Just back from the Anthem.

[3StepDam44]

5 minutes ago, BigRoger said:

Mmmm strange difference in experience given we got ‘loads of stuff’ even though we had 2 different cabins over the course of the B2B but who knows why…. The ‘2 small tins of water’ are the standard water size now… we found that disappointing but it is what it is…..

Yes I agree.  Amenities etc. are all part of the "Feeling special" Experience we really enjoy with Royal.  We don't know why it wasn't there, but it wasn't.  Even on my Husband's Big Birthday, nothing was sent to the Cabin, like in the old Days we would have got Dipped Strawberries or something.  Times have changed.

[Guest BigRoger]

7 minutes ago, 3StepDam44 said:

Yes, this is why I said we did not feel safe.  800 Un-vaccinated Children (some of whom were running riot) was a risk in this current Climate.

Mmm again interestingly different perspective given that we were out and about and not confined to D lounge or balcony - we would never have known there were 800 kids on board if it hadn’t been communicated on CC by other posters. No doubt there was massively more than the week before and the coming weeks but it didn’t feel to us overrun and the poor behaviour (with a couple of exceptions) was actually more to do with parents than the kids! Although we didn’t as I said go on the open decks to avoid the ‘holiday camp’ experience.

The vast majority of kids were really well behaved….. in fact let me share a tiny little story….
 

One afternoon we sat down in the chairs next to vintages (the other side of the corridor) and there were two young gents (probably about 7-8 years old) sat on the two chairs opposite us who were playing with an iPad… one of them very politely and nervously said to us as we sat down… ‘I’m sorry but I don’t think ypu can sit there because of errr distancing….’ We smiled and said oh…. Then his mum who was sat just on the edge of vintages with her partner and a baby stroller said to him…. ‘No (I forget his name) it’s ok’ and he simply looked at us and went back to the iPad with his brother! There was little evidence on board of food being left in lifts (something that’s been bad in the past) but there was evidence of part drunk alcohol……

[Guest BigRoger]

2 minutes ago, 3StepDam44 said:

Yes I agree.  Amenities etc. are all part of the "Feeling special" Experience we really enjoy with Royal.  We don't know why it wasn't there, but it wasn't.  Even on my Husband's Big Birthday, nothing was sent to the Cabin, like in the old Days we would have got Dipped Strawberries or something.  Times have changed.

Yep times are different but interestingly we were asked all the time by cabin steward and wait staff whether we were celebrating a big event on board! We always said no (which was true) but we say no even if it isn’t!

[ententecordiale]

I chose the trip on Sunday partly for the stop in Scotland rather than Liverpool and...kids going back to school.

 

Not keen on Kids on cruise most of the time but yes, rather than fewer non vaccinated people on.

 

Saying that I hope there are more than 1000 pax. I've accepted by choosing to cruise again that life has to get on, and as such, I refuse to feel on high alert all the time. I want to fully enjoy the experience and so a bit of vibrance. Not great doing the quizzes if there are only going to be 2 or 3 groups of two there!

 

 

[emeraldcity]

Thank you for taking the time to post your experiences ... and this is for the OP as well as others who have different takes. I have recently booked the Anthem out of NJ in January (my first time on Q Class) and I'm excited to have a nice long cruise to experience a new ship.

 

It strikes me that it is long past time for RCI security to reign in "kids run amok". With cameras all over the ship and facial recognition software, it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine that they have the tools to prevent this sort of thing from negatively impacting the shipboard experience of others. When I travel with my grandchildren, we have a little chat before we board. Be constantly aware that your behavior is likely being recorded on video surveillance. And what is it that you'd like the cameras to catch you doing...

[sgmn]

On 8/31/2021 at 2:45 PM, 3StepDam44 said:

We were on last week's Sailing where there were 2,500 Passengers, 800 of whom were Children.  To say we feel stressed and certainly not relaxed is an understatement.  The Ship felt overcrowded.  The only place where we could find some peace was our Balcony and the virtually empty Diamond Lounge.  I understand that this is the School Holidays and we only sailed because of my Husband's Big Birthday, but the Ship was very, very, full and to us, it felt unsafe.  The Mask Policy (wearing inside when not eating and drinking), was mainly implemented, but most people once seated decided to leave the Masks off.  This included the Theater, Art Auctions, Two70 and so on.

 

There were some very unruly Teenagers onboard who decided to run riot all over the Ship, including the Lifts, Corridors, banging on Cabin Doors and certainly not wearing the Masks they should have been wearing.  The Staff were unable to stop this from happening and at times the Staff seemed overwhelmed by the vast amount of Passengers compared with 1000+ on previous Sailings.

 

The Ship is beautiful with lots of interesting Artwork, Bars and Restaurants.  The Staff, as ever are wonderful and every Staff Member we encountered could not do enough for us.  Our Cabin was kept spotlessly clean at all times and the Main Dining Room Staff were all wonderful.  The Food in the Main Dining Room, was a bit hit and miss, but the Windjammer Food was wonderful.  We only ate there for Breakfast and sat at the Back outside which was a lovely space.

 

The Entertainment was exceptional, as usual with Royal Caribbean but more often than not, we had to leave the Venues because they were very overcrowded and just felt unsafe for us.  There are sort of Marshalls who make sure there is space between Passengers, but all the Rows were completely full even though the Shows had to be booked in advance.  In this scenario with no Masks being worn by most Passengers, again it felt unsafe.

 

We were on the Virtuosa in June and it was a completely different Cruise experience.  There were only 1000 Passengers and it certainly felt more comfortable.  MSC also Status Match so we were offered their Diamond Status which offered everything apart from the Top Tier Event.  We had a Speciality Meal, Bottle of Bubbly in the Room, Robes and Slippers and so on.

 

Royal have now removed most of the Diamond and above Perks, right down to the Amenity in the Room.  The Open Bar during Happy Hour is gone and non of this was made clear prior to booking.  They are saying it's because of Covid and Safety in the Diamond Lounge, but all the other Bars, Lounges and every other space on the Ship was full to bursting most of the time, so I guess it really is a cost cutting exercise.  Some people we met have cancelled their up coming Cruises with Royal because they are upset with the Cuts to the Loyalty Program.

 

Overall, it's wonderful to be back at Sea, and the moments I will remember from this Cruise were the ones sitting on the Balcony admiring the Sea.  We have taken over 30 Cruises and sadly this was one of the worst.

We had fcc from both RC and its sister line  Celebrity.  We decided to book Celebrity partly because we thought there may be less children. I have nothing against kids, but purely because in UK most under 18s are unvaccinated and are therefore not required to be vaccinated and I knew Anthem is a family friendly ship and would attract a lot of children. 

Celebrity this week had 800 pax on board with just a handful of well behaved children. 

No production shows as two of the cast tested positive and rest are isolating .

But the cruise director has done a fantastic job pulling in last minute headliners to stage a show each night 

[3StepDam44]

On 9/2/2021 at 11:31 AM, emeraldcity said:

Thank you for taking the time to post your experiences ... and this is for the OP as well as others who have different takes. I have recently booked the Anthem out of NJ in January (my first time on Q Class) and I'm excited to have a nice long cruise to experience a new ship.

 

It strikes me that it is long past time for RCI security to reign in "kids run amok". With cameras all over the ship and facial recognition software, it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine that they have the tools to prevent this sort of thing from negatively impacting the shipboard experience of others. When I travel with my grandchildren, we have a little chat before we board. Be constantly aware that your behavior is likely being recorded on video surveillance. And what is it that you'd like the cameras to catch you doing...

Yes, the Security onboard did what they could and in fact found the Teenagers who were running up and down on our Floor and banging on Cabin Doors at 1 am.  Apparently their Parents were informed and we had no more of that afterwards.😁

[3StepDam44]

On 9/2/2021 at 2:18 PM, sgmn said:

We had fcc from both RC and its sister line  Celebrity.  We decided to book Celebrity partly because we thought there may be less children. I have nothing against kids, but purely because in UK most under 18s are unvaccinated and are therefore not required to be vaccinated and I knew Anthem is a family friendly ship and would attract a lot of children. 

Celebrity this week had 800 pax on board with just a handful of well behaved children. 

No production shows as two of the cast tested positive and rest are isolating .

But the cruise director has done a fantastic job pulling in last minute headliners to stage a show each night 

Yes that sounds like you made the right choice for yourselves.  It has been a very difficult time in the World and we all look forward to our Cruises now.  To have them partially ruined is not a good experience.  The Staff and the Sea however, never disappoint.

[Yorkshire Voyagers]

On 9/1/2021 at 8:53 AM, 3StepDam44 said:

Yes I agree.  Amenities etc. are all part of the "Feeling special" Experience we really enjoy with Royal.  We don't know why it wasn't there, but it wasn't.  Even on my Husband's Big Birthday, nothing was sent to the Cabin, like in the old Days we would have got Dipped Strawberries or something.  Times have changed.

Did you try and talk to the Loyalty Ambassador about your amenities??

[3StepDam44]

14 hours ago, Yorkshire Voyagers said:

Did you try and talk to the Loyalty Ambassador about your amenities??

Yes we did.  We were told it's now 1 Soft Drink per Cabin.  I think Diamond+ have a very different experience though.

[mrsgoggins]

On 9/2/2021 at 2:18 PM, sgmn said:

Celebrity this week had 800 pax on board with just a handful of well behaved children. 

No production shows as two of the cast tested positive and rest are isolating .

But the cruise director has done a fantastic job pulling in last minute headliners to stage a show each night 

 

I was on Celebrity Silhouette the week before you, so off the ship last Saturday.  The Captain’s Circle host didn’t make an appearance at the Tuscan Grill breakfast where they are normally to be found most days, and I was told early on in the cruise that she was isolating.  Now you say 2 of the cast also?  How is this happening when they do not leave the ship are double masked when near the public and are all vaccinated?

 

There were almost 1400 passengers on board our cruise including, as you would expect, a fair number of children but I witnessed absolutely no poor behaviour despite seeing groups of them congregating by the Hideaway area regularly.
 

This was in stark contrast to my last RC cruise out of Southampton 4 years ago, where a sizeable number of adults’ behaviour left much to be desired!  Bad language, brawls (plural) and, I suspect, over-use of the alcohol package by many, defined the cruise for me.  It was a Canaries cruise with 5 coach loads from one area, and 5 from another, seemingly all with a drinks package and had it been my first RC cruise it would also have been my last!  I’m not expecting a repeat of this on my October UK Anthem cruise 🤞

[steveso]

How easy was it to organise the pre sailing covid test. Is it done in person or by post? (we are in London)

[3StepDam44]

40 minutes ago, mrsgoggins said:

 

I was on Celebrity Silhouette the week before you, so off the ship last Saturday.  The Captain’s Circle host didn’t make an appearance at the Tuscan Grill breakfast where they are normally to be found most days, and I was told early on in the cruise that she was isolating.  Now you say 2 of the cast also?  How is this happening when they do not leave the ship are double masked when near the public and are all vaccinated?

 

There were almost 1400 passengers on board our cruise including, as you would expect, a fair number of children but I witnessed absolutely no poor behaviour despite seeing groups of them congregating by the Hideaway area regularly.
 

This was in stark contrast to my last RC cruise out of Southampton 4 years ago, where a sizeable number of adults’ behaviour left much to be desired!  Bad language, brawls (plural) and, I suspect, over-use of the alcohol package by many, defined the cruise for me.  It was a Canaries cruise with 5 coach loads from one area, and 5 from another, seemingly all with a drinks package and had it been my first RC cruise it would also have been my last!  I’m not expecting a repeat of this on my October UK Anthem cruise 🤞

May check out Celebrity soon.

[3StepDam44]

4 minutes ago, steveso said:

How easy was it to organise the pre sailing covid test. Is it done in person or by post? (we are in London)

We were too far from the nearest Eurofins so we booked with our Local Boots Chemist (which was on the List of Government Testing Sites to use).  They still sent it to Eurofins for testing though.  The Result came through 2 1/2 Day's later.  Royal Caribbean have just credited our Account with the Money for the Test today. Great.

[kernow]

33 minutes ago, 3StepDam44 said:

We were too far from the nearest Eurofins so we booked with our Local Boots Chemist (which was on the List of Government Testing Sites to use).  They still sent it to Eurofins for testing though.  The Result came through 2 1/2 Day's later.  Royal Caribbean have just credited our Account with the Money for the Test today. Great.

Do they not give the money as onboard credit? We are debating whether to travel or use a local Boots. Just worried about the test coming back in time.

[Rockyroyal]

22 minutes ago, kernow said:

Do they not give the money as onboard credit? We are debating whether to travel or use a local Boots. Just worried about the test coming back in time.

We have the same issue as we don’t drive and the nearest Eurofins is too far. The only tester local to us is Prenetics but they have a lot of bad reviews on trust pilot regarding delays with results, we are due to sail on the 19th but it is making us reconsider 

[sgmn]

3 hours ago, mrsgoggins said:

 

I was on Celebrity Silhouette the week before you, so off the ship last Saturday.  The Captain’s Circle host didn’t make an appearance at the Tuscan Grill breakfast where they are normally to be found most days, and I was told early on in the cruise that she was isolating.  Now you say 2 of the cast also?  How is this happening when they do not leave the ship are double masked when near the public and are all vaccinated?

 

There were almost 1400 passengers on board our cruise including, as you would expect, a fair number of children but I witnessed absolutely no poor behaviour despite seeing groups of them congregating by the Hideaway area regularly.
 

This was in stark contrast to my last RC cruise out of Southampton 4 years ago, where a sizeable number of adults’ behaviour left much to be desired!  Bad language, brawls (plural) and, I suspect, over-use of the alcohol package by many, defined the cruise for me.  It was a Canaries cruise with 5 coach loads from one area, and 5 from another, seemingly all with a drinks package and had it been my first RC cruise it would also have been my last!  I’m not expecting a repeat of this on my October UK Anthem cruise 🤞

It's a mystery , as you say they don't leave the ship. Maybe it was new cast members who didn't show symptoms until a few days in ?

But no production  shows all week. The cruise director did make a thing of it that he had to scrabble to get replacement headline acts at last minute , but he did produce a show every night and did a very good job IMO. 

No bad behaviour, either with children or adults, a few not wearing masks in the theater,   maybe 25%

RC is normally my go to line and we've done three from Southampton ,  all over 12 nights, and didn't notice any particularly bad behaviour. 

[UKWLDCruise]

2 hours ago, steveso said:

How easy was it to organise the pre sailing covid test. Is it done in person or by post? (we are in London)

They put you in touch with a company ,Eurofins, to make an appointment which you attend in person and take the results directly from that or if you are not near one of their places you can organise your own test and get refunded up to £100.  They won't take a home test but I had mine done at the local Boots.

 

[ententecordiale]

Eurofins too far for us too so we booked with Melio. I was a bit anxious as tested on Thursday with results due up to yesterday 9pm which would have made it almost impossible to get another test for sailing tomorrow.

 

All went well. They actually send a text to say when the sample has arrived for testing which is a bit of a relief. 

[icsys]

 

On 9/3/2021 at 6:47 PM, Yorkshire Voyagers said:

Did you try and talk to the Loyalty Ambassador about your amenities??

 

11 hours ago, 3StepDam44 said:

Yes we did.  We were told it's now 1 Soft Drink per Cabin.  I think Diamond+ have a very different experience though.

 

looks like they are now called  a-mean-ities !!!

One soft drink to share between you. 

[3StepDam44]

18 hours ago, kernow said:

Do they not give the money as onboard credit? We are debating whether to travel or use a local Boots. Just worried about the test coming back in time.

Yes the Money was a "Refundable On-board Credit" so if it isn't spent it's credited back to the Account you paid with.  It was Nail Biting waiting for the Result.  We had no choice because the nearest Eurofins was 70 Miles away.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

On 8/31/2021 at 3:54 PM, 3StepDam44 said:

It was my Husband's Big Birthday so we sailed then.  Otherwise we would not have.

Ah I understand the reason for sailing. I have turned my track and trace off now. My mum got pinged in her flat. She hadnt left it for over two weeks yet the women in flat upstairs tested positive, so mum got pinged through the floor 🤣

[FamilyCruiserUK]

On 9/1/2021 at 7:35 AM, little britain said:

Sadly issues with kids going feral and running wild on board is well known on the ex-UK summer cruises. The little cherubs go back to school this week leaving the decks clear for the rest of us! 

Ita just really bad parenting, kids will go wild if allowed and tbh some of the parents you see you can understand why. Glad to say though this weeks cruise the kids were well behaved. The lifeguard was very quick to tell three teens who were racing in the indoor pool to go to the outdoor pool. It was empty as a bit chilly lol. So fair play to the lifeguard.

[Roybthered]

My DW and I are booked on the 15th October and cannot wait to go. The first thing we do is check when the kids holidays are be it summer, whit or half terms. We have our own grown up children, grandchildren and love kids (we also foster) when we go away to ensure a full break we like to lower the odds! We have been on quite a few cruises and can celebrate anniversaries or special occasions at any time be it a bit early or a bit late. You need to go with an open mind and accept that there will always be something or someone who may spoil your time away, you just need to minimise it as the ship is big enough and you need to know when to and not to be in certain places.

We where on the first Anthem sailing on the 7th July with only 1000 passengers and it felt empty with little atmosphere ( we did enjoy ourselves totally). We like the fact that we are getting to move forward to hopefully full capacity and seeing ships full of people who are like minded. The shows, food and running of the ship in our mind was outstanding, but as to not feeling safe? everyone over 18 has been double jabbed, older children checked prior to embarkation, protocols in place to keep your distance so you need to accept that if you want  to go cruising then you will at some point be on a ship with a lot of people.

If this is not what you want I think that you might have to leave it until a lot longer down the line to cruise again. Just MHO.

[PJL1973]

36 minutes ago, Roybthered said:

My DW and I are booked on the 15th October and cannot wait to go.

Considering you're from Liverpool, do you find it strange that you'll end up back there via a cruise going from Southampton. OTOH, I suppose you could disembark a few days early if things are going badly. 😄