Gigi, complete with cossie and rubber ring, is a fun art installation by Jean Francoise Fourtou on Deck 15
Anthem of the Seas is the biggest cruise ship I have ever been on, it’s also the most hi-tech and 21st century cruising’s answer to all the fun of the fair - at sea.
Here’s my top 10 favourite points about the $1bn, 4,180-passenger vessel as she sets sail on her maiden voyage.
Wifi
The ship has the fastest wifi you will find on a cruise ship at sea and can be picked up everywhere, including the stateroom (cabin).
Royal Caribbean’s bandwidth is larger than all other cruise lines combined. The Quantum-class ship’s techy inter-action starts before you sail so I checked in at home, printed my SetSail form and made it from the car park at Southampton to the stateroom in 15 minutes. There still plenty of friendly hellos from the crew but no queues. To be fair, the ship was not full for the preview.
The Anthem app provides guests with the who, how, where, why, when and what regarding activities and entertainment. Really convenient and it does away with the Daily News letters.
Wifi packages: $10 per device per day (if you buy two devices), $15 per device per day for a one device package plus there are many options to suit users.
Thrills
The RipCord by iFLY sky diving experience and the North Star, a glass observation capsule that took me 300ft above the sea for a 360-degree view, taking in the Isle of Wight, are fabulous additions. North Star is also a really sociable experience with everyone pointing out what they can see, taking pictures and enjoying the so-smooth ride. Then there’s the dodgems, climbing wall, surfing and swimming - all fabulous fun for all the family.
Anthem of the seats
Everywhere on the ship are enticing places to relax. From swan chairs to mega sofas, uber-cool loveseats to red faux snakeskin thrones – you cannot turn a corner without the temptation to park!
Peace
The ship is designed with plenty quiet corners. Better still, there are barely any intrusive tannoy announcements because everything guests need to know is on their smartphone! The stateroom corridors have thick carpeting and the walls are not paper-thin so noise is not a problem. Nothing seems to have been forgotten and on the subject of beds and bedding, my double was wonderfully comfortable with the freshest, cleanest, newest white bedding plus plenty of pillows which all seemed to offer a choice of softness levels.
Two70
Three-storey floor-to-ceiling windows make this tanother must space to look out to sea, have a drink and eat from the enticing café. Two70 also turns into an attractive venue with multidimensional shows on the big screen, music and dancing. There's also a library, how about that?
Although it was the view of the Isle of Wight and The Needles which stole it for me!
Choice of restaurants
Whether it’s a Starbucks coffee and cake or sushi, the choice of 18 eateries enhances the cruise experience. I only managed to find about half of the Dynamic Dining experiences while on board. They included Silk, offering Asian fusion cooking; Coastal, with its tasty Californian-cum-Med menu and my favourite Devinly Decadence by chef and author Devin Alexander, low-calorie high-taste treats including mini-burger, chocolate dessert and mini-cocktails.
Windjammer, the buffet restaurant on Deck 14 satisfied my breakfast needs and there’s miles of choice – all day and all night as it has a 24-hour counter. There is no extra charge for eating here. On Anthem you can splash out (or not) at the eateries and/or buy drinks packages to suit your pocket.
Straight-talking
Anthem cost $1bn to build and it would be beyond me to work out how many trips/passengers will be needed to make her profitable. On the subject of pricing, Royal Caribbean president Michael Bayley was quizzed at a press conference about gratuities going up from 15% to 18%. He said: "It would be built into the price anyhow and tipping is a US custom."
It’s a fair point - somehow or another, whatever the ship, there is a price to pay and one way or another the passenger picks up the tab. Discuss.
The Godmother
Ok, nobody could trump the Queen but travel agent Emma Wilby made a charming ambassador for Royal Caribbean. The granddaughter of a shipbuilder, dressed in a sparkling, mid-calf, navy blue dress and a serious pair of Christian Loboutin heels, was all smiles, grace and elegance and everyone, yes, everyone, cheered her on as she sang with the All Boys Aloud choir and set the champagne smashing into the ship, with the press of a tablet – it had to be hi-tech!
The Loft Suites
I didn’t get to see everything in two days – there are 18 decks - but a quick nose at the top suites was interesting. The Loft I saw was a double-height suite with floor-to-ceiling glass for the ultimate views. Sofas, a dining table and white leather chairs, a super-long balcony and hot tub are all part of the deal. Really swanky.
But no matter, I was in Deck 11 heaven with a decent size stateroom, complete with patio doors and balcony, tasteful décor in blues and browns and a great shower.
The crew!
I don’t think one crew member, from cabin attendants to the bosses, walked past without a ‘hello’ or ‘how are you?’ Everyone was so excited! Let’s hope this never changes.
A nod to the Brits
A kettle and Tetley teabags. The US owners know how to get to our hearts and a tray with two mugs has been introduced to satisfy the British habit of making a brew as soon as they get home, in this case their stateroom. Thank you.
Gigi
And lastly, but not least ... Gigi, part of the onboard What Makes Life Worth Living art collection.
Jean Francois Fourtou’s cute giraffe graces Deck 15 complete with cossie and rubber ring. Royal Caribbean is corporate but it does like a little bit of the whimsy (sister ship Quantum has a big magenta bear gracing her top deck). I met Gigi on an early morning walk and I have to say she made me smile as it was the first time I had bumped into a giraffe at sea.
There’s too much art to list but I must mention British artist Richard Hudson’s Eve, a giant mirror-like stainless steel sculpture with an echo of Anish Kapoor/Henry Moore, which dominates the Via area of Deck 5.
Pulse Spiral by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, whose work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, combines technology and art with a 3-D spiral chandelier in the Royal Esplanade. The chandelier's 200 light bulbs pulse to the recorded heartbeat of passengers who place their hands on a monitor below. I couldn't resist and was fascinated to watch my heartbeat go up in an anthem of lights.
Oops! That’s easily 12 favourites but that can’t be a bad thing.
My full feature will be in the Western Daily Press later in the summer.
Anthem of the Seas will sail out of Southampton for her inaugural season before departing for New York Harbour and her new homeport of Cape Liberty Cruise Port in New Jersey, USA.
A three-night Royal Experience cruise starts from £349 per person (based on two people sharing an interior stateroom with Virtual Balcony on April 30, 2015) sailing from Southampton and visiting Zeebrugge (for Brussels), Belgium; Le Havre (for Paris), France before returning to Southampton.
A seven-night France and Spain cruise starts from £979 per person (based on two people sharing an Ocean View stateroom on June 13, 2015) sailing from Southampton to Gijon and Bilbao (Spain), St. Peter Port (Guernsey, Channel Islands) and Le Havre for (Paris).
Details at www.RoyalCaribbean.com/AnthemoftheSeas or call 0844 493 2061
Here’s my top 10 favourite points about the $1bn, 4,180-passenger vessel as she sets sail on her maiden voyage.
Wifi
The ship has the fastest wifi you will find on a cruise ship at sea and can be picked up everywhere, including the stateroom (cabin).
Royal Caribbean’s bandwidth is larger than all other cruise lines combined. The Quantum-class ship’s techy inter-action starts before you sail so I checked in at home, printed my SetSail form and made it from the car park at Southampton to the stateroom in 15 minutes. There still plenty of friendly hellos from the crew but no queues. To be fair, the ship was not full for the preview.
The Anthem app provides guests with the who, how, where, why, when and what regarding activities and entertainment. Really convenient and it does away with the Daily News letters.
Wifi packages: $10 per device per day (if you buy two devices), $15 per device per day for a one device package plus there are many options to suit users.
Thrills
The RipCord by iFLY sky diving experience and the North Star, a glass observation capsule that took me 300ft above the sea for a 360-degree view, taking in the Isle of Wight, are fabulous additions. North Star is also a really sociable experience with everyone pointing out what they can see, taking pictures and enjoying the so-smooth ride. Then there’s the dodgems, climbing wall, surfing and swimming - all fabulous fun for all the family.
Anthem of the seats
Everywhere on the ship are enticing places to relax. From swan chairs to mega sofas, uber-cool loveseats to red faux snakeskin thrones – you cannot turn a corner without the temptation to park!
Peace
The ship is designed with plenty quiet corners. Better still, there are barely any intrusive tannoy announcements because everything guests need to know is on their smartphone! The stateroom corridors have thick carpeting and the walls are not paper-thin so noise is not a problem. Nothing seems to have been forgotten and on the subject of beds and bedding, my double was wonderfully comfortable with the freshest, cleanest, newest white bedding plus plenty of pillows which all seemed to offer a choice of softness levels.
Two70
Three-storey floor-to-ceiling windows make this tanother must space to look out to sea, have a drink and eat from the enticing café. Two70 also turns into an attractive venue with multidimensional shows on the big screen, music and dancing. There's also a library, how about that?
Although it was the view of the Isle of Wight and The Needles which stole it for me!
Choice of restaurants
Whether it’s a Starbucks coffee and cake or sushi, the choice of 18 eateries enhances the cruise experience. I only managed to find about half of the Dynamic Dining experiences while on board. They included Silk, offering Asian fusion cooking; Coastal, with its tasty Californian-cum-Med menu and my favourite Devinly Decadence by chef and author Devin Alexander, low-calorie high-taste treats including mini-burger, chocolate dessert and mini-cocktails.
Windjammer, the buffet restaurant on Deck 14 satisfied my breakfast needs and there’s miles of choice – all day and all night as it has a 24-hour counter. There is no extra charge for eating here. On Anthem you can splash out (or not) at the eateries and/or buy drinks packages to suit your pocket.
Straight-talking
Anthem cost $1bn to build and it would be beyond me to work out how many trips/passengers will be needed to make her profitable. On the subject of pricing, Royal Caribbean president Michael Bayley was quizzed at a press conference about gratuities going up from 15% to 18%. He said: "It would be built into the price anyhow and tipping is a US custom."
It’s a fair point - somehow or another, whatever the ship, there is a price to pay and one way or another the passenger picks up the tab. Discuss.
The Godmother
Ok, nobody could trump the Queen but travel agent Emma Wilby made a charming ambassador for Royal Caribbean. The granddaughter of a shipbuilder, dressed in a sparkling, mid-calf, navy blue dress and a serious pair of Christian Loboutin heels, was all smiles, grace and elegance and everyone, yes, everyone, cheered her on as she sang with the All Boys Aloud choir and set the champagne smashing into the ship, with the press of a tablet – it had to be hi-tech!
The Loft Suites
I didn’t get to see everything in two days – there are 18 decks - but a quick nose at the top suites was interesting. The Loft I saw was a double-height suite with floor-to-ceiling glass for the ultimate views. Sofas, a dining table and white leather chairs, a super-long balcony and hot tub are all part of the deal. Really swanky.
But no matter, I was in Deck 11 heaven with a decent size stateroom, complete with patio doors and balcony, tasteful décor in blues and browns and a great shower.
The crew!
I don’t think one crew member, from cabin attendants to the bosses, walked past without a ‘hello’ or ‘how are you?’ Everyone was so excited! Let’s hope this never changes.
A nod to the Brits
A kettle and Tetley teabags. The US owners know how to get to our hearts and a tray with two mugs has been introduced to satisfy the British habit of making a brew as soon as they get home, in this case their stateroom. Thank you.
Gigi
And lastly, but not least ... Gigi, part of the onboard What Makes Life Worth Living art collection.
Jean Francois Fourtou’s cute giraffe graces Deck 15 complete with cossie and rubber ring. Royal Caribbean is corporate but it does like a little bit of the whimsy (sister ship Quantum has a big magenta bear gracing her top deck). I met Gigi on an early morning walk and I have to say she made me smile as it was the first time I had bumped into a giraffe at sea.
There’s too much art to list but I must mention British artist Richard Hudson’s Eve, a giant mirror-like stainless steel sculpture with an echo of Anish Kapoor/Henry Moore, which dominates the Via area of Deck 5.
Pulse Spiral by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, whose work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, combines technology and art with a 3-D spiral chandelier in the Royal Esplanade. The chandelier's 200 light bulbs pulse to the recorded heartbeat of passengers who place their hands on a monitor below. I couldn't resist and was fascinated to watch my heartbeat go up in an anthem of lights.
Oops! That’s easily 12 favourites but that can’t be a bad thing.
My full feature will be in the Western Daily Press later in the summer.
Anthem of the Seas will sail out of Southampton for her inaugural season before departing for New York Harbour and her new homeport of Cape Liberty Cruise Port in New Jersey, USA.
A three-night Royal Experience cruise starts from £349 per person (based on two people sharing an interior stateroom with Virtual Balcony on April 30, 2015) sailing from Southampton and visiting Zeebrugge (for Brussels), Belgium; Le Havre (for Paris), France before returning to Southampton.
A seven-night France and Spain cruise starts from £979 per person (based on two people sharing an Ocean View stateroom on June 13, 2015) sailing from Southampton to Gijon and Bilbao (Spain), St. Peter Port (Guernsey, Channel Islands) and Le Havre for (Paris).
Details at www.RoyalCaribbean.com/AnthemoftheSeas or call 0844 493 2061
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