Travel Agents Welcome Anthem of the Seas to Bayonne

Travel retailers in the New Jersey/New York metro area now have a mega-ship, Royal Caribbean International’s Anthem of the Seas, homeporting year-round at the Cape Liberty Cruise Port, in Bayonne, N.J., and they’re keen to get as many clients onboard as possible.

The 4,180-guest ship arrived from Europe with great fanfare early this month and is sailing 5- to 12-night voyages to Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. Next fall, it will add New England fall foliage voyages to its itineraries.

Anthem of the Seas, which offers innovative adventures like the North Star aerial observatory, the iFly sky diving simulator, and the bumper car venue that debuted a year ago on sister ship Quantum of the Seas, entered service in Europe last April and spent its inaugural summer season there.

“I think it’s going to do very well at Cape Liberty. I’ve gotten a lot of calls about it, and the marketing leading into it this fall has been very strong,” said Debbie Devine, a Cruise Planners agent in Rockaway, N.J.

Devine, who spent a two-night fam on the ship when Royal introduced the Anthem to the trade after it arrived in Bayonne, recalled that “Quantum came in a little soft” when it sailed from the New York area last fall. The Anthem’s big sister did a brief series of cruises from the region before deploying to China earlier this year.

“It sounds like they got a lot of the kinks out with Anthem,” said Devine, referring to some early operational problems with things like the Quantum’s Bionic Bar, where robot bartenders mix drinks for passengers. There were some issues with the mechanism at the outset, such as the long wait time for robot-made beverages.

“There also were some reservation systems problems with Quantum, but I think now those things have been worked out. I like the layout of the Quantum-class ships,” Devine added.

And the best part for many of her local clients, she said, is that cruising on Anthem of the Seas means no air travel.

“People love that they don’t have to fly. I have one client who sails three times a year, and I have never put her on a plane. It’s great to have year-round ships. I wish we had more.”

Anthem is the only cruise ship offering sailings from the Bayonne terminal until next spring, when Celebrity Cruises’ 2,158-guest Celebrity Summit arrives to begin a seasonal schedule to Bermuda and New England.

Bayonne is “relatively easy to get to” from New York and New Jersey, Devine noted. “People get drivers or take taxis, and it’s easy from Liberty (Newark) International Airport, too. It’s very convenient, but the only negative is you don’t see all of Manhattan when you sail out of Bayonne.”

Bayonne lies between Upper New York Bay and Newark Bay, roughly eight miles from Manhattan, as the crow flies.

Peter Fanizzi, a retailer at Going Places Travel, a TRAVELSAVERS agency that his parents, Rose and Jim Fanizzi, own on Staten Island, says Anthem of the Seas is generating a lot of positive interest – more than Quantum did a year ago.

“We already have four or five groups going on Anthem and one of those has 30 people,” said Fanizzi, who also did the two-night fam on the ship.

“It’s very convenient for people around here, although right now the Bayonne Bridge is being renovated and it isn’t always open. It’s not a big deal, you just have to drive around it on another route from Staten Island,” he said. But he added that having Anthem of the Seas so close by is good for the area.

Agent Michael Early, who works from suburban Cedar Grove, N.J., and is affiliated with Florida-based Forever Young Travel, agreed that Anthem of the Seas is generating a lot of enthusiasm from area customers.

“I haven’t had anyone specifically asking for a sky-diving experience, but when people see things like this it does create interest. And it’s very convenient having the ship right here in Bayonne. But, for most of my clients it’s about ‘what’s it going to cost me,’ ” Early said.

Cruise Planner Devine said the sky diving and other adventure-oriented activities are not typically a big draw for her clients. “It’s a novelty and it gets attention but it’s not what gets most people on a ship,” she said.

The 16-passenger deck Anthem offers 1,570 balcony staterooms, 147 ocean-view staterooms, and 1,373 inside staterooms. All interior cabins have virtual balconies – floor-to-ceiling high-definition TV screens showing live views from outside the ship. And there are 28 studio staterooms for single travelers, including 12 with balconies.

Clients will choose from 18 dining venues, including three – Jamie’s Italian, Michael’s Genuine Pub and Devinly Decadence – that were created in partnership with celebrity chefs and that charge extra fees.

Like Quantum, the Anthem has iPad check-in and RFID bracelets that clients use for identification and for buying products and services onboard.