post and participate.  I could not think of any! ?  

Welcome to a very non-exclusive club of cruise addicts and their indifferent spouses!

Let's wait and see what Virgin has to offer. They just may surprise us. 

Maybe, but you're the one with a cruise plan for 2019 that rivals what @twangster usually has lined up. ? 

I've read about people's difficulties getting RCCL's emails - I've received every Cruise Planner confirmation, my Royal Up email, and get at least 4-5 promotional emails a week from them. So apparently it's this:
I'll call when I get up this afternoon and do just this.  At first I wasn't too worried about it, then I passed the time during a very "q" night at work (we NEVER use the actual word here) reading @JLMoran s blog on his Anthem cruise (fantastic blog, btw - really enjoyed it) and noted that he had some trouble with prepaid gratuities not being recognized, so I decided that it's just better to have it printed and bring it with and not need it than the other way around.  
I cannot express how appreciative I am to have access to such great, experienced, helpful people like you all here.  Many of you are actually "cruising mentors", whether you realize it or not! I really hope that I can get myself to a group cruise someday and say thank you in person!

1993 more days for me! (Me? counting? Never!)

Seems to me RC is aiming directly at the “family” market. Splashaway Bay, bumper cars, mini golf, water slides, etc. The nightclub crowd is a totally different demographic. Certainly not an absolute, but judging by the comments here it’s apparent their numbers are decreasing. Heck, just think of cruise ship demographics overall. Isn’t the largest percentage group 50+ ?  That’s me. And I’m not going to any nightclubs any time soon. Heck, I’m not even awake at that time any more ?

One thing I realized I missed last night:
If you need to fly to the port, start checking airfares about 9 months out, when they first become available. When they’re at a price you’re comfortable with, book them. And make sure to fly in at least the day before sail date so you don’t risk getting delayed or having your flight canceled and missing your sailing.
If you use a low-cost carrier like Southwest or Jet Blue, my personal experience is that the fares are lowest when they’re first announced and just get more expensive as the seats fill up; others here have seen differently, so watch them regularly for a bit and be ready to book when you see a price you’re good with. The bigger carriers are more likely to fluctuate; @Lovetocruise2002 and I (and several others since) have done some experimenting by tracking prices every day for our trips, even after booking, and found there seem to be two sweet spots: One around the 90 day mark, the other I believe around 180 days but @Lovetocruise2002 can confirm that.

I am on countdown 5 more years to go.

Check your trash.  For some reason, everything that RCCL sends me goes DIRECTLY into the trash can.  I checked to see if I have RCCL "blocked" somehow but it doesn't seem like they are blocked.  It happens 100% of the time.  I now know that when I'm expecting something from Royal to go to the garbage can to retrieve it but it took me a long time to figure it out.

Final thoughts, in no particular order:
I am not a fan of the WOW band. Every time I wore it, my wrist would sweat like crazy even when the surrounding area was chilly with air conditioning; it didn't matter how loosely I'd wear it, something about the band's material just doesn't agree with my skin. And while the tap terminals were all in reach everywhere I tried using it, it was awkward to do so unless I rotated the band to put the medallion on the inside of my wrist; and then I'd have to flip it back around when I wanted to unlock our cabin door. I gave up by Day 2 and just carried my Sea Pass card everywhere.
The Junior Suite was absolutely a really nice splurge, and much nicer than a regular balcony. But I still had a couple of nitpicks.
The separate tub and shower are nice in concept, but I was the only person to use the tub, and that was only once to soak my aching feet for a bit. The shower door can't be closed tightly from inside the shower, as there's no handle on the inside; even when it was as well-sealed as we could managed, the gap between the door and bottom of the door frame allowed a good bit of water to get out onto the bathroom floor, making for slightly slippery tile and a wet bath mat. I completely agree with what others here have said about the crowd flow in The Via on deck 4, and Royal Esplanade on deck 5; those areas have far too many choke points, which are worse on days that the shops have displays set up in the corridor.
Generally, pretty small potatoes. On the whole, Anthem is a pretty good ship and I'm glad to have this option in my "backyard", so that I can take cruises without having to fly to Florida or another port. But how does Anthem compare to Freedom?
Anthem didn't really feel all that much bigger than Freedom, or (when not in the Via or Esplanade) any more crowded than Freedom Anthem is much better when it comes to the top-tier headline shows (Spectra's Cabaret and We Will Rock You); but if I decide to sail Anthem regularly, how many times can I really see those before it starts to wear thin? I know they don't change out shows more than once every decade or so, when the ships undergo major refurbishments, and Anthem's only been in service for 3 years; a long way to go before there's a change on that front. At the same time, I felt Anthem's other available theater entertainment was a little worse than Freedom's (see The Las Vegas Tenors) Maybe short sailings like this one don't get as good a set of performers as longer sailings, and if I take a longer sailing I'll find that it's better overall. Certainly, after reading @firebuck's blog, that does seem to be a good possibility, as we had no cover band; no extra shows in Two70 besides Tonight at Two70, one robo show, and Spectra; and none of the other extra performances that he'd noted on his 7-night trip. North Star is a very nice feature on this ship, but the reality is that if you're not in port then all you have to look at from up there is the ship. But Freedom doesn't have it at all, so still a point for Anthem. Vintages on Anthem was a disappointment compared to Freedom. The wine selection was far smaller, and the vast majority of what was offered was only available as full bottles, not by the glass. Bearing in mind that I only had one experience with it, I found the American Icon Grille MDR on Anthem disappointing. I much preferred the multi-story grand dining room on Freedom, and I have to say that I'm glad the newer ships like Symphony are going back to that design. Hopefully whatever follows Spectrum of the Seas in the Quantum class will also follow suit. That said, I have no idea if my impressions would have been different if I'd eaten dinner in one of the other dining rooms like Grande or Chic. As a ship, Anthem's overall quality and design was for the most part quite a bit nicer than Freedom. While a modern ship, it didn't have the metal-and-glass ultra-modern decor and style of other new ships like Seaside, which I definitely appreciated. I loved the design and decor of Coastal Kitchen, that was definitely one of my favorite spaces on the whole ship. I thought the Solarium on Anthem was light years better and nicer than Freedom's; having four hot tubs instead of two definitely doesn't hurt It was nice having Izumi available on Anthem instead of the to-go cart that Freedom had There were small room details on Anthem that I really appreciated and others that I found a bit disappointing As weird as it sounds, the balcony door was a high point of the room. The ones on Freedom were an exercise in testing my strength, where the ones on Anthem slid incredibly easily while still locking securely. At the risk of maybe sounding a bit too much like @monorailmedic, I really appreciate the engineering and design that went into those balcony doors on Anthem The USB outlets, while nice to have, were the low-power variety that can only charge phones and other devices at a trickle; it was a good thing I still brought my Anker charging hub So speaking as an adult passenger, I have to say that Anthem wins this competition against Freedom. How would she rate, though, if it were my teenage kids sailing on her?
Honestly, my older daughter probably wouldn't be any more impressed or enjoy the sea days any better. I know she'd almost certainly love Spectra and We Will Rock You, and she might appreciate the live band(s) in the Music Hall. But those are all evening activities.During the daytime, I think she'd still find herself somewhat bored since she doesn't like just sitting around at a pool doing nothing, isn't a trivia buff, and (oddly, given she's a singer) isn't into karaoke.
My younger daughter would definitely love all the extra dining options and chances to try some different styles of cuisine. If we could get a JS for CK access she'd probably think that she'd died and gone to heaven. I'm guessing she'd also appreciate all the art on display throughout the ship, as she's the artist of the family, and would also enjoy the live band(s) in the Music Hall. We'd have to go on a sailing with more kids, though, as she would want to have some people to socialize with.
 
So Anthem was definitely a winner for us. But far more than Anthem, Bermuda was the standout of this trip. It is such a beautiful place, and so different from the Caribbean island experience, that we left wanting to get back as soon as we could. There's still a lot of the island we haven't seen, particularly Hamilton, and we want to see some of the other beaches that are considered the best on the island.
I hadn't really planned on doing another cruise for 2019, seeing as I'm holding out hope for a 2020 CA/NE cruise in the summer. But over the last two weeks we found ourselves looking at what our options were for getting back next October or November. And then the BOGO60 sale stuck around through November, and before I knew it we ended up booking this exact same trip again for October of 2019! Just a regular balcony this time, and only because we lucked out with a really good rate that keeps the monthly pay-down low. 2020 is still on the radar, just waiting for the itineraries to come out and any announcement from Matt!
 
So that's all of it. Apologies for taking almost a month from the trip ending to finally get this wrapped up, especially when some of you have been looking for this ahead of your own upcoming sailings on Anthem; work and regular life have been keeping me tied up since getting back, and photo editing always takes longer than I expect.
Thanks for following along! I'll be back next October for the repeat voyage!

You definitely need a taste for seafood, and enjoying sushi doesn't hurt as a couple of the appetizers do use raw tuna; but if you tell the waiter you're not a fan of sushi he / she will probably skip those appetizers. I re-checked the menu as I was writing it up last night and confirmed that while they have about 16 different appetizer options, they bring out just a sub-set of them based on both the size of your party and what you tell them are your likes and dislikes. I'm sure part of why Ilver brought out the smoked deviled eggs for us is because they were one of the few non-seafood options.
The food is definitely nothing so far off the beaten path that you'll be shaking your head trying to figure out if anything is really edible. It's more that the meal is something of a spin on molecular gastronomy and "avant garde cuisine", so it's normal food that just looks weird. ?

The face you make when you realize someone else is live blogging from a ship and you're stuck at home