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Stateroom 10207 with virtual balacony

Looking towards the door

November 10, 2015

It rained all day, but that was the worst of the day.  No delays on the road.  Waited maybe 10 minutes for the shuttle from the parking lot to the port and we were on board by 11:30 and in our stateroom by 12:30, with our luggage waiting outside our door.

This is the maiden voyage of the Anthem of the Seas from its American port.  The ship launched in April and sailed in Europe until coming here last week.  They did 3 two day cruises with travel agents on board, and we are the first “real” passengers.

Our state room is, of course, and inside passenger cabin, but there is a new feature on this class of ship – virtual balconies.  It is a Sharp TV monitor that goes from floor to ceiling and about 4 feet wide.  A TV camera shows what is going on on that side of the ship, and it even picks up the roll of the ship.  We just watched the sunset from the comfort of our stateroom.

I met the assistant cruise director to get my schedule, and it is a crazy one.  We have two days at sea and reach San Juan on Friday afternoon.  I have a talk tomorrow and none on the next sea day with one before we dock Friday.  Then my talks start back up the day we sail for home – with three sea days and four talks.  Not sure why they skipped tomorrow, but it is their ship, and they can do what they want, I reckon.

We had dinner in the Silk Restaurant – an oriental eatery.  One of us enjoyed the food.  One of us said it wasn’t very tasty.  I will give you more about our dining experience tomorrow after we reserve our seatings.

There do not seem to be as many places to just sit and relax as we’ve had on other ships, but we’ve found one that may be our hangout.  The only problem is, it’s Scandinavian furniture, and those folks must be short.  The cushions are only 18 inches off the floor.  We plop into them and then struggle out.  Maybe there are some places we haven’t discovered.

The opening show was “Beatle Maniacs” – a Beatles tribute band that was excellent.  Bonnie and I agreed that it was the best opening show we’ve seen.  Here’s hoping for more of the same.

And now to bed (every one repeat the rhyme, please).

November 11, 2015

We had breakfast in the American Icon restaurant.  We were at a table for two in a section of four tables for two.  The folks beside of us are a retired Mennonite pastor and his wife.  We swapped war stories.  It was an enjoyable breakfast.  Although ... the service was very spotted (and it was the same last night at supper).  Someone brought me coffee and served us rolls, but no one gave us menus.  Then someone took our order, but no one asked if wanted breakfast juices.  We got our food in widely scattered spurts, but it all came – eventually – and it was tasty.

Next we made reservations for supper for the rest of the cruise.  There are four main complimentary restaurants, each with a different theme.  Last night, as I said last night, was Silk.  Tonight we are going to American Icon.  Thursday will be Chic, and Friday is The Grande.  There is another one called “Devinly Decadance” that was featured on America’s Greatest Loser.  We are doing that one only once.  I will report nightly on the cuisine.

This ship does not have traditional dining arrangements.  You must reserve your seating for every evening meal.  There is a computerized program that helps you do it from any where on board, including your stateroom, but someone had entered times and restaurants for us – all late times – and the system wouldn’t let us change.  A young hostess named Joann worked it out for us and we will rotate through the restaurants at 6 p.m. each evening.  There is no formal night on the Anthem, but the dress code for the Grande is formal, so we will wear our best big and tucker on those nights.

Then we made arrangements for the three special shows that they have, working around our dining arrangements.  These are evidently quite spectacular and booked into smaller venues, hence the need for reservations.  Our first one is Friday at 9 p.m. and it is called “We Will Rock You.”  I’ll let you know.

We had lunch at the Café Two70.  They serve a variety of sandwiches, soups and salads, and you may sit in a large deck area that encompasses the entire stern of the ship, and is 3 decks high.  The rear walls are glass – giving a beautiful view of the sea and where you’ve been.  I will have three of my talks there – don’t know how that will work, but I guess they do.

We explored Decks 4 and 5, checking out the various shops and restaurants along the way.  The shops seem very high end, and the restaurants run from complimentary to a la carte.  We haven’t yet found the bumper cars or the sky diving venues, but since I don’t have a talk tomorrow we will check those out as well.

One disappointment.  We tried to reserve an excursion on the St. Kitts Railroad, but both times are booked up.  We got on a waiting list – 3 couples ahead of us – but we are not hopeful.  It is perhaps the most popular excursion on this cruise.  At $100 a person, it better be good (and I researched it for my St. Kitts talk, so we’ll get a little flavor even if we don’t get on the train).  Toot!  Toot!

My first talk today was in the Royal Theater and was attended by about 150 folks.   And glory be!  The ship’s projector talks to my new laptop!  I added a new video to the San Juan talk that I think went very well, and Bonnie and I agree that another video needs shortened.  I think I am going to redo that section altogether – it is about El Yunque National Park – the only rain forest in the U.S. National Forestry Department (I’d like to see it. We won’t make it on this cruise, but maybe we in January).

November 12, 2015

So ...

Do you wanna build a snow man?

At 10 a.m. this morning your favorite cruisers went to see “Frozen” in 3D in the Royal Theater.  Very enjoyable.  The Mickey Mouse cartoon which began the program had my cruising partner in stitches, laughing out loud, and stamping her feet.  She did all of that, and the cartoon was very good, but she had taken 4 oxycodone pills by the time we had reached the theater (her back had gone out, and needed a strong does of drugs – she is much improved this evening, and back to being sober as well).

We took our lunch from Café Two70 and went into the Two70 lounge to enjoy potato and leek soup and a variety of sandwiches, followed by a brownie for her and a strawberry scone for me.  Very good indeed.

Bonnie went to a jewelry making class and completed a bracelet and a necklace.  They are very nice.  A young man from England, Daniel, led the class, and we talked to him later and he told us about upcoming classes which she will take.

Dinner was at the Chic, and the usual confusion ensued – these people really need to work on service in their four complimentary restaurants!  We were on the que on time for our 6 p.m. seating, and were directed to follow Jose to table 225.  We followed him to table 226, because someone was already seated at 225.  The meal was good – prime rib for her, onion crusted chicken breast for me – but service was once again spotty.  Nevertheless we got everything we ordered and enjoyed a companionable evening with the folks at 225 and 227 – only our second opportunity to fellowship at a meal (and that is one of the really fun parts about cruising).

Then we stood on line to see if stand by seats were available for “Spectra Cabaret,” one of three shows for which you must make reservations.  Our reservation for Spectra was tomorrow night at 6:30, and our dinner reservations are at 6, so we weren’t going to make one, and we decided we’d rather eat.  About an hour before show time we went to the theater to see if there were seats available and after standing in line for 45 minutes we learned (sadly, it turns out) there were seats available.  Sadly, because we were very disappointed in the show – we later said, the reason you have to make reservations is so you’ll think it is good, otherwise folks won’t come.  We set in the privileged section because there weren’t enough of the “which of which there is no whicher” in attendance.  The show was loud and disjointed and I napped through much of it.  No matter what the remaining shows produce, they will rank higher in our estimation than “Spectra Cabaret.”

When we got back to our stateroom we learned that we had gone to the front of another stand by line – this one to get shore excursion tickets to ride the St. Kitts Railroad.  When we tried first, we were told it was sold out, but we asked to be put on standby.  Imagine my surprise when I picked up the tickets and learned that we had received two tickets for the 8:30 excursion and two tickets for the 12:30 excursion!  So I toodled off to Customer Service where someone who had worked at Chick Fil A told us it would his pleasure to make the correction.  I forget what day is St. Kitts, but this is our only booked excursion for this cruise – and from all we’ve learned, it will be a good afternoon.

And now to bed.  Hopefully I’ll get this posted tomorrow.  What I have written, I have written.

TTFN!