Anthem Adventures - Day 1 Embarkation Day

[Melanie R]

I woke up really early this morning – the one day in ages I had no need to get up and be anywhere for a while, but the excitement of the trip had clearly caught up with me and I was wide awake around 6:30! I got up to use the bathroom and made a cup of tea to take back to bed with me in the vain hope I may get another hour of sleep, but soon gave that idea up and picked up my kindle for a while.
I had booked breakfast for 10 to let some of the peak crowds disappear, and also because I wanted to stay as late as possible as my check in time for the ship wasn’t until 4pm – I knew I had to check out of the hotel by noon, and had no clue what I was going to do for 4 hours with luggage to contend with, but thought I’d figure that out after breakfast.
As the morning progressed, I got up and showered and dressed ready for the day – it was a little overcast, so I chose a thin sweatshirt for the day (not my greatest idea as I was to later realise!) and headed up to the restaurant where I was quickly seated. I was surprised to see it was a buffet – most others have switched to table service due to covid, but happily took a plate and selected some bacon & sausage to keep me going, along with a couple of pastries and a latte.
After I had eaten a decent breakfast, and enjoyed a second latte, I headed back down to my room and finished repacking, making sure I hadn’t left anything behind. I sat back on the armchair and picked up my kindle for another hour, then at around 11:45 headed down to reception to ask if the restaurant was still open for coffee – it wasn’t! I then decided I wasn’t going to hang around in reception for the next few hours, so called for a taxi and headed to the port – I was hoping they would at least allow me to get rid of the luggage, then I could have wandered over to West Quay for a coffee while I waited.
The taxi driver arrived very quickly, but then had a discussion with me over which cruise terminal I needed. I knew it was City Terminal (I’d checked last night) but he was adamant I was wrong and needed Ocean Terminal – in the end he agreed to take me to City Terminal, but warned me if he then had to take me to Ocean, he would have to charge extra! I happily agreed as I knew where I needed to go but I could tell he wasn’t really happy about it!
We arrived at City Teminal where there was a massive ship docked which was the Anthem of the Seas – driver still looked miffed that I was right, but he unloaded my luggage and wished me a happy cruise, so I paid him and gave him a tip anyway 😂
I headed over to the luggage drop off point and realised I needed a luggage tag (I’d forgotten to print before I left), they very quickly printed one for me and I was able to get rid of my luggage straight away so that was one thing less to worry about 😊 It was about 12:15 by this point, and I was about to head over the road to walk to West Quay when the check in lady pointed me towards the terminal building – I explained I was early and she told me not to worry and head through anyway, so I took her advice and headed over. I was stopped by an extremely friendly & flirty security guy who asked me questions about my vaccine status, checked I had my PCR test, confirmed I was travelling without children – when I told him I was travelling alone, he jokingly told me he had some leave due and maybe he should join me 😂
Questions answered I carried on into the terminal and was stopped by another security guy about to ask me the same questions when the first guy shouted over I had already been cleared. I headed in and followed the signs to check in. I passed through the security screening with my hand luggage, then was pointed to a queue with only 1 couple in front to complete my check in. The lady in front had a huge folder with all her paperwork, and was getting quite stressed as she was rifling through them to produce each document as she was asked for it – then had to repeat the process for her husband as she clearly didn’t trust him to have his own paperwork 😂
They were soon processed and then it was my turn – I had no paperwork, everything was on my iPhone (I had taken screenshots of the documents in the event of poor wifi) and I was asked to show my SeaPass from the Royal Caribbean app, my passport, then my vaccination status on the NHS app, followed by by PCR negative result – she then scanned my SeaPass a final time, and retook my photo as the background on the one I’d uploaded was too busy. The whole process took minutes, including a conversation with the check in lady about how passengers either turned up with a folder full of papers, or a phone! She told me the phone people were by far the quickest to process…..
I was then cleared to board and within minutes was actually on the ship! My check in time was 4pm, but by 12:35 I was sitting by the pool with a cocktail in hand – the holiday was well and truly underway!

At check in they told me my physical seapass would be left in an envelope outside my stateroom, but as they weren’t accessible until 1pm, my SeaPass from the app would allow me to order drinks etc. in the interim.
I headed up to deck 14, the pool area and found a comfy seat, checked the cocktail menu (accessed via a QR code or just generally available on the app) and chose a pineapple guava sangria – it was delicious and I just had to take pics to send to my sister and friends back home – particularly the other 2 members of the Glowtini Girls aka Anna & Rachel 😂

My sister messaged me back saying I should have had a strawberry daiquiri – so I promised that would be my next one (I am such a good sister 😉 ) and as the first one had gone down so nicely, caught the waiter’s eye and duly ordered the daiquiri!

I had just taken a sip when there was an announcement that the cabins were now available, so I headed to the lift and found my stateroom – as promised there was an envelope waiting with the room key card in it, and I was quickly inside – I took a few pics, then wasted no time heading out to the balcony to check out the view!

As expected my luggage hadn’t arrived as yet, so I chilled on my balcony and finished my drink, then decided to complete my muster drill. Under new protocols, the safety briefing is now largely delivered via video on the app – I had already watched everything I needed to, so all I had left to do was head to my muster station, which in my case was located on deck 5 in the Schooner Bar, so I headed down and checked in – they confirmed I’d watched the video, then signed me in, gave me a sticker to put on my keycard and I was all done. So much better than the old style sessions which took time out of your day!

I headed back up to the pool area and contemplated lunch, but due to my late breakfast I wasn’t hungry, so decided to skip it and took a seat around the pool to listen to the reggae band playing – they were fantastic and I was more than happy to listen for the next hour they were due to play!

I flagged down a passing waiter and ordered my 3rd cocktail of the day – a Pina Colada at my friend Rachel’s request. I then admitted it was the first time I had one – Anna & Rachel were both horrified and threatened to kick me out of the Glowtini Girls until I promised I would make up for lost time!

I sent my sister a further pic of my cocktail and the glorious view now the sun had come out – it was just like being in the Caribbean with the sun shining, reggae band playing and Pina colada in hand – she then informed me her work colleagues thought I was drinking far too much for a Monday afternoon, and I needed to pace myself 😂 She also suggested food would not be a bad idea to soak up some of the alcohol …..
Once the band finished playing, I thought about food and decided my sister was correct, so collected a coffee and a cupcake to take back to my stateroom – I was hoping luggage would have arrived so that I could get the unpacking out of the way, but nothing as yet, so I took my snack onto the balcony and just chilled out for a while.

I also checked out the app and was now able to book in shows for the week. I booked the Eastcoast Boys for that evening and then checked out the other shows for the week and jiggled timeslots to fit them all in. As the week progressed, I was able to change these as I needed to, the only one I wanted to get locked in was We Will Rock You – there was full availability at this stage so I selected the evening showing as I didn’t want to do an afternoon one. The app was very easy to use and gave you 30 minutes notification of any reservations you had which I found useful as the week progressed!
I heard a knock at the door, and opened it to find my cabin steward and my luggage which had just arrived – he introduced himself and gave me his card with his contact number on and instructed me to ring any time of day or night if I needed anything. I had noticed there was a kettle and tea & coffee, but no milk so asked if he could arrange some for later – he was straight on his phone and ordered some for me from room service – it was at my cabin within minutes! Can’t fault the service at all so far!
I took in my luggage and decided to get the hated unpacking out of the way – as ever, I had overpacked and brought WAY too many clothes! I also took the opportunity to change into a t shirt - I was very warm in the sweatshirt I’d picked out earlier in the day, so cooled down on the balcony and took some more pics - anything to delay finishing the unpacking 😂

The cabin layout was fine, but in both wardrobes the hanging rail didn’t leave enough room for dresses to hang without creasing at the bottom (my only “complaint”) but otherwise I was quickly unpacked and had soon stowed the case under the bed out of the way.
It was around 5:30 by now, so I started to think about dinner – I was on my time dining so had no fixed time, so made a reservation on the app for 7, then realised it didn’t give me enough time to eat before the show – I didn’t want to eat any earlier as I wanted to watch the sailaway, so cancelled the show and reserved it for the last night of the cruise instead.
I headed out to my balcony as I felt the engines start up and the ship start to slowly move, and watched the sailaway in the privacy of my own balcony – we were the first ship to leave, and as we set off, the Disney Magic (docked behind us) sounded the horns to the tune of When you wish upon a star – felt quite fitting to have a little bit of Disney when starting a holiday!
As the captain manouvered the ship, I took some pics of the Magic which became visible from by balcony

and also the Sky Princess as we sailed past – this would be my home for 6 nights on my next cruise in a few short weeks!

I noticed this guy up on the bridge – he must have had an amazing view, so I sent it to my friend Rachel (she hates heights) who quickly informed me there was no way she would be standing there 😂

Once we were well underway, I had a quick shower and changed ready for dinner, then headed down to deck 4 to my allocated restaurant – Silk. I joined the queue for people with reservations, and scanned my room key, then was quickly escorted to a table and seated. My waiter (Oleg) was round very quickly and took my drinks order (a mojito)

and gave me a menu. I later realised all menus were also available to view on the app, but for tonight I hadn’t seen it previously so took some time to make my choices. Oleg brought the bread basket (massive bonus of solo travel – no need to share!) and my cocktail, as well as filling my water glass. I placed my order – Baked French Onion soup, Southern Fried Chicken and Warm Hazelnut Chocolate Cake – followed by a cappuccino.

I have to say, the service was excellent and all 3 courses delicious – especially the chocolate cake!
By the time I had finished dinner, I was actually feeling quite tired, so ordered another mojito to take back to my stateroom and headed back there to chill on my balcony!
I got changed into my pjs and headed outside – it was a warm evening and as the sun had well and truly set was pitch dark apart from the stars – I rearranged the chairs to my liking and grabbed a cushion from the sofa to make it more comfy, then sat with my cocktail and kindle to just take in the ambiance and the feeling of being at the start of a holiday which just can’t be beaten!
After around 30 minutes, I noticed the moon had started to rise

I can honestly say I have never watched a moonrise before, and to watch from a ship on a lovely warm evening was just magical and a perfect end to a fab first day of my holiday ❤️

[BevS97]

A lovely first day, and what a Result to be able to board early!

[Melanie R]

Originally Posted by BevS97

A lovely first day, and what a Result to be able to board early!

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I know - I totally wasn’t expecting that to happen, but was great to be onboard so early 😊

[Lizzim]

Great start - were you in a balcony cabin? We thought about booking one, but decided on a suite….waiting to see what we are allocated.

[Melanie R]

Yes, it was a balcony cabin - suites looked fab, but pricy for just 1 person. There seemed to be a good offer on balcony cabins when I booked - they were cheaper than an outside view without balcony 😂

[Milpston]

Great first day! It’s funny that we checked in not long before you and they told us it was so much easier to check people in who had hard copies of all their paperwork rather than having it on a phone. I think they just like to send everyone away happy 😂

[margyloveswdw]

Great and easy first day! Impressive cocktail count fir a Monday afternoon 🙂

[Inky]

Looks amazing, loving the cocktails 🍸

[tigger48]

Cocktails, coffee and cupcake - sign me up! This looks like a great start to a holiday 👍

[Beaker7929]

Still can't believe that was your first ever Pina Colada