Just off the Anthem 11/4-/11/11- Long Lines-Pretty Good Cruise

We chose this cruise because we go away every year during jersey week as our son is off from school and its a 30 min drive from home;

Embarkation- The line of cars took over an hour as we arrived at 11am and did not check in till 12, once parked it was easy and a 15 min process.

Once on the ship waited on line for 40 min to eat lunch which became a running theme for the week. No sail away party, was a nice dice so not sure why.

Dining- We had reservations for my time dining every day, even with a set time, there was a long line every night, took 30 mins to get seated after our reservation then at least 90-120 mins to eat, an exhausting process. The food was very good, all steaks were cooked to order, service varied some spotty to very good. Breakfast in Windjammer was below par other than the donuts which was best in any of our 30 cruises. Did not really have lunch as was not hungry and could not deal with the craziness of the lines. Hot dog truck was awful and generic.

Entertainment- What we liked- the band Wanted-so much fun, We will Rock you-story is silly but cast sound the Queen songs well, Abba show was corny but fun. Comedians were fine, not great , not awful. House band was ok All 4 One. I fly while great was worth doing but is only 1 minute. What we did not like-while all the bells and whistles sounds great- the lines to do anything fun was just brutal and not making it worth it for us nor our teen. Indoor pool and Solarium were packed on the cold day, Walked out at Spectra after 10 mins- beyond awful. Did not see The Gift.

Staff-Cruise Director and staff were OK, nothing special but not bad. Nothing memorable to be honest.

Teen Club- Our son made friends which was good but the activities were awful, he called it one of the worst of his 25 cruises.

Main Pool- we had 2 nice days, very hard to find seats, only 1 activity by the pool, band was bland.

Drink package- I had it and my wife did not, took patience to get drinks and they were understaffed but I did not attentive waiters while sitting on the 2nd deck so that was a positive, Bionic bar was cute.

:Ports- Florida- We rented a car, went to Epcot on our own and had a great time. Coca Cay- Awesome warm day, went to the end of island away from everyone who get off and sit at a very crowded beach, floating bar so much fun even if drinks were limited. Fantastic day. Nassau- took a taxi to Melia, solid day

Cabin- Had a Handicap room, so large and great, room steward was invisible but fine.

Ship- Crazy crowded, lines for everything you can think of, not sure we would ever go on this ship again.

Over all good cruise but we will remember the norovirus, long lines more than anything else other than Wanted and We will Rock you. We were able to use imessage for free when connected to the wifi . Also had a free apps work as well and we did not pay for anything

Debarkation- We walked off our selves, ate breakfast at 8, then it took about an hour to walk off and get through customs.

Glad you had a good cruise and not affected with the norovirus.

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Enjoyed reading your trip report.

Glad you enjoyed the cruise.

Keith

Thanks for the review. We are on Anthem in January. We are planning on renting a car to go to WDW for the day. Where did you rent from and did you do after hours drop off or were they still open to return the car?

Thanks in advance.

Bob

Thanks for the review. We are on Anthem in January. We are planning on renting a car to go to WDW for the day. Where did you rent from and did you do after hours drop off or were they still open to return the car?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Bob

Hertz, 1 mile from the port and van was waiting when we got off

Jersey Week.

Beginning and end of explanation.

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience.

Jersey Week.

 

Beginning and end of explanation.

 

 

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience.

9th year in a row for Jersey week, long enough when cruise lines had no clue what was coming nor did the pricing of that cruise. We have 3 more years to go :0

All 4 One isn't a house band, they are national recording artists who had a bunch of hits in the early 90s.

Glad you had a nice time!

i was on the same cruise.

totally agree - long lines for everything. from when you first got on and headed to Boleros to book the on board activities, took us just over 1hr to complete the bookings, including waiting on line.

when you see people with extremely poor hygiene, you can tell what types of people will get sick. People let their children, young and old use their hands to feed themselves (no utensils)

tender boat tickets were a complete nightmare. again long lines and the first group (second round) that got tickets were for 12:30PM!

MDR restaurants were OK, missed lobster night (if there even was one) But the Specialty restaurants were very good, best was Chops, followed by Jaime's and last was Wonderland, which is try once type of restaurant.

after your first dinner at the MDR (my time dining) you get assigned a table and you would just head straight for that same table if you are with in 15min of your reservation. didn't like that it was the same restaurant for the entire trip. i thought that they rotate the MDR restuarants during the week.

Best waiter service we have ever had was in Chops next best service was in Coastal Kitchen.

The band "Wanted" (BonJovi songs) was the best entertainment, unfortunately it was their last performance on the ship. second was Rock of Ages, don't waste your time on the other shows like The Gift and Spectra.

Ocean Adventure (kid's club) was ok. room looks bland, small and warm. signing the kids out took a while for some reason.

it was nice to avoid the Windjammer buffet during debarkation day and eat breakfast at the Grande, it was more than half empty and service was good.

i was on the same cruise.

 

totally agree - long lines for everything. from when you first got on and headed to Boleros to book the on board activities, took us just over 1hr to complete the bookings, including waiting on line.

 

when you see people with extremely poor hygiene, you can tell what types of people will get sick. People let their children, young and old use their hands to feed themselves (no utensils)

 

tender boat tickets were a complete nightmare. again long lines and the first group (second round) that got tickets were for 12:30PM!

 

MDR restaurants were OK, missed lobster night (if there even was one) But the Specialty restaurants were very good, best was Chops, followed by Jaime's and last was Wonderland, which is try once type of restaurant.

 

after your first dinner at the MDR (my time dining) you get assigned a table and you would just head straight for that same table if you are with in 15min of your reservation. didn't like that it was the same restaurant for the entire trip. i thought that they rotate the MDR restuarants during the week.

 

Best waiter service we have ever had was in Chops next best service was in Coastal Kitchen.

 

The band "Wanted" (BonJovi songs) was the best entertainment, unfortunately it was their last performance on the ship. second was Rock of Ages, don't waste your time on the other shows like The Gift and Spectra.

 

Ocean Adventure (kid's club) was ok. room looks bland, small and warm. signing the kids out took a while for some reason.

 

it was nice to avoid the Windjammer buffet during debarkation day and eat breakfast at the Grande, it was more than half empty and service was good.

The idea of rotating dining rooms was part of Dynamic Dining, which has been gone for a year.

Somebody better tell Wanted that last week was there last performance on the ship because they didn’t get the memo. We have heard them a couple of times already and they are playing in Two70 tomorrow night.

Jersey Week.

 

Beginning and end of explanation.

 

 

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience.

Cannot imagine going to Jersey Week on purpose.

i was on the same cruise.

 

Rock of Ages, don't waste your time on the other shows like The Gift and Spectra.

 

Quote]

Rock of Ages? We Will Rock You was on previously, surprised they would change to a show currently being performed on NCL Breakaway.

Perhaps more people should read Tom Wolf's The Electric Kool-aid Acid Test before going to see Spectra.

OP: Thanks for taking the time to post your comments. We'll be on Anthem in February, and I'm sure hoping your reports of long lines and waits, even when you had dinner reservations, was caused by Jersey Week/lots of kids.

OP: Thanks for taking the time to post your comments. We'll be on Anthem in February, and I'm sure hoping your reports of long lines and waits, even when you had dinner reservations, was caused by Jersey Week/lots of kids.

I have cruised on Quantum/Anthem in December, January and February (never ever ever ever during Jersey Insanity Week), and did not experience long lines or waits.

All 4 One isn't a house band, they are national recording artists who had a bunch of hits in the early 90s.

 

Glad you had a nice time!

The band in the Music Hall was One 4 One not All 4 One. They are a Royal Caribbean house band.

I have cruised on Quantum/Anthem in December, January and February (never ever ever ever during Jersey Insanity Week), and did not experience long lines or waits.

In 12 Anthem cruises I never had long lines or waits either, but I never cruise when the kids are out of school.

In 12 Anthem cruises I never had long lines or waits either, but I never cruise when the kids are out of school.

i was on the same cruise.

 

totally agree - long lines for everything. from when you first got on and headed to Boleros to book the on board activities, took us just over 1hr to complete the bookings, including waiting on line.

 

when you see people with extremely poor hygiene, you can tell what types of people will get sick. People let their children, young and old use their hands to feed themselves (no utensils)

 

tender boat tickets were a complete nightmare. again long lines and the first group (second round) that got tickets were for 12:30PM!

 

MDR restaurants were OK, missed lobster night (if there even was one) But the Specialty restaurants were very good, best was Chops, followed by Jaime's and last was Wonderland, which is try once type of restaurant.

 

after your first dinner at the MDR (my time dining) you get assigned a table and you would just head straight for that same table if you are with in 15min of your reservation. didn't like that it was the same restaurant for the entire trip. i thought that they rotate the MDR restuarants during the week.

 

Best waiter service we have ever had was in Chops next best service was in Coastal Kitchen.

 

The band "Wanted" (BonJovi songs) was the best entertainment, unfortunately it was their last performance on the ship. second was Rock of Ages, don't waste your time on the other shows like The Gift and Spectra.

 

Ocean Adventure (kid's club) was ok. room looks bland, small and warm. signing the kids out took a while for some reason.

 

it was nice to avoid the Windjammer buffet during debarkation day and eat breakfast at the Grande, it was more than half empty and service was good.

You don't always have the same table for MTD in American Icon or SIlk. You need to check in each night, to see where they will seat you. You do have the same table every night with early or late traditional dining in Chic or The Grande.

Wanted is on the ship for the current sailing, and will be returning sometime in February.

Rock of Ages is on NCL Breakaway, and has never been on Anthem. We Will Rock You is the musical on Anthem. I loved Spectra and We Will Rock You and have seen both 12 times. I wasn't crazy about The Gift, although others love it.

Hertz, 1 mile from the port and van was waiting when we got off

Did you return the car after hours, and if so, how did you get back to the boat?

I was scammed by a 50 something year old guy in a white SUV waiting in the parking lot who claimed to the running as the Hertz shuttle. Upon arrival at the port, he charged me for the trip. He did not mention any charge until we arrived and I'm fairly certain he had no affiliation with Hertz.

Thanks for the reviews, reminds me of my cruise on the Harmony two weeks ago, lots of kids and lines.

Was also on the Nov. 4 cruise. Waited in line for two hours on the first day to book iFly. Then, they closed off the line before getting to us and told us they would call us with reservation. Never did. So, we waited in line for another 45 minutes at Guest Service regarding this issue. This set the tone for the cruise. Long lines for everything! But, we still managed to have a great time. If I were to go on this ship again, I would not choose MTD.

The idea of rotating dining rooms was part of Dynamic Dining, which has been gone for a year.

And we had different waiting on 4/7 nights and diff table

I forgot to mention the tender debacle- we had 12 and did not get to island till 11am

Cannot imagine going to Jersey Week on purpose.

Family likes to cruise and this is an easy way to fit in a 3rd one every year as well as being quite affordable....to each their own and you have to do what you have to do for your family