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We also felt that $300 was not appropriate compensation for the missed day and totally changed itinerary. That said, we had great weather and a fine cruise, once over the disappointment. We received an email the night before on the changed itinerary, so we had some time to bitch a bit and then make the attitude adjustment before coming on board.

Although we've been to St. Thomas and St. Kitts many times, we chose to go to beaches we'd never been to before, so it felt fresher. San Juan was a ridiculous port with all aboard at 12:30. I also love St. Martin, so any trip there is fine with me.

At the risk of hijacking your review - I may submit my first review ever later today after 8 cruises with RCCL and 16 total.

Overall, shows were terrific (theater is poorly designed unfortunately, but we knew that from Quantum so it was our own fault that we had bad seats for The Gift as we didn't get there early enough.) Abe Hughes, the cruise director, was one of the better ones - we're Ken Rush fans - and we liked Abe's lower key and very kind persona better. My husband kept saying, "this guy is soooo smooth and articulate."

Unfortunately, I won't be giving 5 stars because of the restaurants. While the service overall was good, and servers were very pleasant, the service itself was sometimes amateur hour - reaching across my face, pulling food away before it was finished, etc. Showing annoyance when I asked for berries and whipped cream for dessert. (Which I have had consistently for dessert during my previous 7 RCCL cruises.)

The service in Silk in particular was pleasant, but bad. The food mixed. I liked my hibachi steak, but I like well done meat; my friends asked for medium rare and it came well done, so they didn't eat theirs. Spring rolls were dripping with oil. Gross. Same with the "recommended" crab Rangoon. We only ate there once - no one wanted to go back.

Grande was fine - same meal each time - lobster (3X). They need to understand what we mean when we say butter on the side, and bring a small ramekin of melted butter, rather than trying to pour butter all over the lobster from a gravy boat. But no big deal. Also, dishes were not always reflective of the description - i.e. no candied walnuts in the brie salad. No leeks under the lobster. Steamed vegetable plate was whatever was on hand, not what was described.

American Icon was OK. Liked having breakfast there - more civilized than WJ.

Chic - inedible. And we got different things. No one ate their food. Once was more than enough. This was a particular disappointment because we liked Chic a lot on Quantum - so I don't know what they were doing in Anthem's kitchen.

Solarium bistro - we all liked this. The appetizers were fantastic and baklava for dessert - wonderful. My chicken kabobs were cooked perfectly.

Windjammer for dinner was fine, but no staff to take your dirty salad plate away. We had to bus our own tables. This was a departure from other windjammers where although you went up to get your food yourself, there was staff to take a drink order and certainly someone there to take away the dirty plates. Although they had cookies in the Windjammer, they didn't seem to be baking them on site the way they did on Quantum (maybe that's a good thing.)

Jamie's - Mixed. Friends liked their lamb chops. Spaghetti with clam sauce is better at our local pizza place. Eggplant parm was mushy. Husband asked for it with no parmigiana cheese, just the mozzarella. Came out first with all the cheeses. Sent back, then came out no cheese at all because the chef said "No cheese is vegan" and that would be what my husband wanted. He was pretty clear about what he wanted; the chef disagreed. Went back again for the mozzarella. Maybe that's why it was mushy - too much nuking. But of course we had all finished our dinners by the time they got his right.

Chops. This was the best meal. Best service, hottest food, nicest presentation. We got in at the last night by going back and asking for a reservation every few hours. The hostess took pity on us and seated us.

We eat a lot of salads at home and I was looking forward the selection of vegetables I had come to expect at WJ and other restaurants on board. Every single salad - with the exception of Chops - at any venue on the ship - had lettuce swimming in water. Hard to believe that there's no salad spinner on board. Also, raw broccoli and cauliflower were few and far between.

I guess it doesn't matter to RCCL, since we booked a next cruise. Not sure it will be on Anthem though. Next year they aren't doing the Western itinerary we were supposed to have done this time.

On board now. Finding both food and service to be uneven. I miss the vitality menus from the other ships where you choose a lighter/lower calorie option. A lot of the food has been smothered in creamy sauces or is fried and dripping with oil.

To avoid you have to order "naked" fish/meat. The vegetable portions are meager so you have to order extra if it's what you want.

Breakfast in Icon is great - very civilized.

They seem to have a problem drying their lettuce as every single time the salads were totally wet. (At least the greens were washed!)

Having a fine time. Just got free rum punch because we waited for an hour in the broiling heat to board in San Juan due to medical emergency on a Carnival ship that was sharing the pier.

I brought my own last year on Quantum and plan to bring it again tomorrow.

I haven't had the experience of having a cruise lengthened due to weather, but I did have an Allure cruise that morphed from a 7 night to a 5 night due to weather. RC was quite generous - they put us up for 2 nights at Embassy Suites (direct bill - we paid nothing), reimbursed up to $100/day per person for meals (you had to send in receipts), and reimbursed hotel parking with receipt. We also got a $650 per cabin OBC and a future cruise credit for 10% of the amount we'd paid for the cruise, which was about $250 for us. The FCC functioned like a check and we used it to pay on the balance of another cruise.

 

We put a pencil to it, and after we did the math we figured we actually profited by about $200 on that experience. The downside was we lost 2 nights on Allure, only made it to 2 ports, and had to completely redo our reservations for various things. Our tips, of course, were for 5 nights not 7 since we have them charged daily to our account. (Those who had prepaid got some kind of credit, either OBC or back to their credit card.) I don't know how they'd handle tips for the extra days on a cruise that has to be lengthened. We did get 7 points (not 5) for our shortened cruise.

Judy

Hoping they will make us whole on Tuesday. I've missed ports and gotten from $0 to free wifi, but I never had the ship not show up when it was scheduled to depart. We're only an hour and change from Bayonne, so no hotel bills, restaurant etc. to get back. And I realize if we'd booked out of Florida or San Juan we'd be out of luck now, so I guess I should be thankful for that. I'm planning on charging back my employer for wifi, so that wouldn't be a consolation prize I'd prefer this time.

Also, wondering about the tips. Our travel agent offered prepaid gratuities, so that's been taken care of. Will the staff end up being shortchanged, with current cruisers not having to pay tips for the extra day (that they didn't ask for) and Jan. 25 (26) cruisers getting a day of tips returned?

I see no downside to writing a letter.

In 2002 our first cruise was on Radiance and we loved it. Our at-the-time teenage children talked us into going for our Christmas family vacation. I thought it was going to be horrible. We loved it and booked Adventure the following year for Christmas. We had a number of issues on that cruise. I wrote a letter to whomever was CEO at the time (can't remember who). I got a response along with a sizable credit to be applied to our next cruise.

As a result, we continued to cruise with RCCL and have enjoyed each one (although none of them could ever be as good as the first ;). Point is that management cares, and a letter is probably a good way to get attention.

Separately, as a New Yorker, I don't think we have a monopoly on rude behavior to staff.

We ate at DD on Quantum once, and were kind of disappointed. My husband, who is a vegetarian, was unhappy with the choices, which was surprising - only high mercury fish available. We never ate breakfast or lunch there either, after a walk through, and opted for the variety at the WJ. When I saw this was going to turn into SB, I booked it. Plus we ate at SB on Allure and Oasis for breakfast and lunch almost every day - that's where they hid the lox.

Disappointing to hear about the issues with Silk on Anthem. We ate there the first night of our Quantum cruise, and our party of 4 had to be rolled out of there we ate so much! We really enjoyed it. (As four New Yorker's, we did not judge against NYC Asian food though).

Hopefully in 25 days they will have whatever they are doing to the food in Silk figured out.

was trying to make reservations for this all week for my January 25 sailing. Guess this is why we couldn't. Still wouldn't mind eating dinner at the Bistro one night. If anyone can upload the dinner menu it would be very helpful.

Hi. We're on that sailing and I made reservations this week at DD. The reservation came back in my email as Solarium Bistro. There were very few reservations available though.

We've already booked iFly and North Start for Jan. 25 sailing. I can't believe that they would charge after advertising this for free. Frankly, I think it would be grounds to cancel the cruise altogether.

Any lawyers on CC?

We had 6260 on Quantum - D-8. The balcony was enormous, but there was some obstruction looking forward from the hump wall. That said, I wouldn't hesitate to book this again. Our cabin steward brought us another lounge chair and we entertained our friend - another couple on the veranda one night. The mid-ship location was very convenient to the Cafe Promenade for early coffee and late night ice water.

Thank you for your review. When we were on Quantum they had some pretty good deals on wine (half off if memory serves me) if you ate dinner in the WJ. Did Anthem have the same?

Interesting article. A little off the mark. Non-Soviet Jewish people arrived in the neighborhood before the 1950's.

 

From Wikepedia

 

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"The years just before and following the Great Depression brought with them a neighborhood consisting mostly of first- and second-generation Jewish-Americans and, later, Holocaust concentration camp survivors."

 

 

 

There were plenty of Russians, like my grandparents, who came to Brighton Beach in the 1920s as a result of the Russian Revolution.

Anyway, good review.

When we sailed on Celebrity Silhouette in December 2011, during those wonderful few months when we had a Solstice class ship in NJ (and Celebrity at all during the winter), there was a large contingent on board of a particular nationality (many of whom were likely living in Brooklyn) who throughout the cruise would cut lines (and supposedly stole things from the ship, according to multiple reports). We were waiting in line for customs, having declined to cut the line (because they told us not to), even though we wanted to to catch up to people we were taking a shuttle back to a hotel with. As we were waiting, some of this nationality decided to cut in front of us to join friends. My wife finally decided that she had enough and said something to the Customs employees directing the line. Sadly, they didn't do anything, but other people in line thanked her for doing so, since we'd all had enough of them from the cruise.

Wondering what nationality was living in Brooklyn? I grew up in Brooklyn and my family is still in Brooklyn. Everyone I know in Brooklyn is American.

The ambiance of the bionic bar on Quantum - assume it's the same on Anthem - is pretty poor. Right out in the open - nothing cozy about it - noise from Esplanade below. We watched our friend get her drink made just for the novelty, and no one in our group ever ordered another one there. It was almost always empty when we passed by, so the whole idea probably needs a little more thinking out. Plus, the drinks are served in plastic cups, which is one thing on the pool deck, but I prefer a real glass, with a real bar, with a real bartender, and low light.

We've also watched on both Allure and Oasis in the Aqua theater. On Allure, three years ago, it was the first night of the cruise and they didn't have anything set up on the Boardwalk. For Oasis, two years ago, it was the second night so they had a big party going on with wings, chili, guac, etc. on the boardwalk.

It looked like the OnAir club was really hopping, and that would have been a good place to watch on those ships as well.

Last year on Quantum we watched in Michael's as 270 was packed. I believe it was the last night of our cruise, so it was way too cold to watch on the pool screen. This year you'll be 24 hours into the cruise so maybe it will be warm enough up there on Anthem to watch. Basically, Ken Rush instructed every venue with a screen to have it showing (except Schooner bar). Short of some power failure, you'll definitely be able to watch.

We took out from Izumi, right above Michael's, so we had a great dinner right there where we watched.

We did not enjoy DD as much as other dining on the Quantum.The fish selections were high mercury selections - kind of surprising for a "healthy" restaurant. The food was tasty though, but let's face it, if they're keeping calories low, you may just walk out and hit the WJ afterwards.

Is it still free? I can't quite figure it out for Anthem. I'd be willing to give it another try, but it looks like it could have an a la carte charge.

They also don't tell you to remove all your rings. I had to race back to the cabin to get them in the safe. They have cubbies to keep your things (this was on Quantum though), but they are open to the room, so certainly wouldn't put valuables in there.

It was a lot of fun, but goggles definitely made their mark for a long time after, and the air sucked my upper lip up so much, and the cheeks were flapping - no way I was buying the photo! LOL. They give you foam earplugs also, but one of them went flying away.

I don't think the instructor let go of me for even a nanosecond. They took me first in my group and I think it would have been better for me to at least watch a few people first since I never really got the hang of it. It wasn't scary at all. The scary part was waiting to go in, since you really don't know what's going to happen.

6260

Had that cabin on Quantum. Great location too. Can't get it on Anthem. Will probably never be able to get it again. :(

We were in 6260 on Quantum and the cabin is great! The balcony had quite a bit more room - we talked our cabin steward into bringing on another deck chair. Jamie's was a non-issue. The location is pretty close to the aft set of elevators - easy peasy. Quick walk down to the Esplanade, good location for up to the Windjammer. 6262 should be great too as that's also a larger balcony. It's a shame the word's out about those cabins - LOL - as I couldn't get either for our Anthem cruise this coming January.

I will say though that the cabin was incredibly creaky, but we were in 30 foot swells going down to the Caribbean and the weather wasn't all that great coming back either. No noise though during the days on the smooth Caribbean Sea.

Don't worry about privacy - there are cameras along the length of the ship so if you want to be naked out there, the crew can see you anyway.

Happy sailing,

Kim

Are you vegan? My husband is a vegetarian but eats fish and eggs, and there were some beautiful fish dishes there. Also beautiful vegetables. I think though if vegan the menu would be limited.

Also, the waiters ask about your food likes and dislikes when choosing the dishes, but you certainly don't have to let them do that. We were four people - two who will eat most things, one who won't eat fish, and my husband who won't eat meat or poultry. They brought out an extra fish dish just for him. The food was excellent and it was a fun experience (on Quantum). It's quite a novelty, but I don't think we'll do it again next year on Anthem as there won't be any surprises left.

We saw Chicago on Allure and liked it very much, but I have no interest in seeing it again on Anthem.

They didn't have the docking station like Allure has.

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As next door to your cabin (6270) is not obstructed, then your view shouldn't be too bad. Probably just a white post in the way for some of it. Someone on here might even have a picture of the view.

Those "white posts" are huge davits that hold the lifeboats. If I could get it for less $ than an ocean view though, I'd take it.

I have booked cabin 6260. This is listed as grade D8 when on all over decks it is a D1 grade because of the slope in, you get a larger balcony. The only reason I can see why you get it at a lower grade was due to lifeboats etc. But on closer inspection, there is no Obstructed View from lifeboats, only the outside area for Jamies is below. This cabin was £200pp cheaper than the deck above. The cabin on the other side of the ship has the smoking room below it, so Port side is better.

We had this cabin and it was a great one. The location is terrific, the balcony is enormous. You can see a bit of the corner of the outside area for Jamie's when you look down and to the left (aft). We didn't hear any noise from Jamies at all. We did hear our neighbors sitting on the balcony having a conversation and it was a little weird, because you may as well have been right on their balcony with them. No sound blocking whatsoever.

I will say though the the cabin creaked like crazy in rough water. Creaking sounds coming from everywhere.

But you should like this cabin very much.

We were in 6260 - a D-8 probably because it was on deck 6 - everything directly above on that line was a D-1. The cabin steward brought us an extra chair. It was a very large angled balcony. It did make a racket though during rough seas. I wonder if all that creaking comes from the areas where it's the end of a block.