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April 14-21 Anthem of the Seas Somewhat live blog


PrincipalTinker

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I have never created a thread and this is day 3, but I did want to share some of the pieces of my cruise. We boarded Antgem of the Seas on Saturday. From the time we arrived to drop off our luggage at 11:15, to the time we stepped on the Anthem it was just under 30 minutes. I think we just lucked out? We were stopped as we entered the terminal. There was a station where they checked our documents, re-took one photo and stamped our set sail passes. We then were able to walk right through the “stamped” security check point. After hearing about the lines in the Windjammer, we headed straight there. First timers and we even found a table right away! We had a chance to explore the ship before our stateroom was ready.

i am posting from my iPad and iPhone so photos may be not great (I am not a skilled photographer), and the zoom has been very challenging. It may be due to the weather conditions.

 

it seems I can post photos while on a bus in Florida, but not on the ship.

 

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Edited by PrincipalTinker
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I had to abandon my photos for now as they won’t post? A few random things:

i wanted to do the escape room ( I have just returned from it) and I was able to book it from the Royal IQ app while we were in the Windjammer on day 1. 

I was concerned that I am scheduled to return from Universal around 8:30 today and that return time is after my 8:15 dining time. Our waiter told us if we wanted to, we could arrive late and he would make sure we ate. Of course he told us that as he was bringing us two extra entrees and two extra desserts for the table so that we could try everything (he just tends to do this? I may explode). We have been very happy with the food in the main dining room. The first night the food was a little cold, but last night it was warm. We went to the Grand for lunch yesterday and it was very good.

We have been traveling through very rough seas. Luckily none of us are sea sick. The gift was cancelled last night but a replacement show was scheduled.

 

Question: I have voom, but it really is spinning, dropping completely at times and just seems to be a poor signal. Is this unusual? Ideas?

 

I have returned to the thread and added everything but the 6 appetizers that was on our table last night. The duck was x2. There are three of us.

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Edited by PrincipalTinker
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3 hours ago, PrincipalTinker said:

Of course he told us that as he was bringing us two extra entrees and two extra desserts for the table so that we could try everything (he just tends to do this? I may explode).

This seems consistent with a comment made by @iamjohnbamber in his live blog a while back, where he noted that the waiters in the MDR were really pushy, to the point of rudeness and a bit beyond, with needing to eat more food and having a big appetite. Have you gotten that same sense from your waiter? I'll be more than a little glad to be eating in CK every dinner if that attitude is still being expressed by the wait staff in the MDR.

3 hours ago, PrincipalTinker said:

Question: I have voom, but it really is spinning, dropping completely at times and just seems to be a poor signal. Is this unusual? Ideas?

Have you seen this problem everywhere you go on the ship, or just certain areas like your cabin? If it's everywhere, and you're dealing with heavy rain and / or really heavy clouds, it's possible that the satellite signal is being partially blocked. It's just like satellite TV in that regard, and you'll definitely have issues with stable connections if that's the root of it.

3 hours ago, PrincipalTinker said:

I had to abandon my photos for now as they won’t post?

Have you reduced the size of your photos using the Image Size app? @twangster had posted this tip a while back and it definitely helps with getting the pictures uploaded from the ship. Just use the app to set the smaller dimension to 900px and save (it always saves a copy, never overwrites the original), and then upload that smaller file. Your pics will go from Megabytes to Kilobytes in size. :3_grin:

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@JLMoran, I asked my family if they thought the waiter was being rude and they do not. They do think if they were concerned that they were expected to finish all the food, they would feel differently. I have watched a couple of other tables and it does not seem as if all waiters are doing this. It was also not done at lunch.

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This morning we did the escape room. It was a very large group but we enjoyed the experience . Yesterday we did a “Royal Mystery” by puzzle break. It was a nice activity but since so many activities were shit down with the weather it may have been too large a group. The group we were with would have needed another hour to solve the mystery.

There was another thread regarding excursions to Universal/Disney. I toolookef for info in the excursion and Inwanted to follow up on that. The Sea World, Disney and Universal groups met in the Royal Theater at noon. We then loaded the buses around 12:30 and left the port at 12:43. We arrive at Universal around 1:45. I am an AP holder so I had a list of things I wanted to do. We are at Toothsome’s, rode The Mummy, Rip Ride Rocket, Spider-Man, and attended the soft opening of the Fast and the Furious. We did make a mistake and entered Fobideen Journey with a posted 35 time right before 6:00. At 6:50 when we realized the line was at least 10 more minutes before we loaded the attraction we asked to leave through an exit. We made it to the bus by 7:17 and left the parking lot at 7:20.

 

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Today is our scheduled Nassau day. We booked a brewery tour. We really enjoyed the tour. I don’t know how to post text between photos? Our tour guide was Jamie. There were only five of us on the tour since there in the group were sick on the boat. This is a walking tour and at each stop we were to sample three beers. I believe they were 4 oz pours, but at the middle stop we needed to drink all of the beer so there were refills.

The first stop was here and was accompanied by conch fritters.

 

 

 

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I think I’ve seen Pirate Republic recently at my local craft beer store. I’ll have to look again when I make my regular run on Friday.

Definitely enjoying this blog! Keep up the great work!

 

As far as putting text between your photos, if you’re posting from your phone then you can try this way: 

1. Go to the link at the bottom of the posting are to upload pictures, and pick all the ones you want to upload.

2. Don’t tap the + on the pictures to add them to your post right away, just start typing until you want to add a picture.

3. Scroll back down to your uploaded pics and tap the + on the pic(s) you want to add, but only those pics

4. Your keyboard should still be active, but if not just tap below the last pic you added, press Enter, and keep on typing until you want to add the next pic(s)

5. Repeat 3 and 4 until the post is good to go.

 

You can also insert text between pics you already added to a post by tapping next to one of them while the keyboard is active. The cursor should start blinking next to the pic, at which point you can just rep Return on the keyboard twice to put a new paragraph between pics. Tap on the paragraph you just inserted and type away.

Hope this helps!

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I have been so impressed with the shows on this ship! We saw Spectra’s and We Will Rock You yesterday. We also went to the Music Hall a number of times this trip including last night and a late night comedy show. 

 

Yesterday was the North Star, I know there are hundreds of these photos but here are mine.

 

 

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It seems people either love or hate the entertainment on Anthem.  I've always loved it.  Glad you enjoyed it too.  

Northstar holds a Guinness World Records as the highest viewing deck on a cruise ship.  It's a pretty unique experience for a cruise ship.

As far as wifi on the ship, I did have a cabin once where the wifi signal was okay near the door but deeper inside the cabin like near the bed, the wifi signal was poor.  I use my travel router to help in these situations as I can place it very close to the door and it repeats the signal inside the cabin at normal strength.  

Great live blog!

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@PrincipalTinker, received word from someone on one of my cruising message boards, currently sailing on Anthem, that a case of norovirus is making its way around the ship :( She said that Royal is diligently cleaning surfaces, handrails and some people have been quarantined. The last update from someone on the next sailing was that Royal had informed customers by email and that an additional cleaning would follow prior to (delayed) boarding.

I hope you and your family are feeling OK!

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21 minutes ago, accio7 said:

@PrincipalTinker, received word from someone on one of my cruising message boards, currently sailing on Anthem, that a case of norovirus is making its way around the ship :( She said that Royal is diligently cleaning surfaces, handrails and some people have been quarantined. The last update from someone on the next sailing was that Royal had informed customers by email and that an additional cleaning would follow prior to (delayed) boarding.

I hope you and your family are feeling OK!

Yes, there have been some grumblings that the outbreak is pretty bad but yesterday morning, the last time I was in the Windjammer, they were still allowing guests to serve themselves. Our brewery tour was missing almost 1/3 of the tour and there are lots of Facebook posts that are sick and angry (a very bad combo). They are scrubbing walls and our Northstar Time was delayed due to a clean out of the pod.

 

So far so good for us! 

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Just now, PrincipalTinker said:

Yes, there have been some grumblings that the outbreak is pretty bad but yesterday morning, the last time I was in the Windjammer, they were still allowing guests to serve themselves. Our brewery tour was missing almost 1/3 of the tour and there are lots of Facebook posts that are sick and angry (a very bad combo). They are scrubbing walls and our Northstar Time was delayed due to a clean out of the pod.

 

So far so good for us! 

Thanks for the update, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and your family!

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3 hours ago, PrincipalTinker said:

Yes, there have been some grumblings that the outbreak is pretty bad but yesterday morning, the last time I was in the Windjammer, they were still allowing guests to serve themselves. Our brewery tour was missing almost 1/3 of the tour and there are lots of Facebook posts that are sick and angry (a very bad combo). They are scrubbing walls and our Northstar Time was delayed due to a clean out of the pod.

 

So far so good for us! 

3 hours ago, accio7 said:

Thanks for the update, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and your family!

I second this! Very glad you and your family are still healthy and able to continue enjoying your vacation!

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Today is our last day. We are currently sitting in Two 70 waiting for the virtual symphony to begin. Today we did IFly and there are no photos since we all did it. Tomorrow is my 57th birthday and I loved it! The staff was amazing.

We are all packed and will put the luggage out before dinner.

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I am in the car on the way home to Massachusetts. We went to the Windjammer for breakfast and other than the challenge of finding coffee the crowds were manageable. It took us about 30 minutes from leaving the boat to hitting the highway. 

A few final thoughts on the Anthem of the Seas. We really enjoyed spending time talking to the crew. Our assistant waiter in the main dining room is flying home to India today and I will be thinking of him today. He was so happy last night! I had posted when out  CocoCay day was cancelled that I was prepared for that possibility and I was not upset. Later that night we spent some time talking to a bartender at Two 70. She apologized for being so happy but she loves Atlantis and she hates CocoCay. CocoCay is so much work for the crew. They all were going to Atlantis from midnight to 4:00am. I know the pier will be built and soon the Nassau overnight stops will end. I am glad this crew had at least one more chance for a night out.   

We heard a lot of guests complaining: the ship is too big, Florida was cold, CocoCay was cancelled....we had a blast.

We loved the main dining room. There were many guests that only dined in the main dining room on day 6. Last night (7) the room was almost empty . Yesterday we ate all three meals in the main dining room. I must admit I love lunch in the Grande.

We watched the virtual fireworks in Two 70 last night. We loved them but thought there is a potential for so much more!

 

Thank you for all your help and tips over the last 14 months of planning. This was a first cruise but we are committing  to at least one cruise a year. I will be waiting for summer 2020 cruises for advice on our next RCL cruise. We have the Disney Dream booked for next summer. I am doing that since I am hoping to be a Disney vacation planner in my retirement and I may be able to talk for 6 hours straight about Walt Disney World resorts, parks and food but I need cruise line experience.

 

Thanks again!

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12 minutes ago, PrincipalTinker said:

I am in the car on the way home to Massachusetts.

We will be doing the Anthem to Bermuda next June. Where did you park your car at the port in Cape Liberty? And thanks for your blog, I enjoyed it!:27_sunglasses:

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20 minutes ago, rjac said:

We will be doing the Anthem to Bermuda next June. Where did you park your car at the port in Cape Liberty? And thanks for your blog, I enjoyed it!:27_sunglasses:

There is a parking garage right next to the terminal. It was $140 for the 7 night cruise. We used a porter on the way out (I set aside the tip money before the cruise) and it was so easy. The porter directed us on the way out. When you arrive they direct you to a luggage drop off spot and take your luggage curbside before you drive to the garage.

 

I travel with my son and his girlfriend because my husband does not fly but I am trying to talk him into that Bermuda cruise!

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I forgot to mention. There were a lot, and I mean- a lot- of complaints about the change to the entertainment schedule during our trip. I don’t understand it? You could not walk in a straight line the ship was rocking with the waves. They explained they made changes because the scenery in the Gift moves, and there are elements that are. It safe in Spectra’s with that movement. All shows were rescheduled for two nights and it was communicated well. Is there something else they should have done?

i have come back to edit to just update what happened at the pool yesterday. It was very cold and the outdoor pool was closed. We could not find chairs but finally we found three chairs by the family pool. Two different couple came to us when we were there about 40 minutes. Each time they asked what we did with their things. We explained there was nothing on the chairs when we sat down. Friends later told us that the crew was going around and bagging up personal items left on pool chairs. There were many angry people.

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