Anthem Delivers

[libertybelle41]

We did not enjoy the shows on board. There were four of us and we all felt the same. We will rock you is for lack of a better word "stupid". The story line is horrible. Being a Queen fan I did enjoy the music. We did not walk out on this one. The Gift and Spectre Cabaret were so horrible we walked out part way through.... As did many other people. The cast of WWRY also did a variety show sing cover songs of various artists. It was awful! We followed many others as we walked out about 10 minutes into the show.

 

 

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Unfortunately, your review of the shows on Anthem seem right in line from almost everything I've been reading. :(

[holden0301]

We also returned from Anthem yesterday. I wouldn't hesitate to sail her again. The food is just ok, but cruise ship food is always that way. We found the service to be excellent. We got to enjoy all the bells and whistles- IFly, Northstar, bumper cars,etc. DD13 loved Puzzle Break.

 

I too was impressed with how well behaved the kids were. There we tons of them on the ship, but I never noticed any out of hand.

 

The only complaint I have is the beds. It's like sleeping on a concrete slab. We should have asked for a topper but I didn't think of it until the last night.

 

The guys in Vintages and IFly were awesome. Also, Ariel in Boleros took good care of us. The staff at Jamie's is excellent as well.

 

DD8 said it was her favorite cruise...better than our two Disney cruises.

Edited March 28, 2016 by holden0301

[Merion_Mom]

Unfortunately, your review of the shows on Anthem seem right in line from almost everything I've been reading. :(

 

"everything". Hardly. I and many others either loved or enjoyed the shows. And those statements are everywhere on this forum.

[RhondaPerr]

Lol it never ceases to amaze me the lack of diplomacy some people have, and then the nasty grams start... I look at it this way... Two days prior to my cruise, we were rear ended in a car accident, and I was hurt... I was so grateful to be able to go on the cruise, and like I said enjoyed it greatly despite some things that need improvement. I don't care what other ships do or do not, I was talking about my experience on this ship.. The extras can add up really quickly, and for someone without experience they may not realize that! no, they did not have toppers, he put multiple blankets on top of the mattress. Our food experience was great, and I have very complicated allergies... Classic worked for us, and we liked it... Yes, you can pay for a speciality restaurant and then have to pay additional money on certain dishes. I did my homework prior to my cruise and brought my own glow accessories with me :) I prepaid most everything, had shipboard credit, and my final bill was $65 plus $120 in additional tips..

[Merion_Mom]

Lol it never ceases to amaze me the lack of diplomacy some people have, and then the nasty grams start... I look at it this way... Two days prior to my cruise, we were rear ended in a car accident, and I was hurt... I was so grateful to be able to go on the cruise, and like I said enjoyed it greatly despite some things that need improvement. I don't care what other ships do or do not, I was talking about my experience on this ship.. The extras can add up really quickly, and for someone without experience they may not realize that! no, they did not have toppers, he put multiple blankets on top of the mattress. Our food experience was great, and I have very complicated allergies... Classic worked for us, and we liked it... Yes, you can pay for a speciality restaurant and then have to pay additional money on certain dishes. I did my homework prior to my cruise and brought my own glow accessories with me :) I prepaid most everything, had shipboard credit, and my final bill was $65 plus $120 in additional tips..

 

You gave an honest review, and are a "great cruiser" who seems to be able to figure things out! Kudos to you!

 

Unfortunately, not true for everyone..............:rolleyes: :eek:

[brfan]

"everything". Hardly. I and many others either loved or enjoyed the shows. And those statements are everywhere on this forum.

 

Unfortunately for some reason more people post negative opinions than those who post positive. I'm wondering if people read enough of the negative comments they go into the show with the idea that it will be bad rather than with an open mind and decided for themselves?

 

One thing I have learned is never judge anything by the comments posted on Cruise Critic as far as quality of shows or food goes. I was on the Celebrity Eclipse at the end of January. Celebrity has also started to produce their own shows and there are 4 of them on the Eclipse. There were so many people who hated one of the shows (Topper), making similar comments as what has been said about the Anthem shows. I was a bit uncertain if I even wanted to go see it based on those reviews. I am so glad I did go as it was one of the best shows I've ever seen. I spoke with others who also felt the same. I still can't figure out what was so horrible about it.

 

I'm going on the Anthem 3 weeks today and can't wait to experience this ship and look forward to going to the shows and trying the menus on the different included restaurants.

 

As far as nickel and diming goes, to me it's a choice. You don't have to pay for anything if you don't want to - you can skip pictures, the Spa, bingo, specialty restaurants and only drink the included beverages and still have a wonderful time. Pay for what you want or don't pay, no one is putting a gun to your head to pay extra for anything if you don't want to.

[RhondaPerr]

I agree, it's a choice, but it can be very overwhelming for a newbie cruiser, who expects that the cruise they saved for, would be pretty inclusive. As veteran cruisers we know that's not true... No one can dispute that they do nickel and dime you constantly... The trick is to do your homework... Some things are worth the splurge... I use the reviews as a heads up, and really decided long ago that the negative nellies will never and have never stopped me from going on a planned cruise.. Many of the complaints are subjective, and what bothers some won't necessarily bother me. Out of 35 cruises, there were 3 really bad ones, and even after having said that, we still managed to have a good time! Just a word of advice, check your calendar constantly, after you board, we had two times of activities change with no message.. If you like the Symphony there is a virtual symphony at 270... The solarium Bistro formerly Devinely Decadent, was a great place to eat breakfast, and they also served lunch on sea days.. Not as much of a selection as wind jammer but much more quiet!

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately for some reason more people post negative opinions than those who post positive. I'm wondering if people read enough of the negative comments they go into the show with the idea that it will be bad rather than with an open mind and decided for themselves?

 

One thing I have learned is never judge anything by the comments posted on Cruise Critic as far as quality of shows or food goes. I was on the Celebrity Eclipse at the end of January. Celebrity has also started to produce their own shows and there are 4 of them on the Eclipse. There were so many people who hated one of the shows (Topper), making similar comments as what has been said about the Anthem shows. I was a bit uncertain if I even wanted to go see it based on those reviews. I am so glad I did go as it was one of the best shows I've ever seen. I spoke with others who also felt the same. I still can't figure out what was so horrible about it.

 

I'm going on the Anthem 3 weeks today and can't wait to experience this ship and look forward to going to the shows and trying the menus on the different included restaurants.

 

As far as nickel and diming goes, to me it's a choice. You don't have to pay for anything if you don't want to - you can skip pictures, the Spa, bingo, specialty restaurants and only drink the included beverages and still have a wonderful time. Pay for what you want or don't pay, no one is putting a gun to your head to pay extra for anything if you don't want to.

[Lady Luck T]

I agree, it's a choice, but it can be very overwhelming for a newbie cruiser, who expects that the cruise they saved for, would be pretty inclusive. As veteran cruisers we know that's not true... No one can dispute that they do nickel and dime you constantly... The trick is to do your homework... Some things are worth the splurge... I use the reviews as a heads up, and really decided long ago that the negative nellies will never and have never stopped me from going on a planned cruise.. Many of the complaints are subjective, and what bothers some won't necessarily bother me. Out of 35 cruises, there were 3 really bad ones, and even after having said that, we still managed to have a good time! Just a word of advice, check your calendar constantly, after you board, we had two times of activities change with no message.. If you like the Symphony there is a virtual symphony at 270... The solarium Bistro formerly Devinely Decadent, was a great place to eat breakfast, and they also served lunch on sea days.. Not as much of a selection as wind jammer but much more quiet!

 

 

I agree with your post!! We also pick and choose what we are willing to pay extra for. We have been on 33 cruises and the nickel and diming is definitely going on more and more.

 

 

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[Lady Luck T]

Hi,

 

 

 

This past week my 35th cruise was on the Anthem. I have many cruises to compare it to, and if you have read the title of my post, you can see we liked it. Since there have been many reviews on this board, I am not going to give you a play by play, but rather give you the experience of a seasoned cruiser. So here it is... The Anthem is everything it claims to be.. Embarkation was painless, the Internet worked 95 percent of the time, and was fast, the crew for the most part went out of their way, the shows were great, the cabin was clean, lots of storage but less physical space than we are used to... Dynamic classic was good, and we thought the food was good to very good in every venue including wind jammer.. The solarium was relaxing, the ship was beautiful.. There were 2000 kids onboard, but it was not a problem.. The ship only felt crowded at the pool.. The floor felt softer than the beds..lol

 

 

 

So, with all the positives and it was mostly positives, I need to admit that given the chance I would go for another ship over this one.. I realize that is a personal preference and my saying that should in no way discourage someone from sailing on her. It was just too big, and despite all the technology, and decor it did not have that "wow" factor for us. (It wasn't that there was anything that was really bad, and we had a terrific time) I think too it's the constant nickel and diming, things that were always complimentary and imho still should be.

 

 

 

There are many people who are loyal to royal, and I get that, my Diamond status afforded me many nice perks, but I was being offered better deals on lines I don't even sail with, than on this cruise. If you like the big ships, you might feel differently than We did.

 

 

By the way.. I loved your review! I agree with most of what you experienced. We did love the bed though! We both slept so good while on board! I wish we would have had the classic dining. I think it would have made the dining experience much better! All in all we loved our cruise. I would sail on the anthem again. [emoji4]

 

 

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Edited March 28, 2016 by Lady Luck T

[hansolosmom]

I agree, it's a choice, but it can be very overwhelming for a newbie cruiser, who expects that the cruise they saved for, would be pretty inclusive. As veteran cruisers we know that's not true... No one can dispute that they do nickel and dime you constantly... The trick is to do your homework... Some things are worth the splurge... I use the reviews as a heads up, and really decided long ago that the negative nellies will never and have never stopped me from going on a planned cruise.. Many of the complaints are subjective, and what bothers some won't necessarily bother me. Out of 35 cruises, there were 3 really bad ones, and even after having said that, we still managed to have a good time! Just a word of advice, check your calendar constantly, after you board, we had two times of activities change with no message.. If you like the Symphony there is a virtual symphony at 270... The solarium Bistro formerly Devinely Decadent, was a great place to eat breakfast, and they also served lunch on sea days.. Not as much of a selection as wind jammer but much more quiet!

 

Thanks for the review

So true how it can be overwhelming!!! We tried NCL for the first time and even as an experienced cruiser trying a different line was a little overwhelming. :)

 

I am looking forward to Anthem to see what it holds for us :D

[MommaBear55]

Lol it never ceases to amaze me the lack of diplomacy some people have, and then the nasty grams start... I look at it this way... Two days prior to my cruise, we were rear ended in a car accident, and I was hurt... I was so grateful to be able to go on the cruise, and like I said enjoyed it greatly despite some things that need improvement. I don't care what other ships do or do not, I was talking about my experience on this ship.. The extras can add up really quickly, and for someone without experience they may not realize that! no, they did not have toppers, he put multiple blankets on top of the mattress. Our food experience was great, and I have very complicated allergies... Classic worked for us, and we liked it... Yes, you can pay for a speciality restaurant and then have to pay additional money on certain dishes. I did my homework prior to my cruise and brought my own glow accessories with me :) I prepaid most everything, had shipboard credit, and my final bill was $65 plus $120 in additional tips..

 

Rhonda, thank you so much for your review. I am definitely going to take a mattress topper when we cruise in May.

 

It will be fun to try out the shows. I didn't understand or really enjoy Starwater on the Quantum, but I will make sure we get to 270 early so we can get good seats, so maybe we will have better viewing. It is reviews like yours that make us look forward to this ship. If every ship or every cruise were the same, it would be boring.

 

I have to say, I haven't had a bad cruise yet and I am not looking forward to that day! There have been aspects of cruises that haven't been stellar, but that is life. DD on the Quantum was certainly interesting, but I am looking forward to DD Classic to see if it is smoother.

Edited March 28, 2016 by MommaBear55

[martinthebandit]

Having been on RC ships a few times over the last decade or so I have to agree with the OP that the 'nickel and dimming' does seem to have got a lot worse over the years and RC does seem to be more aggressive at it than others we have been on.

 

 

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[sdpete]

Nice review. We took the Quantum in February of 2015 and enjoyed it. As you know it's the same class as the Anthem. Loved the design, use of color, and architecture of the ship, inside and outside. Entertainment was top notch. Mamma Mia was a blast. Met the cast walking about the shop and they were soooo friendly. We are seeing them again on the Allure soon.

 

Only a couple of nits: Wish the Promenade was larger and it's shops had more non-luxury shopping . Also, wish some of the passengers had a better attitude. Yes, it was a bad winter but don't take it out on each other!

[qanderson]

I've read a few times now I that room service is extra on the anthem.. Is that true ? I thought it was just after midnight. Has that changed?

 

 

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[Clarea]

I've read a few times now I that room service is extra on the anthem.. Is that true ? I thought it was just after midnight. Has that changed?

Anthem charges for selected room service items, no matter what time of day.

[RhondaPerr]

Yes, and the complimentary items were extremely sparse.. But the Continental breakfast worked for us on the mornings we just wanted to sleep in :)

 

 

I've read a few times now I that room service is extra on the anthem.. Is that true ? I thought it was just after midnight. Has that changed?

 

 

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[RhondaPerr]

For Spectra the further away you sit, the more you will see... Try to get a back row..

 

 

Rhonda, thank you so much for your review. I am definitely going to take a mattress topper when we cruise in May.

 

It will be fun to try out the shows. I didn't understand or really enjoy Starwater on the Quantum, but I will make sure we get to 270 early so we can get good seats, so maybe we will have better viewing. It is reviews like yours that make us look forward to this ship. If every ship or every cruise were the same, it would be boring.

 

I have to say, I haven't had a bad cruise yet and I am not looking forward to that day! There have been aspects of cruises that haven't been stellar, but that is life. DD on the Quantum was certainly interesting, but I am looking forward to DD Classic to see if it is smoother.

[marci22]

Glad to hear that the children were well behaved. I agree with you about the Anthem as I'm more of a traditionalist, but we DID have a wonderful time and if the price were right, we'd sail her again.

 

People are making too much out of the dining. WE had DD and never had a problem.:)

 

You were fine until you added the last 2 sentences. Just because YOU never had a problem, doesn't mean that other people didn't.

 

People say this all the time and I find it offensive because you are basically saying that anyone who didn't have your experience is wrong.

[Equisport]

We did not enjoy the shows on board. There were four of us and we all felt the same. We will rock you is for lack of a better word "stupid". The story line is horrible. Being a Queen fan I did enjoy the music. We did not walk out on this one. The Gift and Spectre Cabaret were so horrible we walked out part way through.... As did many other people. The cast of WWRY also did a variety show sing cover songs of various artists. It was awful! We followed many others as we walked out about 10 minutes into the show.

 

 

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Totally agree with you - there were 9 of us travelling and we all hated and I mean hated the shows,

I'm guessing that they just were not our taste but we will rock you was a disaster , 2 of the girls could sing well the main guy not so much but the whole story was appalling and we'll just crazy. There was a good 50 people leave within the first 20 mins of our show and we gave it 40 mins and left

 

We saw spectras cabaret and well that certainly was not to my taste .

 

We didn't watch the gift after realising we disliked the other shows so thought someone else may as well take our place

 

 

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[tserface]

There's a lot of mention of "nickel and diming" on this thread. My opinion... I prefer to think of it as making things optional so everyone doesn't have to pay for them if they don't want. For example, we don't typically want a lot of photos so we don't purchase them. We play bingo some games and not others. We don't always eat the fancy steak, but don't mind paying extra if we want to so long as it keeps the overall price down.

 

I think it is try that they are making more things optional, perhaps as a way of keeping the overall costs down. Some things have also gone away altogether like the midnight buffets because they were just really expensive wastes of food.

 

I happy that they make extras available if people want to pay extra. We pick and choose which things we care about while on the cruise and know that we don't have to pay extra for anything we don't want or need.

 

A good example. They could charge everyone $500 per cruise more and have drinks be all inclusive, but we don't drink enough to make that worthwhile so we're glad they offer drink packages for those who want to drink that much and allow us to just buy our drinks when we want them. The same is true for sodas and other things we don't care about.

 

I think they should sell seats around the pool. Maybe that would slow down those who want to reserve them :)

 

Tom

[RhondaPerr]

I think chair hogs should be auto ejected at the pool and theatre.. Lol I think if someone invented it, they could make millions :)

 

 

 

 

There's a lot of mention of "nickel and diming" on this thread. My opinion... I prefer to think of it as making things optional so everyone doesn't have to pay for them if they don't want. For example, we don't typically want a lot of photos so we don't purchase them. We play bingo some games and not others. We don't always eat the fancy steak, but don't mind paying extra if we want to so long as it keeps the overall price down.

 

I think it is try that they are making more things optional, perhaps as a way of keeping the overall costs down. Some things have also gone away altogether like the midnight buffets because they were just really expensive wastes of food.

 

I happy that they make extras available if people want to pay extra. We pick and choose which things we care about while on the cruise and know that we don't have to pay extra for anything we don't want or need.

 

A good example. They could charge everyone $500 per cruise more and have drinks be all inclusive, but we don't drink enough to make that worthwhile so we're glad they offer drink packages for those who want to drink that much and allow us to just buy our drinks when we want them. The same is true for sodas and other things we don't care about.

 

I think they should sell seats around the pool. Maybe that would slow down those who want to reserve them :)

 

Tom

[akcruz]

There's a lot of mention of "nickel and diming" on this thread. My opinion... I prefer to think of it as making things optional so everyone doesn't have to pay for them if they don't want. For example, we don't typically want a lot of photos so we don't purchase them. We play bingo some games and not others. We don't always eat the fancy steak, but don't mind paying extra if we want to so long as it keeps the overall price down.

 

I think it is try that they are making more things optional, perhaps as a way of keeping the overall costs down. Some things have also gone away altogether like the midnight buffets because they were just really expensive wastes of food.

 

I happy that they make extras available if people want to pay extra. We pick and choose which things we care about while on the cruise and know that we don't have to pay extra for anything we don't want or need.

 

A good example. They could charge everyone $500 per cruise more and have drinks be all inclusive, but we don't drink enough to make that worthwhile so we're glad they offer drink packages for those who want to drink that much and allow us to just buy our drinks when we want them. The same is true for sodas and other things we don't care about.

 

I think they should sell seats around the pool. Maybe that would slow down those who want to reserve them :)

 

Tom

 

Agreed. We are paying about the same for cruises as we did 10 or so years ago. Something has to change. I too would prefer to keep the base cost down and let me pick and choose (not nickel and dime) me what amenities I want to include to keep them there.

 

To the OP, thank you for your review. Sorry it had to be taken over. Some people just don't learn even when they are smacked in the face many times. Don't let her tirades get to you. If we all ignore them she will go away.

 

We are sailing Anthem in August and very much looking forward to it, of course doing my research so I know which amenities I plan on using.

[Big_G]

I think it is try that they are making more things optional, perhaps as a way of keeping the overall costs down. Some things have also gone away altogether like the midnight buffets because they were just really expensive wastes of food.

 

Tom

 

A concept that is lost on some here on Cruise Critic. The same nickle-n-dime whiners would be out of their minds if cruise prices went up because those items were include.

[UandMe4Ever]

Yes, and the complimentary items were extremely sparse.. But the Continental breakfast worked for us on the mornings we just wanted to sleep in :)

 

do you know what items are free for room service cabin breakfast on the Anthem? thanks. we do not need much, i.e. cold cereal, bananas, juice, pastries, coffee. We do that some Port days.

 

Thanks very much in advance.

[mcgore83]

RhondaPerr, thank you so much for your review. I am sorry others choose to bash you for your opinions. As for me, good job!