Review -- Anthem, 8/25/2016, New England/Canada -- Loved it!!

[DaniDanielle]

Since you have been board twice, maybe you can answer my question. I booked for the 9/22 cruise and my confirmation document shows, Dining Preference: Dynamic Open (Available). My question is, what does that mean? Do we need reservations? I called RCI and they said, just eat what ever time you want. That's what I wanted to hear, but from what I have read in the forums, it doesn't work that way. Any info, advice or should I just wing it when we board? Thanks, Mike.

 

Open dining means you can go when you want, in theory. We found it is better to have reservations, made online. We have had no problems changing things once onboard times,restaurants etc. We had 15 of us on the last trip and they accommodated us each night. This trip we have quite a few late times but we found it is easier to change an existing reservation then just taking a chance.

 

Very long story short, book your times now and change onboard!!!!!

[Carole2313]

DH and I were also of the cruise. We second most of your review. The only problem we had was with the one excursion we booked with the ship, in Halifax, a whale watching tour. Directions on the ticket said walk through the terminal and meet the person with the sign. She's was rite her with her sign. We gave our names and sat down on the bench with a few other people to wait for the shuttle. What! There's no shuttle? You had to walk all the way to the harbor, a distance of 1 1/3 miles each way. Why wasn't that on the ticket? I never would have booked this excursion! I have 5 joint replacements and need three more. Hubby and I walked bench to bench and made it to the harbor. Same thing on way back. Not acceptable!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Daytonasailor]

Open dining means you can go when you want, in theory. We found it is better to have reservations, made online. We have had no problems changing things once onboard times,restaurants etc. We had 15 of us on the last trip and they accommodated us each night. This trip we have quite a few late times but we found it is easier to change an existing reservation then just taking a chance.

 

Very long story short, book your times now and change onboard!!!!!

 

Will do, thanks.

[easyboy]

Thanks for the review.

[Tura Lura]

Thanks for the venue report. I'm glad you had a chance to walk through the Solarium. I understand that with a 4 year old you couldn't stay for long.

 

I imagine myself spending a lot of time at the Solarium, Two70, and lounges like Boleros. I'm traveling solo, and I plan to post a review from a solo traveler's perspective when I return. I like how you summarized your review into hot topics. Thanks for taking time to post your review!

 

Going solo myself on 9/8. Packing right now!

[gowensricks]

Thank you so much for the honest review!

[Addictedtocruising]

Hello! Just off the Anthem of the Seas this morning from a WONDERFUL 9-night cruise, New England/Canada. Everyone has done a terrific job with thorough reviews, and I am going to stick to what I considered “hot topics” with our vacation planning:

 

Parking — What a gem! The parking lot right next to the terminal is safe, secure and easy, easy, easy! So easy to drop bags and continue on into the parking garage, very glad we drove and parked. Remember to NOT lose your parking ticket upon arrival, we had a scare, and finally found it :-)

 

Embarkation/Disembarkation — Works like a charm! Arrive early (~10:30am) for departure, and self-carry bags off if convenient. From the time they started letting people depart the ship with bags (~7:30am) to the parking garage was tops 10-minutes. It was fabulous!

 

Staterooms — We beyond overpacked, it was rather embarrassing! 3 large (30”?) suitcases, 1 carry-on (18”?) suitcase, plus a couple backpacks… for only 3 of us, 1 of which is 4 years old, sigh… Yes, we overpacked, but everything found a smart home in the stateroom with ample storage and all of those suitcases fit under the bed… lovely! Note, we had a D1 balcony room, ‘standard’ size stateroom layout is my understanding.

 

WOW Bands — Skip! We were convinced they would be so much more convenient than the cards and waited in line about an hour at Guest Services to purchase. They are uncomfortable and a pain to get on and off. Instead, opt for a pouch or holder for your sea pass card, and pop that in a beach bag when heading to the pool. Save yourself the angst of purchasing.

 

Dining and Reservations — Excellent food, service and ambience. The reservations still need work, and was our one challenge here and there. I give Royal credit for trying out new things such as the Anthem dining, and I am sure they are looking for ways to improve the reservation process. My husband and I were split on preferring the restaurants vs. traditional dining, and both agree that it’s good to see new twists and change.

 

Specialty Dining — We purchased the 5-night package given the significant savings compared to ‘sticker’ price. Leaving the actual food reviews out, as I find it to be subjective. The best advantage of this package was having more flexibility in dining reservations. We booked the cruise about 3 months out, and would have had a challenge getting the reservations at the complimentary restaurants. Pencil in ideal days and times for your choice of reservations, then board as early as you can, track down a specialty restaurant (deck 5, embarkation deck) and make your reservations.

 

Windjammer — Fine quality, ample selection, only gripe is nothing changed from day to day. Totally get it with 4,500+ passengers it would be tough. Take advantage of the other lunch locations during at-sea days. Also, completely avoid WJ during embarkation day! Everyone says this, and I really wish we had listened on our first day.

 

Pools — Minimal to no chair hogs that I noticed on our itinerary. For the most part, the days were mild and not scorching hot, which I am sure helped. We found plenty of seats always available, and ample actual swim space. The water features for children 3-10 were great… the wave pool kept our 4-year old occupied for quite a while, and it was shallow enough where we didn’t have to be right next to her but rather sitting on the lounge watching. The twirly donut non-lazy river thing (you have to see this thing to believe it!) was wild, many laughs to be had, but a bottom line liability in my mind.

 

Bumper Cars — I point this out separately as it was the number one thing we watched videos about ahead of this cruise. Our 4-year old loved the idea of bumper cars and couldn’t wait to ride in the car alongside my husband. As it turns out, minimum age to ride is 5, so heads up to other families before hyping up the bumper cars.

 

Casino — We are not big gamblers, but like to play a table or machine here and there. Great new machines, pleasant atmosphere, and the nicest casino we have experienced on the seas.

 

Crew — We felt that everyone was pleasant, kind and eager to please! Warm smiles met with warm smiles, and really enjoyed the entire crew! Ask for Juan at Jamie’s, and at Chop’s be greeted by host ‘Donald Duck’ and sit at Serkan’s table… they get our top shout-outs.

 

Captain -- Had a wonderful sense of humor with daily announcements! I always listened up whenever I heard the 'ding'... he obviously sailed well and safely, too!

 

Fellow Guests — Quick head’s up that many people onboard are constantly reviewing, judging and comparing Anthem day in and day out, and vocally… yes, I am doing the same here, but it was not all consuming. My point is, there were several times where people would have loud sighs, and groan about this, that or the other. Given the elevated level of criticism of this boat, and some folks have fallen into this kind of pattern if you will. Ignore them, smile and enjoy your day and cruise. I only share this as a head’s up to move on and let it pass.

 

Seas — Thanks to Mother Nature, our New England/Canada seas were super calm and could barely feel the ship move. We only felt the slightest rocking 2 out of 9 nights.

 

Entertainment — We didn’t take advantage of much given it was just the three of us, but special shout out to Spectra’s Cabaret… we loved it! Music, colors, dancing, singing… difficult to describe, and we felt it was terrific!

 

Bottom Line — Anthem is a wonderful ship, have zero concerns over the tough reviews. We hope to have the opportunity to sail the Anthem again someday, it was truly a pleasure!

 

I am sure I am forgetting other ‘hot topics’, but wanted to jot down what was fresh in my mind, and before ‘back to the grind’ sets in! Please feel free to ask any questions, happy to share my opinion :-)

 

I was on that sailing also and could not agree more with everything you said! :D

I know you are loving those highlighters you won as I did the bottle of wine at the M&M LOL

[SwimAruba]

I was on that sailing also and could not agree more with everything you said! :D

 

I know you are loving those highlighters you won as I did the bottle of wine at the M&M LOL

 

 

Hahaha exactly!! :-)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Mel8730]

I was on this sailing as well and agree with everything you posted! Anthem is a beautiful ship with a great crew. The dining reservations could use a few tweaks, and we felt that Chops was severely understaffed. But overall, it was a great cruise.

[Emdancer11]

Great review! It can be discouraging to read so many negative comments about a ship much looked forward to, but it sounds like you boarded with the perfect frame of mind. It's vacation after all! Any day where someone else cooks and cleans is a good day to me!

 

We are also on the 9/22 cruise with same itinerary, and we are bringing my 1.5 year old, so I very much enjoyed your comments concerning little ones. Feel free to ignore this question if you've already answered it, I will be going through more pages of your thread now, but what did you do in the ports?

[SwimAruba]

Great review! It can be discouraging to read so many negative comments about a ship much looked forward to, but it sounds like you boarded with the perfect frame of mind. It's vacation after all! Any day where someone else cooks and cleans is a good day to me!

 

 

 

We are also on the 9/22 cruise with same itinerary, and we are bringing my 1.5 year old, so I very much enjoyed your comments concerning little ones. Feel free to ignore this question if you've already answered it, I will be going through more pages of your thread now, but what did you do in the ports?

 

 

You will have a wonderful time! There is a small diaper-friendly baby pool that is simply perfect for the super little ones to splash along in.

 

For excursions, check out my response a few posts below the original, as I followed up on a previous question. Bottom line, I regret not being a little more adventurous to venture outside the port cities, particularly in Canada, even if it meant a longer bus ride.

 

Keep me posted on what you decide to do! :-)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[shipmate13]

Finally, someone not posting that they will never go on Royal Caribbean or Anthem again because they didn't have towel animals every night or a chocolate on their pillow. Sounds like you went with an open mind and had a wonderful time. Good for you. I am going on this ship next August and can't wait. I am not loyal to any cruise line and like it that way.!

[mjwcruising]

[quote name=SwimAruba;50958331an excursion outside of the city (you are about to see this become a theme).

 

Bar Harbor -- Cannot say enough wonderful things about Oli's Trolley! We booked their 2.5 hour Arcadia tour and it was unbelievably worth it. Best bang for the buck for sure! Super easy to find right off the ship' date=' too. Beautiful town to walk around and explore, very charming!

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app[/quote]

 

Hi SwimAruba, thank you for your review, I am finding it very helpful.

 

I was looking over Oli’s Trolley website recently and considering to use them while we are in Bar Harbor on our cruise next year. Maybe you could answer a question for me.

 

There is three different tours:

Acadia National Park Tour - 2 ½ hour

Cadillac Mountain Tour - 1 hour

Downtown Bar Harbor tour - 1 hour

 

I am thinking the Acadia National Park Tour which includes a scheduled at Cadillac Mountain Summit, but does it also in Downtown Bar Harbor?

If not would it be wise to book both the Acadia and the Downtown tours?

I was hoping the Acadia Nat'l Park tour would b a combination of the other two tours plus a little more.

We will be in port 7am - 5pm

thank you or taking the time to answer my question(s)

[cruise47]

To the OP, we were on Anthem last week. Your review was right on point. Anthem of the Seas is an outstanding ship with outstanding crew members.

[SwimAruba]

Finally, someone not posting that they will never go on Royal Caribbean or Anthem again because they didn't have towel animals every night or a chocolate on their pillow. Sounds like you went with an open mind and had a wonderful time. Good for you. I am going on this ship next August and can't wait. I am not loyal to any cruise line and like it that way.!

 

 

Thank you! We really had a ball! It's vacation, simply enjoy and take it all in :-)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[SwimAruba]

Hi mjwcruising! We did the Acadia tour. Not much of the downtown was covered. For me that was fine, as it is a lovely area to simply walk through and enjoy. I am sure I missed out on historical and interesting nuances, but for me was better to be out and about to the non-walkable places for the tour. Easily the best bang for the buck in terms of excursions. Enjoy!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[SwimAruba]

To the OP, we were on Anthem last week. Your review was right on point. Anthem of the Seas is an outstanding ship with outstanding crew members.

 

 

Thank you! We simply loved it and look forward to returning someday :-). Glad you had such a nice time, too!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[mjwcruising]

Hi mjwcruising! We did the Acadia tour. Not much of the downtown was covered. For me that was fine, as it is a lovely area to simply walk through and enjoy. I am sure I missed out on historical and interesting nuances, but for me was better to be out and about to the non-walkable places for the tour. Easily the best bang for the buck in terms of excursions. Enjoy!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

So, I guess what we should do is take the Acadia tour and then we can walk around the town on our own which I have read is rather small?

[SwimAruba]

So, I guess what we should do is take the Acadia tour and then we can walk around the town on our own which I have read is rather small?

 

 

That's what I would do, though not sure if we missed out on historical or interesting facts by not touring downtown. Pop the question into the ports of call forum or search Oli's over there and see what folks say.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[mjwcruising]

That's what I would do, though not sure if we missed out on historical or interesting facts by not touring downtown. Pop the question into the ports of call forum or search Oli's over there and see what folks say.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Good idea, I'll take a look at all the ports of call we are stopping at.