TheHobbys

Seaplex was really cool for the kids ... and me.   Basketball, soccer, dodgeball, bumper cars, trapeze, fooseball tables, ping pong tables and a couple of air hockey.  I think some of the air hockey cost a couple of bucks ... we didn't play that.

Star Class cruisers, make sure you grab you some of these for FREE  ?  at the Starbucks place

Random pictures of the Solarium ...

Don't go to Guest Services as soon as you get on ... it'll be crowded as all get-out.

The suite beach area on Labadee was really nice and a great place to snorkel around.  Don't expect to see a lot of fish, but you will see a couple here and there.  You can see some of the cabanas that you can rent in the background.

Yeah, don't try and snorkel in Bermuda at Horseshoe bay ... it doesn't work.  The waves will make sure you can't ....  Oh yeah, careful, because the rip-tide will try and pull you back out.

The Coastal Kitchen staff rocks!  I think we both thought the staff on board Anthem were over the top!
Meet Austin, our primary waiter.  He's moving to Canada after his assignment is over.  He was fantastic!

 
Meet Reuben, an extremely interesting and amazing manager ... meet him and see for yourself ? 

 
Meet Anna.  She will greet you when you enter always with a smile and glad to see you.  She remembers your favorite seat!  Extremely friendly!  We need more of her in our restaurants back at home !!

 

Order the burger at Jamie's ... it was actually really good.  The other thing there, yeah, that wasn't mine - lol

The cupcake class is held in the La Pastarieasieousdfoiuraa  (see, still can't spell it).  We just called it 'Starbucks'.

The concierge club.  It's like playing a game of hide-n-seek.  You'll find this on the 12th floor on the back of the ship ... all alone.  We went there once, just to take pictures because we honestly never knew it existed until late in the cruise.  It's disconnected from everything.  The O-Class ships have it as part of the Coastal Kitchen.

The Suite Sun Deck was disappointing.  It was just a small area that had some chairs.  The O-Class ships far exceed this.  There is not a private bar or big loungers and didn't seem to be used much.

Vitality Fitness Center.  Only a few pictures from there as I didn't want to take any of people working out - lol.  But, lots of available equipment, free weights and other of those work-out-things.

That was an unexpected surprise ... I'm glad everyone has been enjoying the scopes.  I'll post a listing of all my scopes here for future reference.
Here's the little Periscoper of the Week announcement:
https://www.periscope.tv/kcjarvis/1ypJdvrvdNLKW?fbclid=IwAR20tLBjYLh2FmzLcXxJ0ck_cn_CDcbRxIZCoW0cqdhQdIvTWiMJN-AFrJY
 

Here's a series of links to all my periscopes.  (edit:  rearranged the link order)
Owner's Loft 8720:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1BdGYAdZwlNGX
 
Anthem Day Before Cruise in NY:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1ynJORkprNvGR
Anthem Leaving Bayonne Bridge:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1OwGWknjRlqGQ
Anthem Walk-About:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1ynKORNqqaqxR
Anthem Walk-About 2:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1ZkJzrqlaWDJv
Anthem Coastal Kitchen:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1BRKjvVorNVKw
Anthem Let's Make a Drink:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1mnGevWpLeqJX
Anthem Deck 5 Tour:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1OdKrveWqwlKX
Anthem Pool Tour:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1LyxBAwvPjoJN
 
Anthem Docking in Bermuda:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1OwxWknnWjAxQ
Anthem Docking in Labadee:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1ypJdvXlrmjKW
Anthem Good Morning San Juan:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1gqxvVqDLvQxB
Anthem Docking in St. Maarten:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1kvKpOnPmOVxE
 
Anthem Coast Guard Rescue:  https://www.pscp.tv/w/1mnxevELOEAKX
 

I'm happy you had such a great family trip on Anthem!  You guys sure enjoyed it all!  We loved Anthem and we loved loved that exact same 9 night itinerary starting on May 23rd-June 1st.  Anna and Reuben sure are the best!!!!  Reuben talked with us every night about different things!  He actually seems like he checks in with everyone each night!  They are the best we've ever had in a Coastal Kitchen so far!  I'm surprised that the Conceirge was so empty!  We had to pull up chairs many times to sit with friends we had made throughout the sailing!  Maybe because our sailing had less than 400-500 kids total so many more adults I guess!  Your pics and periscopes were a fantastic reminder to such an awesome cruise!  Your gorgeous room had us all in a dream state!  All I can say is PHENOMENAL!!!  
We too love Nashville!  The Opryland hotel decorated inside and out over Christmas is beyond words!  My parents lived in Knoxville for 25 years after they retired from Ca.  My Mom and lots of relatives from East Tennessee!  Have lifelong memories in the state since my father worked/retired from United Airlines spent long summer vacations on the farm in Athens and then with my parents in Knoxville!  We visit Mom now from Atlanta every 3 weeks.  She is surrounded with 5 siblings there.
Enjoy planning your Harmony trip!  We are excited to be back on Harmony over Labor day week this year for our 5th and final cruise of 2019!  Boo!  Love the Grease Musical!  We are excited to try the Unlimited Dining pkg for a ridiculous inexpensive price for the first time that Waytoo and many others have raved about!
The reality of cleaning and cooking for yourself is a terrible reality!  It sure takes awhile to get over that feeling!
Thanks again for sharing!  Enjoy the rest of your summer!
Michelle
 
 
 

You ever wonder how to start a summary?  Trying to figure out just how to write out your experiences, how to try and accomplish multiple goals?   Not only are you trying to engage an audience in your real-virtual-interactive story, but you are also creating a memory of your adventure.  It's amazing what writing down or typing your experiences can do for you.  I have had a blast writing this blog and watching as others follow along and being able to interact with them in a semi-real-time setting.  It has been a learning lesson for me as I attempted to communicate our experiences with others - while hoping to make it entertaining, so that everyone would want to continue reading.
Ok, enough of that sappy stuff ?  but had to get that outa the way.   Now to try and remember what the heck happened recently, since I didn't write anything down on the actual days.  Backing up a couple of days here, the last two days of our trip were seemingly very busy.  Both days were at sea, which I really enjoy.  However, after snorkeling on Labadee and hanging out in the suite area beach, we sure wish there was a route that would start with Labadee and end with Labadee.  But having the final two days be at sea, allowed us to enjoy the ship a little more and also allowed the kids to hang out with the new found friends.  I think the kids preferred being on the ship, away from us #LittlePunks  Honestly, it's all good - we don't require much, just come and eat dinner with us and say hi every now and then.  I swear, there were a couple of days where they woke up late, missed breakfast but got dressed really quick and bolted out the door as fast as they could to meet up with their friends.
The next to last day, Thursday, we had the We Will Rock You show at 2:30 followed by the Chef's table at 6:30.  I know somewhere back up in this post I said to go see the WWRY show multiple times, and yes, do it.  We had all the shows booked early in the cruise, but released all our times thinking it would be easier to have our genie book them all.  Yeah, being the planners we are - that sorta backfired on us.  Next time - we book our own show time.  That way if we really enjoy one of the shows, then we can go back and see it a second time.  We would have gone and seen WWRY and Spectra twice - had we seen it towards the start of the cruise. 
Chef's table.  If you like wine, this might be a cool experience for you.  They start with a blonde wine and end with a bold red - or at least that's my interpretation.  Our meal lasted just over 3 hours.  But - it was honestly because of the company of the other guests there.  Six of the other guests were all in the royal suite as SC, so we were able to hit it off with them right off the bat.  I felt a little bad for the other couple who were at the end of the table that were not really engaging in much of the conversation.  Now granted, it's a long table we were sitting at …. There were six people on each side of the table.  Kinda hard to lean forward and holla at the person at the other end of the table.  The food was just ok.  It felt like just a little better presented version of different foods from all the different restaurants.  We already had all of it before.  The rest of the day was just lounging around and playing down in the casino.  At least we won a little bit on Thursday to have some extra play money for Friday.
Friday - sad day.  Most of the morning was spent packing up, oh yeah guess what … yeah, #LittlePunks bolted.  Oh well, we would do the same thing at their age.  Our packing goal was to have about 75% of everything packed, most of the room clean (yes, we keep our room pretty clean and picked up), all persons have a shower and all drawers emptied.  That way, the next morning all we have to do is pack up the final toiletries and pj's.  This allows us to not be all stressed getting off the ship, which has been stressful in the past.  We took a break in the middle of the morning go to take a quick tour of the Control Room.  Yen got us a couple of spots to tag along with the all access tour.  Yes, I said couple because the kids had 'other plans'  #CuteBoys   #Games  If you haven't done a control room tour, it is really interesting.  Honestly, for me it was just cool to be able to see stuff that I've watched on tv.  I've seen how the Anthem was built on the science channel multiple times … What, you don't have shows you like to watch multiple times?  #DontJudge   After a quick lunch break, up in our favorite place the CK, we took off a quick bridge tour.  Um, yeah, so there were only 5 of us … we counted for two.  The kids were #TooBusy to hang with us and go on the tour.  Was still fun even though we had done the same thing on Oasis a couple years ago. 
After the tour, it was back to finishing up packing a little bit.  We did a little bit of quick shopping for a t-shirt or two, but didn't really see any RCL stuff that we wanted.  Usually, there is a couple of cool trinket type things we like to pick up, yeah, not here.  There was a little casino playing involved that entertained us for a little bit.  But then, guess what … yup  #TimeToEat.  It almost felt like the people on the Wall-E spaceship … wonder around from one place to another, grazing.  Hmm … did you hear that cattle call?  Ok, ok … I can't say anything about eating so much because it was time to hit the Coastal Kitchen for the last dinner.  And you know what that means …. FILET!  Yes, I was on a filet-binge this trip after the first night or two, knowing it would awhile before I would enjoy the … sweet … flavorful … tenderness … mmmm … of a filet.  Oh, I didn't tell you?  Yeah, most of the house enjoys the non-meat version of food.  Sure, I can go get some type of meat but last few times I got one of those rotated chickens, I couldn't finish it all.  So, yeah … there you go.  It was a great filet … I knew what was to follow, however.  The #MeatSweat  #WildDreams  #YouKnowOtherStuff  was all on the way, but well worth the sacrifice.
We gave the kids a midnight curfew since we had to get up early the next day and get booted, I mean, escorted off the ship.  Something about new cruisers come on board shortly thereafter - meh.  Back to the casino for another hour or so at a game that we had a lot of fun at.  After we regained some of our play money, we wandered up the Brass and Bock to catch up with the other family we had met at Chef's table.  We hung out with them for a little bit, ordered some fried pickles and sat out near Sorento's to people watch.  It was hard thinking it was closing in on midnight and we needed to get to bed before the chaos of leaving the next day.
Saturday - #GetOffMyShip  We had set the latest disembarkation we could at 9:30.  Up at 7 to get our coffee and stumble down to the La Pastatier (I still can't spell it) to grab some of those bags of goodies.  It wasn't until almost the last day before we found out those were included.  Now we know - now ya'll know.  The Coastal was open for breakfast, so we went up there to say bye the gang who took amazing care of us.  We left out primary server a thank you card and a few dollars.  Back up to the room to wait out the remaining time.  The kids were waking up and still groggy after partying hard the previous night.  Yen came and got us at 9:30 and walked us off the ship and down through customs.  Everything went pretty smooth until we got outside and then we were shuffled into the rest of the crowd hunting rides home.  #NoMoreSC  ?
We booked a Lyft ride to airport for about $28 bucks or so.  Took him about 20 minutes to get to us after booking on our phone.  The ride back to the airport was fairly quick, even though the Lyft driver was fairly new and missed our turn to the zone for the Southwest flights.  No worries, we helped him navigate all the way back around to get to our terminal.  We checked in and ditched our luggage and headed to the departure gate.  Security was a little of a pain, since there was only one point where they funneled everyone through.  #WishWeHadAYen   Our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until about 2:15 and it was just after 11 when we got all through security and to the gate.  We grabbed a little bite to try and waste some time, then went and found us a seat.  I think all of us zoned out and put in our earbuds to listen to stuff on our phones.  About an hour before we were supposed to leave, they came over the speaker and said the airport was shut down and flights delayed for an hour or two.  Sigh … more time to wait at the airport.  Well, come to find out, a United plane had a flat tire and went off the runway.  Noone was hurt and things were ok, they just needed a couple of cranes and a can of fix-o-flat.  Our delay turned out to be almost 6 additional hours we were not expecting.  We finally boarded right around 7pm - ugh.  Finally, decent flight and watched a movie to pass the time.  Next thing we knew, we were touching down in Nashville.  Ah, finally home.  #Exhausted
Thank you for following along on our journey.  I took almost 1,000 pictures during the entire cruise that now need culling and figuring out how to organize them.  I've posted quite a few along our adventure here that hopefully will help others out on their future Anthem cruise.  There are a few more that I'm going to post in a random post over the next couple of days.  If there are any questions about our cruise or pictures you might be looking for, just let me know.  You can either reply to this blog or send me a DM.
Once again, thanks to everyone for making this a great first time blogging experience!  I look forward to our next cruise and my next major blog - Harmony May 31, 2020
Thanks!
John and Carrie Hobby

The beach at St Maarten.  This one is on the boardwalk and is free to go swim around / snorkel.  You can rent the tent / chairs, if you want.

Seaplex was really cool for the kids ... and me.   Basketball, soccer, dodgeball, bumper cars, trapeze, fooseball tables, ping pong tables and a couple of air hockey.  I think some of the air hockey cost a couple of bucks ... we didn't play that.

The Coastal Kitchen staff rocks!  I think we both thought the staff on board Anthem were over the top!
Meet Austin, our primary waiter.  He's moving to Canada after his assignment is over.  He was fantastic!

 
Meet Reuben, an extremely interesting and amazing manager ... meet him and see for yourself ? 

 
Meet Anna.  She will greet you when you enter always with a smile and glad to see you.  She remembers your favorite seat!  Extremely friendly!  We need more of her in our restaurants back at home !!

 

You are correct. They don't have hibachi on Anthem.. The area for Izumi on Quantum class ships is so small and in an awkward location in my opinion. 

Here's a series of links to all my periscopes.  (edit:  rearranged the link order)
Owner's Loft 8720:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1BdGYAdZwlNGX
 
Anthem Day Before Cruise in NY:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1ynJORkprNvGR
Anthem Leaving Bayonne Bridge:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1OwGWknjRlqGQ
Anthem Walk-About:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1ynKORNqqaqxR
Anthem Walk-About 2:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1ZkJzrqlaWDJv
Anthem Coastal Kitchen:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1BRKjvVorNVKw
Anthem Let's Make a Drink:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1mnGevWpLeqJX
Anthem Deck 5 Tour:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1OdKrveWqwlKX
Anthem Pool Tour:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1LyxBAwvPjoJN
 
Anthem Docking in Bermuda:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1OwxWknnWjAxQ
Anthem Docking in Labadee:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1ypJdvXlrmjKW
Anthem Good Morning San Juan:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1gqxvVqDLvQxB
Anthem Docking in St. Maarten:  https://www.pscp.tv/CruisingHobby/1kvKpOnPmOVxE
 
Anthem Coast Guard Rescue:  https://www.pscp.tv/w/1mnxevELOEAKX
 

And that's a wrap folks!  Now to go sulk in the corner since my cruise is over ... only 

Ah, Labadee ... here's ya'll some more random pictures from there ...
 
This pineapple drink, I think, is a waste of money ... It can leak and there isn't much in it

This is part of the main beach for everyone.  The lounge chairs seem to be first come first serve.  You may have to rent the covered ones - not sure about those.

 

Reuben was also the manager / head waiter in CK on our sailing on Anthem last October. Agree that he's a really interesting guy with a really neat background, and nice as can be.
That is some seriously rougher surf and much bigger waves than my wife and I saw there last October. You must have arrived at the peak of high tide while we were at the lowest low.

San Juan - go get you a Paleta from Senor Paleta.  All fruit popsicle  ... don't ask me where it was, hidden on one of the side streets in a tiny shop.  Think of it as part of your scavenger hunt - lol