Anthem 12/12 Review

[tennislvr8]

Hi all,

Just off the 12/12 sailing of the Anthem. I was just DH and myself. This cruise was for rest and relaxation only, we succeeded.

 

We drove to the port from Philly area, not a bad drive. We parked in the garage after dropping of luggage. We were met when coming off the elevator with staff who checked us in. We made our way to through security. We were told Platinum members were boarding. When we go to the boarding area, that was not true. We only had about a 5 min wait before we were allowed to board. Very smooth but semi disorganized process - I could not hear or see who was boarding or being called.

 

We had a balcony room, it was very nice. My husbands luggage was there when they let us in at 1, mine did not arrive until 8, it was inspected.

 

The ship itself is absolutely beautiful!

 

Food:

DISCLAIMER: if I don't have to shop for it, cook it, serve it and clean up after it and its edible that's a win for me. We ate at the windjammer, icon american grill, chic and silk.

Windjammer - the food was what you would expect at a buffet. Nothing I tried was inedible but nothing was great except the rolls......I love crusty soft bread. I was surprised because I remember other ships had food in the front and back of the windjammer. With the exception of an omelet station in the back, which as PACKED the one day I went. there was only food in the front two identical sides. Some days it was very difficult to find a seat at lunch.

American Icon Grill - we ate there twice. The service was ok as was the food. Bar service had to be requested, it was not offered. The desserts were HORRIBLE. I am not a dessert person but they just were not good.

Chic - same as american icon grill - except the desserts were much better.

Silk - DISGUSTING, we walked out in the middle of our meal. The best thing was the puffed air with dip they served while waiting. The apps were bad and the meal was horrible.

Michael's Pub - had the wings, nothing to write home about.

All three restaurants could benefit from removing several tables and making a little more room. While at each we sat at a two top table we might as well had been at a 4 or 6 top table the seating is thisclose!

Bionic Bar - wont last, gimmick that only needs to be seen once

Two 70 - absolute best place to be on the ship. beautiful view, comfy seats, food and beverages.

Shows:

Spectra - was good, the two females lead singers are horrible I am not sure who else auditioned but if these two were the best RC needs to do more to attract better talent.

The Gift - the singers were much better, however I was very confused and left about 15 min into the show. I didn't enjoy this at all.

Quest - a RC staple was in the sport plex.....didn't understand this, there is standing room only there and couldn't see

Love and Marriage Game show - another RC staple was at 3 in the afternoon. The CD made it seem like it was an after thought. I recall him saying rather than not do it, it had to be done at 3.

Cruise Director - Abe something or another was a pompous jerk. I felt he was rude and disrespectful to guests. He rushed something things along because as he said we don't have all cruise for this. Didn't enjoy him at all!

the comedian - he was funny

Kenny James - the singer----I do believe i was the only one who remembered him from star search. He was not good however. He was corny and did more talking than singing. He only sang 3 complete songs. He did a little of other songs and talked a lot. He thinks hes way better than he actually is.

 

This cruise is very different from other RC cruises, I missed the main dining room, bar service had to be sought out versus them seeking you out, I missed the nighttime games - seemed like they were either at odd times due to the emphasis on shows or I missed them completely. While this is a large ship I believe due to the new dining style and less emphasis on games I didn't get the community feel i have on other ships. You would have the same waiter at dinner who would get to know you and you them, didn't happen at any restaurant we went to not even in the windjammer (we tried to sit in same section each time - different people each time). The emphasis on the shows took away from the night time activities - battle of sexes, and other team activities and thus didn't during those activities you saw the same people and got to know people. There were no late night snacks or chocolate displays with ice sculptures like on previous cruises either. I also missed the promenade, would choose that over the esplanade any day.

 

I also tried to do that thing that takes you way above the ship, forgot the name......I waited in line and they had trouble getting it started. I saw the maintenance guy come up both times. I got out of line.

 

Would I cruise the Anthem again? YES - any cruise is a good cruise to me as long as no sickness breaks out and we don't get stuck at sea or there are any mechanical failures. I don't have low expectations. I realize I'm on vacation and everything doesn't have to be perfect to have an enjoyable time.

Ask any questions you want, I will do my best to answer them.

[newjoisey]

we were on this cruise too. it was our first with RC and they did not win us over from cunard whom we have 10 or so cruises with.

[tennislvr8]

we were on this cruise too. it was our first with RC and they did not win us over from cunard whom we have 10 or so cruises with.

 

I would suggest you give RCI another try and try one of the not so new mega ships, a different experience.

[ranchette]

Hi all,

Just off the 12/12 sailing of the Anthem. I was just DH and myself. This cruise was for rest and relaxation only, we succeeded.

 

We drove to the port from Philly area, not a bad drive. We parked in the garage after dropping of luggage. We were met when coming off the elevator with staff who checked us in. We made our way to through security. We were told Platinum members were boarding. When we go to the boarding area, that was not true. We only had about a 5 min wait before we were allowed to board. Very smooth but semi disorganized process - I could not hear or see who was boarding or being called.

 

We had a balcony room, it was very nice. My husbands luggage was there when they let us in at 1, mine did not arrive until 8, it was inspected.

 

The ship itself is absolutely beautiful!

 

Food:

DISCLAIMER: if I don't have to shop for it, cook it, serve it and clean up after it and its edible that's a win for me. We ate at the windjammer, icon american grill, chic and silk.

Windjammer - the food was what you would expect at a buffet. Nothing I tried was inedible but nothing was great except the rolls......I love crusty soft bread. I was surprised because I remember other ships had food in the front and back of the windjammer. With the exception of an omelet station in the back, which as PACKED the one day I went. there was only food in the front two identical sides. Some days it was very difficult to find a seat at lunch.

American Icon Grill - we ate there twice. The service was ok as was the food. Bar service had to be requested, it was not offered. The desserts were HORRIBLE. I am not a dessert person but they just were not good.

Chic - same as american icon grill - except the desserts were much better.

Silk - DISGUSTING, we walked out in the middle of our meal. The best thing was the puffed air with dip they served while waiting. The apps were bad and the meal was horrible.

Michael's Pub - had the wings, nothing to write home about.

All three restaurants could benefit from removing several tables and making a little more room. While at each we sat at a two top table we might as well had been at a 4 or 6 top table the seating is thisclose!

Bionic Bar - wont last, gimmick that only needs to be seen once

Two 70 - absolute best place to be on the ship. beautiful view, comfy seats, food and beverages.

Shows:

Spectra - was good, the two females lead singers are horrible I am not sure who else auditioned but if these two were the best RC needs to do more to attract better talent.

The Gift - the singers were much better, however I was very confused and left about 15 min into the show. I didn't enjoy this at all.

Quest - a RC staple was in the sport plex.....didn't understand this, there is standing room only there and couldn't see

Love and Marriage Game show - another RC staple was at 3 in the afternoon. The CD made it seem like it was an after thought. I recall him saying rather than not do it, it had to be done at 3.

Cruise Director - Abe something or another was a pompous jerk. I felt he was rude and disrespectful to guests. He rushed something things along because as he said we don't have all cruise for this. Didn't enjoy him at all!

the comedian - he was funny

Kenny James - the singer----I do believe i was the only one who remembered him from star search. He was not good however. He was corny and did more talking than singing. He only sang 3 complete songs. He did a little of other songs and talked a lot. He thinks hes way better than he actually is.

 

This cruise is very different from other RC cruises, I missed the main dining room, bar service had to be sought out versus them seeking you out, I missed the nighttime games - seemed like they were either at odd times due to the emphasis on shows or I missed them completely. While this is a large ship I believe due to the new dining style and less emphasis on games I didn't get the community feel i have on other ships. You would have the same waiter at dinner who would get to know you and you them, didn't happen at any restaurant we went to not even in the windjammer (we tried to sit in same section each time - different people each time). The emphasis on the shows took away from the night time activities - battle of sexes, and other team activities and thus didn't during those activities you saw the same people and got to know people. There were no late night snacks or chocolate displays with ice sculptures like on previous cruises either. I also missed the promenade, would choose that over the esplanade any day.

 

I also tried to do that thing that takes you way above the ship, forgot the name......I waited in line and they had trouble getting it started. I saw the maintenance guy come up both times. I got out of line.

 

Would I cruise the Anthem again? YES - any cruise is a good cruise to me as long as no sickness breaks out and we don't get stuck at sea or there are any mechanical failures. I don't have low expectations. I realize I'm on vacation and everything doesn't have to be perfect to have an enjoyable time.

Ask any questions you want, I will do my best to answer them.

Sounds like you didn't have a good time!

[tennislvr8]

Sounds like you didn't have a good time!

 

Did you read the first and last sentence? We took the cruise for rest and relaxation and succeeded and we would sail her again???????

[ranchette]

Did you read the first and last sentence? We took the cruise for rest and relaxation and succeeded and we would sail her again???????

 

Yes, I read the first and last sentence and also read the complaints.

[tennislvr8]

Yes, I read the first and last sentence and also read the complaints.

 

Tomato/tomatoe didn't realize they were complaints and not my thoughts, likes and dislikes based on my experience. Thanks for taking the time to read my review, have a nice day.

[ranchette]

Tomato/tomatoe didn't realize they were complaints and not my thoughts, likes and dislikes based on my experience. Thanks for taking the time to read my review, have a nice day.

 

Happy holidays to you and have a great day!!!!!!

[MisterBill99]

Thanks for the review, I enjoyed reading it since we will be on board 2 weeks from today. I especially enjoyed your comments about the entertainers.

 

Royal and Celebrity do not do the late night fancy buffets anymore, so it's not just Anthem.

 

I won't bother trying the wings at Michael's, thanks for saving me money.

 

A couple of questions.

 

What was in your luggage that caused it to be inspected?

What was wrong with Silk? I have heard similar comments. Was it bland? Just poorly prepared? Very disappointing if it's really bad since the menu sounds interesting.

[tennislvr8]

Thanks for the review, I enjoyed reading it since we will be on board 2 weeks from today. I especially enjoyed your comments about the entertainers.

 

Royal and Celebrity do not do the late night fancy buffets anymore, so it's not just Anthem.

 

I won't bother trying the wings at Michael's, thanks for saving me money.

 

A couple of questions.

 

What was in your luggage that caused it to be inspected?

What was wrong with Silk? I have heard similar comments. Was it bland? Just poorly prepared? Very disappointing if it's really bad since the menu sounds interesting.

 

Glad you enjoyed my review.

The wings were $5, they were good but not great. For $5 give em a try, you might like them more.

There was nothing in my luggage, it was random.

I do not know what is wrong with silk. The food has absolutely no flavor, NONE. I read the same reviews about silk but wanted to try myself.

[CaroleV]

The General Tso's chicken was mushy not crisp & flavorless. I palmed that off on my husband since he had never had it before & didn't know what it should taste like. Spring rolls ok, chip things were good, don't remember what else we had but I would not eat there again for the rest of our cruise. The staff was very nice though. We are from NYC & know good asian food. There were many non-Americans on our sailing of 11/30 so they may have liked it.....not me

[majesty318]

I was also on Anthem 12/12. I agree with a lot of the OP's comments. It's a very different experience from most RC cruises.

 

We always found something to eat but were not really impressed with the food overall. Agree that Silk was the worst. One person from our group ate at Wonderland and raved about it, but personally I never do pay restaurants. Windjammer was always busy, next to impossible to find a table, and they took ages to clear dirty tables. The arrangement was a bit confusing there, with multiple stations with the same thing, so you had to walk all over to make sure you saw everything. The sandwiches, salads, and soup at Cafe 270 were good although the lines were confusing there, too. We had breakfast and lunch at Devinly Decadence almost every day - very calm there with friendly and sufficient staff and good food. Oddly, though, they serve the same stuff every day.

 

My group hated Spectra's Cabaret (fell asleep at it post-late seating dinner). We also couldn't follow The Gift and left 10 minutes in. We enjoyed We Will a Rock You.

 

Spent loads of time in the gorgeous Solarium and never had an issue finding a chair. Also agree that the Esplanade doesn't compare to the Promenade. Promenade is wider and more inviting.

 

We did the I-Fly and it was awesome. Didn't get around to the North Star or Bionic Bar.

 

Quest in Seaplex, agreed, so weird with nowhere to sit.

 

The bar service was great, particularly Ulysses in Boleros.

 

Lack of late night dancing/ entertainment, for sure.

 

However... Like the OP, our group still had a lot of fun, made some friends, relaxed, and enjoyed the pretty and modern ship. I prefer Freedom & Oasis class, but cruising from Bayonne is so convenient for me (live 20 minutes from port). With Anthem there at least a few more years, I would go again.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Ship2Shore]

I have to agree with Ranchette's assessment of your post. Seems the only positive things you had to offer were the 'great' rolls in the Windjammer and your Two70 experience. Everything else had extremely negative overtones.

 

As you said, tomato/tomatoe. There's no need to get defensive toward anyone who may also interpret your review as generally negative. Glad you claim to have enjoyed yourself, but based upon your review, I really don't understand how you did!

[tennislvr8]

I have to agree with Ranchette's assessment of your post. Seems the only positive things you had to offer were the 'great' rolls in the Windjammer and your Two70 experience. Everything else had extremely negative overtones.

 

As you said, tomato/tomatoe. There's no need to get defensive toward anyone who may also interpret your review as generally negative. Glad you claim to have enjoyed yourself, but based upon your review, I really don't understand how you did!

 

I am missing the extremely negative overtones and the defensiveness I displayed but to each his own.

[karmacats]

It's so interesting to me how people have different experiences on the same cruise.

 

My party of 5 was also on the 12/12 cruise. we found the food in the complementary restaurants to mostly be meh, but silk was the favorite of all 5 of us, and our general tso's was crazy spicy (even according to my high-spice-tolerance DH). we all loved spectra's and hated we will rock you, and were torn on the gift (2 loved, 2 didn't, 1 not much of an opinion either way). i loved the more sophisticated look of the esplanade and honestly it doesn't feel much different to me size-wise than the freedom-class promenade, though of course they are both much narrower than the ones on oasis-class.

 

quantum last year was one of my favorite cruises so i had high hopes for anthem, and was a tiny bit let down. a lot of the activities were at weird times so we didn't get to see/participate in them, like the love and marriage show at 3:30 in the afternoon, bumper cars way early in the morning, and adult karaoke only held twice and both times during late seating classic dinner. since we did classic dining we had the same servers every night and no wait, which was great, but they were severely overworked and could have used more help. food quality seemed to have gone down a lot, especially meat - dishes that used to have filet or decent-quality tenderloin instead had some weird meat that was so strange we actually had a debate over whether it was beef or pork (the server insisted it was beef, but...blech). chops was raised to $39 pp and totally not worth it food- and service-wise. so, there were some disappointments.

 

there were a lot of good things, too, however. as i mentioned, we loved spectra's cabaret, and some of the food was quite tasty. we absolutely had a blast in the escape room (made it with 7 minutes to spare!), and those in our party who did it loved ifly. we also really liked north star, and the journey cover band. 270 is just the coolest place to hang out. we had great service from our dining room servers even though they were rushed, and from our stateroom attendant, and only came across one rude employee the whole trip (the host at chops) - everyone else was friendly and smiling.

 

sorry, didn't mean to hijack the OP's review. i started to respond about our silk dinner not being flavorless and ended up writing a novel. :p long story short, i do think there are staffing issues, and felt the activities were a little light and scheduled strangely, but we had a good time, kept busy for the most part, did not come close to starving, and would definitely sail on anthem again.

[MisterBill99]

The General Tso's chicken was mushy not crisp & flavorless.

I've heard that from other people as well (I've seen it described as grey). It really seems like the head chef at Silk needs to be re-educated or given a new job. Did anyone try speaking to the F&B Manager or Executive Chef about this if you had the opportunity (like at a C&A event)?

 

Question.. was there any discounting of the specialty restaurants (for everyone, not the first night discount for D+)? I'd heard from earlier cruises that Jamie's was available for $15 for lunch later in the cruise, and that Wonderland can be had for 20-30% off depending on when you ask.

Edited December 21, 2015 by MisterBill99

[newjoisey]

I am missing the extremely negative overtones and the defensiveness I displayed but to each his own.

 

you were NOT extreme imho in anyway. You gave an opine on a cruise that you were on.......some others here were NOT on the cruise. I would agree with your opinion of the common places that we each attended. I thought as the day wore on the windjammer would closed by the health department [a joke...they do not have one] because of the crud on the floor. Yet it was better first thing in the morning.......if you have available for me a good breakfast i am a happy camper:DI put 5 pounds on and i am going through bacon and sausage withdrawal:eek:. i thank you for your review.

[newjoisey]

I've heard that from other people as well (I've seen it described as grey). It really seems like the head chef at Silk needs to be re-educated or given a new job. Did anyone try speaking to the F&B Manager or Executive Chef about this if you had the opportunity (like at a C&A event)?

 

Question.. was there any discounting of the specialty restaurants (for everyone, not the first night discount for D+)? I'd heard from earlier cruises that Jamie's was available for $15 for lunch later in the cruise, and that Wonderland can be had for 20-30% off depending on when you ask.

 

We experienced tough shredded beef,a mix of tender and tough chicken from the same serving pan that had tender pieces.A tender but kind of tasteless steak. One learns from eating at the buffet ......very small portions of food....find what ya like ....go back and pile on it:D. There was ALWAYS something good to eat.....it is not beneath me;) to just make a meal out of desserts;). i needed 2 hands to carry my breakfast plate:o

[MisterBill99]

We experienced tough shredded beef,a mix of tender and tough chicken from the same serving pan that had tender pieces.A tender but kind of tasteless steak. One learns from eating at the buffet ......very small portions of food....find what ya like ....go back and pile on it:D. There was ALWAYS something good to eat.....it is not beneath me;) to just make a meal out of desserts;). i needed 2 hands to carry my breakfast plate:o

Are you talking about Silk or Windjammer in yur first sentence?

[newjoisey]

WINDJAMMER....i should have been more clear. sorry

[Turtles06]

The General Tso's chicken was mushy not crisp & flavorless. I palmed that off on my husband since he had never had it before & didn't know what it should taste like. Spring rolls ok, chip things were good, don't remember what else we had but I would not eat there again for the rest of our cruise. The staff was very nice though. We are from NYC & know good asian food. There were many non-Americans on our sailing of 11/30 so they may have liked it.....not me

 

My spouse and I had the same reaction to Silk. It was hands down the worst meal we had on Anthem (and, trust me, that's saying a lot), but the staff were great.

 

We love Asian food and tried many dishes, but except for the spring rolls (which are hard to ruin, especially dipped in duck sauce), the food just did not taste good. It's hard to explain to others what the issue was, but the food was just "off" in taste. My spouse thinks the chef is just not very good and doesn't really understand the dishes he/she should be preparing.

[ksg]

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?

[Submariner]

As I mentioned in my review. That General Tso in Silk should have been demoted to Private Tso or, even better, dishonorably discharged ... it was that bad. Seriously.

[SuzieQ123]

I've heard that from other people as well (I've seen it described as grey). It really seems like the head chef at Silk needs to be re-educated or given a new job. Did anyone try speaking to the F&B Manager or Executive Chef about this if you had the opportunity (like at a C&A event)?

 

Question.. was there any discounting of the specialty restaurants (for everyone, not the first night discount for D+)? I'd heard from earlier cruises that Jamie's was available for $15 for lunch later in the cruise, and that Wonderland can be had for 20-30% off depending on when you ask.

 

There must be some sort of discount because we got a credit on our onboard account that specifically said "specialty dining credit". Maybe if you book a certain number of them? We ate at specialty restaurants every night. Could have also been a Diamond member perk

[Lveh8lve]

I was on the 12/12 as well. Good thing you didn't waste time with We Will Rock You. It's the worst piece of rubbish I've ever seen!! Shrek the musical would of been a better choice (I saw it on Broadway so I've seen my share of bad shows).

 

Our meal at Silk was ok. All the food was OK except for Devinly Decadence. The dinner was inedible. It was so bad the manager sent us a bottle of champagne to make up for the food. The lobster tails were over steamed and so tough you couldn't eat them. The filet came to me blue first time then well done second time (I requested medium rare).

 

My other complaint is lack of entertainment for the younger crowd. I'm in my mid 30's and I get like most of the programming was for the older generation. If I heard one more song from the 70's and nothing from the past 20 years I was ready to scream. Thank god the glow party jumped the ship out of the 70's. That was by far the most fun and packed event I saw.