Anthem of the Seas

Guarantee bookings and obstructed balconies dominate the Anthem cabin threads. A 2019 poster offered a free bump from an inside to a balcony guarantee was told by the agent that most of those guarantees land in obstructed cabins, and the cautionary reply came from someone who had taken exactly that deal: the assigned cabin sat directly above a restaurant, nobody slept properly for five nights, the last night was worst as the galley crew turned the ship around, and guest services could not have cared less. A second poster in the same thread had been through the same thing on Anthem and swore off the ship, though they did get a credit toward a future cruise after going to the hotel director. The obstruction itself is the deck 6 lifeboats: a poster who had booked a deck 6 balcony on Anthem described, in a 2024 thread about Odyssey, the big white pillars the boats hang from, water visible only when standing at the rail and nothing but lifeboat when seated. One 2023 reply nonetheless suggested the deck 6 obstructed balconies as the value option over a windowed cabin, so the trade is fresh air for a view.

Lower and cheaper does not read as a penalty here. Three replies to a 2023 question about the deck 3 ocean-view cabins, the only windowed category left on that sailing, reported no engine noise and less rocking than higher up, easy elevator access because everyone else is above, and short walks to the public rooms on the lower decks. Inside cabins on Anthem all have the virtual balcony screen at no extra charge, which two 2019 posters credited with making the room feel far less closed in than a standard inside; one first-time cruiser said the inside felt bigger than a window cabin on an older Royal ship. Solo travelers have studio balcony cabins, quoted at around $1,270 plus taxes for a 2017 sailing. The Spacious Ocean View, roughly 270 square feet without a balcony by one 2019 poster's figures, was called excellent value for a family of four in a 2023 thread, with the caveat from someone who had sailed the category elsewhere that these cabins sit toward the bow and feel more movement. That matters out of Bayonne: a 2019 nine-night review reported the first and last nights rocking noticeably, and other posters said the same run can be smooth or rough on any given week.