Anthem of the Seas

Videos featuring Anthem of the Seas and other Royal Caribbean ships usually focus on the jaw-dropping features, but for many of us, that isn't actually what cruising is all about.

Julie and I did the bumper cars, which was fun, but our onboard experience was much more about the outdoor walking track that loops around deck 15.

It's clearly marked with lanes for walkers and runners, all going counter-clockwise, although people sometimes go upstream to take a shortcut to their lounge chairs.

This may not seem nearly as awe-inspiring as a wind tunnel for sky-diving or a giant crane that lifts a gondola twice as high as the cruise ship and then rotates out over the sea, but it is something we used on every sea day to get our exercise while taking in vast ocean views and was greatly appreciated by us.  Skydiving or the crane ride for $29 or whatever may well have been good add-ons, but we never signed up.

We also didn't do the surfing in the wave generation machine, which I did on another Royal Caribbean ship a few years back and found not to be as much like boogie boarding in the ocean as I thought it would be.

The bumper cars reminded me of days at the Pike in Long Beach with my old friends Mike, Pete and others when we were in high school.  Julie and I had some almost head-on collisions, but I also got up a good head of steam to ram some unsuspecting adult stranger's bumper car and knock it sideways by a foot.

Before the sun came up, I started my day getting a delicious cup of coffee and bran muffin --- for free and with no line  --- at Cafe Promenade, sometimes sitting in the nearby pub or pizzeria for privacy when the Promenade tables were busier.  I would check my emails and do my daily USA Today Crossword before Julie arrived for her first cup of the morning before a full breakfast in the dining room.

What I found fascinating was that while people of our generation enjoyed our free coffee, Royal Caribbean understood their market perfectly, setting up a Starbucks franchise almost directly across the "street."

"La Patisserie," which housed the Starbucks, is where many millennials, Gen Xers and other young adults stood in line to pay Starbucks prices for their Caramel Macchiatos, Soy Cappuccinos and whatever other specialty coffees have become an integral part of their unique personalities. 

Another daily ritual was eating in the main dining rooms.  On this cruise, we ate almost every breakfast, lunch and dinner in the dining rooms, because they were sensational.  Sure, it takes longer than swiftly scooping up food at the buffet, where the food is actually displayed in a very appetizing array, but it really makes a much more satisfying experience to be served by polite wait staff and have the servings delivered in courses.

It might also help some avoid over-eating, because the servings are all plentiful but perhaps not as much as we might pile on our plates in the buffet.

In our case, our dinner waiter often brought us extra dishes we hadn't ordered, like a dessert in the middle of the table to share or a couple of kinds of curry because I enjoyed the spicy poblano pepper soup (and that curry was an improvement on the lemon sauce that came with my fish fillet).  I think this time I gained a couple of pounds on the cruise, which rarely happens for me.  It was not lack of exercise but rather too much tasty food that our thoughtful waiter Gilman and his assistant Darshan brought every evening to table 333, which we secured nightly despite having any time dining.

Because our packing didn't stay confined to suitcases that would fit in the overhead bin of an airplane, we brought formal clothes and enjoyed stepping into a James Bond scene in our minds twice for formal nights.  On Anthem of the Seas, I think I may have been one of three men wearing tuxedos, though Julie says I was the only one.

Our lunches were equally epic.  For example, on one sea day, I devoured a fantastic thick Moroccan-style Swordfish steak on a bed of coucous before rushing out to watch an afternoon performance of "We Will Rock You," an incredible two-hour live production of the award-winning West End play centered on the music of Queen.

The Diamond Lounge used to be a place where past guests who had been on a sufficient number of cruises could get free wine and beer, served in a rather mirthless place more like an office with a bartender.  On Anthem of the Seas, it was a large living room with delicious buffet of food and complimentary open bar.

We enjoyed conversations with other like-minded travelers in the lounge, including a three-generation family from Virginia that we kept running into around the ship, which in a way is like a small village.

Further expanding the benefit for Crown & Anchor Society Diamond Members, we were actually given four vouchers each for beverages served at almost every lounge and restaurant.  Cocktails at the robotic bar, which we watched being prepared but never purchased, and coffee at the aforementioned Starbucks are not included in the list of free drinks.

Julie and I found ourselves with unused drink vouchers every day except the Perfect Day at CocoCay, when between the island day and evening entertainment, we finished them all.

The evening entertainment rocked, but I'll write more about that in a separate post.

I will mention that there are many small elements that were entertaining, such as the towel animals that our room steward Ashton made to greet us each evening.

As a spring break cruise, Anthem of the Seas had about three times as many passengers per square foot that we experienced on Majestic Princess that we took while Omicron was still a scare word.  There were about 1300 kids, quite a contrast from the adults-only guest list on Majestic Princess, which notably is designed without that full lap-around-the-ship-type walking track we so regularly used on Anthem.

While it was more crowded than that February cruise, Anthem of the Seas--- which is the third largest class of ship in the world behind the largest Oasis Class and MSC Meraviglia Class --- was still only about 3/4 full.

That brings me to a small negative about this cruise, but it is not the fault of Royal Caribbean.  Selfish hogs put out towels and books or hats to hold lounge chairs while they eat or do who knows what for hours at a time.  There are plenty of lounge chairs for more than as many people on deck, even for a mega-ship, but hogs hold their "precious" seats blocking other guests who are actually in the area for a few minutes or longer.

Royal Caribbean took what I would think should be effective counteraction by requiring towels to be checked out and turned in using room keys.  It is somewhat annoying to have to go through this towel check-out system, but the intent is good. Nonetheless, hogs seem prepared to risk losing their towels and pay a penalty rather than surrender unused lounge chairs.

We made good use of our private balcony on this cruise, where we found lots of sea views and sunshine on chairs outside of the reach of hogs.  Our room was comfortable and attractive, with Beatle-esque art on the wall.  It had a nice bathroom with a glass shower enclosure.  

Over the course of the week, I read "Fortunate Son," the autobiography of Creedence Clearwater Revival's driving force, John Fogerty.

It was interesting to learn the backstory of a guy who wrote great music for the soundtrack of my high school years.  I found it in Anthem's library, which is somewhat hidden upstairs in Club Two70.

When I returned the book after I finished it on the last day, I saw Cafe Two70, located just outside the nightclub, in full operation for lunch.  The food looked delicious, but we already had plans for the main dining room because of the great menu that day.  It is a good reminder to check out the whole ship, or you may have to return on another cruise to try something.

Then again, having another reason to return is not a bad thing.

Over a cruise, however, there are also lots of small things we take for granted, such as the art on the hallway wall leading to our room that tells us we are approaching our home for the week or walking in the right direction to the elevator.  We may never think of those familiar markers again after we leave the ship, but they lead to the feeling of being home away from home while there, and that always makes a cruise attractive.