Anthem 3 nighter March 2016: Likes & Dislikes

[mizLORInj]

We were also on Anthem’s 3 nighter so here are our likes and dislikes in no particular order:

 

LIKED+

 

• LOVED the ship itself. It’s new and beautiful so what’s not to love.

 

• We had a D7 balcony cabin which was great. Lots of storage closets and drawers too. The best part was the balcony: nice and large with 2 chairs that reclined and footstools (that stored under the chairs) to make it into your own lounger. LOVE THAT. These balconies beat the newer ships on both NCL and Princess as most of their balconies are tiny.

 

• Nightlight in the bathroom and the lighted circle on the cabin mirror

 

• We found the food to be good in the dining rooms and Windjammer. Always could find things we liked and I can’t think of anything we didn’t. Very happy lobster was served in all dining rooms the last night; it was delicious. Café 270—their stuff was just ok. We winged it with dining (I didn’t realize set timing was an option but that’s ok) and we didn’t wait more than 10 minutes to be seated for lunch or dinner.

 

• Coconut ranger cookies. Even the chocolate cupcakes in the Windjammer were fabulous. It is rare I find a dessert on a ship that is so good I want more than one.

 

• Solarium. LOVE this space and its location.

 

• Tequila tasting was fun and the host was entertaining. He also makes fabulous drinks in Bolero.

 

• Different drink menus in various bars. I like variety.

 

• Two70. Awesome multi-purpose, three decks high room at the stern of the ship with many windows.

 

• The café in the Promenade that had drinks (water, coffee, tea) and snacks. The pizza place was busy.

 

• Atomic Punks! LOVED this Van Halen cover band. They were GREAT. Saw them twice in Music Hall. (they were there for this cruise only)

 

• Happy hour—one hour of free wifi for everyone! Thought this was a nice surprise.

 

• If you upload your credit card and photo, check-in is really a breeze and there are lots of check-in agents with their devices as soon as you enter the terminal. Present your pass and passport, answer the health questions, and you’re done. The longest line was after check in at security, and even that wasn’t long. I’d say it was 15 minutes tops from the time our feet entered the building to the time we boarded the ship. Great process once in the terminal (but not up to that point; see below)

 

 

DID NOT LIKE

 

• ONE dining room open for breakfast! Come on. You need TWO open. Didn’t make it there because both mornings we stopped down at 9am and since they stopped seating at 9:30 some RC guy told those of us beyond a certain point in the line that we needed to go elsewhere.

 

• Didn’t find a lot of the staff to be warm and friendly, though our cabin stewardess was.

 

• The port! The long road into the port had horrible traffic. If you arrive between 11 and 1 you will wait in a long line of cars. The wait in the port was longer than our ride to the port. They need to separate those who don’t want to drop off their luggage first. This would make things move quicker. Even on longer cruises I can cart my luggage from a parking space to check-in. We got to our cabin around 1 and when I looked out over the port roads at that time there was no longer a line. So if I sailed from here again, I’d aim to arrive after 1. Others from the roll call arrived very early and had no lines, so that’s another option.

 

• Soft-serve ice cream machines were not available (likely due to noro from prior cruise I was told)

 

• $30 and $40 for wine tasting? Really? Four two-ounce servings of wine (I checked to see what this included). Way too much $.

 

• Guest Services only has 4 stations (with a human) for a 4,000 pax ship. Not sufficient.

 

 

NEUTRAL

 

• I understand their caution after having noro on the ship. And Purell sales are boosted by Anthem for sure. It was forced upon you everywhere. I don’t mind the hand-washing as you enter the buffet as we do this on the ships that have sinks in the buffet anyway. It did feel odd to be forced though. It felt like someone was also always supervising in the public rest rooms. If only everyone would just wash their hands after using the toilet. . .why do people have to be told to do this.

 

• North Star was awesome. If you don’t have a reservation though, don’t bother. The standby line hardly moved as everyone who had a reservation seemed to show up. Even with a reservation I’d say we spent an hour there from start to finish. It was worth it to do once.

 

• We Will Rock you was just ok, and I found it to be too long. They had technical difficulties about ¾ through the show so we left when it stopped at that point. Spectra was cancelled one night too for technical difficulties.

 

• A lot of TV channels (not just news) which led the boyfriend to try out TCM channel’s movies from the 40s and start to use the pickup lines from those on me. Amusing at first, but then not. :rolleyes:

 

 

Other:

 

Wish their deck plan indicated whether the bed was by the slider or by the bathroom. I think someone has started a chart on this so I can add my two cents for the cabins we had on this cruise.

 

Thanks again to those who arranged the Meet-ups and activities. The cabin crawl was great.

 

I would sail on Anthem again. While some things were a slight annoyance, I did like the ship a lot and would love to hang on my balcony again. You can always find things to pick on I think; I prefer to focus on enjoying my time on a ship!

Edited March 11, 2016 by mizlorinj

[mirp]

Great review. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

[champagne123]

• A lot of TV channels (not just news) which led the boyfriend to try out TCM channel’s movies from the 40s and start to use the pickup lines from those on me. Amusing at first, but then not

 

Thank you for sharing. ROTFLMAO

[CarpeCerevisi]

We were also on Anthem’s 3 nighter so here are our likes and dislikes in no particular order:

 

DID NOT LIKE

 

 

• The port! The long road into the port had horrible traffic. If you arrive between 11 and 1 you will wait in a long line of cars. The wait in the port was longer than our ride to the port. They need to separate those who don’t want to drop off their luggage first. This would make things move quicker. Even on longer cruises I can cart my luggage from a parking space to check-in. We got to our cabin around 1 and when I looked out over the port roads at that time there was no longer a line. So if I sailed from here again, I’d aim to arrive after 1. Others from the roll call arrived very early and had no lines, so that’s another option.

 

 

I had the same experience with traffic when I sailed Quantum in December 2014. I was hoping that once they completed the parking garage that they could have a bypass route through the old parking lot that would go directly to the garage for those that don't need to drop off luggage. It really does seem poorly planned.

[mizLORInj]

I had the same experience with traffic when I sailed Quantum in December 2014. I was hoping that once they completed the parking garage that they could have a bypass route through the old parking lot that would go directly to the garage for those that don't need to drop off luggage. It really does seem poorly planned.

 

The parking deck is there but was almost full, so we parked in the open lot across from the deck. Coming around the loop, the arrow points to the right for parking (etc.) when really if you're not dropping off luggage, you could turn left to go directly to parking. I saw some cars doing this (watched from our balcony) and wished we had too. They need a better system from when you enter the port and the backup of cars starts. I hope that's in the works.

Edited March 11, 2016 by mizlorinj

[fred30]

If the entrance to the parking lot is still in the same place between the the buildings you can avoid the traffic by turn left between the buildings before you get to the traffic and then make a right as soon as you drive past the first building. This will take you right into the parking lot. You will have to take your own bags to drop off.

 

I haven't seen the new parking garage setup but you may be able to get in the garage by turning left just before the last building.

[Guest maddycat]

If the entrance to the parking lot is still in the same place between the the buildings you can avoid the traffic by turn left between the buildings before you get to the traffic and then make a right as soon as you drive past the first building. This will take you right into the parking lot. You will have to take your own bags to drop off.

 

I haven't seen the new parking garage setup but you may be able to get in the garage by turning left just before the last building.

 

The problem with that is that you will then be driving the wrong way once you make that right as soon as you drive past the first building. You'll be driving against traffic........too dangerous to attempt.

[fred30]

The problem with that is that you will then be driving the wrong way once you make that right as soon as you drive past the first building. You'll be driving against traffic........too dangerous to attempt.

 

No it not, there in no traffic. There are 2 rows of buildings. Only a few people ever drive up between the 2 buildings. The end of this road is how you have been getting into the parking lot.

 

Port Blvd is the road you come in on. It goes down past all the buildings and circles around the parking lot doing a 180 and and goes back past the tented building. Normally when leaving or parking you would drive past the old terminal and make a left after the first building. This would take you past 2 buildings and back out to Port Blvd. If you were parking you would turn left just past the 1st building and proceed to the lot.

[ksg]

The problem with that is that you will then be driving the wrong way once you make that right as soon as you drive past the first building. You'll be driving against traffic........too dangerous to attempt.

 

Ha. Been there done that. Hadn't meant to though.

[tootsie920]

Hello, I am new to this board. I don't know how to start a new thread, but I will ask my question here. My husband & I just booked a last minute cruise to leave om 4/8/16 from Bayonne, NJ. I tried to make reservations on line, but to eat at Grande (complimentary restaurant), the only times to eat were 9:15 every night, except 5:15 on 2 nights where there were stops at ports.

Does anybody know if you can show up without a reservation and eat at these places, or is a reservation mandatory.

Thank you.

[Clarea]

Hello, I am new to this board. I don't know how to start a new thread, but I will ask my question here. My husband & I just booked a last minute cruise to leave om 4/8/16 from Bayonne, NJ. I tried to make reservations on line, but to eat at Grande (complimentary restaurant), the only times to eat were 9:15 every night, except 5:15 on 2 nights where there were stops at ports.

Does anybody know if you can show up without a reservation and eat at these places, or is a reservation mandatory.

Thank you.

You can find answers on the other thread where you asked this question:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=49393736#post49393736

[njbrandon]

Hello, I am new to this board. I don't know how to start a new thread, but I will ask my question here. My husband & I just booked a last minute cruise to leave om 4/8/16 from Bayonne, NJ. I tried to make reservations on line, but to eat at Grande (complimentary restaurant), the only times to eat were 9:15 every night, except 5:15 on 2 nights where there were stops at ports.

Does anybody know if you can show up without a reservation and eat at these places, or is a reservation mandatory.

Thank you.

 

When you get on the ship see a restaurant hostess and they can change your times. When I tried booking online it seemed like no times were available or really late, but she easily got us into whatever time we wanted.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for your report.

[Pony Player]

• ONE dining room open for breakfast! Come on. You need TWO open. Didn’t make it there because both mornings we stopped down at 9am and since they stopped seating at 9:30 some RC guy told those of us beyond a certain point in the line that we needed to go elsewhere.

 

When I was on Anthem (the cruise right after yours) Cafe 270 and the Solariium Bistro served breakfast

 

• Soft-serve ice cream machines were not available (likely due to noro from prior cruise I was told)

 

When I started the cruise, there was a RCI staffer handing out ice cream from the machine. By the end of the cruise they were allowing passengers to fill their own. Sometime during my cruise they definitely relaxed the Noro protocols, it was obvious elsewhere, too.