Anthem of the Seas, June 2-11, 2016

[kscp]

Thanks for posting all of the daily Cruise Compasses! We'll be on this same cruise in a few weeks. My daughter liked the Teen compass as well.

Did you use the RoyalIQ app? Did they charge a fee for the messaging service (texting)? My teen wants some freedom yet wants to be in touch with us to find us when she's ready. Thanks!!

[rafinmd]

Sorry, but I didn't use the app and don't really know about texting.

 

I’ll take the ships in the order I sailed them. Holland America is one of my go-to cruise lines and I’ve been on the Veendam and it’s close sisters for over a hundred days so far. It’s definitely a smaller ship which will appeal to some people and not to others; it appeals to me. The choices in activities and entertainment are more limited on the bigger ships but I consider what they offer to be quite good. The activities run more to cooking demonstrations than to belly-flop contests and the like, and there isn’t really much in the way of night life. That all works for me, less so for others. I knew pretty much what to expect on the Veendam with only 2 surprises, one not very welcome and the other not very surprising. The not welcome one was pizza. There’s a new pizza oven on the back lido deck. They had about 6 varies of pizza, each with about 6-8 different toppings. I asked for a plain cheese pizza and was told it essentially was not available. I think a step backwards. The one not so surprising was the Location Guide. Each HAL ship has a location guide, their destination expert. They work for the entertainment department rather than shore excursions and are generally good to excellent sources on information on the ports of call. They give port talks, have desk hours for individual questions, and are stationed on the gangway on each port day to answer any last-minute questions. While the location guides are generally good to excellent, Jeremy was outstanding. Not really a big surprise but not something I could have assumed either. The Veendam of course has no solo cabins and what solo activities there are are somewhat hit or miss. I had a table of 6 at dinner with 2 couples and one other solo and we were a good mix and enjoyed our time together.

 

The Breakaway was my first modern NCL cruise. I concluded I’m not really an NCL person, not really a Freestyle devotee, and found the need for show reservations a hassle. I actually found that I had less opportunity to make spontaneous plans on the Breakaway than I have on any recent ship. I would probably not sail again on an NCL ship except for the ones with studio cabins. There were 2 significant positives. I really enjoyed the Night Out concept where there was a special night with encouragement to be well dressed without putting an obligation on everybody. I enjoy getting dressed for dinner occasionally but do not enjoy dining with the empty chairs of tablemates put off by a dress code. The other real positive was the studio. For one thing, while other ships have a few solo cabins that quickly sell out and demand premium prices, the Breakaway has about 60 which seems to pretty well match the demand and keeps the prices reasonable. The other bonus is the studio lounge where 60 people in a common location fosters a sense of community that you do not see in other ships. NCL does studios right. NCL will never be my first choice in a cruise but the studios add value both from price and experience perspectives and I will be eager to return from time to time.

 

While I enjoyed my time on the Anthem I would have enjoyed my time on just about any other ship just as much. There are supposedly 16 solo cabins on the Anthem but 4 are also sold as part of family suites so it’s really just a dozen full time solo cabins. They are nice but I don’t think the nicer cabin makes up for the amenities of the Studio lounge. RCI is primarily my go to cruise line for cruises out of my home port of Baltimore. I love both the Vision and Radiance class ships. My last RCI cruise was Transatlantic on the Allure of the Seas. The ship was not my cup of tea but I always had the feeling of being on a well run ship. Sadly, I did not get that impression on the Anthem. The biggest issue was the dining snafu and the unwillingness of anyone on board to follow through. Add to that the lack of coordination of departure times with those requested and digital signs throughout the ship that failed to respond appropriately to user input (they have worked well on all my previous RCI ships) and I did not come away feeling positive. It seems the Captain was somewhat aloof; the only time I saw him was his back in the next room when I was on the All Access tour. Being around is not really the Captain’s job, but he is responsible for everything and it does not sit well for him being out of touch when things are not going well. I heard a lot of negative comments from fellow passengers.

 

I really have no incentive to return to the Anthem when my price for a solo cabin was double what I paid for a Studio on the Breakaway and more than I am paying for occupancy of a double cabin for 9 days on the Grandeur. I expect to continue to sail the Vision and Radiance class ships but when they go away I probably will as well.

 

My bottom line is the Veendam number 1. Some of the things that appeal to me may not appeal to others, but spending days in Hamilton is a big plus, and will largely be a thing of the past once the Veendam is gone. Number 2 would be the Breakaway. I tend to cruise for the things I like. While there’s quite a bit that wasn’t a good fit for me, the studio experience was a huge plus that I can’t get anywhere else. I will choose those experiences judiciously, but definitely expect them to be part of my cruising future. Anthem was a distant last, some frills that were nice but mediocre basics. Both of my other Bermuda ships, as well as any other RCI ship I’ve sailed in the past strike me as better choices.

 

Except for questions this concludes my reports here. My next solo cabin voyage will be the Koningsdam in February. Next up overall is the Northwest Passage on Crystal Serenity in August that I’ll be reporting on the Crystal Forum of Cruise Critic and at http://aroundamericabitbybit.wordpress.com.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Royal has now updated my records. I boarded the Anthem with 117 C&A points. I expected to get 9 points for my cruise since I had booked a studio cabin. When I was upgraded to a regular cabin I was still expecting 9 points because of the way the cabin was booked. I have been given 18 points and now have 135. My next planned cruise on RCI is January 14 on the Grandeur for 9 days. I really wanted to hit 140 points on the Grandeur and get that ship for my crystal block. Assuming I would disembark the Anthem at 126 points I wanted to be sure my next cruise was at least 7 days so I would hit 140 points on it.

 

Next winter is a VERY busy time for me and I've been toying with moving my reservation to the summer to spread things out a bit. I think I'll stay with January 14 but it's nice to know that I can book a 5-day Bermuda cruise and still get that crystal block.

 

I'm not sure if that was how it was supposed to work or a mistake on Royal's part but it was a nice surprise.

 

Roy

[Riff Sniff]

We had the exact opposite experience - we expected to receive 18 points since we stayed in a Jr. Suite but only received 9. I've emailed C&A, no response yet.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[ATLgirl15]

What is the crystal block you mention? My husband and I were at 152 points before the cruise last week and we never received anything at the 140 mark.

[Clarea]

What is the crystal block you mention? My husband and I were at 152 points before the cruise last week and we never received anything at the 140 mark.

The block is a milestone gift, first given at 140 points and every 70 points thereafter. It has a picture and name of the ship on which you earned the milestone points inscribed within.

 

Example:

 

[rafinmd]

Bob, do you get the block on the ship, or how long after the cruise should it be expected?

 

ATLgirl15, if you were at 152 points before your last cruise, it looks like you should have gotten a block from your last cruise or the one before that. An inquiry with C&A looks like a good idea.

 

Roy

[KStevens79]

I've never heard of a crystal block. I have 209 points, so maybe I'll find out after my next cruise!

 

Karen

[Clarea]

I've never heard of a crystal block. I have 209 points, so maybe I'll find out after my next cruise!

 

Karen

If you call C&A, they may be able to send you a block from whatever ship you were on when you earned 140 points. It would help to be able to tell them what ship that was.

[KStevens79]

If you call C&A, they may be able to send you a block from whatever ship you were on when you earned 140 points. It would help to be able to tell them what ship that was.

 

Thanks, but I think I earned my 140 points before they did points.

We took a break from cruising for a while. We had both kids get married and had three grand babies between February 2010 and June 2013.

Hopefully we'll get one after this next cruise!

 

Karen

[Clarea]

Thanks, but I think I earned my 140 points before they did points.

We took a break from cruising for a while. We had both kids get married and had three grand babies between February 2010 and June 2013.

Hopefully we'll get one after this next cruise!

 

Karen

Immediately before they changed to points, they were giving the blocks at 20 cruise credits

[ATLgirl15]

Thanks for the information. Looks like I should have hit 140 on our Allure cruise and I would love to have a block with that ship. I think I will give C&A a call soon.