“The Starry Neighbor (Neighbour?) Chronicles: Pining for the Fjords” – Anthem of the Seas, July 8th-15th, 2022

[WannaCruise]

4 hours ago, GregD said:

Last night we watched the welcome show. The cruise director is funny and entertaining. The lead for we will rock you sang a few songs. He has an amazing voice, and we had a moment of nostalgia because the first song he sang was the opening number in Aqua80, The Power of Love.

The comedian Mick Miller was quintessential British. His jokes are mainly one liners, and a one and done for us.

We too we’re boring cruisers and went to bed after the show. We missed the sunset, but we have a few more nights

Loving this double cruise report!  We were on Anthem in March.  Really enjoyed her....It's exciting reading through both your experiences!  

Is the cruise director still Joff Eaton?  He's pretty good (although we only had him for 2/3 of our cruise as he disappeared near the end of our cruise due to the nasty C).

Hope you're both having an amazing time!

[twangster]

1 hour ago, wannabecruiseexpert said:

We leave in a week on Allure and my app shows filet on Day 3 instead of Day 1, so I had Romina put us down for Day 3. I assumed this was fleet wide but now I'm worried the app is wrong and the filet is really still on Day 1.

Filet night has seen changes over time and there is no "fleet standard" when it comes to CK menus.  When CK is available to me I always stop by on day one and confirm what night is filet night.  I hear other guests asking the same question in line so I know I'm not the only one to find the filet on different nights over the years.

[GregD]

For lunch, Lydia ordered the Crispy chicken kara-age

heather and I had the spicy crispy shrimp roll and the futomaki roll.

the kids had the beef and chicken teriyaki 

 

internet is starting to get fun as we get further north. Pictures are rotating automatically when I upload smaller sizes and I forget how to rotate them back, so looking for suggestions 

[GregD]

18 minutes ago, WannaCruise said:

Loving this double cruise report!  We were on Anthem in March.  Really enjoyed her....It's exciting reading through both your experiences!  

Is the cruise director still Joff Eaton?  He's pretty good (although we only had him for 2/3 of our cruise as he disappeared near the end of our cruise due to the nasty C).

Hope you're both having an amazing time!

Joff is back!

[GregD]

Current speeds

 

[twangster]

9 minutes ago, GregD said:

Current speeds

 

Love the Starlink ad!  Too funny!

Latency (ping) suggests you have switched over to the legacy geostationary satellites.  Given your position that's expected much like when sailing north towards Alaska in the Pacific.

[GregD]

8 minutes ago, twangster said:

Love the Starlink ad!  Too funny!

Latency (ping) suggests you have switched over to the legacy geostationary satellites.  Given your position that's expected much like when sailing north towards Alaska in the Pacific.

Yep, reading you Alaska blog I was expecting the slowdown 

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 hour ago, wannabecruiseexpert said:

We leave in a week on Allure and my app shows filet on Day 3 instead of Day 1, so I had Romina put us down for Day 3. I assumed this was fleet wide but now I'm worried the app is wrong and the filet is really still on Day 1.

In the past, allure has not always done filet night on Day 1 like the other ships. I agree with the others, just check with your genie or ask the CK manager and schedule accordingly. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 hour ago, WannaCruise said:

Is the cruise director still Joff Eaton?  

Yes it is

[Lovetocruise2002]

We started with bumper cars as @GregDalready mentioned. It was a lot of fun and surprisingly quiet. Normally the line snakes around 3 of the 4 sides but today almost zero line. Perhaps people were not aware or maybe 9-11:30am was too early for people with the time change, not sure. Either way, we all enjoyed a few rounds. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

With Northstar cancelled due to winds, we headed to kill some time and get some coffee from La Patisserie. A charge from that showed up on my account. I will check with Leroy later to get that removed. 
 

Lunch was at Izumi today. With no Udon noodles on Quantum class Izumi, I was worried the kids would not find anything to their liking, however, everyone was quite full by the end of it all.

Small change I noticed halfway through lunch, the Izumi staff changed from their N95 mask to the blue surgical ones. They seemed very happy about it. After lunch we heard from a few other crew members that a memo had gone out earlier today that they could change. That is good news for them.  

[Lovetocruise2002]

Hubby and the kids did iFly after lunch. Fun was had by all. One thing I noticed that was different here from the last time we sailed Anthem in July 2019 is that iFly photos are purchased after you fly. They don’t show up with the regular photo gallery set anymore.
 

Hubby asked how we can view them later and they gave us a card with info on how to get the photo gallery crew to pull it up. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

2 hours ago, wannabecruiseexpert said:

We leave in a week on Allure and my app shows filet on Day 3 instead of Day 1, so I had Romina put us down for Day 3. I assumed this was fleet wide but now I'm worried the app is wrong and the filet is really still on Day 1.

On our last Oasis cruise, they had moved filet night from night 1 to night 3 but at the time, Oasis was the only one doing this.  I guess it has "caught on".

[WAAAYTOOO]

Is North Star complimentary for you ?  I know they have started charging for NS on sea days.  Just wondering if they are letting you go without charge.  Is it still unlimited for SC ?

[GregD]

56 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Is North Star complimentary for you ?  I know they have started charging for NS on sea days.  Just wondering if they are letting you go without charge.  Is it still unlimited for SC ?

If there is a charge Leroy hasn’t mentioned it. I am also on the first northstar ride in three of our port days and he has not mentioned there was a charge. If I remember I’ll ask him if there is a charge for non star class guests

[GregD]

Heather and I just finished a nice soak in the hot tubs. Leroy asked us if we wanted to do the flowrider. There was a special star class event. We were in the hot tub when he sent us that message. Told him there was no way I was trading hot steamy water with cocktails for cold water and North Sea winds.

[wannabecruiseexpert]

The bumper cars/skydiving look like so much fun. We've yet to try a quantum class ship but these photos really make me want to YOLO book something.

[Jax]

7 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I took a walk this morning to the Concierge Lounge. It was actually my first time there because our last two times on Anthem we were in a JS. It was quite the hike! From my room, down the hall to the aft stairs, then up two flights, back down the hall to the very back of Deck 12.

Are you sure you didn’t copy and paste this observation from my Anthem blog. Definitely no wow factor other than the Aft views. 

 

7 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

D13 is Hubby in training. One of her first questions once we got onboard was, “How soon can I do laundry?” This morning, “Can I do more laundry?” Lol

This made me laugh. You know how much I love service.  

[YOLO]

39 minutes ago, wannabecruiseexpert said:

 these photos really make me want to YOLO book something.

YOLO !!!  

Love the Anthem.  Catching the bumper cars with no lines with my BIL we went around almost a dozen times.  Super fun.  Like I was back at Rocky Point Park...

[GregD]

48 minutes ago, wannabecruiseexpert said:

The bumper cars/skydiving look like so much fun. We've yet to try a quantum class ship but these photos really make me want to YOLO book something.

[GregD]

Afternoon snack delivery. The Italian in me is cheering! (Thank you @Lovetocruise2002 for the visual reminder about PicCollage! This will make the slower data connection so much more manageable)

[Lovetocruise2002]

Totally out of commission after iFly. The motion seems to have gotten worse as we move further North. I took another round of motion meds but after lunch it did not seem to help. I did fall asleep just before dinner and feeling slightly more stable after that. We are now at Jamie’s for dinner so we’ll see if I make it

@WAAAYTOOOI did ask Leroy a few days ago about multiple Northstar and iFly. This was the response:

[KristiZ]

19 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

My youngest broke my heart tonight, she said she prefers the Chops filet over CK. I must have made a mistake training her along the way. Lol. 

Nah, just standard childhood rebellion. She’ll come back when she’s grown and say “mom, you were right, I’m sorry”

[twangster]

Port days are often better in North Star - something to see.  At sea is cool once but after that every ride on sea days is the same.

[CravingaCruise]

9 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

From my room, down the hall to the aft stairs, then up two flights, back down the hall to the very back of Deck 12. I really miss Deck 17 lol. The views there are fantastic and surprisingly, there was no one there other than the suite concierge. 

The suite lounge is a beautiful space that is so unused!!  The designers really didn't think through it well enough and we felt it was quite a shame.  With it being specific to the suite guests, you'd think they would have made it more accessible to the aft suites - even a staircase back there would have been better than the hike back and forth.  I hope the genies have a secret staircase or elevator back there to get between decks 8 & 10.  The lounge also needs a full bar back there to incentivize guests to visit.  It doesn't hold a candle to deck 17.  

[Lovetocruise2002]

22 minutes ago, CravingaCruise said:

The lounge also needs a full bar back there to incentivize guests to visit.  It doesn't hold a candle to deck 17.  

Could not agree more! 

[GregD]

36 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

The motion seems to have gotten worse as we move further North.

 

The ship certainly is rocking tonight!

[Ray]

1 hour ago, GregD said:

The ship certainly is rocking tonight!

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

. The motion seems to have gotten worse as we move further North. 

Just a normal day for me lol 

Every day the Weather forecast for this area is Rain and wind with a slight chance of sunshine

[GregD]

We spent the afternoon attempting to walk off some calories on the walking track bit it was so windy at the bow they had to close the path!

we made it one lap before they closed the bow, so we decided to soak in the indoor pool and hot tubs. The Boss grabbed our first drinks, and the bartender was surprised and pleased when she asked for a receipt to sign so she could tip him. Our next few drinks we ordered were suddenly MUCH stronger. While chatting with that bartender we found out he signed off of Oasis the day we got on in February. 

[Ray]

This was on Voyager in Baltic last a month or so ago. 

Wife's shot landed near hole which is downhill, wind is that strong it blew back up hill. Hopefully wind eases further north you get 

 

[GregD]

Dinner brought us back to CK. The food coma is already setting in. RE, the snack delivery earlier.
 

Heather and I again got escargot, I also ordered the Maine Lobster Salad. Lydia had Caesar Salad, while Johnny had chicken noodle soup. 

For entrees, Heather had the Pappardelle, which she said “didn’t do it for her.” I tried it and the sauce seemed too sweet. I had the veal tenderloin, which was good. Lydia ordered the kids steak, while Johnny had a special request of chicken alfredo. It wasn’t on the menu, but in typical fashion, our waiter, who has been superb, said that he could make it happen.

 

Following dinner, we all said we were stuffed so we were going to skip dessert…..so of course, we got dessert…..

[Yesiamthere6]

Old woman here is loving this blog, especially since she has the grande loft on Anthem the end of February.  We are in the middle of deck eight.  Yep, I know there is going to be some noise, but we should we be fine as I’m a night owl.  I did know to stay away from the corner ones!!  It was going to be just the two of us until two our grown ass kids said we go they go.  How else are they going to get another genie cruise at such a cheap price!

Looking at pictures it seems he bathroom downstairs is much nicer than the two bedroom aqua suites.  Is that so?

[JLMoran]

9 hours ago, GregD said:

Someone just had her first she’s a geisha cocktail.

New favorite she said

It is the best specialty drink on the ship. Even better than the Melon Mango Rita in Boleros.

[JLMoran]

9 hours ago, GregD said:

It’s a rule for dads to get as many embarrassing pictures of their kids and blast them to everyone right? If so mission accomplished, if not, oh well, enjoy anyway!

 

I'm wondering the passengers behind her were being scolded for by the ship staff.

[FionaMG]

Techie question. Why does this pic.collage thingy make it easier to post photos? Just so I can file the information away for the next time I'm using dodgy ship Internet...

[GregD]

1 hour ago, Yesiamthere6 said:

Looking at pictures it seems he bathroom downstairs is much nicer than the two bedroom aqua suites.  Is that so?

They certainly are!

36 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

I'm wondering the passengers behind her were being scolded for by the ship staff.

Hahaha, I just noticed that!

 

11 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

Techie question. Why does this pic.collage thingy make it easier to post photos? Just so I can file the information away for the next time I'm using dodgy ship Internet...

It shrinks the file size down considerably for easier uploads. When I tried doing that on the individual photos earlier, that caused them to rotate.

[GregD]

“Hey Leroy, the kids are back in the stateroom watching a movie. Can you send them two slices of cheese, and two slices of pepperoni pizza?”

”sure thing!”

20 minutes later

 

[JLMoran]

8 minutes ago, GregD said:

“Hey Leroy, the kids are back in the stateroom watching a movie. Can you send them two slices of cheese, and two slices of pepperoni pizza?”

”sure thing!”

 

 

Leroy, in a perfect Monty S Burns impression: "Eeeexcellent! More test subjects for finding the threshold of food coma."

[GregD]

After a long and rocky night we made it to Kristiansand. Good morning Norway!

[Lovetocruise2002]

Well, last night certainly did not go well for 3 of us. Hubby was the only one standing by 9pm. Jamie’s was good as usual.

The motion got worse as the night went on. We tried to head to see the Gift but 5 mins into the show, they had technical issues (due to the rocking the sensors were off, that’s what Joff said ) and the show had to be cancelled.

Just as well because at the front the rocking was awful. We headed back to the room to call it a night.