On Anthem. Waiting patiently for sail away!!

They tell you when you book that you should have reservations before you board. If you are on Cruise Critic it is well documented. You can always change once you board, better safe than sorry.

I never really gave it much thought because we had My Time Dining on Allure. We just walked into the dining room when we were hungry. No waits, no reservations needed. I thought this would work the same until I saw on these boards that some were having trouble. Yet some say they had no issues at all. it really isn't a big deal for us. We get In Fine if not we will survive

Lisa

Is there nothing available before 6pm? On our Anthem cruises, there were no problems at any free dining venue between 5:30 and 6pm.

They don't open the restaurants until 6. We already tried around 530-545. The cruise compass says 5:15, but it isn't the case.

Lisa

Today is our first full day on the ship and I can say the rocking is starting to get to all of us. My daughter can't shake the dizziness despite some Bonine and the boys are starting to feel it as well. The Bonine helped the dizziness for me but the constant rocking is tiring. DH is not dealing wit it as well as the rest of us.

We started our morning at Chic/ Grande for breakfast. Our oldest son decided to meet us there and the other two were still asleep. I had the express breakfast ( scrambled eggs and bacon) , son had eggs Benedict and DH steak and eggs and Nutella crepe. When the waiter came to take our order we had just found out son was coming to meet us. The waiter explained to us that he could get our order now unless we didn't mind waiting about 7-8 min as the food for the other tables he was waiting on was ready. We chose to wait as son hadnt arrived yet. The waiter kept apologizing and thanking us for understanding as he said he had many tables to wait on and continued to say he know that's not a good excuse but it's the truth. When our food served my egg looked like something out of a chafing dish and put on the plate within ice cream scoop. They were only slightly warm. Bacon was not there. My meal and my sins arrived super quick. DH came a bit later( we were warned it would take longer). His eggs looked more freshly scrambled and were hot. The other two finally woke up and went for coffee. My daughter ended up getting the cinnamon bun. It was huge and she said it was the best thing she ate so far.

We had the kids do IFly today. It was a blast. Amazing tho that we had 11 reservation and we arrived by 1045 yet another group showed up at 11:10 and still didn't have waivers signed and had incorrect footwear small delay but everything went smoothly. The kids had a blast.

They boys went on their own and my daughter wanted to get some sun irpo time. That didn't go so well, but nothing we didn't expect. No chairs anywhere. We spent time doing laps around the area in hopes something would open for her. That put her back into the I hate this ship and I hate cruises mood. We opted for cafe 270 and some lunch instead then stayed in 270 for some robotic show. It was brief and cute, nothing special. Fortunately DD got a snaochat from one of her new friends and went to meet her.

One thing we didn't like was the walking/ jogging track. It went right in the middle of the chairs and around the pool area. It was crowded much of the time and people were walking in all directions. It also tended to be slippery from the pools. Not a convenient place to put a track.

We went onto the Northstar which was fun. Our reservation said 5-530. So did quite a few others. Basically, you go down at the beginning of your assigned time and they let in groups of about 14. The group in front of us had 12so we had to wait for the next run of it. They were able to pull 2 from the standby line to complete the group. So if you don't have reservations, there is hope. Especially for smaller groups. We were on by 530.-- within our reservation time.

Dinner was at Izumi. The kids liked it on Anthem do we thought it would be good to try again. Not hot rocks for cooking this time. Not much to choose from for the kids. My daughter hit the kids chicken teriyaki. She didn't like it. She ended up with pizza afterwards. Our waiter informed us he removed it from the bill since he noticed she really didn't eat much. He was great and we chatted for a while. Izumi never got crowded.

We took some pictures and will be seeing the show The Gift tonite.

Lisa

Sorry I keep writing Anthem, but it should read that we had Izumi on Allure!!

Lisa

BTW , a family was with one of the concierges and they asked him

About the boat rocking. They were told that the oasis class ship are much smoother and the quantum class ship are always rocking. At dinner DH mentioned the rocking to our waiter and he said it's usually not like this and when he woke up today he was feeling it as well.

Lisa

We were on the June 25 5 day Bermuda and only had a few hours of rocking the first night. After that could not even tell we were moving, even on the last day when it rained all day.

Does anyone else think that this is outrageous? If you pick DD and don't prebook, you risk eating in WJ unless you want to eat at 9PM?

 

Agreed, that is absurd. I thought online booking was for something around 30% +/- of availability to prevent this sort of thing and allow those who want to freewheel with DD to do so.

Maybe specialties aren't booking up as much as they expected, putting more strain on the included venues, or people are making multiple bookings and not releasing them so they can decide later on?

Someone here mentioned the puzzle room. I had it n my mind to book it,but guest services line was pretty long most of the day Saturday. I kind of forgot about it. The lines were long ,but they did have representatives at the end of the line asking what they could help with and directing people to appropriate areas so they don't spend time on the wrong line. It was crowded , but efficient. This morning, after breakfast, we went to a much less crowded guest services ( tho people were still complaining of the lack of help assigned to that area) When I asked about the puzzle room I was told I had to book it online. I never saw an option for that online and from reading these boards I didn't think there was that option. It didnt really matter I was told they were fully booked.

Lisa

We were on the June 25 5 day Bermuda and only had a few hours of rocking the first night. After that could not even tell we were moving, even on the last day when it rained all day.

We went to see The Gift tonight and somewhere about halfway through the show I noticed we weren't rocking as much.

Lisa

Lisa, if they have a silent party in the Music Hall, your daughter should love it!!

I have not posted in a few days. I promised DH I wold stay off devices and pay more attention to him. I will try and post after we return and will have some pictures by them. Not sure my memory will be as good as real time. I made an error with the jogging track. It is on deck 15 above the pool. Now that the weather has been warm and sunny the wet track is less of an issue. Some wetness from those who have gotten out of the pool and went the chairs, but dries quickly with the sun. The placement still sucks tho. The ends of the loungers is where the track starts. Anyone chatting with friends or just trying to stand up gets in the way of the track and people are just walking all over with no regard to direction.

So far my family has agreed ( and we had a dicussion with a couple in the elevator) that although we are enjoying this cruise, this should is all about the technology which is cool , but the oasis class ships are more our style.

Lisa.

Does anyone else think that this is outrageous? If you pick DD and don't prebook, you risk eating in WJ unless you want to eat at 9PM?

 

I would go to guest services about this; surely they can get you in earlier than 9pm at a free venue on each night. They can't be totally booked! Otherwise, I would remove the auto grats. They may help you more if you do that. Or you can use the auto grats to help pay for specialty dining!

I would love to pre-book for our Sept 3rd cruise but the only slots are after 8. Way too late. I will keep trying but....

Does anyone else think that this is outrageous? If you pick DD and don't prebook, you risk eating in WJ unless you want to eat at 9PM?

 

I would go to guest services about this; surely they can get you in earlier than 9pm at a free venue on each night. They can't be totally booked! Otherwise, I would remove the auto grats. They may help you more if you do that. Or you can use the auto grats to help pay for specialty dining!

Guest services can not do anything about it. It is the same way on the Norwegian Breakaway. Unless you reserve dinner for the week, you are on your way to the buffet.

I have not posted in a few days. I promised DH I wold stay off devices and pay more attention to him. I will try and post after we return and will have some pictures by them. Not sure my memory will be as good as real time. I made an error with the jogging track. It is on deck 15 above the pool. Now that the weather has been warm and sunny the wet track is less of an issue. Some wetness from those who have gotten out of the pool and went the chairs, but dries quickly with the sun. The placement still sucks tho. The ends of the loungers is where the track starts. Anyone chatting with friends or just trying to stand up gets in the way of the track and people are just walking all over with no regard to direction.

 

So far my family has agreed ( and we had a dicussion with a couple in the elevator) that although we are enjoying this cruise, this should is all about the technology which is cool , but the oasis class ships are more our style.

 

Lisa.

Have you tried the bumper cars, and if so: How often it is open, do you need to reserve it or just stand in line. Also do they advertise when the car are operating?

I would love to pre-book for our Sept 3rd cruise but the only slots are after 8. Way too late. I will keep trying but....

I would book what you can get now and keep checking back. Don't show up on the ship with no dinner reservations at all.

Have you tried the bumper cars, and if so: How often it is open, do you need to reserve it or just stand in line. Also do they advertise when the car are operating?

My kids had no desire to try them. The hours are posted in the cruise compass. You just get in line. I am not sure how many days they had it , but I will say we passed by on embarkation day. We boarded at 1130 and ate at cafe 270 then explored from deck 16 down. The cars are on 15. It was open (around 12/1230 we passed by ) and no line at all. There were some adults on it. Everyone looked like they were having fun.

Lisa

We just went to eat at Solarium Bistro for dinner. We got there around 630. They asked if we had a reservation. The place was empty. We said no and they told us we had to have one. That maybe if we were a party of 2, but not 5 they could "squeeze us in" So we told them to seat DH and I as a party of 2 and seat the kids seperately as a party of 3. They didn't seem happy about it, but they gave us a table and reminded us that even with dynamic choice we need reservations. We ate( delicious by the way) and when we left the place was as empty as when we arrived. So are there ghosts reserving these tables??? Are the other venues the same way... Denying entry when the place is empty???

Lisa

The problem with dining in the free restaurants is Dynamic Dining Classic. This has reduced the number of available tables for Dynamic Dining Choice and since there are only two seatings of DD Classic the available table space is not fully utilized. This is a case of trying to appease the load complainers despite the fact that the infrastructure doesn't support it very well.

So we told them to seat DH and I as a party of 2 and seat the kids seperately as a party of 3. They didn't seem happy about it, but they gave us a table and reminded us that even with dynamic choice we need reservations. We ate( delicious by the way) and when we left the place was as empty as when we arrived. So are there ghosts reserving these tables??? Are the other venues the same way... Denying entry when the place is empty???

 

 

 

Lisa

Nicely done! I'm impressed; I thought you were being way too understanding about it.

The problem with dining in the free restaurants is Dynamic Dining Classic. This has reduced the number of available tables for Dynamic Dining Choice and since there are only two seatings of DD Classic the available table space is not fully utilized. This is a case of trying to appease the load complainers despite the fact that the infrastructure doesn't support it very well.

Makes sense. I think they will have more complainers when people are given the WJ or 9pm option going forward.

I think what bothered us more was that the place was empty and they insisted on a reservation. After we ate, ended sitting in the solarium relaxing and watching the sunset. Didn't see many people enter the Bistro and when we left the solarium at 830 it was still empty. 2 hours from when we entered ,ate, and spent time in the solarium. So you wonder if the standard reply at these venues is " not without a reservation" even if they aren't at capacity.

Lisa

Aren't there 5 sit down w service included in the fare dinner venues in Anthem? How can it be that they won't let you on standby without a reservation? I thought they always left slots open for standby

So sorry to hear that the rockin' is having an effect. Hopefully with Bonamine use each day and a really good night's sleep, everyone will adjust. We experienced the same thing on our honeymoon cruise so many years ago ... we were fortunate that we were loaned sea-bands by a crew member and it helped get us adjusted after a day ...

Next year will be our 1st experience with "any-time" dining when we cruise the Anthem and NCL's Breakaway. Will miss getting to know our wait-staff and vice-versa ... wonder if people are just skipping their reservations ... don't know but we plan to book our reservations when we can ...

Thanks for your reporting ...

We boarded the Anthem this AM for a 5 day Bermuda cruise. The cruise port was easy to navigate as was the parking garage. Plenty of help throughout the process. Quick and easy check in. My sons picture didn't load fast enough so a new one was quickly snapped. Boarding started just after 11. We were on by 1130. The ship is beautiful. Ate at Cafe 270. Nice variety on sandwiches etc.. Friendly staff. Joking with my 17 yr old son....made him laugh. Met Christopher, the young man in charge of filling up the mini fridges. Super nice also with a great sense of humor. Haven't met the room steward yet to have the kids bed arrangement changed and ask about opening the balcony divider. Hope to meet him soon.

 

Lisa

What's the earliest time you are allowed to board?

What's the earliest time you are allowed to board?

It depends on the cruise before you clearing customs. Then they board by suites and status. Boarding usually starts around 11 am.