Anthem of the Seas Day-1 (2024)

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April 28th, 2024 (Day 1)

This is our Transatlantic crossing on Anthem of the Seas from New York City, USA, to Southampton, England.

We started our day at the DoubleTree Hotel at Penn Station in Newark, NJ.  Packed and ready to go.

We arrived at the cruise port of Cape Liberty at 11:00 a.m. and only had to wait a few minutes in our Lyft to be guided to the luggage drop-off. After just a 5-minute wait, we handed our luggage to the porters to load onto the ship. We then made our way inside the cruise terminal, where we went through airport-style scanners and then next to the passport check-in. After one final health and safety check, we went up the escalators to the gangway. In all, from the time we dropped off to the time we walked on the ship, it was less than 15 minutes. 

At about 3:15 p.m., the captain notified us that we were moving away from the cruise terminal and would be traveling by the Statue of Liberty. Right as we're leaving, we get to see the Tear Drop, which Russia donated to the United States after the 9/11 attacks.


We passed by a Princess cruise line that took a picture of our ship as we passed each other.  


The top floors of the ship were packed due to the ship passing by the Statue of Liberty, but it was a wonderful site to see, definitely a once-in-a-lifetime event. 



We then went below deck to do some more exploring before dinner. We arrived at the dining room right at 5pm and we were seated at our table. Dinner was amazing, but since we ate a later lunch, it was a bit much for us. Royal Caribbean has been trying to shorten the time it takes to serve dinner. We've not been fans of the menu changes recently, but we found that the choices were good, and the flavor was great and it only took about 70 minutes to serve dinner. This is a huge decrease in time from our first cruise in 2022 where it usually took 90-110 minutes on Allure and Navigator.
 

After dinner, we returned to our room to gather some ducks to hide and get ready for the show at 9:30 p.m. in the Royal Theater. The headliner was a comedian named Jim Colliton. He was funny with his quick-witted humor and engaged the audience. 

We finished the day at about 11 p.m. Overall, our first day on Anthem of the Seas was a great experience. 

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Day-1 Facts

Weather: Temps in 60's and sunny skies
Ship Motion: None (0/10)
Time Change: None
Port Departure: 3:45 p.m.

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