Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas propulsion damaged by major storm

In:
12 Feb 2016

UPDATE: 3:58PM: Coast Guard officials have said the damaged azipod has been replaced and Coast Guard officials are examining it along with the ship's lifeboats and other safety equipment to see if they meet standards. The ship can safely maneuver with one azipod, Rowe said.

The United States Coast Guard reports that the major storm Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas ran into last week damaged part of its propulsion system.

Coast Guard spokesman Charles Rowe says the Anthem of the Seas' left azipod was rendered inoperable during the storm. An azipod is a propeller that's mounted to a steerable pod that contains an electric motor.

According to Rowe, Royal Caribbean informed the Coast Guard prior to the ship returning to its homeport of Bayonne.

Despite the damage, Rowe indicated the ship can safely maneuver with a single azipod.

The Coast Guard says the ship sustained largely cosmetic damage, including broken glass, china and balcony doors.

Anthem of the Seas encountered a major storm last weekend that saw hurricane-strength conditions and forced the ship to return home early.

Royal Caribbean apologizes for Anthem of the Seas experience and strengthens storm avoidance policy

In:
10 Feb 2016

Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas returned home to Cape Liberty, New Jersey this evening and the cruise line is offering its guests and crew an apology and a promise to avoid similar situations in the future.

In a statement issued by Royal Caribbean, the company apologized for its ship encountering sustained 120-mph winds during a winter storm off the coast of the Carolinas.

"We apologize for exposing our guests and crew to the weather they faced, and for what they went through."

Royal Caribbean also announced new plans to avoid storms like this with improved guidance.

Royal Caribbean, "identified gaps" in their planning system and acknowledged, "what happened this week showed that we need to do better."

Furthermore, Royal Caribbean announced their are strengthening their storm avoidance policy, and have added resources at their Miami headquarters to provide additional guidance ships' captains.

Much of the superficial damage to Anthem of the Seas has been repaired and the company expects Anthem of the Seas to resume her planned itinerary for next week's cruise.

What do you think of Royal Caribbean's response? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Royal Promenade on Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

In:
10 Feb 2016

Episode 132 of the Royal Caribbean Blog podcast is now available for downloading and it is all about a signature aspect of many Royal Caribbean ships: the Royal Promenade.

In this episode, Matt takes a look at what makes the Royal Promenade such a beacon activity on a Royal Caribbean ship, what guests can expect to see and do there and why the Royal Promenade is one of Matt's favorite spots on a cruise.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 132. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast via RSSStitcher or on iTunes!

Take a listen and as always, let us know what you think! Please rate and review the podcast on iTunes and leave your comments below!

Royal Caribbean cancels remainder of Anthem of the Seas sailing and offers refunds

In:
08 Feb 2016

Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas is returning home to Cape Liberty, New Jersey after encountering a severe winter storm in the Atlantic.

Royal Caribbean announced the ship will return to her homeport out of concern for guests' comfort due to the weather forecast in the area.

Royal Caribbean issued a statement, where it explained that th decision was made, "due to weather forecasted for the next few days that is likely to impact the ship’s original itinerary. We are also sensitive to the fact that our guests have already been through an uncomfortable ride. Returning to Cape Liberty minimizes the risks of further bad weather affecting our guests’ voyage; we are optimistic that they will have a smooth sail home."

Royal Caribbean is giving all guests aboard Anthem of the Seas a full refund and a future cruise certificate worth 50% of the cruise fare paid.

Royal Caribbean also reitterated its commitment to the safety of its guests, crew and ship, "Safety is our highest priority and ships are designed to withstand even more extreme circumstances than Anthem of the Seas encountered. While the weather was unpleasant, the ship remained seaworthy at all times."

Anthem of the Seas encountered a sever winter storm off on Sunday that had to deal with waves over 30 feet in height and wind speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour.

Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas encounters unexpected large storm

In:
08 Feb 2016

Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas was caught in a big winter storm over the weekend that reportedly had waves of over 30 feet and hurricane force winds.

Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez released a statement regarding Anthem of the Seas situation, "On Sunday, February 7, while sailing to Port Canaveral, Florida, Anthem of the Seas experienced extreme wind and sea conditions, with wind speeds higher than what was forecasted. In an abundance of caution, the Captain asked all guests to stay in their stateroom until the weather improved. "

"At this time there have not been any serious injuries reported. The ship has sustained some damage to the public areas and guest staterooms, which in no way affect the sea-worthiness of the ship."

Photos sent to us by a Royal Caribbean Blog reader.

Reports on social media indicate passengers were instructed to remain in the stateroom during the worst of the storm, with complimentary in-room movies offered as well as access to the minibar.

Royal Caribbean also reports that due to the weather, Anthem of the Seas' arrival to Port Canaveral has been delayed.

The good news is the weather forecasted for the rest of Anthem of the Seas voyage past Port Canaveral appears to be much calmer.

UPDATE: Royal Caribbean is sending Anthem of the Seas back to Cape Liberty and offering passengers refunds.

Enchantment of the Seas Live Blog - Nassau

In:
07 Feb 2016

Hello from beautiful Nassau! 

They were calling for rain and not the best weather, but we got lucky because the weather was perfect. 

Before we get started I thought I’d talk a little about my cabin and Internet.  For my cabin I booked an Inside – N, on deck 3. 

The location of the cabin is great and it’s one of the newer cabins they added during the stretch on Enchantment of the Seas.  My room is 3623 and I highly recommend the room for location, and one of the newer cabins. 

The Internet is $20 per day for one device.  With my Crown & Anchor Society Diamond discount of $40 off, the weekend package is only $20 for the whole cruise. 

For the most part it’s worked really well, we have found it does not work on the pool deck well. 

Sea Morning 8am – 12pm

I like to call this morning a sea morning, since it’s the only time at sea on this cruise. 

I did my very first casino slot pull at 10am.  We had 12 people and each put in $15 into the slot machine.  We each did 3, $5 bets for max payout, sadly there was no max payout. 

It was fun meeting some new friends and us all pulling for each other.  Thanks to Nick for putting this group together and hosting the pull. 

Next I moved to the pool deck for some sunrays before we dock in Nassau. 

I have some sad news to report about poolside lunches.  The Enchantment of the Seas has always had a big bbq lunch as we dock in Nassau.  I noticed around 11am they had not started setting up for the lunch. 

I went over to the Cruise Director Marc and talked to him about the lunch.  He let me know they are no longer aloud to set up any food poolside anymore across the fleet.  He said, something about health codes and wind blowing on to the food. 

Once we docked at noon we did a little walking tour around Nassau.  We headed over to the Queen’s Staircase.  This was about a 15min walk over to the staircase and was absolutely beautiful. 

It’s free to walk through the staircase, but there are tours that will take you here for a charge.  After the staircase we walked through a few other places, but the highlight was the Jim Watling’s rum distillery. 

This is also a free tour and last about 10mins.  Once you arrived they give you a free sample of their rum, which is great. 

After the tour you end up in their bar area, and it’s 2 drinks for $18. 

Once we finished up with the rum drinks, we headed back to the ship for some afternoon fun on the pool deck. 

But on the way, we decided to stop into the Hilton resort. 

I have passed this resort for years now, and never went inside.  They offer day passes here at Resortforaday.com for $60, but you get $40 back in food/bar credit. 

It was a beautiful setup and I’ll be spending the day here next time I’m in Nassau.

Evening Hours – Formal Night

Tonight was formal night and the Captain’s reception.  They were handing out free champagne at 7pm – 8pm. 

The captain did a little speech about the passengers onboard and where everyone was from. 

After his speech they turn the event into a parade of flags around the world.  They talk about where all the crew are from and then they dance with their countries flags. 

Dinner

Tonight we had dinner in the main dining room, also known as My Fair Lady dining room. 

They have filet of beef on night 2 of just about every cruise.  We all mentioned how great the meat was, and that we enjoyed it more than Chops Grille. 

I know that’s hard to believe, but it was so tender and full of flavor.  Our waiter actually brought out a little extra cut for us to eat, which we didn’t turn away.  They also brought out a few other plates for us to sample, which in a large group is always nice. 

Post Dinner

Tonight is the pool deck party under the stars, as we sail out of Nassau. 

They have a DJ playing live music for some dancing fun.  The turnout was great and the weather was perfect.  The turnout was much larger than I’ve seen in the past, which made for an even better time. 

That’s a wrap on a full day in Nassau.  We are headed to Coco Cay tomorrow, so stay tuned!  

Live Blog Index

Royal Caribbean Post Round-Up: February 7, 2016

In:
07 Feb 2016

Good news, we are all one week closer to our next Royal Caribbean cruise!  In case you missed any of the Royal Caribbean fun from this week, here is our weekly round up!

During Royal Caribbean's quarterly earnings call, they announced a simpler no last minute discount program, aimed at making the policy simpler to understand.

Royal Caribbean will not offer any new discounts within 30 days of a sailing on all Royal Caribbean cruises, excluding 3 and 4 night sailings.

The policy is in effect in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Ireland markets and protects against last minute discounts in the weeks leading up to a cruise.

We have a lot more Royal Caribbean news to share, so let us jump right in!

Royal Caribbean News

Royal Caribbean Blog Reader Finds

If you are on a Royal Caribbean cruise and spot something cool, new or just fun, share a photo with us on Facebook or Twitter so we can add it to our Royal Caribbean Blog Reader Finds each Sunday!

Mike Eads took this shot of Enchantment of the Seas docked in Port Canaveral this week.

Ben noted that Apple updated its 3D Flyover maps for the Virgin Islands and Royal Caribbean ships can now be seen from there.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 131st episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available and this week, Matt is discussing why a families will feel right at home on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

In this episode, Matt invites the author of a recent ebook onto the podcast to discuss why Royal Caribbean came out at the top of their list for best cruise lines for a family.

Please feel free to subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and head over to rate and review the podcast on iTunes if you can! We’d appreciate it.

How you can support Royal Caribbean Blog

So many of our readers have reached out to us to ask how they can help the blog and we are introducing the Royal Caribbean Blog Insiders for just that reason.

The Insiders group is a way readers can contribute to Royal Caribbean Blog and help fuel some of the really amazing ideas, projects and new content that we have lined up.

As a way of saying thank you for your contribution, there are some fun rewards for being a member of the Royal Caribbean Blog Insiders.

Becoming a member of the Royal Caribbean Blog Insiders is completely up to you and you can cancel at any time. No questions asked! 

As always, thank you for visiting Royal Caribbean Blog and being a part of our community!

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Beyond Ships has an interview with Anthem of the Seas' hotel director.

ShermansCruise shared what cruisers need to know about the Zika Virus.

Vintages Wine Flights menu on Anthem of the Seas

Last updated on February 3, 2016.

Menus provided by RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com are unofficial and subject to change.

Refined Roses $16

502 WINE ROSE WHISPERING ANGEL CHATEAU D ESCLANS PROVENCE FRANCE Grape variety: Grenache – Rolle (Vermentino) – Cinsault – Syrah - Tibouren

Notes: A tangy white with light strawberry jam and lemon character. Full and crisp with a cherry skin, clean finish. Always delicious

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