Muscling in on the Coast Guard's Territory

Last Friday just after leaving Cape Liberty at Bayonne (NJ) an 88-year-old man aboard Anthem of the Seas suffered a heart attack and needed urgent shoreside medical attention.

Details appeared in the January 23 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Video courtesy of the NYPD. All rights reserved.

Other Things You'll Want to Know - October 19, 2016

CND subscribers also read about:

• A former cabin steward convicted of a brutal attack on a passenger getting his sentence explained and being sent back to jail.
• Pacific Princess going in for repair
• Royal Caribbean working on a new signature event for Anthem of the Seas code-named "Flash Bang." It will be a 3D virtual reality event where you won't have to wear any glasses. A video tease is below. 

Other Things You'll Want to Know - July 11, 2016

CND subscribers also read about:

• Fincantieri cutting the first steel for Nieuw Statendam.
• The medical examiner's ruling in the death of the 8-year-old boy who was pulled from the pool aboard Anthem of the Seas.

Details appeared in the July 11 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Chopped Anthem Style

Now that things have smoothed out for Anthem of the Seas, there was time for a little fun. Three of the line’s chefs were chosen to compete on a special seagoing Royal Caribbean version of the cooking competition show “Chopped.” They each received a mystery basket of Caribbean-style ingredients and they had to impress the judges with their personal take on what to cook up with the ingredients in the basket.

Anthem of the Seas: Lesson Learned

After Anthem of the Seas’ rough ride through a storm less than a month ago, the line said they had more resources and new procedures in place to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Apparently that new level of cautiousness is already coming into play because Royal Caribbean is returning Anthem of the Seas from its current cruise to keep it well away from a storm it would have encountered on its return should it have kept to schedule.

The line said on Saturday, Anthem would be skipping its last two ports of Barbados and St. Kitts and heading home to New Jersey right away in order to stay what is now considered a safe distance away from the storm which is predicted to create hazardous seas and has now produced gale warnings.

Details appeared in the February 29 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Coast Guard Watching Anthem Propulsion Repair

As it turns out, the storm took more of a toll on Anthem of the Seas than just the cosmetic damage that was shown in passengers’ photos. It damaged the podded propulsion system, causing one of the pods to be shut down as a precautionary measure on the return trip to Bayonne.

The Coast Guard said that during the storm all four clutches on the port side Azipod were burned out.

Details appeared in the February 12 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Other Things You'll Want to Know - February 9, 2016

CND subscribers also read about:

• Royal Caribbean slowed down Anthem of the Seas' return to Cape Liberty today, so it will arrive later on Wednesday. 
• Royal Caribbean declared a quarterly dividend of $0.375 per common share.
• We have the fourth episode below of Holland America's Countdown to Koningsdam video series. This one previews the staterooms, including new specialty types. 

Details appeared in the February 9 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Storm Batters Anthem of the Seas, Returning Early

Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas left Cape Liberty (Bayonne, NJ) Saturday on a seven-night cruise bound first to Port Canaveral and then the Bahamas. But Sunday afternoon, off the coast of Cape Hatteras (NC), the ship ran into a storm that grew more intense than predicted, and it began to batter the ship.

Royal Caribbean made the decision to return the ship to Cape Liberty early. Arrival is planned for Wednesday morning.

Details appeared in the February 8 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Quantum/Anthem Charges Clarified

Last week we told you that it appeared Royal Caribbean was getting ready to charge for the North Star and Ripcord by iFly attractions on Quantum of the Seas and probably on Anthem of the Seas, because the line had posted pricing and the reservation mechanism was set up for Quantum sailings from China.

We couldn’t tell you exactly where things were going because nobody from Royal Caribbean seemed to want to talk to us about it. Now we can tell you what Royal Caribbean is thinking because Vicki Freed, Royal Caribbean’s SVP of Sales and Trade Support & Service, talked with CND yesterday.

The complete story appeared in the January 6 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Deja Vu

Is it Anthem? Or is it Quanum?

Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas arrived home today to New York (actually Cape Liberty Cruise Port). The ship is coming to New York from a summer season based at Southampton. It will now be homeported at Cape Liberty year round.

But does this all seem strangely familiar? That’s right. Quantum of the Seas was homeported there last winter until it ran away from home to China earlier this year. Anthem is a duplicate of Quantum.

The complete story appeared in the November 5 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Photo courtesy of Royal Caribbean International. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without permission. 

Shrek and Fiona Get a New Home

Not that they’re counting, but Royal Caribbean reminds us that it’s only 50 days until Anthem of the Seas arrives in New York, and RCI took the opportunity to tell us they will be adding the DreamWorks Experience to Anthem of the Seas when it reaches New York.

The complete story appeared in the September 16 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Other Things You'll Want to Know - July 24

CND subscribers also read about:

• Another celebrity partnership with NCL coming to an end. 
• A very expensive lawsuit 
• The robot bartenders get most of the attention in the media, but Anthem of the Seas has a more unusual feature than that which is usually hidden away:

The complete stories appeared in the July 24 edition of Cruise News Daily.

First Look around Antherm of the Seas

Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas is in its summer home of Southampton, and Saturday it will board its first visitors. We have the first look around this Quantum clone below and on our Pinterest board.

North Star observation platform being readied for first passengers

More photos from Anthem of the Seas on our Pinterest board

Additional photos from Anthem's arrival at Southampton

Photos courtesy of Royal Caribbean International. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without permission.

Anthem of the Seas Arrives at Southampton

Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas arrived at Southampton this morning. The ship will be homeported at the British port for the summer season.

More photos are on our Pinterest board

Photos courtesy of Royal Caribbean International. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without permission.

If You Liked That One, You’ll Like This One

Meyer Werft delivered the 167,800-ton Anthem of the Seas to Royal Caribbean today at Bremerhaven. The ship is the second in the Quantum-class. Shown below are the two companies' senior officers and the ship's top officers wishing they had worn their heavier coats while Richard Fain speaks.

Photo courtesy of Royal Caribbean. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without permission.

Other Things You'll Want to Know - April 2, 2015

Cruise News Daily readers read about

• A suspected murder-suicide discovered today aboard Holland America's Ryndam.
• Royal Caribbean's choice for a godmother for Anthem of the Seas.
• A fatal accident aboard Cunard's Queen Elizabeth.
• and a giraffe in a swimsuit (see below)

A Giraffe in a Swimsuit

It's no pink polar bear for Anthem of the Seas. The signature artwork for Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas is a giraffe in a swimsuit wearing an inner tube. The sculpture by Jean-François Fourtou, is shown here being lifted to the ship's top deck while it is in Bremerhaven during the final fitting out. The artist says the whimsical work is to remind you of the people and things one loves and cares for.

Photo courtesy of Royal Caribbean International. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without permission. 

Down the River by the Numbers

Earlier this week Meyer Werft took Anthem of the Seas from the Papenburg yard to the sea by floating it down the narrow (and shallow) Ems River. Royal Caribbean produced their video of the trip and supplies the facts and figures. You may have to watch the video twice to get it all.

Trip Completed

Anthem of the Seas traveled downriver overnight.

Meyer Werft reports Anthem of the Seas arrived at the Dutch port of Eemshaven Wednesday morning, completing its transit down the Ems River. Provisioning will take place over the next few days, and Anthem will depart on sea trials on Sunday evening. At the completion of the sea trials in the North Sea, the ship will be berthed at Bremerhaven while awaiting handover to Royal Caribbean in mid-April.

Photo courtesy of Meyer Werft. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without permission. 

Anthem of the Seas Departs Meyer Werft

Some 16 hours earlier than planned this afternoon, Anthem of the Seas, left the Meyer shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, avoiding adverse weather that is forecast for Wednesday. The ship is carefully being backed down the Ems River to Eemshaven where it will be provisioned and then go to sea. Just past 2:30pm, Anthem squeezed through the first narrow barrier and into the river.

Anthem of the Seas squeezes through the first barrier and into the Ems River.

The narrowness of the passages can be seen in the view from the aft lounge (which is going forward for this trip).

Anthem of the Seas just after it entered the Ems River

Photos courtesy of Meyer Werft and Royal Caribbean International. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without permission.