Our teenaged son has gazed longingly at Royal Caribbean ships whenever we've been in the same port. He was thrilled by the size and variety of activities he could see. As a gift to him, we purchased a holiday cruise on Anthem of the Seas since the port was easy to reach and the date worked for his school vacations.

The Anthem is a big ship. We logged thousands of steps each day just getting from the elevator/stairway lobby in the middle of the ship to our room in the aft. This is the first ship I've been on (my 8th cruise) which had only two banks of elevators. It was really inconvenient and we often wished for better access to the rear of the ship.

Our cabin was a balcony on deck 9. The layout was good, though with the sofa bed open we struggled to get to the balcony. Closet space was adequate and decor is pleasant. The balcony was very nice - we liked having the footstools (which we could see are not available on other RCCL ships). My husband found the bed too hard and complained that it hurt his back. I didn't mind it. The bathroom is small but fine for one person. Sharing it between three of us was somewhat of a challenge. Little things made it harder, such as a hook design that dumped towels on the floor whenever they were brushed up against. Read more