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

mistyPA

By mistyPA,
in Royal Caribbean International

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barneymag

barneymag

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Posted
That's interesting, for the 5/5/16 sailing, from RCI there are no inside or ocean views available at this time. Go figure...

 

Just checked the RC UK site and for the 5/5/16 sailing interior sold out, only ocean view available are those that can be connected as a family suite and these are being sold at a higher price than balcony cabins !!

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mistyPA

mistyPA

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Just checked the RC UK site and for the 5/5/16 sailing interior sold out, only ocean view available are those that can be connected as a family suite and these are being sold at a higher price than balcony cabins !!

 

Thank you for checking and posting. I guess the friends who wanted to join us, but decided to wait for a "better" deal, may have to keep trying to see if something becomes available and if not pay the higher price for a balcony despite the fact they rarely would use it or not go.

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Hoopster95

Hoopster95

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There are few SB cabins to be had and they do go fast. But, there are a number of SB cabins that are part of a larger set of rooms that make a family suite. Some have speculated that those SB cabins are held back in case a family wants to book the entire set of rooms.

 

Actually, those solo cabins connected to the family suites are "SI" cabins (solo interior). I stayed in one last Dec :)

 

 

Thank you for checking and posting. I guess the friends who wanted to join us, but decided to wait for a "better" deal, may have to keep trying to see if something becomes available and if not pay the higher price for a balcony despite the fact they rarely would use it or not go.

 

Wow... this reaffirms some of the thoughts I posted on other threads regarding best time to book, booking last minute (what I used to do up to 2 years ago and got major deals) vs. 2 years early (which I'm now doing and getting the very best prices)... I booked this Anthem cruise at a decent price in April, now my cabin is up almost $2000 Canadian, and checking this morning no interiors nor OVs available at all. Regarding rising prices/cabins booking up fast this also occurred with my Explorer, Harmony, and most recently my Jewel bookings....

 

Everyone is looking for a bargain. There's lots of us who are looking regardless of ship or itinerary, and in the last year I've discovered that the decently priced cruises get booked very quickly when the prices make sense... supply & demand, then you see big price increases when cabins get filled.

 

When I booked Anthem there were a ton of choices of all types of cabins, and this 5/5/16 sailing was one of the best prices Anthem sailings in all of 2016. Not any more. I'm sorry your friends can't join the sailing, but you'll meet a ton of awesome people on board :D. Have you joined the roll call MistyPA?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2180858

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Hoopster95

Hoopster95

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We sailed on the Quantum this past March and it was a great ship, most people don't like change and they complain about it. We are looking to book the Anthem for next June while we are sailing in September on The granduar. It come down to what you make it, if you go on the ship expecting to have a bad time you will. We liked dining this way, but some didn't. We had no problems with dining at all. The only problem that we had on the Quantum was that I ended up getting noro virus and had to spend the day in my cabin when we docked at San Juan.

Try to have fun on Anthem, like we will try when we sail on it in June

 

Wonderful post and attitude :)

The bolded and underlined part of your thought above is I feel the foundation of those that complained... many of whom sailed 100 times on RCL, and expected the exact same feeling as when you step onto the gangway and into the Promenade of Oasis or the Centrum of Radiance... you will not feel the same at all when you get on Quantum Class. It is totally different. You can put a different logo on the side of the ship other than RCL and you would not know the difference. Do not expect the same cruise as with all other RCL ships. If you can do that, you'll have an amazing cruise! For me Quantum was an amazing & refreshing change. I loved the choices and flexibility. I hope everyone on our sailing has a fantastic experience! :D

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mistyPA

mistyPA

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Actually, those solo cabins connected to the family suites are "SI" cabins (solo interior). I stayed in one last Dec :)

 

 

 

 

Wow... this reaffirms some of the thoughts I posted on other threads regarding best time to book, booking last minute (what I used to do up to 2 years ago and got major deals) vs. 2 years early (which I'm now doing and getting the very best prices)... I booked this Anthem cruise at a decent price in April, now my cabin is up almost $2000 Canadian, and checking this morning no interiors nor OVs available at all. Regarding rising prices/cabins booking up fast this also occurred with my Explorer, Harmony, and most recently my Jewel bookings....

 

Everyone is looking for a bargain. There's lots of us who are looking regardless of ship or itinerary, and in the last year I've discovered that the decently priced cruises get booked very quickly when the prices make sense... supply & demand, then you see big price increases when cabins get filled.

 

When I booked Anthem there were a ton of choices of all types of cabins, and this 5/5/16 sailing was one of the best prices Anthem sailings in all of 2016. Not any more. I'm sorry your friends can't join the sailing, but you'll meet a ton of awesome people on board :D. Have you joined the roll call MistyPA?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2180858

 

Yes we have joined the roll call and follow it pretty regularly. Looking forward to this vacation. I so enjoy the summers in Southeastern Massachusetts and usually the winters are tolerable, except for last year, but having a cruise to look forward to in the spring is always great. It gets me through the winter months.

 

We got what we thought was great pricing for an inside cabin, about $900 per person. Inside cabins work for most everyone in my party as we all spend very little time in the rooms. Have gotten suites and balconies in the past only to spend more money, but no extra time in the rooms. I know they work for many people, but we get up early, exercise, have breakfast then off to the pool area until 5 when we shower and get ready for dinner at 7 with drinks at 6-6:30 only to return to our rooms around 11 to sleep and start it all over the next day. So, it works well for everyone in my party. I will be staying in a SI room along with 2 other friends and 2 couples with inside cabins. Enjoy the rest of the summer.

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Princess007

Princess007

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I total agree with what your saying.we got off anthem this morning and the first time sailing from the UK.i prefer flying over to the states in the future.

Don't get me started on the towel situation.if you weren't up at 7.30 to get a bed by the pool you've had it.also people were getting 5-6 towels each at a time reserving loads of loungers and nobody ever used them.on other cruises you had to sign for a towel them they cross your room number when you hand it back I think they should do that.on the 14 day cruise we got a bed in the shade once and this was by getting up at 7.30 to get the bed in the shade.this is so stupid that's why we did it oy the once.setting my alarm to get a bed is not my idea of a holiday.

 

 

 

I was asked recently on a FB group why I would never sail on a UK based cruise, specifically referring to Anthem and I was asked to explain why. I'm copying and pasting my reply here as I think it might also help explain why Anthem currently has a lot of negative reviews.

 

Firstly, I ask that you remember that I am British when reading this. In my own experiences (and I'm aware this is a sweeping statement and won't apply to everybody) I tend to find Brits are more selfish, snobby and impatient when holidaying in comparison to international holidaymakers - and not just on cruises.

 

The posts on here (and in the FB group where I originally posted this message), for example, constantly mention a lack of sun beds on board Anthem and this example highlights my point exactly; it's common knowledge that people are waking up early to reserve sunbeds and then going back to sleep until the middle of the day. While I'm not saying this doesn't happen at all on ships that sail out of the USA, it is nowhere near as big a problem as far as I'm aware. My latest sailing was on the Allure last year, you could get sunbeds constantly, including peak time on a "sea day." You might say that there are more sunbeds as its a bigger ship, but then there are more guests on board.

 

I use the word snobby for this reason: My siblings and I bought my parents a cruise (not with Royal Caribbean) in January of this year sailing to Spain, Portugal and Morocco from Southampton. She was seated with two or three other couples at dinner who were quote: "more concerned with outdoing each other's cruise stories," and when she was asked about her previous sailings the other guests didn't appear interested and then didn't believe her when she did manage to utter the words "Allure of the Seas." As a result of this instance, I can't even say it's just a Royal Caribbean problem as like I say, this was with a different company.

 

I appreciate this probably doesn't come across well and probably look quite harsh saying this. I'm not saying this to offend as that is not my goal. As mentioned earlier, this is my admittedly harsh opinion on why I will never cruise from the UK personally but I am curious to see what people think when Anthem is repositioned in America. I'm more than happy to eat a slice of humble pie if I'm wrong. We can only wait!

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onlyonetrevorfrancis

onlyonetrevorfrancis

Posted
Posted

We are just off the Anthem and had no problem getting a sun bed for the three of us most of the time in the sun.

 

Its really strange though with Anthem as I think more than any other ship we have been on with Royal it is possible to have very different experiences to your fellow passengers. I think this must be the reason it gets such wildly varying good and bad reviews.

 

Regarding the common complaints you read on these forums concerning the ship, personally we never waited long for a drink around the pool and we found the bar staff were extremely friendly. We also thought the food along with the service was excellent. Even when we went to 'We Will Rock You' which was extremely busy we were asked three times for cocktail service. I spoke to some other passengers who gave up waiting and had to go to the schooner bar.

 

Perhaps we have differing standards to more experienced cruisers or my own view is that the Anthem is not currently consistent in what it delivers. Perhaps our experience is more luck than anything else but we really enjoyed the ship and cruise.

 

We did however meet a lot of people during our trip who were experiencing very different things to us and were not having a good time, way more than on any of our previous cruises.

 

 

 

 

.

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Princess007

Princess007

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We ordered a drink just before we will rock you the bar staff at the top with the trolley didn't have it so they said they would get it and come find me.They left with the trolley and never returned.i had to leave the auditorium and go to schooner for a drink.i said to him how will you know where I am and he said I will find you.he never returned lol

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John&LaLa "Live from...." Rare

John&LaLa

Posted
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Can you please tell me - in words of 1 syllable - how you uploaded your great IFly photo ?

 

I have tried via Dropbox and failed !

 

Try Shutterfly. There is also an entire thread about uploading pics. Check it out

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papcx

papcx

Posted
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Can you please tell me - in words of 1 syllable - how you uploaded your great IFly photo ?

 

 

 

I have tried via Dropbox and failed !

 

 

I use tap-a-talk. One click, select and post. Easy.

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papcx

papcx

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But that is a scanned picture. You would need to save it to your device first

 

 

True, but the pics not scanned, I emailed the digital copy (I bought a package) to my device.

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  • 2 weeks later...
paulrobs

paulrobs

Posted
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Sailing this Saturday an Anthem. In 48 hours we'll be boarding. We just can't wait!!!

 

You won't find us complaining. We'll be enjoying every minute, we'll be tolerant of things that maybe don't go so well and we'll be determined to have a great time!

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motif

motif

Posted
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Are there any friends of Bill . W meeting's on Anthem?:)

 

Yes, I believe there are. The meetings board is hidden away in the library, upstairs in Two70, and I did see a notice for Friends of Bill W.

:)

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SausPud

SausPud

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Yes, I believe there are. The meetings board is hidden away in the library, upstairs in Two70, and I did see a notice for Friends of Bill W.

:)

 

I see this on most cruises. Who is Bill W.? And how many friends does he have? And how is he on all my cruises?

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