Too Much Wind in our Sails
Saturday, May 31, 2025
Sea Day #1
Morning
We woke up around 7AM but due to time change it was actually 6AM. The ship was swaying pretty heavily and it was really windy outside. The boys had actually been awake since around 4AM ship time and were walking around but even at that hour, the Windjammer was not open. I met them at the hot tub around 6:30AM ship time and we spent over an hour watching the ocean go by from the covered ceiling in the indoor pool area. TIP- This early, we had the entire place all to ourselves. GET UP EARLY if you want the peace and serenity!
Hello Saturday... We love you!
After our early morning hot tub time, we woke up Natalie and got changed. We then opted to eat breakfast in the Main Dining Room as it is less stressful than the Windjammer and the food is SO MUCH BETTER! We knew going into this meal that the service would be AMAZING but slow and this proved true again. We love the sit down and full service option but it seems it gets slower and slower each time we try this. The food was excellent and our teenage boy ordered 3 entrees and then asked for a 2nd plate of chocolate chip pancakes. He says they were not as good as Poppy's but he certainly did enjoy them. I think we got our money's worth on this cruise with Luke's eating habits alone! He is a growing boy about to go through puberty and I am scared!
The MDR Breakfast Menu!
We LOVE the food and full service this offers; but again, know it takes FOREVER!
RCCL MDR Breakfast-0
Luke the Duke- 1
After breakfast we went to the Schooner Bar as they opened at 9AM. We saw Raj, our favorite bartender, and he set up us for the morning Sudoku puzzle and Morning Trivia. The more we cruise, the more we love spending the mid-morning time at Schooner Bar with trivia. We tend to find a bartender we like and stick with them and RAJ was our guy this trip! Even the kids like getting "mocktails" and working on a daily puzzle.
We did not win the Morning Trivia but we had fun trying. Chris and I then went to the Top Tier Event in 270 as we are Platinum Crown and Anchor Members. TIP- This event is really neat if you are Platinum or above. We were able to meet the Cruise Director, Captain and other higher level officers of the Anthem of the Seas. It offers FREE drinks and light snacks and it's really cool to meet other "Loyal to Royal" cruises. Be sure to check it out if this applies to you!
We always LOVE this event and it's not to be missed!
The captain almost always makes an appearance and gives details of the ship and sailing!
The Top Cruiser of this sailing- WOW 2407 cruise points!
You accumulate 1 point per NIGHT sailed and 2 for sailing in a SUITE.
During COVID, RCCL offered 2-4X point sailings so this could be the case here but WOW! #GOALS
Our traditional Cruise Director picture with the Anthem CD- Michelle from Brazil!
Another great event Royal Caribbean offers is the Veterans Ceremony! This is for any active military member or veteran and usually on the 1st Sea Day.
While we were at the Top Tier Event, the kids played in the Sea Plex and learned that many of the activities were closed due to high winds. Chris and Luke walked around in the early morning hours and can attest to the crazy winds but we assumed they would die down. For the time being, the kids went to the indoor pool and hot tub. I joined them laying out in this deck while Chris went to take a nap in the stateroom.
Welcome to the Sea Plex- We LOVED this area of the ship!
Deck 15 AFT!
Canadian Customs paperwork for our day in Victoria on Day 7!
Afternoon
The kids and I spent nearly 2 hours in the Indoor Pool and hot tubs before changing for the rest of the day. We opted to go to the Windjammer for lunch as breakfast in the MDR just took too long. When you eat all 3 meals in the MDR, you feel like you're in there all day. However, this meal reminded me that I just do not like the Windjammer- especially on sea days. I never felt the other 5,400 passengers on the Anthem of the Seas, except during lunch time at the Windjammer. It is really hard to find a seat for a family of four and this is always aggravating. Furthermore, the Anthem of the Seas only had 1 main station at the front of the Windjammer so all of those eating lunch were RIGHT THERE. Other RCCL ships have 2 main buffet lines (one in the front and one in the back) which helps space out the people. Anthem not only did not have an additional line in the back of the Windjammer but that didn't mean that space was taken up with tables. It was a just an empty space. However, the Anthem did offer a mid-sized OUTDOOR table space for the Windjammer which provided EPIC views and should not be missed.
After lunch we went back to the Music Hall on Deck 4 for Movie Trivia with the kids. We did well but did not win this trivia either. Luke decided he would go and see if the Flow Rider or Rock Climbing were open and Natalie went with us to Vintages for a bit before going and getting a Starbucks at Cafe 270. Luke came to check in several times saying all of the outdoor activities were closed due to wind and the lower temperature. He was getting a little frustrated with all of the closings but he chose to still have a good time. He and Natalie spent most of the early afternoon in the Sea Plex playing Xbox, Ping Pong and other activities. TIP- The Sea Plex offers an Xbox area but you must check out a controller from the desk within the Sea Plex and you can only check out for 30 minutes at a time. It took Luke a whole day to figure this out.
We love Movie or TV trivia even when we don't win!
We stayed in Vintages for several hours waiting for our 3PM North Star Reservation. TIP- The North Star on Quantum Class ships is an additional cost on Sea Days and an even HIGHER additional cost for days such as the "Glacier Viewing" days on Alaska sailings. However, PORT DAYS are FREE... BUT you have to reserved it once on the ship and the reservation spots open at 6PM ship time the day before the port day. I have heard they sell out within minutes of opening on most sailings.
We reserved a Sea Day North Star experience prior to embarkation and with a sale paid $48/ pp for a 16 minute ride on the North Star. (The original price is $70/ pp) At 2:50PM we made our way to Deck 15 midship for our North Star reservation but it was closed. There was no notice or any info in the app or through our stateroom. And while we DID get a refund of the $48 we paid, there was no rescheduling. In fact, all of the reservation times for other sea days or the Glacier Day were complete booked. I was pretty upset but not near as upset as the family who was supposed to be in the capsule with us. That mom was LIVID which created a small scene but Royal Caribbean was not handling the situation well.
I decided to go to Guest Services to ask about the "port day" times and see if Royal could reserve us a time since our was cancelled. The Guest Service worker said there was nothing they could do about it and too bad. This was not handled well at all so I asked for manager at the Sports Deck. As I spoke to this person on the phone, they laughed at me thinking they could fix the problem. This frustrated me and I told Guest Service manager live at the service desk that this was not acceptable. She agreed and said she would handle it personally. Our whole family was very upset as the North Star is one of the reasons we chose the Anthem of the Seas- but the show (and the cruise) must go on and we refuse to let these type things ruin our cruise. We smiled, got another drink and just kept going!
The kids opted to go to the Sea Plex to play games and Ping Pong while Chris and I found a great serene place in front of the North Star Bar. This had padded lounge chairs and great views of the ship but it was FREEZING (40* with high winds so the wind chill was much lower). The wind was blocked a little by the bar but it was brutally cold. However, this was the most cruise vibe feeling we had thus far so Chris and I sat here for nearly 2 hours. The seas were pretty choppy and the ship was swaying a lot. It was hard to walk down the open decks due to the wind and sea conditions.
The Anthem of the Seas Sea Plex (Deck 15 AFT)
The Anthem of the Seas Sea Plex has something for EVERYONE on your list!
From ping-pong to basketball to Xbox... we loved it all!
The bumper cars were not working but that did not make a difference, there is SO MUCH TO DO!
Evening
The kids met up with us and we did some shopping in the Royal Esplanade before getting another Starbucks. It was 5PM and we noticed the indoor hot tubs and pool were completely empty. Being that this was a formal night, I think a lot of people were either already at dinner or getting ready so we took this to our advantage and spent the next few hours in this area. TIP- Keep this in mind if you have a later dinner time and want the pool or hot tub area to be less busy!
We left around 7PM to get ready for Formal Night and the Family Feud Gameshow prior to dinner. Luke loves playing games like this and was determined to try and be a performer on this show so Chris and I acted like an idiot to try and get on stage and IT WORKED. Luke and I were contestants on this show and it was so much fun. Our team did not win and honestly did not get many opportunities to play but it was still a lot of fun!
Time for some FAMILY FEUD!
After the gameshow, we took a few formal pictures before heading down to Deck 3 Chic Dining Room for our formal dinner. Even at 8:30PM, there was a line of about 200 people deep waiting to get into the dining room. In fact, around 8:20PM we saw a MASSIVE wave of people exiting the MDR and knew this meant the servers had 10 or so minutes to flip the entire MDR for our seating. This never ceases to amaze me how they can do all this so quickly!
Life is good... Drink in hand and the wake behind me!
The perfect way to spend the evening!
Cruise # 25 and #24... We love Cruising!
I hate that the blue light is on us but I LOVE this picture! My babies are growing up!
Natalie will be 16 in August and Luke turns 13 in days! How can this be?
Another one of my favorites!
Thank you, kids, for still smiling after picture #1,025!
Our formal dinner was DELICIOUS and fairly fast for cruise ship MDR standards. The service was impeccable, yet again, and we thoroughly enjoyed our dinner. We were in and out of the MDR on a FORMAL NIGHT within 90 minutes. After dinner we walked a little bit before changing clothes and going to the Sea Plex for family ping-pong. I checked our messages and the Guest Service manager, Whitney, had reserved us an 11AM North Star Time for the next day! Thank you, Whitney, for making this right! WE APPRECIATE YOU!
The France Menu in the MDR.
The kids enjoyed getting dressed up for dinner (even Luke)!
Calamari (all)- 4.0
We all really liked this appetizer!
Seafood Linguini (all)- 4.5
Luke really liked the mussels and Natalie devoured this!
Royal Creme Brulee' - 4.0
All of us agree this was a "little" burnt but still really good!
Natalie was not sure of it at first but LOVED it!
The kids and I went to Sea Plex for ping-pong. Luke beat me but it was a lot of fun. We were tired and knew the next day would be tiring as it was our first port day so we called it a night shortly after 11PM.
The kids really enjoyed the ping-pong tables in the Sea Plex and played near daily!
This was taken from the Sea Plex at 10:45PM.
We love a good sea day- This one was AWESOME!
This was a great day spent aboard the Anthem of the Seas despite a lot of activities being closed due to high winds and sea conditions. But we were ready for the main show... ALASKA!
Miss Day 1? Catch Up Now!
Up Next- Sitka, AK!
God is Good... ALL THE TIME!
Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas- March 2019
The Norwegian Breakaway- November 2018
Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas- 2018
Carnival Legend- ALASKA- 2016
