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On Anthem. Waiting patiently for sail away!!

mom2mnem
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mom2mnem

mom2mnem

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We boarded the Anthem this AM for a 5 day Bermuda cruise. The cruise port was easy to navigate as was the parking garage. Plenty of help throughout the process. Quick and easy check in. My sons picture didn't load fast enough so a new one was quickly snapped. Boarding started just after 11. We were on by 1130. The ship is beautiful. Ate at Cafe 270. Nice variety on sandwiches etc.. Friendly staff. Joking with my 17 yr old son....made him laugh. Met Christopher, the young man in charge of filling up the mini fridges. Super nice also with a great sense of humor. Haven't met the room steward yet to have the kids bed arrangement changed and ask about opening the balcony divider. Hope to meet him soon.

 

Lisa

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DJLDRUMS

DJLDRUMS

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Well have a super time on board the Anthem. Yes, the boarding process is really very easy, a good example that it can be done fast and efficiently.

We'll be on it next.....beginning Thursday the 14th for a 9 nighter.

Please keep us all informed if possible, as our first stop is Bermuda followed by St. Maarten, San Juan, Labadee then 2 nights at sea.

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mom2mnem

mom2mnem

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It is cold and windy here now. The outdoor decks are wet and slippery. Saw a few people almost fall. I had my drink.... A cottoncandytini. Not bad. My boys are exploring and making plans. My daughter has declared this the worst cruise ship ever and she hates this ship and wants to go back home. When she was on the Anthem we booked her a teen massage while we did Chefs table ( she was 12) . She belongs to a gym at home and wants to continue her workouts. I went to the gym to sign her waiver and was told she can not use the facilities unless I was with her anytime she was there( she is 15 ). I tried to book a teen massage and was told it could only be done if I was in the room with her. She is most unhappy and it is only day 1. This is going to be a looooong week with this teen of mine!

 

Lisa

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riclop

riclop

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We boarded the Anthem this AM for a 5 day Bermuda cruise. The cruise port was easy to navigate as was the parking garage. Plenty of help throughout the process. Quick and easy check in. My sons picture didn't load fast enough so a new one was quickly snapped. Boarding started just after 11. We were on by 1130. The ship is beautiful. Ate at Cafe 270. Nice variety on sandwiches etc.. Friendly staff. Joking with my 17 yr old son....made him laugh. Met Christopher, the young man in charge of filling up the mini fridges. Super nice also with a great sense of humor. Haven't met the room steward yet to have the kids bed arrangement changed and ask about opening the balcony divider. Hope to meet him soon.

 

Lisa

 

Enjoy your cruise.

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mom2mnem

mom2mnem

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I am back to say Hi. We purchase the 4 device Voim package with everyone insisting ( even DH) that they really weren't planning on using it much. Well.... They lied. So there are 5 of us ( kids are 15-17-19) and guess who can't get wifi. Needless to say we just upgraded to 5 devices. Last night we ate dinner in the windjammer. We avoided it on on Allure cruise and weren't planning on it this cruise. Kids had already had pizza for a snack and didn't want it again. We had done My time dining on Allure and the equivalent of our Carnival cruise and never had any problems getting into any of the restaurants. We had the similar dynamic dining one for this cruise, but after reading the reviews here we were a bit nervous. We really didn't like having set dining times tho. So we went to some of the free venues around 545 ( Grande,Chic, etc) and yes it's true. We were told that unless we had reservations we can pretty much forget about eating in any of them this week and if we would like to make a reservation there were some 9 pm slots available. Windjammer it was. It was just ok. The desserts were the best thing there.

 

We ended up going to the welcome aboard show. Who knew the cruise director could sing?? He was really good as was the comedian. We are going to go as a family , but my 17 yr old met some nice kids on the basketball courts and went to hang with them. When the show was over we forced my daughter to go to the meet and greet for her age group. She didn't want to especially without her brother. On our past cruises it was total failure ( she doesn't like talking to strange people). We made a deal. She had to stay minimum 30 min. When we didn't hear from her after an hour we figured all was good. It was!!!! She met 2 really nice girls (yay!) the she said were just like her ( oh boy) she ended up hanging with them for the rest of the night!

 

DH and I went to 270 for the Journey tribute band and enjoyed the show very much. It was s nice crowd and standing room only.

 

Lisa

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Ocean Dancer

Ocean Dancer

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Just curious, with all the information on here, why didn't you make dining reservations in advance? Did you make entertainment, shows, I_FLY, etc. reservations?

 

If not, you may be really missing out, especially on a 5 day cruise since everything is way more limited.

 

Your daughters comment about Anthem being the worst ship is just a cranky teen talking. Anthem is really the best ship for teens, so glad she made friends.

 

Try to get into the puzzle room as a family.

 

Hope you all have a wonderful cruise. :)

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mom2mnem

mom2mnem

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When she was on the Anthem we booked her a teen massage while we did Chefs table ( she was 12) . ( she is 15 ). /QUOTE]

 

I'm confused... Anthem? 3 years ago?

 

Enjoy your cruise, this Anthem is a beautiful ship :)

.

 

 

Lol. Sorry. Allure!!

 

Lisa

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marci22

marci22

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So we went to some of the free venues around 545 ( Grande,Chic, etc) and yes it's true. We were told that unless we had reservations we can pretty much forget about eating in any of them this week and if we would like to make a reservation there were some 9 pm slots available. Windjammer it was. It was just ok. The desserts were the best thing there.

 

Does anyone else think that this is outrageous? If you pick DD and don't prebook, you risk eating in WJ unless you want to eat at 9PM?

 

I would go to guest services about this; surely they can get you in earlier than 9pm at a free venue on each night. They can't be totally booked! Otherwise, I would remove the auto grats. They may help you more if you do that. Or you can use the auto grats to help pay for specialty dining!

Edited by marci22
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mom2mnem

mom2mnem

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Just curious, with all the information on here, why didn't you make dining reservations in advance? Did you make entertainment, shows, I_FLY, etc. reservations?

 

If not, you may be really missing out, especially on a 5 day cruise since everything is way more limited.

 

Your daughters comment about Anthem being the worst ship is just a cranky teen talking. Anthem is really the best ship for teens, so glad she made friends.

 

Try to get into the puzzle room as a family.

 

Hope you all have a wonderful cruise. :)

 

 

I did book everything online, but wasn't too sure if anyone would be hungry enough on day 1 or what our other plans were. I hadn't really seen too many negatives about not getting in the dining areas until more recently. Things book quickly. I was unable to get much of anything. I booked Izumi for all 5 of us for Tonight, yet my kids weren't listed on the reservation. I tried to modify but couldn't because of lack of availability. I called RCI and was told they did not have my kids only a reservation for 2( yet they showed up on everything else we booked) I had no problem taking care of it on the ship directly with Izumi. The only thing they questioned was how I was able to make a reservation online for 5:45 when they don't open til 6. I had booked We will Rock You for day one. No one wanted to do that much the first day so I changed it to day 2. RCI then changed it to day 4. The Gift was booked for day 2 at 830 pm. Fortunately I was looking at the Royal IQ today and saw it was changed to 6 pm--- same time as Izumi. We were able to move it back to the 830( actually 845) time slot with no problem thru the Royal IQ app. No idea why they changed it in the first place.

 

Lisa

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Ocean Dancer

Ocean Dancer

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Does anyone else think that this is outrageous? If you pick DD and don't prebook, you risk eating in WJ unless you want to eat at 9PM?

 

I would go to guest services about this; surely they can get you in earlier than 9pm at a free venue on each night. They can't be totally booked! Otherwise, I would remove the auto grats. They may help you more if you do that. Or you can use the auto grats to help pay for specialty dining!

 

UM, bad move, they are more apt to work with you to change a reservation from 9 to maybe 7 if you have a reservation at 9, By not having any reservations, you may be screwed. They have to start somewhere, and it makes sense to alter a reservation to a desired time and give those 9pm ones to people who don't have one.

 

Everyone, please make reservations for any time you can get on your planner, then alter it on board. :)

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marci22

marci22

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UM, bad move, they are more apt to work with you to change a reservation from 9 to maybe 7 if you have a reservation at 9, By not having any reservations, you may be screwed. They have to start somewhere, and it makes sense to alter a reservation to a desired time and give those 9pm ones to people who don't have one.

 

Everyone, please make reservations for any time you can get on your planner, then alter it on board. :)

 

I'm not advising people to not reserve ahead, but the point of DD is to eat when you want to eat. If that is impossible, they should go back to set dining times.

 

I can imagine many (unknowing) people feel they don't have to reserve as they have chosen flexible dining. To be told it's either 9PM or WJ, once onboard, is ridiculous.

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marci22

marci22

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They tell you when you book that you should have reservations before you board. If you are on Cruise Critic it is well documented. You can always change once you board, better safe than sorry.

 

They don't make it clear on the website, that if you do not make reservations in advance, they will give you the option of "WJ or 9pm".

 

Your cruise critic comment is irrelevant.

 

As I have said before, I would never advise someone to wing it, but the fact that people are complaining that there is little availability once onboard at the free venues, is unacceptable.

 

Dynamic Dining Choice gives you the freedom to pick and choose your restaurants and dining times each day and night.

Read more at http://www.royalcaribbean.com/anthemoftheseas/dining/restaurants/#C2eLQY6KwpIv2DMO.99

 

Q. What is Dynamic Dining Choice?

A. Dynamic Dining Choice works exactly like the original program. It gives guests the freedom to

follow their appetite as they pick and choose their restaurants and dining times each day and

night.

 

"freedom to follow their appetite" should not mean 9pm only!

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DaniDanielle

DaniDanielle

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They don't make it clear on the website, that if you do not make reservations in advance, they will give you the option of "WJ or 9pm".

 

Your cruise critic comment is irrelevant.

 

As I have said before, I would never advise someone to wing it, but the fact that people are complaining that there is little availability once onboard at the free venues, is unacceptable.

 

Dynamic Dining Choice gives you the freedom to pick and choose your restaurants and dining times each day and night.

Read more at http://www.royalcaribbean.com/anthemoftheseas/dining/restaurants/#C2eLQY6KwpIv2DMO.99

 

Q. What is Dynamic Dining Choice?

A. Dynamic Dining Choice works exactly like the original program. It gives guests the freedom to

follow their appetite as they pick and choose their restaurants and dining times each day and

night.

 

"freedom to follow their appetite" should not mean 9pm only!

 

I only meant if you were on cruise critic you would have read what people did. I agree they should never tell you Windjammer or 9PM. We never had that problem, they always were able to change our venue and dining times. I guess we were lucky in getting someone who knew what they were doing. I think some of the crew need more training with the dining.

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mom2mnem

mom2mnem

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We were there to wave goodbye to friends. Why did you guys leave late, did they say?

 

I didn't think we left late. We had he muster drill at 330 and it seemed like before we knew it we were under way. Around 4:30. No announcements indicated otherwise.

 

Lisa

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