New England/Canada cruise on Anthem of the Seas, Day 4: Portland, ME, the North Star, Grande

Trip Index

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Day 4 Cruise Compass:

Sunday morning, Anthem of the Seas arrived in Portland, Maine. I didn't reserve any shore excursions and just planned to walk around town, but I did reserve time in the afternoon to ride the North Star observation bubble on the ship. I had toyed with the idea of doing the "Mailboat Run" around Casco Bay, but decided to just spend the day at leisure.

I ordered a tall glass of fresh squeezed orange juice for breakfast, and it was magnitudes better than the juice they put out at the beverage stations...well worth $5 plus automatic 18% gratuity.

twin bed configuration

a bit hungrier this morning!

After breakfast, we got off the ship and headed towards the downtown area. I also wanted to visit The Holy Donut (found through Yelp), specializing in potato donuts.

beautiful day on Anthem of the Seas

people set up shop near the dock

where to catch the Mailboat Run

brick architecture

It wasn't hard to find the donut shop since there was a long line in front of it. Was it worth it? I loved the chewy texture from the mashed potatoes in the dough. It wasn't oily or greasy either. I'd eat one (or more) again!

line at 11:07am

made with real mashed potatoes

sweet potato ginger, coconut donuts

We wanted more lobster rolls, so we stopped at Gilbert's Chowder House for lunch, moderately rated on Yelp. It was pretty busy so service was slow, but all the food was pretty tasty, especially the steamed mussels. I'd eat here again.

love locks along the road

local root beer

fried oysters, lobster rolls, steamed mussels, chowder

We returned to the ship and relaxed for a few hours before our afternoon experience on the North Star. The observation bubble smoothly soars 300 feet above sea level and provides 360 degree views of the area. It was neat to try it once. I made reservations in advance with the online Cruise Planner.

entering the bubble

getting ready to go up

no one tried to

300 feet above sea level

Dinner tonight was at the Grande restaurant, one of four complimentary restaurants, and the only one with a formal dress code where men must wear a jacket. If you don't have a jacket, they have some to borrow. If the loaners run out, you can't enter. There is an exception for the first and last nights of the cruise (since you may not have your luggage).

This restaurant was the only place where I saw lobster on the menu without surcharge. It was also the most difficult to reserve; I was unable to book anything earlier than 9pm. We went down to the restaurant around 8:30pm to see if they could let us in earlier and thankfully, we were accommodated.

I was excited to see escargots on the menu, however, since it was Royal Caribbean, I didn't have high expectations for it, considering my experience eating them on our Alaska cruise on Jewel of the Seas. Unfortunately, the taste was exactly the same. I still long for the escargots from our Mediterranean cruise on Celebrity Equinox.