Anthem of the Seas to Bermuda Trip Report

tnshsms

DIS Veteran
Joined
Sep 16, 2010
I had the hardest time finding trip reports before I went on this cruise so I vowed to write one when I got back. We got off the ship yesterday after a 5 day cruise to Bermuda. I'm not a foodie so there won't be a lot of pictures of food so I'm sorry for those who wanted that! But hopefully someone will find this useful.

We are two 30 something adults from the midwest with an 8 year old girl. We have taken 4 Disney cruises (with another one booked for November) and took our last RCL in 2006 on the Serenade of the Seas to the Southern Caribbean. So even though we aren't strangers to RCL it had been 11 years and a lot of things were different with this ship compared to our Serenade cruise.

We flew to Newark on May 17th to spend 2.5 days in NYC before getting on the ship on May 20th. This was our first time to NYC and to Bermuda so we wanted to make the best of the short time we had at either location.

We stayed at the Hyatt Place Midtown South in Manhattan, used Luxor Limo to get from EWR to Hotel, Hotel to Port and Port to EWR and used OnBoard Tours for our 6 hour tour in NYC.

I hope my report will help others that are looking for information so please ask questions!
 
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Once we landed in Newark and had a text that our driver Thomas was there to pick us up. We got my mom's checked bag and went to meet our driver outside of baggage claim.

I forgot to mention that my mom went with us for just the NYC part of the trip. She had never been and so it was a perfect setup for her. She'd go with us for the NYC portion and then fly home afterwards. We always attempt to travel with carry on luggage only since our 8 yo has traveled several times and is able to be in charge of her own luggage. We packed for 8 days in 3 carry on's and 3 backpacks. Its freeing to know that our luggage is always with us.

Anyway, our ride with Thomas from Luxor Limo was excellent. He talked a little about the city and took us safely to our hotel, Hyatt Place Midtown South without incident. They were great the whole trip and would recommend them to anyone! They were a little more expensive than Dial 7 but had much better reviews. Over the 3 rides I spent $22 more on Luxor than Dial 7 and don't regret it all.

We got to our hotel at around 3 and our rooms were ready so we went to drop off our stuff and then head out to grab some lunch. We chose this hotel because it was close to a major subway line (Herald and 34th street) and because we had 2 free nights and some points to use. It was perfect for us. We ate at Fresh & CO down the street, popped into Duane Reade Walgreens for some incidentals and stopped for a shake at Shake Shack.

We went back to the room to unpack a bit and then headed to dinner at Little Italy for some Pizza. We chose it because it was about 3-4 blocks from our hotel and it passed the Empire State Building. We took in the sights on the walk and then ate some decent pizza. It was just ok, nothing all that exciting. We were tired at this point so we headed back to the room to turn in for an early bedtime. We had a 6 hour tour with OnBoard tours the next day and wanted to be fresh for that.

Up Next....See it all NYC (in 6 hours with Brooklyn Jim)
 
We were on this cruise with you! I also plan to write some kind of a report just not sure how to approach it.. looking forward to hearing your take on this cruise.
If your daughter went to adventure Ocean, she probably interacted with our son same age.
 
We were on this cruise with you! I also plan to write some kind of a report just not sure how to approach it.. looking forward to hearing your take on this cruise.
If your daughter went to adventure Ocean, she probably interacted with our son same age.

Hi! I remember you from when we "talked" during planning! You were thinking about doing Oasis right? My daughter never went to the kids club...it isn't really her thing and she was even less interested without the Disney magic. :)
 


I have been reading all the Anthem reports on CC including someone who is a frequent cruiser who also just got off this cruise. I will be doing the nine day this summer. I have already done this itinerary on the Explorer a couple of times so am interested in hearing your report of the ship. Look forward to reading your review.
 
NYC: Tour Day!
We chose to use OnBoard Tours instead of the hop on hop off buses because 1. I didn't want to have to figure out how to get to and from each stop after we got off 2. Wait for the bus and then know the possibility of it being full when it did finally get to us 3. weather is unpredictable and it could be rainy or super hot (ours was the later) and I wanted something that had a little more direction. They had really good reviews on TripAdvisor and we have to agree with them! We loved OnBoard Tours!

We woke up early to grab some included breakfast, grab the subway up to the meeting spot and check in by 9:45. The bus was newer with leather seats and very cold air conditioning! Brooklyn Jim hopped on and told us that he'd tell us all about NYC for the next 6 hours. There was about 23-24 people on the bus so it was a nice small group. We went to Central Park, Rockefeller Plaza, Today show set, St. Patrick's, Flatiron Building, Staten Island Ferry (and saw the Statue of Liberty), 9/11 memorial, wall street bull and lots of other sights from the bus along the way. It was perfect for our group and we saw a lot in 6 hours.
 
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Here are some from the tour!
 

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After the tour, we walked to Times Square to look around for a bit then got on the subway, back to the hotel to freshen up and to dinner at 5 boro burgers. It was decent food...nothing too special but it was close and easy so it worked for what we wanted. We walked around for a bit after and then went back to the room.

Next up....more of NYC!
 
Our last day in NYC we walked to the New York Public Library and to Grand Central Station. Both were neat to see and walk around. We headed back to the room to freshen up and then head out to dinner at Rue 57 which was tasty. In bed by 10 so we could be ready for our car pick up at 9:30 the next morning! Anthem of the seas here we come!
 

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After having breakfast at the hotel we went downstairs to wait for our car to find out he was already there...15 min early! Zaky with Luxor Limo was an excellent driver and we learned a little about him while he took us to Bayonne. The cruise terminal road is kind of strange. You kind of look like you are going into an industrial park and then all of the sudden, there is the ship. The road is terrible to get there and the area is just overall kind of run down since its industrial. I wasn't impressed.

I should probably note that this will be a comparison between DCL and RCL. With 4 DCL under our belts, we found ourselves saying "Point Disney or Point Royal" so we actually started to keep score. We chose this diversion from DCL because we wanted to see NYC and Bermuda and at the time, DCL didn't provide that for us so we thought we'd give RCL a try after 11 years. I have ported out of PC 3 times and Vancouver once so you will notice that I will have a lot of DCL comparisons throughout this report because well, we are on the Disboards and I assume most of you have taken at least one DCL cruise or have one booked and would like to know the differences.

We had no idea what embarkation would be like. As much as I tried, the information about how to board in Bayonne was lacking. So when Zaky dropped us off, it was very early...9:50 and I saw several people loading up to leave the ship and I wasn't' sure that I could check in yet since it was SO early. You know, cause we are all used to the 10:30 time at PC with the lines super long to get in, right? Nothing like that. So Zaky drops us off at where we think we should go and I leave the Hubby and kid to stay with the bags while I walk inside to try to figure out what we do. I go inside to see a large group of crew members (CM) huddled around something and a few with ipads. I had read that we would be checked in on ipads so I walk over to one of them and ask if I was too early to check in. He looks at me, says "No, you aren't too early" in the most boring voice ever and then walks away. Didn't say you should walk over there or give me a second and I'll help you. Just walks away. So still unsure of what to do I go back outside to get the fam and all come in with our bags to again, attempt to figure it out. There aren't signs with check in on them or anyone with a big mickey hand pointing you in the right direction. So once we are all in, someone yells over to us "Hey, are you checking in?" I say yes then they yell back "then get over here, what are you doing over there?". Um I don't know, no one told me what I was suppose to do?! So far, the customer service isn't off to a great start. We go thru security with no interaction, get told that I go to this switchback line to check in (still no signs) and then get yelled at that I'm following the switchbacks instead of just going under the ropes because again, I was early was one of the first ones to check in. Again, so warming of the employees.

We reach a desk, the check in was quite smooth. You complete everything ahead of time, picture included. So we were done with checkin in about 3 min. Much faster than DCL but not nearly as friendly as DCL. She begins to tell me that I need to go "over there" to another unmarked areas to board the ship. I ask what my boarding number is and she looks at me like I'm a crazy person and says "just go over there and they will tell you what to do" in your most annoyed voice. We walk "over there" to this sea of chairs(no pun intended) and see a lady telling us that we should go to row 6. We learned that the first 4 rows are for those Diamond and Diamond Plus members, then 5 starts us regular folk on a first come first serve basis. So those in row 5 got there before us and would embark before us. Seems logical even if I felt like I was being herded. I guess it rewards those who get there early instead of just getting your boarding number thru your check in process like DCL. And everyone had a seat where at PC you sometimes have to jockey for a seat. But the seats are NOT for luggage or backpacks and if you get up from your seat to walk your 18 month old around as someone next to us did, then you will be yelled at that you should be sitting in your seat. And all chairs belong to people not luggage so don't take a seat with your backpacks sir. So again, their attitudes were not all that friendly or inviting. At this point its about 10:10 so we go thru everything quickly and I had read that sometimes they start boarding at 10:30. Sure enough at 10:32, they called rows 1-2, then 3-4 shortly after because 1 and 2 were filled but 3 had 2 families in it then they called row 5. Row 6 came shortly after and we were on our way to the ship by 10:45. We were stopped halfway down the jetway to get the kid's mandatory wrist band that tells a CM her muster station in case of an emergency and she's not with us. I'm not sure at what age this stops but our 8 yo had to have one and keep it on the whole time. She did not go to the kids club at all on this trip so I'm not sure what kind of kids band (if any) she would have needed for that but we got our green band and when on our way. We were on the ship by 10:55.

So how do I feel RCL and DCL compared? I would say its a tie with a slight advantage to DCL. DCL is more clearly marked on where to go and there is always a FRIENDLY person to tell you where to go if you don't know. And although it might take a little longer to get on the ship, I think that might be better because RCL wasn't ready for the onset of all the passengers getting on at 11...more on that later. So maybe waiting in the port isn't all bad. You also entertain yourself with pictures with the characters, no one yells at you if you want to get up to use the restroom or walk around with your kiddo. But the crowding around the Mickey ears at boarding time is a little annoying but being herding like cattle wasn't any more pleasant. So I still say a tie.

Here is a picture of the check in desk area from the seating area that I was not suppose to get up from but I'm a rule breaker I guess. 2017-05-20 (3).jpg
 
Here are all the seats that you are sent to sit in and you can see past it the security area and where you come in from outside just past security. To the right of this area is the check in counters from the previous post.



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We on the ship now and I'm hoping that I'll get friendlier people once on board chalking the boarding process to maybe just being too crazy that early in the morning.....

We get on the ship and head to 270 because I had heard that windjammer was sooo very crowded and we had 3 suitcases with us (we carry on everything so I can unpack immediately) and I knew that our 3 suitcases would not make us nice fellow passengers so we opted for 270. We headed that direction and figured out based on check in and fellow passengers that there were 2 weddings and a conference/reward trip for Signet on our cruise. So we were kind of the oddballs not being with one of those groups. The kid didn't like much at 270 but she found a grilled cheese sandwich (which she ate like 3 bites from since it was a fancy grilled cheese sandwich) and we both got turkey sandwiches. They were tasty but not all that filling but we were ok with that since we had Jamie Oliver ressie's that evening. The 270 lounge was not open so seating was quite limited. Here is a picture of the menu:

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The few seats that were outside 270 were already taken and Balereo's had a private function so we sat in front of the tuba sculpture thing by Jamie Oliver's and ate our food. Not ideal but it was fine. Just as we were done, we were ushered to different seats because one of the brides and grooms were there to take a picture. I couldn't tell if they were already married or if they were doing pictures before the wedding but either way, her dress was gorgeous and that sculpture would be a pretty backdrop to a wedding picture.
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So after we finished our meal, we got our wowbands (which was super nice to have...point Royal) and then we walked around just a tiny bit and headed up to our room to wait up there until they were ready. We had about 20 min to kill til 1 so we we just hung out in the hallway with another nice family and once the doors opened, we were on our way to our room. Because there are a lot of pictures on the internet of what the rooms looked like I didn't take any of those pictures. But our room was very pretty and looks just like the pictures you see on the internet. The layout is better than DCL. Although there is only one bath and we did sometimes miss the extra sink, it wasn't too big of a deal breaker for us. The stand up shower was as roomy as you'd get with a cruise bathroom and I liked that it didn't have a gross shower curtain (point Royal). I liked the layout because when you walked in you didn't feel closed in since the closets were part of the headboard of the bed and the bathroom was angled. So the room felt bigger overall even though they are practically the same size. Our balcony was nice and nothing special. Those would tie in my book. Here is a picture of our room at night standing in front of the balcony doors just so you can see what I'm talking about.

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Once we unpacked our stuff, we headed up to windjammer to get some dessert/snack. We sat outside, despite the chilly weather, because there wasn't any seating inside windjammer. We walked outside to a not so great surprise. Again, this is a comparison of DCL and RCL and I know that some of the readers might be annoyed by this but I'm gonna say it anyway. Maybe those who will be annoyed will see the other side of the coin....but we walked out to a designated smoking area. I, as I'm sure you can tell, do not smoke. I lost a father and uncle to lung cancer (a non smoker and a pack a day smoker). I did appreciate RCL putting a smoking area right next to the outdoor pool area and right next to the doors to the indoor pool. This area was covered and somewhat enclosed so the area trapped the smoke. I took a picture from where I was sitting (a little zoomed in so you could see the sign) and I could still smell the smoke from there. It was annoying and disappointing that it was there. On DCL I have no idea where the smoking areas are. And I love that! I know they exist but I have never run into them because I assume they are on a top deck somewhere out of the way where smoke smell wouldn't be trapped in an enclosed area. Yes, smokers have the right to smoke, I get it. But RCL doesn't have the right to make me inhale second hand smoke and have to alter my route every time I went to the deck to avoid it. It was annoying and frustrating. I would have been even more annoyed had the weather been better and we had spent more time at the outdoor pool. Here is the picture. To the right is the outdoor pool. As you can see there are windows there that can open but in general, this is a pretty closed in area.

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So we learned where this was so we could avoid it, took some pictures on the top deck and then went back to the room to get ready for the muster drill.

The muster drill was different. We went to chops for our designated area and instead of the CM's giving us instructions or the overhead speaker telling us the information, it was a video. First, it was a little cartoon video about washing your hands. Cute but I saw several people not follow the cute video's suggestion. Second was a James Bond knock off type video about the safety drill and what you should do in an emergency. Entertaining but I'm not sure if anyone got the actually message of what to do in an emergency because it was kind of buried in the story line. Either way it was fine. After muster we got ready for Jamie Oliver's and headed down for our 5:15 reservations.
 
We got to Jamie Oliver's right at 5:15 and we were seated promptly. It says on the reservation that it will take 2 hours. My family never takes 2 hours to eat so we kind of assumed that we could make it to the 7:30 Welcome Aboard show with no problems. Well, it doesn't matter how quick you are, the service is meant to be a 2 hour meal. We had already looked at the menu so by the time our server came back with our drinks, we ordered our app, our salad and main course. We got an assortment of breads (the garlic bread was amazing), spaghetti for the kid, lasagna for me and salmon for the hubby. He had his half eaten before I realized I wanted to take pictures so I didn't get a picture of his salmon or dessert. Pretty much, I suck when it comes to taking pictures of food. In fact these are the only food pictures.

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Once we ate the apps and salads, there was a little bit of time before we got our main course. Our server wasn't the problem, just that he had a lot of tables to tend to and like I said, it is meant to be a 2 hour dinner. We just don't typically have the attention span for that and that's why we normally don't do specialty dining. We are quicker service eating type people. Not foodies, obviously! So he took our meals away which were all delicious and then gave us the dessert menus. The kid and I had the brownie with ice cream and the hubby had the cheesecake. All were excellent!

We were done right at 7:15 so we walked down to the Royal Theater, grabbed 3 seats and waited for the show. Now on DCL, we all 3 love the shows. I know that they aren't everyone's cup of tea. One of my best friends who is also a DCL loyal doesn't always go to the shows and she's not sad about missing them. But for us on the other hand, we love them....that's what makes cruising awesome because there is something for everyone. Anyway, we were really sad to find out that there wasn't going to be a whole lot of shows that would be 8 yo friendly so we chose to try out the Welcome Aboard show. It started out with the usual cruise director coming out to welcome us, telling us to stop him and say hi and telling us about the ship and its features. Then a comedian came out. He was pretty funny and maybe PG-11? Not quite 13 but maybe a little too risque in some spots for an 8yo....either way, we enjoyed it...no DCL welcome aboard show, but it was good. (Point DCL)

We were kind of pooped at this point so we went back to the room and watched some TV, looked at the compass for the next day and plotted our first sea day out.

Next up....Sea Day #1
 
Enjoying reading about your experience on the same cruise so far :)
We had slightly different experience boarding, everyone was friendly and because we boarded around 1:30, we pretty much walked onto the ship in under 10 min.
We also ate at Jamie's Italian the first night! We were there around 6:30 and were out within 50 minutes. I was actually surprised it took that fast. I'm guessing it depends who you get serving you and how many tables they have.
We also disliked walking by the smoking section :crazy2:
 
Enjoying reading about your experience on the same cruise so far :)
We had slightly different experience boarding, everyone was friendly and because we boarded around 1:30, we pretty much walked onto the ship in under 10 min.
We also ate at Jamie's Italian the first night! We were there around 6:30 and were out within 50 minutes. I was actually surprised it took that fast. I'm guessing it depends who you get serving you and how many tables they have.
We also disliked walking by the smoking section :crazy2:


That's so funny we were in JO at the same time...if only we knew we could have said hi! Yea, i don't feel like it was anything the server could have done different cause he was kind of all over the place...it was to no fault of his own that it took a little while but it was fine. We had time so it wasn't a big deal, we just don't normally take that long to eat! And that's good to know that it was better at 1:30...maybe it was just too early and everyone was dealing with those getting off and those getting on at the same time.
 
Sea day #1

After breakfast in Windjammer(WJ) we went to Northstar for our 9:30 reservation, except it was like 9:10. We figured we'd try to go early and if it worked out great....well we got right on. Northstar was cool (although a little windy because it was a sea day) but I'm glad it was free. Not sure its worth paying for....here are some pictures.
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We knew that roller skating was going to start at 9:30 and I had read about lines being really long at times for this so we went straight to the sea plex after Northstar. It started at 9:30 and we walked in about 9:35 and not a single person was skating or in line. Excellent! So the kid got her wrist band and skates and skating for about an hour while the hubs and I watched her. I did have to run to The Shop on board to get her a toothbrush as hers had fallen into the crack of the toilet in the middle of the night as the seas were a little rough and rocky. But 3.50 later and we were good to go.
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We went to the scavenger hunt after skating but it was not what I expected. I think I thought it would kind of be like midship detective or Elsa's scavenger hunt on the Wonder where you go to different parts of the ship to do things that are neat related to the ship but it was more like: Get 3 compasses, take a selfie with a bartender, take a selfie with a stranger, etc. So as soon as we saw the list, we left. So we opted for lunch in Sorrento's and went back to the room to get swimsuits on.

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Since the weather was pretty chilly still and a touch rainy, we went to the indoor pool. (Point Royal) If we had not had an indoor pool, I would have had a very sad kid. She loves to swim (she's a fish...she's on the local university's junior swim team she loves to swim so much) and it was just too chilly to go to the outdoor pool. Not that it was empty. Several thicker skinned people braved the outdoor pool just fine. We are just from the midwest (southern midwest) so it was too cold for us. After a little bit, she said she wanted to go ride flowrider. Ok...sure. I'm sure you'll love doing it after you wipe out, but you can try it....

Next up...Flowrider...success or leaving in tears?
 
I just realized that I failed to upload this picture. This was before we left port that first day. As you can see it was chilly and cloudy and sometimes a sprinkle but it was a fun view of the skyline and Lady Liberty.
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And here are some pictures of Jamie Oliver's in case you wanted to see the layout. It's a casual dining spot. We were a little concerned before going on the ship that we might need to dress up but I wore a skirt and the hubby wore shorts so don't worry about dressing up.

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Loving this review so far. That ship is a beauty. Is there amy moments in the day where you have to pay for North Star? Is it free only under certain circumstances?
 
Loving this review so far. That ship is a beauty. Is there amy moments in the day where you have to pay for North Star? Is it free only under certain circumstances?


Thanks!

Oh no, its always free...that was kind of misleading what I wrote. I just meant, if they ever starting charging for it then it wouldn't be worth it to me! I had read in some cases that if you didn't show up for your appointment then you might get charged but I didn't see anything about that for northstar...just ifly. But no, both northstar and ifly are free! :)
 

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