chrisd596

Hey I was just like u. Did 8 DCL cruises and wouldn't try another cruise company.
 
However, living in NJ, the chance to cruise out of Port Liberty, 1 hr away, was so tempting. Not only that, it was a Canadian Itinerary. 
I did a ton of research, tons. Now here's the funny part. Our experiences w/ DCL was fantastic, and I knew no other cruiseline could live up to that. 
So when we arrived at the Port for our cruise last summer on the Anthem of the Seas, I had my mental clipboard ready to rate every aspect and pretty much expected the worse. 
Arriving at the Port was a breeze!. Not backed up, like P Canaveral. We pulled up, immediately handed them our luggage, gave them a tip and parked in the adjoining parking lot.  (I rated that a 10!)  Walking into the terminal for check in.... another breeze, a few guys w/ tablets checked us in immediately, done!  (I was in shock!)
Then they sat us down, in order of arrival. No one hung out by the entrance to the ship. No one cutting ahead. No boarding #. Your seat was your boarding #. Very organized. We boarded about 11:15.
My wife thought she was going to hate the cruise. With the shopping look of the main areas, etc. 
When we boarded, it was so different and the really only negatives were no huge atrium. Also planning the shows ahead of time was easy, but planning the "attractions" on the ship was impossible. We were told online to wait until you board. That's a lousy way to handle it for people like me that don't want to run as soon as you board to wait on a big line to plan all the attractions, rides on the ship.
But that's where the negatives end. The eating onboard is pretty much the same as dcl and maybe a bit better on RC. More variety on Windjammer buffet. The soda issue was zero, since you can have flavored water that taste really good. 
Your kids will love the physical activities onboard. Hey the dodge ball was a blast to watch, and matter of fact the game we observed was won but a lady in a formal dress, she beat everyone else. Tons of cool activities.
I loved at night just sitting in the different bars listening to the different musicians and groups. They don't push drinks on u and make u feel uncomfortable. The 3 main shows were decent, and a little weird, however everyone else loved, so it must be ME. 
Remember as a DCL veteran, I was very pleased. The Canadian port were great, and Bar Habour was really beautiful. Tendering there was a hassle, but take that in stride. 
I didn't need my mental clipboard after the first day. It was a great trip. Remember to book another one onboard, cause RC only requires $100 down and u can cancel at anytime. I booked onboard and when i got home I found a cheaper rate for a longer cruise going to the same ports, with 2 additional ports and called RC and they just switched it over.
I wont stop doing DCL cruises, but for older kids and adults, RC has same neat things to offer.
Chris
 

Hey I was just like u. Did 8 DCL cruises and wouldn't try another cruise company.
 
However, living in NJ, the chance to cruise out of Port Liberty, 1 hr away, was so tempting. Not only that, it was a Canadian Itinerary. 
I did a ton of research, tons. Now here's the funny part. Our experiences w/ DCL was fantastic, and I knew no other cruiseline could live up to that. 
So when we arrived at the Port for our cruise last summer on the Anthem of the Seas, I had my mental clipboard ready to rate every aspect and pretty much expected the worse. 
Arriving at the Port was a breeze!. Not backed up, like P Canaveral. We pulled up, immediately handed them our luggage, gave them a tip and parked in the adjoining parking lot.  (I rated that a 10!)  Walking into the terminal for check in.... another breeze, a few guys w/ tablets checked us in immediately, done!  (I was in shock!)
Then they sat us down, in order of arrival. No one hung out by the entrance to the ship. No one cutting ahead. No boarding #. Your seat was your boarding #. Very organized. We boarded about 11:15.
My wife thought she was going to hate the cruise. With the shopping look of the main areas, etc. 
When we boarded, it was so different and the really only negatives were no huge atrium. Also planning the shows ahead of time was easy, but planning the "attractions" on the ship was impossible. We were told online to wait until you board. That's a lousy way to handle it for people like me that don't want to run as soon as you board to wait on a big line to plan all the attractions, rides on the ship.
But that's where the negatives end. The eating onboard is pretty much the same as dcl and maybe a bit better on RC. More variety on Windjammer buffet. The soda issue was zero, since you can have flavored water that taste really good. 
Your kids will love the physical activities onboard. Hey the dodge ball was a blast to watch, and matter of fact the game we observed was won but a lady in a formal dress, she beat everyone else. Tons of cool activities.
I loved at night just sitting in the different bars listening to the different musicians and groups. They don't push drinks on u and make u feel uncomfortable. The 3 main shows were decent, and a little weird, however everyone else loved, so it must be ME. 
Remember as a DCL veteran, I was very pleased. The Canadian port were great, and Bar Habour was really beautiful. Tendering there was a hassle, but take that in stride. 
I didn't need my mental clipboard after the first day. It was a great trip. Remember to book another one onboard, cause RC only requires $100 down and u can cancel at anytime. I booked onboard and when i got home I found a cheaper rate for a longer cruise going to the same ports, with 2 additional ports and called RC and they just switched it over.
I wont stop doing DCL cruises, but for older kids and adults, RC has same neat things to offer.
Chris
 

Hey I was just like u. Did 8 DCL cruises and wouldn't try another cruise company.
 
However, living in NJ, the chance to cruise out of Port Liberty, 1 hr away, was so tempting. Not only that, it was a Canadian Itinerary. 
I did a ton of research, tons. Now here's the funny part. Our experiences w/ DCL was fantastic, and I knew no other cruiseline could live up to that. 
So when we arrived at the Port for our cruise last summer on the Anthem of the Seas, I had my mental clipboard ready to rate every aspect and pretty much expected the worse. 
Arriving at the Port was a breeze!. Not backed up, like P Canaveral. We pulled up, immediately handed them our luggage, gave them a tip and parked in the adjoining parking lot.  (I rated that a 10!)  Walking into the terminal for check in.... another breeze, a few guys w/ tablets checked us in immediately, done!  (I was in shock!)
Then they sat us down, in order of arrival. No one hung out by the entrance to the ship. No one cutting ahead. No boarding #. Your seat was your boarding #. Very organized. We boarded about 11:15.
My wife thought she was going to hate the cruise. With the shopping look of the main areas, etc. 
When we boarded, it was so different and the really only negatives were no huge atrium. Also planning the shows ahead of time was easy, but planning the "attractions" on the ship was impossible. We were told online to wait until you board. That's a lousy way to handle it for people like me that don't want to run as soon as you board to wait on a big line to plan all the attractions, rides on the ship.
But that's where the negatives end. The eating onboard is pretty much the same as dcl and maybe a bit better on RC. More variety on Windjammer buffet. The soda issue was zero, since you can have flavored water that taste really good. 
Your kids will love the physical activities onboard. Hey the dodge ball was a blast to watch, and matter of fact the game we observed was won but a lady in a formal dress, she beat everyone else. Tons of cool activities.
I loved at night just sitting in the different bars listening to the different musicians and groups. They don't push drinks on u and make u feel uncomfortable. The 3 main shows were decent, and a little weird, however everyone else loved, so it must be ME. 
Remember as a DCL veteran, I was very pleased. The Canadian port were great, and Bar Habour was really beautiful. Tendering there was a hassle, but take that in stride. 
I didn't need my mental clipboard after the first day. It was a great trip. Remember to book another one onboard, cause RC only requires $100 down and u can cancel at anytime. I booked onboard and when i got home I found a cheaper rate for a longer cruise going to the same ports, with 2 additional ports and called RC and they just switched it over.
I wont stop doing DCL cruises, but for older kids and adults, RC has same neat things to offer.
Chris
 

We got online at 7:30, huge line around the ship. Took an hr or so. Later I contacted our table mates and they did the time RC told them to do at 9am and basically walked off the ship. I wont do express again, unless like the above people mention it's real early... 

We've cruised 7 times on dcl and after much research decided to try RC out of Bayonne to Bar Harbor and Halifax June 26-July 1st this year.
The Anthem of the Seas is a really nice ship with lots of technology. The main dining rooms are fine, about the same as dcl. If u get to the dining room on time or about 10 min early, u will find a line. Getting there about 10 min late and you'll walk right in.
I had lots of problems trying to book ifly and the northstar. Tried many times and received the answer that the online booking was all full and to book when u get on ship. I wanted badly to avoid waiting online the day we boarded. But I was never able to book online. On boarding, if you want these experiences head right to the box office .... try upstairs box office if there's a line on the 3rd deck....I think.
We found the Windjammer to be very good, even better than dcl's buffet. Wide variety, multiple stations offering omlets, and other specials... Super special desserts were offered on the last lunch day. To us we didn't need the soda package. There was always flavored water and ice tea and lemonade and it was all very good. 
The Solarium was great. The pool is spread over 3 levels, the jaquizzs (sp)  were rather large and there are 4 of them. There is a little cafe in the Solarium which has a limited variety of food, worth trying, but not comparable to the Windjammer or the main dining room. The Solarium is completely covered in glass and offers really great views of the ships forward motion. The Solarium is also an adult area and since it's covered in glass, it is not effected by weather...rain...wind. It stays warm and is open late.
For the 5 day cruise, RC had 3 theater shows. (We didn't really understand them, sort of strange, but worth seeing.)  We really liked the bars and small clubs because the live bands were great and RC switches them every night. 
For teenagers and adults theres' tons to do. Plus in the middle of the ship there's a huge activity area for basketball, that turns into skating, bumper cars, and also RC has a huge game of dodge ball. Everyone had a blast playing dodge ball, young and old. 
Those were our highlights. The areas that were on the down side for us was disembarking. I would report there at the time RC tells you. We did early disembarking, waited 1 1/2 after even arriving early. Friends of ours showed up at their assigned time and just walked off the ship. That's what I will do next time. Also Bar Harbor is a tendered port. So if u don't do a RC excursion, then you will be given a tender # and wait and wait and wait to get off the ship. Again we arrived early to pick up or #, and waited on a huge line and then once we were handed our #, we waited at least another hour and fifteen min.
These are some of our impressions as we compared our dcl experiences to our first RC cruise. We were pleasantly surprised that we enjoyed RC a lot. The few problems were a learning experience for us. Checking in at the port was easy and 5 min. Getting on the ship was quick too. 
Final clue, come on the ship with your next RC cruise in mind. Even if u change your date or decide not to cruise again. Go through the quick process of setting up a time with the "next cruise" area.  RC has a sign up book with times and dates right there. The reason why is cause you will pick up some on board credit and also only have to leave a $50 per person deposit for your next cruise. Of course, at home, you can change your cruise and RC will still use your $50 per person as the down payment. When we got home I researched more, found a much cheaper 7 days cruise, instead of the 5 day one I booked on ship, called RC and they changed it right away.
You can always cancel your next cruise and get your deposit back before the cancellation time ends, but you can't leave the ship w/out a new reservation and book at home unless you pay the $500 deposit. 
Hope this helps.
Chris

I writing my thoughts here cause it took a few years and a few rc canceled cruises to finally try RC. Yes we were reluctant to cruise RC. When we finally started our drive to Port Liberty I must say I had my mental clipboard in my mind ready to rate negatively every issue we encounted onboard RC Anthem of the Seas.    So for my fellow dcl'ers heres my review:
Checking In for Cruise:      RC  about 5 min         DCL   about 20 min
Parking:                             Easy at both
Entering ship: Very Impressive atrium on dcl upon entering ship, plus visually amazing every time u pass through it. 
Adult Area on Ships:  RC seems about twice as large. 4 huge beautiful Jacuzzis. RC adult area on deck 14 is enclosed, which is a huge deal. Weather controlled. It doesn't matter if it rains, and is cold, etc. It's called the Solarium and that describes it. Warm, tropical and beautiful. Multi level mid size pools and u can just sit back and watch the path the ship takes.The Solarium is totally enclosed in glass There's even a very nice small cafe in this area. Very nice. DCL Jacuzzis are much smaller and "metal" looking. No where close to RC's. The RC Jacuzzis stay on all the time. Very rarely did we have to press the button. Jacuzzis open to midnight. Some pools open to midnight. 
For 10 and older:  RC has tons of activities. The rock climbing, the surfing area, the Ifly which is also super fun to watch, the NorthStar. How about the FunPlex area: Huge inside area that has a full court basketball area, that turns into a skating area, also a bumper car area. However the dodgeball game held here was hilarious. Each side had about 50 adults/kids playing. The game I saw, a younger female adult dressed in formal outfit ending up beating everyone. It was amazing to see her catch the balls thrown at her in her outfit. Fun!
Main Theater Show:  The RC shows were extravagant with special effects, lighting, singing, etc, but for us, the shows were weird. However, everyone we spoke with loved them. So I guess we'll give it another chance next cruise. Disney Shows are of course Fantastic. 
Dining: Here of course was one of our main concerns. I didn't like that we couldn't visit all 4 of the different dining areas. Oh well. Quality of dinner I thought was about the same between RC and DCL. DCL does present it a little better, but no big deal. DCL has a bit more variety for the dinner menu as well. 
Service: I found the staff at RC to be very friendly and willing to assist. Of course DCL is pretty much fantastic, but after 7 cruises on dcl, maybe they are over the top! Too much. And dcl always hints to please give them a top rating, like almost every day. 
Windjammer vs. DCL buffet forgot the name?  The first day dcl has the shrimp and crab legs and Windjammer doesn't. After that they are pretty much the same with these few exceptions: Windjammer has way more variety. The omlet station is much easy to deal with. A few different people are making omelets. I found I had to wait at dcl for a few people before me all the time on dcl. RC also had a few staff making spaggetti with vegetables of your choice and it was really good. Windjammer seemed larger as well, more international type foods. On the last full day of the cruise, Windjammer had "special" desserts. That was a nice touch as well. 
Pay for soft drinks:   Not even a big deal for us. Besides ice tea, juice is available in the morning, plus flavored water drinks that were really, really good. Didn't miss the soda at all. 
Stateroom: Very, very nice. I think the size was 198 sq ft, a little smaller than the 214 stateroom were usually reserve on dcl. We reserved a bed topper months before so the bed was fine. Sheets were very comfortable similar to dcl. We did miss the split bathroom a bit, but did enjoy the glass shower. 
Night Entertainment:  RC seemed to have way more and a better variety. At least 2 comedians during the cruise. Also the ship has 3 bars or clubs which rotated different bands on different nights. They were really good to watch and listen to. 
Public Restrooms:  Ok here is the place where RC needs lots of work. The Men's Restrooms around the ship are dirty most of the time. My wife said the Lady's room was fine. I'm glad for that, or she might have jumped off the ship. Not sure if this is a male thing...but the public restrooms don't have a little button to override the automatic flush, when the auto flush doesn't know that someone has left. I think it is also confused by the fact that sometimes the seat isn't closed. I don't know what it was, but RC put the little button on the toilets, so guests can manually flush the toilets. I hated that and so no need for that at all. 
Rebooking:  RC absolutely kills DCL on this. They have 4 or 5 stations for this. Plus a book to reserve a time slot. DCL used to have a drop off box. I always researched and knew my next cruise info, and when dcl discontinued that box, I had to wait a long time in line while people who didn't research would ask begining level questions like "What ship is cruising from what port???  All stuff u can find online before u take up 2 hours just chatting. Last dcl cruise I just left my info on the managers desk and said "book this or not and getting rid of that mailbox for next cruises is a disaster from those of us who know what we want to do. I don't want to give up 2 hrs of my vacation time, cause someone higher up isn't smart enough to make the right decision."
 
All in all, forgetting the public bathrooms, we had a great time on the Anthem of the Seas. I went in trying thinking it would be horrible, but we had a great time, like strolling around the ship at night and watch all the people having fun.   (ps- I don't know how so many people drink so much. I was so full from the meals, I couldn't keep up with the drinking. But everyone was having a great time. 
 
 
 
 

I writing my thoughts here cause it took a few years and a few rc canceled cruises to finally try RC. Yes we were reluctant to cruise RC. When we finally started our drive to Port Liberty I must say I had my mental clipboard in my mind ready to rate negatively every issue we encounted onboard RC Anthem of the Seas.    So for my fellow dcl'ers heres my review:
Checking In for Cruise:      RC  about 5 min         DCL   about 20 min
Parking:                             Easy at both
Entering ship: Very Impressive atrium on dcl upon entering ship, plus visually amazing every time u pass through it. 
Adult Area on Ships:  RC seems about twice as large. 4 huge beautiful Jacuzzis. RC adult area on deck 14 is enclosed, which is a huge deal. Weather controlled. It doesn't matter if it rains, and is cold, etc. It's called the Solarium and that describes it. Warm, tropical and beautiful. Multi level mid size pools and u can just sit back and watch the path the ship takes.The Solarium is totally enclosed in glass There's even a very nice small cafe in this area. Very nice. DCL Jacuzzis are much smaller and "metal" looking. No where close to RC's. The RC Jacuzzis stay on all the time. Very rarely did we have to press the button. Jacuzzis open to midnight. Some pools open to midnight. 
For 10 and older:  RC has tons of activities. The rock climbing, the surfing area, the Ifly which is also super fun to watch, the NorthStar. How about the FunPlex area: Huge inside area that has a full court basketball area, that turns into a skating area, also a bumper car area. However the dodgeball game held here was hilarious. Each side had about 50 adults/kids playing. The game I saw, a younger female adult dressed in formal outfit ending up beating everyone. It was amazing to see her catch the balls thrown at her in her outfit. Fun!
Main Theater Show:  The RC shows were extravagant with special effects, lighting, singing, etc, but for us, the shows were weird. However, everyone we spoke with loved them. So I guess we'll give it another chance next cruise. Disney Shows are of course Fantastic. 
Dining: Here of course was one of our main concerns. I didn't like that we couldn't visit all 4 of the different dining areas. Oh well. Quality of dinner I thought was about the same between RC and DCL. DCL does present it a little better, but no big deal. DCL has a bit more variety for the dinner menu as well. 
Service: I found the staff at RC to be very friendly and willing to assist. Of course DCL is pretty much fantastic, but after 7 cruises on dcl, maybe they are over the top! Too much. And dcl always hints to please give them a top rating, like almost every day. 
Windjammer vs. DCL buffet forgot the name?  The first day dcl has the shrimp and crab legs and Windjammer doesn't. After that they are pretty much the same with these few exceptions: Windjammer has way more variety. The omlet station is much easy to deal with. A few different people are making omelets. I found I had to wait at dcl for a few people before me all the time on dcl. RC also had a few staff making spaggetti with vegetables of your choice and it was really good. Windjammer seemed larger as well, more international type foods. On the last full day of the cruise, Windjammer had "special" desserts. That was a nice touch as well. 
Pay for soft drinks:   Not even a big deal for us. Besides ice tea, juice is available in the morning, plus flavored water drinks that were really, really good. Didn't miss the soda at all. 
Stateroom: Very, very nice. I think the size was 198 sq ft, a little smaller than the 214 stateroom were usually reserve on dcl. We reserved a bed topper months before so the bed was fine. Sheets were very comfortable similar to dcl. We did miss the split bathroom a bit, but did enjoy the glass shower. 
Night Entertainment:  RC seemed to have way more and a better variety. At least 2 comedians during the cruise. Also the ship has 3 bars or clubs which rotated different bands on different nights. They were really good to watch and listen to. 
Public Restrooms:  Ok here is the place where RC needs lots of work. The Men's Restrooms around the ship are dirty most of the time. My wife said the Lady's room was fine. I'm glad for that, or she might have jumped off the ship. Not sure if this is a male thing...but the public restrooms don't have a little button to override the automatic flush, when the auto flush doesn't know that someone has left. I think it is also confused by the fact that sometimes the seat isn't closed. I don't know what it was, but RC put the little button on the toilets, so guests can manually flush the toilets. I hated that and so no need for that at all. 
Rebooking:  RC absolutely kills DCL on this. They have 4 or 5 stations for this. Plus a book to reserve a time slot. DCL used to have a drop off box. I always researched and knew my next cruise info, and when dcl discontinued that box, I had to wait a long time in line while people who didn't research would ask begining level questions like "What ship is cruising from what port???  All stuff u can find online before u take up 2 hours just chatting. Last dcl cruise I just left my info on the managers desk and said "book this or not and getting rid of that mailbox for next cruises is a disaster from those of us who know what we want to do. I don't want to give up 2 hrs of my vacation time, cause someone higher up isn't smart enough to make the right decision."
 
All in all, forgetting the public bathrooms, we had a great time on the Anthem of the Seas. I went in trying thinking it would be horrible, but we had a great time, like strolling around the ship at night and watch all the people having fun.   (ps- I don't know how so many people drink so much. I was so full from the meals, I couldn't keep up with the drinking. But everyone was having a great time. 
 
 
 
 

I writing my thoughts here cause it took a few years and a few rc canceled cruises to finally try RC. Yes we were reluctant to cruise RC. When we finally started our drive to Port Liberty I must say I had my mental clipboard in my mind ready to rate negatively every issue we encounted onboard RC Anthem of the Seas.    So for my fellow dcl'ers heres my review:
Checking In for Cruise:      RC  about 5 min         DCL   about 20 min
Parking:                             Easy at both
Entering ship: Very Impressive atrium on dcl upon entering ship, plus visually amazing every time u pass through it. 
Adult Area on Ships:  RC seems about twice as large. 4 huge beautiful Jacuzzis. RC adult area on deck 14 is enclosed, which is a huge deal. Weather controlled. It doesn't matter if it rains, and is cold, etc. It's called the Solarium and that describes it. Warm, tropical and beautiful. Multi level mid size pools and u can just sit back and watch the path the ship takes.The Solarium is totally enclosed in glass There's even a very nice small cafe in this area. Very nice. DCL Jacuzzis are much smaller and "metal" looking. No where close to RC's. The RC Jacuzzis stay on all the time. Very rarely did we have to press the button. Jacuzzis open to midnight. Some pools open to midnight. 
For 10 and older:  RC has tons of activities. The rock climbing, the surfing area, the Ifly which is also super fun to watch, the NorthStar. How about the FunPlex area: Huge inside area that has a full court basketball area, that turns into a skating area, also a bumper car area. However the dodgeball game held here was hilarious. Each side had about 50 adults/kids playing. The game I saw, a younger female adult dressed in formal outfit ending up beating everyone. It was amazing to see her catch the balls thrown at her in her outfit. Fun!
Main Theater Show:  The RC shows were extravagant with special effects, lighting, singing, etc, but for us, the shows were weird. However, everyone we spoke with loved them. So I guess we'll give it another chance next cruise. Disney Shows are of course Fantastic. 
Dining: Here of course was one of our main concerns. I didn't like that we couldn't visit all 4 of the different dining areas. Oh well. Quality of dinner I thought was about the same between RC and DCL. DCL does present it a little better, but no big deal. DCL has a bit more variety for the dinner menu as well. 
Service: I found the staff at RC to be very friendly and willing to assist. Of course DCL is pretty much fantastic, but after 7 cruises on dcl, maybe they are over the top! Too much. And dcl always hints to please give them a top rating, like almost every day. 
Windjammer vs. DCL buffet forgot the name?  The first day dcl has the shrimp and crab legs and Windjammer doesn't. After that they are pretty much the same with these few exceptions: Windjammer has way more variety. The omlet station is much easy to deal with. A few different people are making omelets. I found I had to wait at dcl for a few people before me all the time on dcl. RC also had a few staff making spaggetti with vegetables of your choice and it was really good. Windjammer seemed larger as well, more international type foods. On the last full day of the cruise, Windjammer had "special" desserts. That was a nice touch as well. 
Pay for soft drinks:   Not even a big deal for us. Besides ice tea, juice is available in the morning, plus flavored water drinks that were really, really good. Didn't miss the soda at all. 
Stateroom: Very, very nice. I think the size was 198 sq ft, a little smaller than the 214 stateroom were usually reserve on dcl. We reserved a bed topper months before so the bed was fine. Sheets were very comfortable similar to dcl. We did miss the split bathroom a bit, but did enjoy the glass shower. 
Night Entertainment:  RC seemed to have way more and a better variety. At least 2 comedians during the cruise. Also the ship has 3 bars or clubs which rotated different bands on different nights. They were really good to watch and listen to. 
Public Restrooms:  Ok here is the place where RC needs lots of work. The Men's Restrooms around the ship are dirty most of the time. My wife said the Lady's room was fine. I'm glad for that, or she might have jumped off the ship. Not sure if this is a male thing...but the public restrooms don't have a little button to override the automatic flush, when the auto flush doesn't know that someone has left. I think it is also confused by the fact that sometimes the seat isn't closed. I don't know what it was, but RC put the little button on the toilets, so guests can manually flush the toilets. I hated that and so no need for that at all. 
Rebooking:  RC absolutely kills DCL on this. They have 4 or 5 stations for this. Plus a book to reserve a time slot. DCL used to have a drop off box. I always researched and knew my next cruise info, and when dcl discontinued that box, I had to wait a long time in line while people who didn't research would ask begining level questions like "What ship is cruising from what port???  All stuff u can find online before u take up 2 hours just chatting. Last dcl cruise I just left my info on the managers desk and said "book this or not and getting rid of that mailbox for next cruises is a disaster from those of us who know what we want to do. I don't want to give up 2 hrs of my vacation time, cause someone higher up isn't smart enough to make the right decision."
 
All in all, forgetting the public bathrooms, we had a great time on the Anthem of the Seas. I went in trying thinking it would be horrible, but we had a great time, like strolling around the ship at night and watch all the people having fun.   (ps- I don't know how so many people drink so much. I was so full from the meals, I couldn't keep up with the drinking. But everyone was having a great time. 
 
 
 
 

Didn't try specialty dining. Since it was our first cruise on RC, I wanted to try all 5 nts in the main dining to evaluate variety of the menu, etc. 
"One more question"  you stated it exactly, didn't think another cruiseline could match up and being a Disney Vacation Club member, I have never really been disappointed in my experience with them. Over 20 years of vacationing in Disney and DCL, if I've ever mentioned a problem at the resorts or anywhere else I have been reimbursed financially very well for any inconvenience.
I didn't want to spend $2000 to be disappointed in any way on another cruiseline. However leaving out of NJ, and the ability to skip flying, plus not wanting to be a person who wouldn't try another cruiseline push me in this direction. Leaving out of Bayonne and going under the Veranzano Bridge was really cool. Then cruising north, dcl doesn't do that much and when they do it, like twice a year or so, they can charge a bundle, so this worked for us.
 
Rebooking a cruise next year for 7 nts to Bermuda and a stop at Boston, was perfect for us. The rebook was easy. The price dropped about $150 and i made a call to RC and they credited me right away. 
Calling RC to make changes and adjustments over the last year or so, is always easy. Hardly wait. They are very helpful. So in a way, the entire experience surprised me. 
Getting a balcony for the same price as a dcl inside room, is also a plus. .....It's the men's bathroom that needs to be addressed. Really no excuse for that.
After the trip I know sometimes things go wrong, like I tried to do early walk off on disembarkment day, wow that was a mess. But people we ate w/ just walked off at the time they were suppose to, so I'll do that next time. Tendering to Bar Harbor was also a huge pain, but I decided not to focus on the negative, which is weird for me. Too many surprisingly nice things happened for us.  

I writing my thoughts here cause it took a few years and a few rc canceled cruises to finally try RC. Yes we were reluctant to cruise RC. When we finally started our drive to Port Liberty I must say I had my mental clipboard in my mind ready to rate negatively every issue we encounted onboard RC Anthem of the Seas.    So for my fellow dcl'ers heres my review:
Checking In for Cruise:      RC  about 5 min         DCL   about 20 min
Parking:                             Easy at both
Entering ship: Very Impressive atrium on dcl upon entering ship, plus visually amazing every time u pass through it. 
Adult Area on Ships:  RC seems about twice as large. 4 huge beautiful Jacuzzis. RC adult area on deck 14 is enclosed, which is a huge deal. Weather controlled. It doesn't matter if it rains, and is cold, etc. It's called the Solarium and that describes it. Warm, tropical and beautiful. Multi level mid size pools and u can just sit back and watch the path the ship takes.The Solarium is totally enclosed in glass There's even a very nice small cafe in this area. Very nice. DCL Jacuzzis are much smaller and "metal" looking. No where close to RC's. The RC Jacuzzis stay on all the time. Very rarely did we have to press the button. Jacuzzis open to midnight. Some pools open to midnight. 
For 10 and older:  RC has tons of activities. The rock climbing, the surfing area, the Ifly which is also super fun to watch, the NorthStar. How about the FunPlex area: Huge inside area that has a full court basketball area, that turns into a skating area, also a bumper car area. However the dodgeball game held here was hilarious. Each side had about 50 adults/kids playing. The game I saw, a younger female adult dressed in formal outfit ending up beating everyone. It was amazing to see her catch the balls thrown at her in her outfit. Fun!
Main Theater Show:  The RC shows were extravagant with special effects, lighting, singing, etc, but for us, the shows were weird. However, everyone we spoke with loved them. So I guess we'll give it another chance next cruise. Disney Shows are of course Fantastic. 
Dining: Here of course was one of our main concerns. I didn't like that we couldn't visit all 4 of the different dining areas. Oh well. Quality of dinner I thought was about the same between RC and DCL. DCL does present it a little better, but no big deal. DCL has a bit more variety for the dinner menu as well. 
Service: I found the staff at RC to be very friendly and willing to assist. Of course DCL is pretty much fantastic, but after 7 cruises on dcl, maybe they are over the top! Too much. And dcl always hints to please give them a top rating, like almost every day. 
Windjammer vs. DCL buffet forgot the name?  The first day dcl has the shrimp and crab legs and Windjammer doesn't. After that they are pretty much the same with these few exceptions: Windjammer has way more variety. The omlet station is much easy to deal with. A few different people are making omelets. I found I had to wait at dcl for a few people before me all the time on dcl. RC also had a few staff making spaggetti with vegetables of your choice and it was really good. Windjammer seemed larger as well, more international type foods. On the last full day of the cruise, Windjammer had "special" desserts. That was a nice touch as well. 
Pay for soft drinks:   Not even a big deal for us. Besides ice tea, juice is available in the morning, plus flavored water drinks that were really, really good. Didn't miss the soda at all. 
Stateroom: Very, very nice. I think the size was 198 sq ft, a little smaller than the 214 stateroom were usually reserve on dcl. We reserved a bed topper months before so the bed was fine. Sheets were very comfortable similar to dcl. We did miss the split bathroom a bit, but did enjoy the glass shower. 
Night Entertainment:  RC seemed to have way more and a better variety. At least 2 comedians during the cruise. Also the ship has 3 bars or clubs which rotated different bands on different nights. They were really good to watch and listen to. 
Public Restrooms:  Ok here is the place where RC needs lots of work. The Men's Restrooms around the ship are dirty most of the time. My wife said the Lady's room was fine. I'm glad for that, or she might have jumped off the ship. Not sure if this is a male thing...but the public restrooms don't have a little button to override the automatic flush, when the auto flush doesn't know that someone has left. I think it is also confused by the fact that sometimes the seat isn't closed. I don't know what it was, but RC put the little button on the toilets, so guests can manually flush the toilets. I hated that and so no need for that at all. 
Rebooking:  RC absolutely kills DCL on this. They have 4 or 5 stations for this. Plus a book to reserve a time slot. DCL used to have a drop off box. I always researched and knew my next cruise info, and when dcl discontinued that box, I had to wait a long time in line while people who didn't research would ask begining level questions like "What ship is cruising from what port???  All stuff u can find online before u take up 2 hours just chatting. Last dcl cruise I just left my info on the managers desk and said "book this or not and getting rid of that mailbox for next cruises is a disaster from those of us who know what we want to do. I don't want to give up 2 hrs of my vacation time, cause someone higher up isn't smart enough to make the right decision."
 
All in all, forgetting the public bathrooms, we had a great time on the Anthem of the Seas. I went in trying thinking it would be horrible, but we had a great time, like strolling around the ship at night and watch all the people having fun.   (ps- I don't know how so many people drink so much. I was so full from the meals, I couldn't keep up with the drinking. But everyone was having a great time. 
 
 
 
 

Didn't try specialty dining. Since it was our first cruise on RC, I wanted to try all 5 nts in the main dining to evaluate variety of the menu, etc. 
"One more question"  you stated it exactly, didn't think another cruiseline could match up and being a Disney Vacation Club member, I have never really been disappointed in my experience with them. Over 20 years of vacationing in Disney and DCL, if I've ever mentioned a problem at the resorts or anywhere else I have been reimbursed financially very well for any inconvenience.
I didn't want to spend $2000 to be disappointed in any way on another cruiseline. However leaving out of NJ, and the ability to skip flying, plus not wanting to be a person who wouldn't try another cruiseline push me in this direction. Leaving out of Bayonne and going under the Veranzano Bridge was really cool. Then cruising north, dcl doesn't do that much and when they do it, like twice a year or so, they can charge a bundle, so this worked for us.
 
Rebooking a cruise next year for 7 nts to Bermuda and a stop at Boston, was perfect for us. The rebook was easy. The price dropped about $150 and i made a call to RC and they credited me right away. 
Calling RC to make changes and adjustments over the last year or so, is always easy. Hardly wait. They are very helpful. So in a way, the entire experience surprised me. 
Getting a balcony for the same price as a dcl inside room, is also a plus. .....It's the men's bathroom that needs to be addressed. Really no excuse for that.
After the trip I know sometimes things go wrong, like I tried to do early walk off on disembarkment day, wow that was a mess. But people we ate w/ just walked off at the time they were suppose to, so I'll do that next time. Tendering to Bar Harbor was also a huge pain, but I decided not to focus on the negative, which is weird for me. Too many surprisingly nice things happened for us.  

I writing my thoughts here cause it took a few years and a few rc canceled cruises to finally try RC. Yes we were reluctant to cruise RC. When we finally started our drive to Port Liberty I must say I had my mental clipboard in my mind ready to rate negatively every issue we encounted onboard RC Anthem of the Seas.    So for my fellow dcl'ers heres my review:
Checking In for Cruise:      RC  about 5 min         DCL   about 20 min
Parking:                             Easy at both
Entering ship: Very Impressive atrium on dcl upon entering ship, plus visually amazing every time u pass through it. 
Adult Area on Ships:  RC seems about twice as large. 4 huge beautiful Jacuzzis. RC adult area on deck 14 is enclosed, which is a huge deal. Weather controlled. It doesn't matter if it rains, and is cold, etc. It's called the Solarium and that describes it. Warm, tropical and beautiful. Multi level mid size pools and u can just sit back and watch the path the ship takes.The Solarium is totally enclosed in glass There's even a very nice small cafe in this area. Very nice. DCL Jacuzzis are much smaller and "metal" looking. No where close to RC's. The RC Jacuzzis stay on all the time. Very rarely did we have to press the button. Jacuzzis open to midnight. Some pools open to midnight. 
For 10 and older:  RC has tons of activities. The rock climbing, the surfing area, the Ifly which is also super fun to watch, the NorthStar. How about the FunPlex area: Huge inside area that has a full court basketball area, that turns into a skating area, also a bumper car area. However the dodgeball game held here was hilarious. Each side had about 50 adults/kids playing. The game I saw, a younger female adult dressed in formal outfit ending up beating everyone. It was amazing to see her catch the balls thrown at her in her outfit. Fun!
Main Theater Show:  The RC shows were extravagant with special effects, lighting, singing, etc, but for us, the shows were weird. However, everyone we spoke with loved them. So I guess we'll give it another chance next cruise. Disney Shows are of course Fantastic. 
Dining: Here of course was one of our main concerns. I didn't like that we couldn't visit all 4 of the different dining areas. Oh well. Quality of dinner I thought was about the same between RC and DCL. DCL does present it a little better, but no big deal. DCL has a bit more variety for the dinner menu as well. 
Service: I found the staff at RC to be very friendly and willing to assist. Of course DCL is pretty much fantastic, but after 7 cruises on dcl, maybe they are over the top! Too much. And dcl always hints to please give them a top rating, like almost every day. 
Windjammer vs. DCL buffet forgot the name?  The first day dcl has the shrimp and crab legs and Windjammer doesn't. After that they are pretty much the same with these few exceptions: Windjammer has way more variety. The omlet station is much easy to deal with. A few different people are making omelets. I found I had to wait at dcl for a few people before me all the time on dcl. RC also had a few staff making spaggetti with vegetables of your choice and it was really good. Windjammer seemed larger as well, more international type foods. On the last full day of the cruise, Windjammer had "special" desserts. That was a nice touch as well. 
Pay for soft drinks:   Not even a big deal for us. Besides ice tea, juice is available in the morning, plus flavored water drinks that were really, really good. Didn't miss the soda at all. 
Stateroom: Very, very nice. I think the size was 198 sq ft, a little smaller than the 214 stateroom were usually reserve on dcl. We reserved a bed topper months before so the bed was fine. Sheets were very comfortable similar to dcl. We did miss the split bathroom a bit, but did enjoy the glass shower. 
Night Entertainment:  RC seemed to have way more and a better variety. At least 2 comedians during the cruise. Also the ship has 3 bars or clubs which rotated different bands on different nights. They were really good to watch and listen to. 
Public Restrooms:  Ok here is the place where RC needs lots of work. The Men's Restrooms around the ship are dirty most of the time. My wife said the Lady's room was fine. I'm glad for that, or she might have jumped off the ship. Not sure if this is a male thing...but the public restrooms don't have a little button to override the automatic flush, when the auto flush doesn't know that someone has left. I think it is also confused by the fact that sometimes the seat isn't closed. I don't know what it was, but RC put the little button on the toilets, so guests can manually flush the toilets. I hated that and so no need for that at all. 
Rebooking:  RC absolutely kills DCL on this. They have 4 or 5 stations for this. Plus a book to reserve a time slot. DCL used to have a drop off box. I always researched and knew my next cruise info, and when dcl discontinued that box, I had to wait a long time in line while people who didn't research would ask begining level questions like "What ship is cruising from what port???  All stuff u can find online before u take up 2 hours just chatting. Last dcl cruise I just left my info on the managers desk and said "book this or not and getting rid of that mailbox for next cruises is a disaster from those of us who know what we want to do. I don't want to give up 2 hrs of my vacation time, cause someone higher up isn't smart enough to make the right decision."
 
All in all, forgetting the public bathrooms, we had a great time on the Anthem of the Seas. I went in trying thinking it would be horrible, but we had a great time, like strolling around the ship at night and watch all the people having fun.   (ps- I don't know how so many people drink so much. I was so full from the meals, I couldn't keep up with the drinking. But everyone was having a great time. 
 
 
 
 

Didn't try specialty dining. Since it was our first cruise on RC, I wanted to try all 5 nts in the main dining to evaluate variety of the menu, etc. 
"One more question"  you stated it exactly, didn't think another cruiseline could match up and being a Disney Vacation Club member, I have never really been disappointed in my experience with them. Over 20 years of vacationing in Disney and DCL, if I've ever mentioned a problem at the resorts or anywhere else I have been reimbursed financially very well for any inconvenience.
I didn't want to spend $2000 to be disappointed in any way on another cruiseline. However leaving out of NJ, and the ability to skip flying, plus not wanting to be a person who wouldn't try another cruiseline push me in this direction. Leaving out of Bayonne and going under the Veranzano Bridge was really cool. Then cruising north, dcl doesn't do that much and when they do it, like twice a year or so, they can charge a bundle, so this worked for us.
 
Rebooking a cruise next year for 7 nts to Bermuda and a stop at Boston, was perfect for us. The rebook was easy. The price dropped about $150 and i made a call to RC and they credited me right away. 
Calling RC to make changes and adjustments over the last year or so, is always easy. Hardly wait. They are very helpful. So in a way, the entire experience surprised me. 
Getting a balcony for the same price as a dcl inside room, is also a plus. .....It's the men's bathroom that needs to be addressed. Really no excuse for that.
After the trip I know sometimes things go wrong, like I tried to do early walk off on disembarkment day, wow that was a mess. But people we ate w/ just walked off at the time they were suppose to, so I'll do that next time. Tendering to Bar Harbor was also a huge pain, but I decided not to focus on the negative, which is weird for me. Too many surprisingly nice things happened for us.  

I writing my thoughts here cause it took a few years and a few rc canceled cruises to finally try RC. Yes we were reluctant to cruise RC. When we finally started our drive to Port Liberty I must say I had my mental clipboard in my mind ready to rate negatively every issue we encounted onboard RC Anthem of the Seas.    So for my fellow dcl'ers heres my review:
Checking In for Cruise:      RC  about 5 min         DCL   about 20 min
Parking:                             Easy at both
Entering ship: Very Impressive atrium on dcl upon entering ship, plus visually amazing every time u pass through it. 
Adult Area on Ships:  RC seems about twice as large. 4 huge beautiful Jacuzzis. RC adult area on deck 14 is enclosed, which is a huge deal. Weather controlled. It doesn't matter if it rains, and is cold, etc. It's called the Solarium and that describes it. Warm, tropical and beautiful. Multi level mid size pools and u can just sit back and watch the path the ship takes.The Solarium is totally enclosed in glass There's even a very nice small cafe in this area. Very nice. DCL Jacuzzis are much smaller and "metal" looking. No where close to RC's. The RC Jacuzzis stay on all the time. Very rarely did we have to press the button. Jacuzzis open to midnight. Some pools open to midnight. 
For 10 and older:  RC has tons of activities. The rock climbing, the surfing area, the Ifly which is also super fun to watch, the NorthStar. How about the FunPlex area: Huge inside area that has a full court basketball area, that turns into a skating area, also a bumper car area. However the dodgeball game held here was hilarious. Each side had about 50 adults/kids playing. The game I saw, a younger female adult dressed in formal outfit ending up beating everyone. It was amazing to see her catch the balls thrown at her in her outfit. Fun!
Main Theater Show:  The RC shows were extravagant with special effects, lighting, singing, etc, but for us, the shows were weird. However, everyone we spoke with loved them. So I guess we'll give it another chance next cruise. Disney Shows are of course Fantastic. 
Dining: Here of course was one of our main concerns. I didn't like that we couldn't visit all 4 of the different dining areas. Oh well. Quality of dinner I thought was about the same between RC and DCL. DCL does present it a little better, but no big deal. DCL has a bit more variety for the dinner menu as well. 
Service: I found the staff at RC to be very friendly and willing to assist. Of course DCL is pretty much fantastic, but after 7 cruises on dcl, maybe they are over the top! Too much. And dcl always hints to please give them a top rating, like almost every day. 
Windjammer vs. DCL buffet forgot the name?  The first day dcl has the shrimp and crab legs and Windjammer doesn't. After that they are pretty much the same with these few exceptions: Windjammer has way more variety. The omlet station is much easy to deal with. A few different people are making omelets. I found I had to wait at dcl for a few people before me all the time on dcl. RC also had a few staff making spaggetti with vegetables of your choice and it was really good. Windjammer seemed larger as well, more international type foods. On the last full day of the cruise, Windjammer had "special" desserts. That was a nice touch as well. 
Pay for soft drinks:   Not even a big deal for us. Besides ice tea, juice is available in the morning, plus flavored water drinks that were really, really good. Didn't miss the soda at all. 
Stateroom: Very, very nice. I think the size was 198 sq ft, a little smaller than the 214 stateroom were usually reserve on dcl. We reserved a bed topper months before so the bed was fine. Sheets were very comfortable similar to dcl. We did miss the split bathroom a bit, but did enjoy the glass shower. 
Night Entertainment:  RC seemed to have way more and a better variety. At least 2 comedians during the cruise. Also the ship has 3 bars or clubs which rotated different bands on different nights. They were really good to watch and listen to. 
Public Restrooms:  Ok here is the place where RC needs lots of work. The Men's Restrooms around the ship are dirty most of the time. My wife said the Lady's room was fine. I'm glad for that, or she might have jumped off the ship. Not sure if this is a male thing...but the public restrooms don't have a little button to override the automatic flush, when the auto flush doesn't know that someone has left. I think it is also confused by the fact that sometimes the seat isn't closed. I don't know what it was, but RC put the little button on the toilets, so guests can manually flush the toilets. I hated that and so no need for that at all. 
Rebooking:  RC absolutely kills DCL on this. They have 4 or 5 stations for this. Plus a book to reserve a time slot. DCL used to have a drop off box. I always researched and knew my next cruise info, and when dcl discontinued that box, I had to wait a long time in line while people who didn't research would ask begining level questions like "What ship is cruising from what port???  All stuff u can find online before u take up 2 hours just chatting. Last dcl cruise I just left my info on the managers desk and said "book this or not and getting rid of that mailbox for next cruises is a disaster from those of us who know what we want to do. I don't want to give up 2 hrs of my vacation time, cause someone higher up isn't smart enough to make the right decision."
 
All in all, forgetting the public bathrooms, we had a great time on the Anthem of the Seas. I went in trying thinking it would be horrible, but we had a great time, like strolling around the ship at night and watch all the people having fun.   (ps- I don't know how so many people drink so much. I was so full from the meals, I couldn't keep up with the drinking. But everyone was having a great time. 
 
 
 
 

I writing my thoughts here cause it took a few years and a few rc canceled cruises to finally try RC. Yes we were reluctant to cruise RC. When we finally started our drive to Port Liberty I must say I had my mental clipboard in my mind ready to rate negatively every issue we encounted onboard RC Anthem of the Seas.    So for my fellow dcl'ers heres my review:
Checking In for Cruise:      RC  about 5 min         DCL   about 20 min
Parking:                             Easy at both
Entering ship: Very Impressive atrium on dcl upon entering ship, plus visually amazing every time u pass through it. 
Adult Area on Ships:  RC seems about twice as large. 4 huge beautiful Jacuzzis. RC adult area on deck 14 is enclosed, which is a huge deal. Weather controlled. It doesn't matter if it rains, and is cold, etc. It's called the Solarium and that describes it. Warm, tropical and beautiful. Multi level mid size pools and u can just sit back and watch the path the ship takes.The Solarium is totally enclosed in glass There's even a very nice small cafe in this area. Very nice. DCL Jacuzzis are much smaller and "metal" looking. No where close to RC's. The RC Jacuzzis stay on all the time. Very rarely did we have to press the button. Jacuzzis open to midnight. Some pools open to midnight. 
For 10 and older:  RC has tons of activities. The rock climbing, the surfing area, the Ifly which is also super fun to watch, the NorthStar. How about the FunPlex area: Huge inside area that has a full court basketball area, that turns into a skating area, also a bumper car area. However the dodgeball game held here was hilarious. Each side had about 50 adults/kids playing. The game I saw, a younger female adult dressed in formal outfit ending up beating everyone. It was amazing to see her catch the balls thrown at her in her outfit. Fun!
Main Theater Show:  The RC shows were extravagant with special effects, lighting, singing, etc, but for us, the shows were weird. However, everyone we spoke with loved them. So I guess we'll give it another chance next cruise. Disney Shows are of course Fantastic. 
Dining: Here of course was one of our main concerns. I didn't like that we couldn't visit all 4 of the different dining areas. Oh well. Quality of dinner I thought was about the same between RC and DCL. DCL does present it a little better, but no big deal. DCL has a bit more variety for the dinner menu as well. 
Service: I found the staff at RC to be very friendly and willing to assist. Of course DCL is pretty much fantastic, but after 7 cruises on dcl, maybe they are over the top! Too much. And dcl always hints to please give them a top rating, like almost every day. 
Windjammer vs. DCL buffet forgot the name?  The first day dcl has the shrimp and crab legs and Windjammer doesn't. After that they are pretty much the same with these few exceptions: Windjammer has way more variety. The omlet station is much easy to deal with. A few different people are making omelets. I found I had to wait at dcl for a few people before me all the time on dcl. RC also had a few staff making spaggetti with vegetables of your choice and it was really good. Windjammer seemed larger as well, more international type foods. On the last full day of the cruise, Windjammer had "special" desserts. That was a nice touch as well. 
Pay for soft drinks:   Not even a big deal for us. Besides ice tea, juice is available in the morning, plus flavored water drinks that were really, really good. Didn't miss the soda at all. 
Stateroom: Very, very nice. I think the size was 198 sq ft, a little smaller than the 214 stateroom were usually reserve on dcl. We reserved a bed topper months before so the bed was fine. Sheets were very comfortable similar to dcl. We did miss the split bathroom a bit, but did enjoy the glass shower. 
Night Entertainment:  RC seemed to have way more and a better variety. At least 2 comedians during the cruise. Also the ship has 3 bars or clubs which rotated different bands on different nights. They were really good to watch and listen to. 
Public Restrooms:  Ok here is the place where RC needs lots of work. The Men's Restrooms around the ship are dirty most of the time. My wife said the Lady's room was fine. I'm glad for that, or she might have jumped off the ship. Not sure if this is a male thing...but the public restrooms don't have a little button to override the automatic flush, when the auto flush doesn't know that someone has left. I think it is also confused by the fact that sometimes the seat isn't closed. I don't know what it was, but RC put the little button on the toilets, so guests can manually flush the toilets. I hated that and so no need for that at all. 
Rebooking:  RC absolutely kills DCL on this. They have 4 or 5 stations for this. Plus a book to reserve a time slot. DCL used to have a drop off box. I always researched and knew my next cruise info, and when dcl discontinued that box, I had to wait a long time in line while people who didn't research would ask begining level questions like "What ship is cruising from what port???  All stuff u can find online before u take up 2 hours just chatting. Last dcl cruise I just left my info on the managers desk and said "book this or not and getting rid of that mailbox for next cruises is a disaster from those of us who know what we want to do. I don't want to give up 2 hrs of my vacation time, cause someone higher up isn't smart enough to make the right decision."
 
All in all, forgetting the public bathrooms, we had a great time on the Anthem of the Seas. I went in trying thinking it would be horrible, but we had a great time, like strolling around the ship at night and watch all the people having fun.   (ps- I don't know how so many people drink so much. I was so full from the meals, I couldn't keep up with the drinking. But everyone was having a great time. 
 
 
 
 

I writing my thoughts here cause it took a few years and a few rc canceled cruises to finally try RC. Yes we were reluctant to cruise RC. When we finally started our drive to Port Liberty I must say I had my mental clipboard in my mind ready to rate negatively every issue we encounted onboard RC Anthem of the Seas.    So for my fellow dcl'ers heres my review:
Checking In for Cruise:      RC  about 5 min         DCL   about 20 min
Parking:                             Easy at both
Entering ship: Very Impressive atrium on dcl upon entering ship, plus visually amazing every time u pass through it. 
Adult Area on Ships:  RC seems about twice as large. 4 huge beautiful Jacuzzis. RC adult area on deck 14 is enclosed, which is a huge deal. Weather controlled. It doesn't matter if it rains, and is cold, etc. It's called the Solarium and that describes it. Warm, tropical and beautiful. Multi level mid size pools and u can just sit back and watch the path the ship takes.The Solarium is totally enclosed in glass There's even a very nice small cafe in this area. Very nice. DCL Jacuzzis are much smaller and "metal" looking. No where close to RC's. The RC Jacuzzis stay on all the time. Very rarely did we have to press the button. Jacuzzis open to midnight. Some pools open to midnight. 
For 10 and older:  RC has tons of activities. The rock climbing, the surfing area, the Ifly which is also super fun to watch, the NorthStar. How about the FunPlex area: Huge inside area that has a full court basketball area, that turns into a skating area, also a bumper car area. However the dodgeball game held here was hilarious. Each side had about 50 adults/kids playing. The game I saw, a younger female adult dressed in formal outfit ending up beating everyone. It was amazing to see her catch the balls thrown at her in her outfit. Fun!
Main Theater Show:  The RC shows were extravagant with special effects, lighting, singing, etc, but for us, the shows were weird. However, everyone we spoke with loved them. So I guess we'll give it another chance next cruise. Disney Shows are of course Fantastic. 
Dining: Here of course was one of our main concerns. I didn't like that we couldn't visit all 4 of the different dining areas. Oh well. Quality of dinner I thought was about the same between RC and DCL. DCL does present it a little better, but no big deal. DCL has a bit more variety for the dinner menu as well. 
Service: I found the staff at RC to be very friendly and willing to assist. Of course DCL is pretty much fantastic, but after 7 cruises on dcl, maybe they are over the top! Too much. And dcl always hints to please give them a top rating, like almost every day. 
Windjammer vs. DCL buffet forgot the name?  The first day dcl has the shrimp and crab legs and Windjammer doesn't. After that they are pretty much the same with these few exceptions: Windjammer has way more variety. The omlet station is much easy to deal with. A few different people are making omelets. I found I had to wait at dcl for a few people before me all the time on dcl. RC also had a few staff making spaggetti with vegetables of your choice and it was really good. Windjammer seemed larger as well, more international type foods. On the last full day of the cruise, Windjammer had "special" desserts. That was a nice touch as well. 
Pay for soft drinks:   Not even a big deal for us. Besides ice tea, juice is available in the morning, plus flavored water drinks that were really, really good. Didn't miss the soda at all. 
Stateroom: Very, very nice. I think the size was 198 sq ft, a little smaller than the 214 stateroom were usually reserve on dcl. We reserved a bed topper months before so the bed was fine. Sheets were very comfortable similar to dcl. We did miss the split bathroom a bit, but did enjoy the glass shower. 
Night Entertainment:  RC seemed to have way more and a better variety. At least 2 comedians during the cruise. Also the ship has 3 bars or clubs which rotated different bands on different nights. They were really good to watch and listen to. 
Public Restrooms:  Ok here is the place where RC needs lots of work. The Men's Restrooms around the ship are dirty most of the time. My wife said the Lady's room was fine. I'm glad for that, or she might have jumped off the ship. Not sure if this is a male thing...but the public restrooms don't have a little button to override the automatic flush, when the auto flush doesn't know that someone has left. I think it is also confused by the fact that sometimes the seat isn't closed. I don't know what it was, but RC put the little button on the toilets, so guests can manually flush the toilets. I hated that and so no need for that at all. 
Rebooking:  RC absolutely kills DCL on this. They have 4 or 5 stations for this. Plus a book to reserve a time slot. DCL used to have a drop off box. I always researched and knew my next cruise info, and when dcl discontinued that box, I had to wait a long time in line while people who didn't research would ask begining level questions like "What ship is cruising from what port???  All stuff u can find online before u take up 2 hours just chatting. Last dcl cruise I just left my info on the managers desk and said "book this or not and getting rid of that mailbox for next cruises is a disaster from those of us who know what we want to do. I don't want to give up 2 hrs of my vacation time, cause someone higher up isn't smart enough to make the right decision."
 
All in all, forgetting the public bathrooms, we had a great time on the Anthem of the Seas. I went in trying thinking it would be horrible, but we had a great time, like strolling around the ship at night and watch all the people having fun.   (ps- I don't know how so many people drink so much. I was so full from the meals, I couldn't keep up with the drinking. But everyone was having a great time. 
 
 
 
 

Thanks for the info... I'm planning on using my 24" small rolling suitcase.
 
Just want to make sure I don't not confined to 3 ounce limitations like at the TSA.
 
Thanks

How did u find arriving at Port Liberty....what time did u arrive? Were u parking at the port? How busy was the port? Thanks. We're cruising out of there on June 26th. 

After cruising on the Disney ships for 7 times, we've decided to try RC out of Port Liberty.
We will be on Anthem of the Seas for the 5 night Canada cruise.
 
Since we have no experience on RC, I have many questions. But I'll start with just a few:
 
1. We live in NJ and it's easy to get to P Liberty. They have parking at the Port and say no reservations are needed. (I don't think they even take reservations)   Is that true, none are needed.
 
2. Also, I've tried to reserve some of the entertainment activities on the ship and even called RC directly. The rep said it looks like you will need to visit Guest Services onboard to book the reservations.  I really don't want to do that. I want to plan this ahead of time. But the rep mentioned that it doesn't look like they are taking reservations online for this cruise??? She mentioned to wait until the 120 day mark, or even the 90 days mark to see if it opens up. However she didn't sound very positive about this. 
 
I really don't want to stand inline, for something that should be able to be done way before we go on the cruise.
 
3. What shows would u suggest I book as soon as possible.
 
4. We're excited about this cruise because of leaving close to home and also the ports.... Bar Harbor and Halifax.
 
****Any thing you can mentioned about the ports or even the ship Anthem, any tips as well, would be appreciated. 
 
Thanks
 
Chris