We had been watching the weather very intensely for our 5-day Anthem of the Seas sailing out of Bayonne. It was, after all, hurricane season and many cruises had been diverted, cancelled or had their itinerary changed as a result of Hurricanes Harvey, and Maria etc. We considered ourselves very lucky; and our ship sailed on a balmy East Coast Saturday! The weather the entire cruise was just perfect as well.
I’m a seasoned cruiser (some of you might recognize me as Cruise Critic’s Community Manager) and sailed with my husband and two “new to cruise” friends on this cruise. We love to cruise for our anniversary, and we celebrated on this sailing. I’ve previously sailed on most of Royal Caribbean’s classes of ships – Oasis, Freedom, Radiance & Voyager classes.
Our scheduled time to board was 11:00am; we arrived shortly before that, dropped off our luggage and parked on the ground floor of the parking garage. Before we knew it, we were onboard. This was probably the quickest embarkation I’ve experienced in a long time. Having people walking around with iPads was the key; and I knew to search them out rather than get directly on line.
Plenty of storage space for all the stuff I over packed; I immediately noticed that this stateroom was – how to put this – thinner than other Royal Caribbean Deluxe Balconies I have experienced in the past. The beds were near the balcony doors and I kept hitting my shoulder against the wall as I scooted around to go outside. Having the amount of storage available made it easier to keep the room neat and tidy. The décor was modern, our room was in great condition and our stateroom attendant was excellent. Ah, but the bed. The bed was very hard, as so many have mentioned in their reviews. And that couch! Hard as well…it was hard to find somewhere comfy to sit to watch TV or read, etc.