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Anthem 11 Night Southern Caribbean (Jan 27 - Feb 7, 2020): A Star Class Super Bowl


Karannk

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20 minutes ago, lisa6191 said:

When we had the Royal chocolate cake on Explorer, it did NOT look like that! I wonder if it is different in Coastal Kitchen?

That Royal Chocolate cake (the style of it) might be specific to Anthem’s CK. When Hubby had it in CK on Harmony and Symphony, it did not look like that either. But both times he had it on Anthem it was.

And @Jax, the Caesar salad on Anthem’s CK is very unique. Not all CK’s across the fleet make it like that. Anthem does it best. 

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Stopped at the Patisserie this AM for coffee and a raisin cinnamon roll. Which was huge BTW. The fellow behind the counter reminded us that we could have our genie pick-up things for us. To which, I replied that we were still exploring the ship and it’s not a big deal to get things for ourselves. He was floored. Says that no one ever does that. Really?!?! 

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Just starting day two and already the service/experience FAR outweigh that on Disney Cruise Line concierge. Love this room (owner’s loft) much better than even the Walt Suite on Magic. Bumper cars planned today at 1030AM. Escape room at 230PM. Chops dinner at 530PM. Tonight is a “dress your best” night. The Gift after dinner. 

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2 hours ago, Karannk said:

Stopped at the Patisserie this AM for coffee and a raisin cinnamon roll. Which was huge BTW. The fellow behind the counter reminded us that we could have our genie pick-up things for us. To which, I replied that we were still exploring the ship and it’s not a big deal to get things for ourselves. He was floored. Says that no one ever does that. Really?!?! 

 

That looks fantastic! Thank you for the photos so far! I heard the minis cheesecakes there were really good too!  Looking forward to having my kids go here to pick out their desserts themselves from the display case.

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2 hours ago, JLMoran said:

What IS it with Royal and raisins?!? You do not defile a cinnamon roll with failed wine grapes!!

I think I’ve figured out my genie request for November, get things made without raisins. 
perhaps I’ll say I’m triggered by the pain that grapes feel as they’re forced to be dried. 

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Wow, these grapes out here trying to live their best life to reach raisin-hood and all y'all hatin. I know raisins are an acquired taste but y'all got these raisin crying themselves to sleep and committing suicide with all this bullying. No wonder it was only like 3 in that apple pie.

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2 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Wow, these grapes out here trying to live their best life to reach raisin-hood and all y'all hatin. I know raisins are an acquired taste but y'all got these raisin crying themselves to sleep and committing suicide with all this bullying. No wonder it was only like 3 in that apple pie.

I actually like raisins quite a bit, both by themselves and in certain savory recipes. I have a recipe for rice with raisins & pine nuts that gets served with a creamy chicken curry and tastes great.

But in baked goods?

No.

Just... no.

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11 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

...and you raisin lovers wanna chew ‘em up.  Wonder how they feel about that ?

This is their heaven, to be chosen for the Gods stomachs. Whether it is human or feline, its still better than the dumpster. They know they all cannot be turned into sweet, sweet delicious liquids called wine.

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Day 2 - Sea Day

After breakfast, we headed to bumper cars. Yen led us to the front of the line. This did not go over well with all of the people standing in line, but oh well. 
 

We briefly checked out the suite guest cocktail party at 11AM at Vintages. There was a nice spread of snacks. Supposedly, all of the senior officers were there. We met Mercedes the cruise director. But, it was very crowded - so we left after maybe 5 minutes. 
 

Lunch was had at Johnny Rockets. It was just like Johnny Rockets on land, except better since we’re on a ship. ? We had burgers, hot dogs, fries, onion rings, and shakes. And they DO have malt, so it was a  vanilla malt for me! 
 

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Our son went to Adventure Ocean at 2PM. He had an OK time. In this respect, Disney Cruise Line might be the winner for now. Our son is nearly 9, and the offerings for teens (12-17 yrs) seem to be a bit better. He’s ambivalent about going back to kid’s club during this cruise, compared to demanding to go back -all the time- on DCL. Also, the hours for kid’s club sessions seem shorter on Royal. 

While he was at Adventure Ocean, we did the escape room. It’s for ages 14 and up. Our team was comprised of 7 people. There is a maximum of 12 per session. We successfully escaped in 34 minutes. We had never done an escape room before, so I have nothing to compare it to. But, I had fun. ?

 

Dinner was at Chops. It is dark in there! I forgot to take pictures of the menus and the entree pictures ended up a blurry mess, but this is what I have...

Caesar salad

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Seafood tower - the big one

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Apple pie a la mode - with raisins ?

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Warm chocolate cake

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A few more things about Day 2

Our room steward is really on it with the laundry! We brought a collapsible hamper and set it up under the stairs on the first floor of our suite. This hamper was emptied THREE times yesterday. The clothes taken in the morning were returned right before dinner. 

We saw the Gift last night. Yen had reserved our seats in the first row of the upper section. Not sure how else to describe the seating. It was a nice unobstructed view. And there is a “snack ledge” to rest your popcorn and drinks! They had to stop the show twice due to technical difficulties. Something went wrong with the harness. The storyline is loose, but it was visually appealing. 

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Today is Day 3: North Star, iFly, sushi class, and Wonderland dinner are planned. 

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2 hours ago, Karannk said:

A few more things about Day 2

Our room steward is really on it with the laundry! We brought a collapsible hamper and set it up under the stairs on the first floor of our suite. This hamper was emptied THREE times yesterday. The clothes taken in the morning were returned right before dinner. 

We saw the Gift last night. Yen had reserved our seats in the first row of the upper section. Not sure how else to describe the seating. It was a nice unobstructed view. And there is a “snack ledge” to rest your popcorn and drinks! They had to stop the show twice due to technical difficulties. Something went wrong with the harness. The storyline is loose, but it was visually appealing. 

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Today is Day 3: North Star, iFly, sushi class, and Wonderland dinner are planned. 

How do you like yen?? I keep reading shes literally and wont anticipate and go.above and beyond. We have her in a few weeka

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5 hours ago, Lryoon said:

How do you like yen?? I keep reading shes literally and wont anticipate and go.above and beyond. We have her in a few weeka

I really like her. I feel that the formality that some folks mention is just mistaken professionalism. She will do what you ask, but seems reluctant to outright state her personal opinion - in favor of guest preferences. If you listen closely to her, she is spot on. So, we’ve been following her recommendations and having a great time. She’s really taken excellent care of us. It’s our first time in SC, so I wouldn’t know if it’s supposed to be any different than what we’ve experienced. But I also can’t imagine what else she could be doing. 

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Day 3 - Sea Day

We started with breakfast in CK. Much better than Windjammer, which is what we did yesterday. My son prefers his bacon less crispy, so they were able to accommodate this request at CK. I had the pancakes. 

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My husband and my father got on North Star. Everyone else in our party (including me) was too chicken. But, Yen has booked another time - one sea day, one port day - for comparison. I might try it out. We’ll see. I’m terrified of heights. 
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The sushi making class at Izumi was way more fun than I thought it would be. We all wore little paper chef hats. And, honestly, I’m not a huge sushi fan. But, this was good. We also ordered some sake. Because why not? Here is my creation: 

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After lunch, we did iFly. Never did anything like that before! Yen has us scheduled for a second time tomorrow AM. Dinner tonight will be at Wonderland. I’m a little apprehensive, but I’ve got nothing to lose. 

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19 minutes ago, Karannk said:

My husband and my father got on North Star. Everyone else in our party (including me) was too chicken. But, Yen has booked another time - one sea day, one port day - for comparison. I might try it out. We’ll see. I’m terrified of heights. 

I am also not comfortable being waaay up there.  I had a very bad experience many, many years ago with the Arch in St. Louis and I have never been comfortable going "up" in some kind of mechanical contraption ever since.  I will say though...that NS is so smooth you don't even feel any motion at all.  I was very pleasantly surprised.  I think we ended up going 3 or 4 times over the B2B cruises. I hope you give it a try.  It's incredible.

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That's cool that you were able to book iFly both on a port day and on a sea day.  I'd love to hear the comparison (from you or your family ? ).  Can understand though being iffy about trying it if you don't like heights. 

Not sure if they are any different but those pancakes from CK look really good! (And I am not a big pancake fan)

Sushi class looks fun.  It's like an art class.

Enjoy your dinner tonight.  Would be interesting to try Wonderland some time.

 

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I hope you enjoyed Wonderland! Didn't see your post in time, but I had dinner there with my wife on our first Anthem sailing and I really liked it. My wife, not so much; but mainly because the menu is very seafood-focused and she hates seafood. We thought when we booked that she'd have more options or choices, but when we found out what it was like our waiter bent over backwards to give her a meal she'd enjoy -- which pretty much ended up being entirely appetizers and entrees from Chops, located just next door on Anthem!

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Following......sounds like you are off to a good start on your Anthem cruise.   

Hope you make it on NorthStar, it really is fun.

How was Wonderland?   

Is Mitch no longer the CD?   What is Mercedes' last name, wonder if she is the one we had on Freedom a couple of years ago.

Would you recommend The Gift?   Heard mixed reviews of it so far.

 

 

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I will be on anthem next week and I was wondering if Is it true that if you are connected to thr&efree WiFi that the ship offers to use their app.  That if you have an iPhone and are in airplane mode you still can use Imessenger to text other iPhones on board and also on land.  Please confirm this. Thank you

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9 hours ago, Karannk said:

I really like her. I feel that the formality that some folks mention is just mistaken professionalism. She will do what you ask, but seems reluctant to outright state her personal opinion - in favor of guest preferences. If you listen closely to her, she is spot on. So, we’ve been following her recommendations and having a great time. She’s really taken excellent care of us. It’s our first time in SC, so I wouldn’t know if it’s supposed to be any different than what we’ve experienced. But I also can’t imagine what else she could be doing. 

Thank you! This is super helpful!

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10 hours ago, Va4fam said:

Is Mitch no longer the CD?   What is Mercedes' last name, wonder if she is the one we had on Freedom a couple of years ago.

Would you recommend The Gift?   Heard mixed reviews of it so far.

Mercedes Lafuente.

While the Gift lacked cohesiveness, it was visually appealing. I think that if you like theatre, then you’ll appreciate the talent on stage. It’s not their fault that the storyline is a little wonky. 

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Day 3 - dinner at Wonderland 

Bottom line: I liked it, and I definitely would go back. I didn’t think that I’d be saying that, but maybe I’m more adventurous than I thought? I am a foodie, and I appreciate all of the work that goes into making the dishes so pretty. It reminded me of Victoria & Alberts at WDW, just less formal. V&A dabbles in molecular gastronomy, while Wonderland goes all out. Our waiter brought all of the appetizers and thoroughly explained each one as they arrived to the table. He recommended that we choose 3 to 4 entrees and share them family style. We chose 4: pork belly, halibut, short rib, and chicken. For dessert, again, he just brought them all. 

Buffalo Chicken Eggs

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Something mushroomy and Liquid Lobster

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Shrimp Kataifi

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Crispy Crab Cone

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Reconstructed Caprese 

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Oceanic Citrus

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Baby Vegetables in the Garden

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Halibut Cooked in Clear Paper

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Short Rib

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Pork Belly

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Chicken. That “egg” is made of cauliflower and butternut squash!

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Magical Mushroom dessert 

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The World dessert 

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Sadly, the picture for the Forbidden Apple dessert was too blurry. We liked that one the best. 

Kids Meal was comprised of mac&cheese fries and popcorn chicken: 

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Day 4 - Puerto Rico

We have a busy day planned. Arrival at port around 3PM. Gangway expected to open around 330PM. We’ll be headed to shore to walk around a bit. But before that, we’ll be having breakfast at CK, bumper cars at 11AM. Lunch at Johnny Rockets? Our son will be doing trapeze at 2PM and Flowrider at 230PM. Dinner tonight is at Izumi. 

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9 hours ago, Coach9 said:

I will be on anthem next week and I was wondering if Is it true that if you are connected to thr&efree WiFi that the ship offers to use their app.  That if you have an iPhone and are in airplane mode you still can use Imessenger to text other iPhones on board and also on land.  Please confirm this. Thank you

Tried it. It did not work. 

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5 hours ago, Karannk said:

It reminded me of Victoria & Alberts at WDW, just less formal.

You must try it on an Oasis class ship!  The theming is so much better and whimsical and they even have a "Mad Hatter" floating from table to table and gives it more of a theme park-ish feel.  The menu was the same, but the food was better executed on Anthem in my opinion.

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Day 4 - Puerto Rico

Breakfast at CK was excellent as usual. I tried the Mediterranean plate today:

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Next was bumper cars in the Seaplex. All three genies were present with their respective SC families. This apparently created a stir amongst the folks waiting in line, which my husband noticed - but wasn’t able to hear exactly what was being said. A few of the folks waiting in line successfully cut in during SC guest “boarding”, causing not all genie guests to ride bumper cars with family. I was blissfully unaware of this until later.  

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While waiting for trapeze class to start, there was a little father and son gaming in the X Box area:

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Ultimately, our son chickened out when it came time to climb the ladder for the trapeze. I get it. Really. I wouldn’t do it either! The Flowrider, on the other hand, was quite a hit.

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Anthem was docked right next to Harmony  in Puerto Rico. We walked around a bit, then back to the ship. Now getting ready for dinner at Izumi. 


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Day 4 - Dinner at Izumi

We totally overdid it. I keep thinking of that South Park episode when Cartman sings, “I’m a little piggie, here’s my snout. Oink, oink, oink. Oink, oink, oink.” I AM that little piggie. ?

So, of course the meal starts with edamame. Then we had pork gyoza dumplings. I also started with the first of 3 “She’s A Geisha” cocktails. 
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We ordered several rolls: champagne lobster in yuzu wrap, spicy crispy shrimp, spider roll, truffle creamy lobster tempura, and baked snow crab & salmon dynamite. My husband also asked for “something with octopus.” I had some trouble with the photos since the lighting in the esplanade kept casting a blue hue over everything. 


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We ordered Tonkotsu Ramen with just noodles and broth for our son. We thought it tasted pretty good, but he did not. He was not a great fan of Izumi overall, so we ended up getting him Johnny Rockets after our meal. But now I’m off on a tangent. Redirecting... 
So, after feeling quite accomplished that we finished all of the above, here comes Julius with an extra “surprise” roll. Futomaki. Why????? ? How can we possibly eat more?? Oh, but we did. 

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We had 2 little mochi ice cream balls each for dessert , then waddled over to Johnny Rockets for our son’s second bacon cheeseburger, fries, and shake of the day. 

Today is day 5. Yen has arranged room service breakfast from CK. We are doing a beach excursion on St. Maarten. This involves a bathing suit. It won’t be pretty. The SC food coma is real. Beware! ?

Dinner will be Jamie’s tonight. Followed by a ventriloquist show. 

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