Anthem 2/6/16 Impressions

I've been an on-and-off lurker here on CC since 2005. This site has been an invaluable resource to me in the past and I'm sure will be again in the future.

I felt compelled to write about my most recent cruise on Anthem because I had such an odd experience (not referring to the storm - won't be speaking on this topic at all on this review). This was my 4th cruise. My past three were all with RC (Explorer, Freedom, Allure).

EMBARKATION PROCESS:

We arrived at the port around 12:45 pm. By that time, there were cars backed-up, waiting to get into the luggage drop off area. It took about 30-40 minutes for us to drop off our bags. Upon arriving at the drop off area, I realized what was causing the traffic. They were limiting the amount of cars entering the area. I'd say that they were under-utilizing the drop off area by about 50%. It looked like the bottleneck was that they did not have enough porters to handle the influx of people. After we dropped off our bags, we checked in with one of the reps with the iPads and we were on the ship in about 10 minutes.

ROOMS:

We had a balcony room (9th deck) near the forward elevators, port side. My first impression of the room was that it was nicely appointed. Everything worked well and we had no problems with the room itself. I fell in love with the comforter that they used. It was very soft and I wanted to take it home with me.

ROOM ATTENDANT:

Out of all of the cruises we've been on, the one constant was that the room attendant has always been awesome - cheery, proactive and energetic. However, our last attendant was the opposite. She was a very nice person but she seemed so sad all the time. I don't know if she was home sick or if there were other things going on in her life but I never really saw her smile at all. There was a general feeling of malaise and aloofness.

FOOD:

The variety of food served at Windjammer was not very extensive when compared with the other ships I've sailed on. The space in general seemed smaller as well. I've always enjoyed the food at Windjammer in all of my prior sailings. Sure there were hits and misses but there were always more hits than misses. On Anthem however, there were far more misses than hits unfortunately. Got to try Grande the first night. The food was below average. No flavor and lukewarm. It was suppose to be a "formal" dining venue but they did not enforce the rules. I saw many people being seated with polo shirts and jeans and no coat. I'm not one that likes formal dining, in fact I dislike it (I've never gone to a formal night on any of my prior cruises...went to Windjammer or specialty on formal nights). If RC is not going to enforce the rules, then do away with them. Went to Jamie Oliver's on the second night. This meal was probably the most disappointing meal of the entire cruise. The food overall was pretty bad. Out of the 8 different dishes we ordered (party of 7), only two dishes tasted any good. The other 6 were underwhelming. I was really looking forward to this place and I wanted the food to taste great but it was not to be. Went to Silk the 3rd night. Surprisingly I enjoyed this meal. Most of the reviews I've read claimed that this restaurant was one of the worst on the ship but I found it to be pretty descent. Michael's Pub was another standout in terms of food. The Solarium Bistro and Cafe Two Seventy were OK as well. We also did Chops. Chops has always been good across all the ships and the Chops on board Anthem is no different. Overall, the quality of the food was definitely a step down from the other cruises I have been on. The service however took a huge hop, skip, and a jump backwards across all the food venues. Outside of one waiter at Silk, the staff was generally unimpressive and sometimes rude (one waiter at Chops). I've read reviews about how the level of service on Anthem was below par and I really must agree with this assessment.

THE SHIP:

The ship was very nice but it lacked flow and I felt that they wasted a lot of space with those high-end shops. The ship just felt smaller than it actually was. Two70 was a great place to hang out and relax. Very serene there. The Bionic-bar was a waste of space I thought. The placement of Johnny Rockets (outdoors) was odd.

SHOW AND ACTIVITIES:

Tried everything inside the Seaplex. Lines for bumper cars can get crazy long so it's advised that you get there about 30 minutes before they open. Xbox lounge was OK but there is nobody there enforcing the 30 minute rule. Saw Spectra's Cabaret. Worth seeing. The performers on We Will Rock You were descent. Show runs a little long but was good. There was a comedian that came on one night as well (forget his name). He was funny.

OTHER:

I had tech glitches that made a few of my restaurant reservations disappear and moved my show times around. I was at Guest Services more times than I had been in all of my other cruises combined. Again, staff was unimpressive.

OVERALL:

Although I didn't like the layout the ship is beautiful. But I was disappointed with the food and the level of service. I was used to (and expected) things to be on par with my past cruises but Anthem fell short, especially on the service side. My best experience with RC was with Allure (by far). Freedom would come next, then Anthem, then Explorer.

I was on the same sailing and agree the food was underwhelming compared to past cruises. Also the waiters seemed understaffed because it consistantly took awhile just to get water and bread and place orders. I was disappointed that I could not get a basic steak without paying for a specialty restaurant. I've always had a nice selection of various steaks on past cruises.

The common areas are spread out so you'd think crowding wouldn't be an issue but it was. Seating in the windjammer was frustrating for breakfast we had to sit at the coffee bar. The shops were a waste of space, is Cartier really necessary? The other watch store by Vintages was always empty whenever we passed. Even the art selection was lacking I'm used to Park West having a huge display. We always enjoyed Schooner bar late nights on previous cruises but this time it was just boring.

I expected more from a newer large ship. The only things I really enjoyed were two70 lounge and Spectras Cabaret show, and the Solarium. The Solarium Bistro was always empty but I thought they actually had the best food out of the complementary choices. I didn't get the We Will Rock You show. we left early to make it to Spectras Cabaret. Most frustrating was having to rearrange dinners several times to not overlap with shows. I much prefer early/late seatings and early/late show times. Although the ship looked beautiful I wouldn't book it again.

Although the Grande restaurant has a 'formal dress code', that is relaxed on the first night and last night of the cruise, to allow for luggage delivery (and packing) idiosyncrasies.

I am sorry that you did not know that and were disappointed in people's dress that first night.

Hi you mentioned you were on Deck 9 - I am looking to book a balcony on that deck. What room did you have and would you recommend it ? Thanks :)

Hi you mentioned you were on Deck 9 - I am looking to book a balcony on that deck. What room did you have and would you recommend it ? Thanks :)

Deck 9 is an excellent deck, particularly if you use the stairs instead of the elevators, like me. It is very walkable to virtually everything on the ship, up and down. I like this deck. :)

Thank You Good to know ! Yes we use the steps a lot to walk off all the food calories. Now I just have to wait until the week of March 7th for the new dates .