Anthem of the Seas...A lot of negative reviews, why?

http://www.cruisedork.com/ask-the-cruise-dork/bill-dorothy-friends/

Interesting link, thanks. On Anthem, the LGBT Community Mixer is now in the Daily Planner (most nights, 11pm, Bionic Bar).

:)

I sailed on the Anthem on 1st June and found the whole experience amazing!!!!

Please do not be put off by the negative reviews as it is such a great ship and you will have a great time!!

If its of any help to you i vlogged the whole of my cruise and i am in the process of uploading them onto YouTube. If you are interested please have a look- we filmed our meals, excursions, pool days, our stateroom/balcony- and every other part of the ship!!

The first two i have uploaded is our initial impressions of the ship and a quick look around as we were leaving from southampton which you can find here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fow6XgW9DIU

And i've also uploaded one of our visits to the Bionic Bar- which was amazing! and you can find this here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OE7JS9SGbU

Help me out with what my next upload should be from all my footage by commenting on one of the videos please!!

Happy Cruising!!!

I sailed on the Anthem on 1st June and found the whole experience amazing!!!!

Please do not be put off by the negative reviews as it is such a great ship and you will have a great time!!

If its of any help to you i vlogged the whole of my cruise and i am in the process of uploading them onto YouTube. If you are interested please have a look- we filmed our meals, excursions, pool days, our stateroom/balcony- and every other part of the ship!!

The first two i have uploaded is our initial impressions of the ship and a quick look around as we were leaving from southampton which you can find here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fow6XgW9DIU

And i've also uploaded one of our visits to the Bionic Bar- which was amazing! and you can find this here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OE7JS9SGbU

Help me out with what my next upload should be from all my footage by commenting on one of the videos please!!

Happy Cruising!!!

My husband and I sailed on the Quantum last November. Although there were a few glitches with the bionic bar and the weather was too cold for outdoor activities, we enjoyed the large ship.

I vaguely remember a covered pool area and wonder if this will be on the Anthem as well. My grandkids want to swim in March and unless the pool is heated and covered, it won't happen. Any suggestions?

I vaguely remember a covered pool area and wonder if this will be on the Anthem as well. My grandkids want to swim in March and unless the pool is heated and covered, it won't happen. Any suggestions?

The weather will only be an issue on the first and last day - the rest of the time you'll be far enough south that it will be warm enough for the outdoor pool. The two ships are the same in terms of pools and virtually everything else.

Just finished 14 nights on Anthem. Enjoyed every minute and would not hesitate to go on a Quantum class ship again. So much to do, so many new things to try onboard and, despite being a tad traditional ourselves, we really enjoyed trying different restaurants each night.

Devinly Decadence restaurant is a real hidden gem. I'd have happily eaten there every night.

Never having done anything like it before, the iFly was just awesome.

Devinly Decadence restaurant is a real hidden gem. I'd have happily eaten there every night.

 

Never having done anything like it before, the iFly was just awesome.

I just booked my dining reservations for January and I'm really looking forward to trying Devinly Decadence and booked 3 nights there. I know that the Solarium was great for breakfast and lunch on Oasis but never tried it for dinner. A lot of people are probably thrown off because they don't want to eat healthy food.

Also looking forward to iFly. I don't generally take photos on cruise shops but have a freebie as a result of being Diamond. I saw someone post their iFly photo and I figure I'll use my freebie for that.

I separately posted a positive review for Anthem after our 14 night cruise. I doubt we will be on the ship again because I don't think I would cruise out of NJ in winter when we typically cruise but it was fabulous and if something in Quantum class moved to Florida for Caribbean itineraries it would definitely be my first choice (including over Oasis, which we have also cruised). It was an amazing ship to me and my family, so ultimately I guess it is just a matter of personal taste (and perhaps initial kinks have now been ironed out)

Another reason to cruise Anthem, I just found out that there is an indoor pool and the Solarium which can both be used in the cool weather. We are sailing in May, so it shouldn't be cold, but could be cool and having an indoor place to hang out will be great. We sailed the Breakaway out of New York 2 years ago and it was chilly the 1st and last sea days, with no option of an indoor pool so pretty happy about that. Not that I needed to be convinced, just another reason to be happy to travel on the Anthem. Can't believe the week already sold out - 8 months early.

If you read the more recent reviews-most are full 5*s and rave about it.

It's a new ship with over 4k guests. .you aren't going to please everyone ..and people post negative reviews more than positive ☺

Was on Anthem for 2 weeks, my thoughts:

- The promenade does indeed feel different. It feels quite small or broken up due to the layout. Bionic bar is above it so it kind of draws you up then Michaels pub and music hall kind of stick right out in the middle of it so you can't see around it without walking around those two. That kind of gives the illusion that it's smaller than it really is. I might have to post a picture for you to understand what I'm saying. I Gino the traditional cruiser hates this because now there's no parade that typically happens.

- I did not have any issues with dynamic dining. It allowed me to eat what I want when I want albeit the menus were not that great. The service was still good. I think the traditional cruiser hates this because you don't get the little bit where the wait staff walks around parading at the end.

From what I read I think the general consensus is Oasis class ships are superior and I do not argue that. However you have to into consideration that due to size Anthem ships will be able to take out to more ports of calls that oasis cannot. I love oasis class but hoe many times can you sail eastern or western Caribbean before wanting to see something else?

The reviews are definitely better after the last cruise! Maybe they have been reading and have taken notes of all those comments.

I Gino the traditional cruiser hates this because now there's no parade that typically happens.

So what did they do when Dreamworks was on Quantum? Isn't there a DW parade? There was on Oasis. And DW will be on Anthem starting in November

- I did not have any issues with dynamic dining. It allowed me to eat what I want when I want albeit the menus were not that great. The service was still good. I think the traditional cruiser hates this because you don't get the little bit where the wait staff walks around parading at the end.

You're big on parades, eh? I don't think the lack of a server parade is that big of a deal to many people (personally, I am happy to avoid it). I think it was the lack of getting to know the server and having them know you. They've fixed that with the rotational version of DD.

I think it was the lack of getting to know the server and having them know you. They've fixed that with the rotational version of DD.

Not a great fix for us, but given the variety of restaurants it's probably the best that can be done on Quantum class. Last year we were on the Explorer. It was our first Royal cruise We love being able to dine when ever we want to and first experienced this on Princess with My Time Dining. On Princess we never had the same waiters, so my cappuccino was not automatically given to me with my desert (an example of one of the reasons why we enjoy having the same servers). The service was generally very good, but something was missing that we enjoyed. On Royal, last year, we had My Time Dining. Every evening we had the same waiters! We greatly enjoyed that experience. It will not be possible to have the same waiters on Anthem unless we have a fixed time for dinner.

A friend of mine was on Anthem three weeks ago and she loved it!

Well, it was her first cruise and we all know that the first will stay the best...

Therefore, I'm gonna verify this in 3 days and review Anthem myself :D

It's a Cadilac version of the Suburban.

hahaha:D:D:D:D

A friend of mine was on Anthem three weeks ago and she loved it!

Well, it was her first cruise and we all know that the first will stay the best...

 

Therefore, I'm gonna verify this in 3 days and review Anthem myself :D

Okay, unipac, what did you think?!?

Okay, unipac, what did you think?!?

I'll quote myself from another thread (Allure roll call):

I really enjoyed it. Amazing ship, VERY nice looking design, all new and modern. And it is quite big and has A LOT of things to do (never got bored and could have had more time on the ship, but had 5 sea days already!).

 

Fast Internet, useful phone App (not perfect yet but changing reservations for dinner is easy). Staff mostly nice, some could improve in what they do.

Clever room management in the cabin, lots of storage space.

Many and good food options, some being really good, but some only average.

Solarium is really beautiful!

 

Bad: Balcony door making creaking noises, some cabins suffer more (as ours) but you can hear it everywhere when the ship is moving.

 

Shows have been "We will rock you", "The Gift" (both in theater) and "Spectra's Cabaret" in Two70 which is also a very nice place - enjoyed all.

I would definitely book her again!!!

We were on the same cruise as UniPac. We loved Anthem. Here is my review.

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2269237

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What a great review. It answered tons of my questions.

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What a great review. It answered tons of my questions.

 

 

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You are welcome. I cannot believe some of the reviews of Anthem and needed to redress the balance.

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I'll quote myself from another thread (Allure roll call):

 

 

 

I would definitely book her again!!!

Okay,now where's your detailed review?!?!:D

You are welcome. I cannot believe some of the reviews of Anthem and needed to redress the balance.

 

 

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Just off Anthem as well and totally agree with Kevinyork. The ship and staff were absolutely fantastic. Anyone going on her need not worry at all.

I think the main reason for the negative reviews was the time of year people were travelling - THE SCHOOL SUMMER HOLIDAYS.

We found non of the reasons previous cruisers complained about on our cruise. I think having only about 150 kids onboard also made a big difference as opposed to 1500 kids in the school holidays.

There will always be people who find fault in everything, so go on Anthem and enjoy what is a great ship and have a fantastic cruise like we did. :D

We were on the same cruise as UniPac. We loved Anthem. Here is my review.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2269237

 

 

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Thanks for the review lots of information in a small amount of space. So looking forward to cruising in May, especially as the weather begins to cool here in the Northeast...hoping for a much better winter than last year.