On Anthem right now - pros and many cons

I wasn't going to start a thread but I feel compelled. This will be short and sweet.

I realize it's a Thanksgiving sailing so no flames please about how I should have expected lines during a holiday sailing.

I am sailing with three children under age 11 and my DH. We live in nj and didn't have to travel far.

Positives

Ship is stunning, rooms are beautiful and have a ton of storage. We have connecting insides with virtual balcony and I love the room and space!

Stateroom attendant is lovely and personable and works very hard.

Pools are beautiful

270 is beautiful

We will rock you is fantastic

Negatives:

Service is atrocious in the restaurants pretty much across the board. Many servers and crew seem miserable. Don't say hello and even when you say it first they don't seem interested.

Our waiter in the grande rolled his eyes at my 8 year old when she wanted to change her dessert.

Our waitress in American icon just told us the crew is unhappy because there is no system.

We can feel it! She is right, this sailing feels as though there is no system.

The food is average in all complementary restaurants (just my opinion obviously)

Adventure ocean isn't set up well - the rooms are tiny and the kids are on top of each other.

The lines for bumper cars, roller skating (everything in the seaplex are ridiculous.)

They could have planned better - they knew there would be a lot of kids.

We have had rough seas and the ship creaks very loudly! In the halls and in the rooms.

We have had personal issues related to shore excursions as have others/ don't need to get into details. Suffice to say one hand doesn't know what the other is doing often enough.

We had a great time as a family but even though I live about 35 minutes from port I wouldn't choose Anthem again.

Even though there is so much to do for the kids- it definitely doesn't feel like a kid oriented ship at all.

WOW - the food/service situation was the same when we sailed on Quantum last November. I could have written your exact comments. I was hoping they'd have worked it all out by now. NJ is also our homeport, and we don't like flying...I wish they'd just bring Explorer or Liberty back.

Agree with Donna K. We also had horrible service on Quantum last Feb. The staff worked very hard, but, as they told you, there was no "system." I, too, thought they'd worked it out.

As for the lines, well, as you said, it's a holiday cruise.

Rough weather.... pretty unavoidable.

I am also not a fan of Quantum Class. Too much "Celebrity," and not enough "Royal Caribbean." I prefer Royal Caribbean. But Quantum sure was beautiful. Just the "feel" wasn't right for me.

From a cruiser who lives quite south of this port...we would never consider a cruise from there. #1 why waste two days in the cold to cruise to the south with very limited ports??

#2 why waste our time with a ship that obviously is not very cruiser friendly??? These ships are obvioisly not popular based on the reviews... We will just continue to sail from Florida or Texas and enjoy the great RCI ships!!!

I have also read from a few CCers how creaky the ship is.

I had great service on the Quantum in December and in February, and I am looking forward to my upcoming 3 weeks on the Anthem this winter.

While you are experiencing this on Anthem and having sailed on Quantum, I understand the dynamic there, I had similar experiences on Liberty.

I really think some of these issues are actually affecting cruises on many ships.

The happiness of the crew is certainly suffering somewhat, fleet-wide. I really noticed a big difference on Liberty a couple of weeks ago from my previous sailings on the same ship.

While service in the 'rated' areas was excellent, with my dining room waiters and my stateroom attendant, the service from staff in the MDR and bars was very poor outside of contact that would directly result in a comment card.

They have incentivized service to a point that staff realize and focus on service that results in enhancing their income or ratings.

Lots of bad reviews on the Quantum class of ships.

......or Liberty back.

Back off, she is ours now ! :D

WOW - the food/service situation was the same when we sailed on Quantum last November. I could have written your exact comments. I was hoping they'd have worked it all out by now. NJ is also our homeport, and we don't like flying...I wish they'd just bring Explorer or Liberty back.

Not in any way intended to challenge or trivialize the OP's opinion, but I just want to add that we had a very different (much more positive) experience on Anthem's previous sailing -- the first 12-night Caribbean run. I wouldn't write Anthem off just because of service issues on a holiday sailing which, as the OP acknowledged, results in a ship packed to the gills. We didn't experience anything like what was widely reported from the early Quantum sailings and thought that, by and large, things ran smoothly.

Thanks OP for sharing your perspective. It's already interesting to read different viewpoints. If I were to make a prediction, I would say that there will be more positive reviews from sailings such as mine where the ship is less crowded, and less positive reviews from sailings such as yours where the ship is more crowded. Only time will tell if I'm right, but it seems that the guest experience on Quantum Class ships is greatly impacted by the level of crowding on the ship, which is in large part tied to whether school is in session.

I'll chime in here from current sailing. Yes, service is extremely disorganized but we've had almost all outstandingly friendly waitstaff each night with one exception. They are ridiculously over worked and there seems to be a lack of both a "system" and the eyes/direction of management. Some things we've witnessed that would be considered a disgrace on other lines seems to be okay here- for example, walking past garbage on the ground and not picking it up or bringing x to the table but not stopping to remove the filthy plates from the tables next to yours. No one seems to "got each others' back". They are focused only on their own jobs and not on creating a great experience for the guest.

I disagree about food quality which we've had good luck with. Almost all the dinners have been very good quality.

This ship not only creaks but is the least "stable" ship I've sailed on in a long time. The level of rocking and movement in no way match what is going on outside.

I also agree about kids' clubs ( although kids still enjoying). Spaces are way too small and I didn't like a few security things I saw Day 1 although it was much better by Day 2. I also was really not thrilled with the way one staff member dealt with a melting down kid- I didn't like the way she spoke or put her hands on him. And, while I get that most lines charge for later night, I don't like that prizes can be won mostly only during those hours so kids wanted to stay just to win stuff. Set a bad tone for me.

I like the decor if the room but really think there are some major design flaws like the sofa bed and the storage. Balconies are a fantastic size and bathroom has great storage (but no regular outlet for shaving!)

I plan on doing a full review. Overall, the pools and Seaplex activities make this an awesome cold weather ship. It holds capacity well and even things like pool area don't really feel crowded. 270 is incredible. Food very good.

 

 

 

This ship not only creaks but is the least "stable" ship I've sailed on in a long time. The level of rocking and movement in no way match what is going on outside.

I definitely agree with this -- noticed the exact same thing on my Anthem sailing. I've experienced the creaking before on other ships but the amount of motion in somewhat calm seas was somewhat odd. Probably not the best ship for someone who gets seasick.

Glad to hear someone else agree about the movement. I thought maybe I was imagining it! Another couple at the pool today on their 23 cruise said the same thing.

Will be going on the Anthem December 19th. Was on the Quantum in January and I do have to say it was our worst cruise to date. I do believe RCCL addressed the problems, and we have opted for Traditional Dinning vs Dynamic. Hopefully having the same wait staff each night following us from dinning venue to dinning venue will enhance our experience. We just got off the Freedom a few weeks ago, and it was an OUTSTANDING Cruise with a fantastic crew. I for one think its great to have a new ship here in NJ. As in all new things, the kinks will hopefully be worked out. When on vacation we all try to make Lemonade out of Lemons.

I like the decor if the room but really think there are some major design flaws like the sofa bed and the storage. Balconies are a fantastic size and bathroom has great storage (but no regular outlet for shaving!)

 

This is true of EVERY bathroom on EVERY RC ship. The only outlet in the bathroom is a specialized outlet that only takes a specialized razor plug.

This is true of EVERY bathroom on EVERY RC ship. The only outlet in the bathroom is a specialized outlet that only takes a specialized razor plug.

Have you ever met anyone that had a razor that would fit in the specialized outlet?

Not that it really comes up in conversation, but I keep forgetting to ask gentlemen that we meet onboard. :)

Glad to hear someone else agree about the movement. I thought maybe I was imagining it! Another couple at the pool today on their 23 cruise said the same thing.

Watched an episode of Megaships that was on Quantum. They where on first 12 day sailing out of New Jersey. They said two things about the ship and this came from the captains mouth. The ship is very sensitive to cross winds making it very hard to manage in ports and at sea. Also hinted that the system of bubbles that makes this class of ships very fuel efficient may also make it a little less stable. As far as the creaking may just be another design characteristic.

I know the Voyager, Freedom, and Oasis class feel like you are sailing on land not the sea they are so stable.

Plus side you can tell you are at sea. :)

Have you ever met anyone that had a razor that would fit in the specialized outlet?

 

Not that it really comes up in conversation, but I keep forgetting to ask gentlemen that we meet onboard. :)

Don's does and it's a garden variety Norelco. I think the plug is the same but the voltage is lower. I'll try to remember to ask him in the morning.

We were on the Anthem TA. We found the ship to be stunningly beautiful, with some extraordinary public spaces. (Two70, in particular, is amazing.) The pools were terrific. North Star was a blast.

We had a great time, but this was in spite of the poor service in several "complimentary" dining venues, and too much subpar (or worse) food. There were not enough servers, and they were harried and seemed poorly trained.

As for the food, we aren't picky eaters, but some of the stuff we were served was literally inedible. For example, I ordered a "Ruben [sic] sandwich" in American Icon Grill. The menu said it was made with pastrami. I have no idea what meat was actually in the sandwich, but it wasn't pastrami and it tasted foul. On another day, we both ordered "New England Clam chowder" and were brought bowls containing a congealed, gelatinous mass. Totally unappetizing in appearance. We each tried a spoonful and it was vile.

In the Grande for dinner (where we had some of the worst, most harried service), my duck a la orange was quite good, but the lobster bisque tasted nothing like lobster and was far too fishy (in a very bad way) to eat.

In sharp contrast, we had a fabulous dinner, both in terms of the service and the food, at Chops. But no one on a cruise should have to pay for a specialty dinner to get decent food and service.

On another topic, Anthem is definitely creaky. Still, we loved the ship. RCI really needs to address the food service and food quality issues.

--------------

My detailed comments about Anthem and photos are here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2277588

MBO... "Management by the Objectives", and after reading some opinions it is almost like MBO gone wild.

I have said this for along time, just go to guest services and have a reasonable simple request, and they do not know how to handle anything out side of the norm for their assignment. That is not a put down on the employees but the way it works. I wish I could remember a good example, but as experienced cruisers, we just laugh about it and I guess forget it.

I also think that some ships are better than others, maybe the smaller ships are better, employee wise, just off the Serenade in October, and we DO MTD and rarely eat at the same time, service was good to excellent, and I attribute that to timing of when you are seated and how many diners and table sizes are in the waiters area are ahead of you.

Also the room steward was one of the best we have every experienced and Diamond lounge bar tenders were GREAT>

Can't wait to see prices going down in the future [emoji12]

The ship rocks forward to back a lot - I am more used to a side to side motion. It is very strange the way it rolls in calm looking water.

Conandrob- our bedding is encased in plastic under the bed

I am sure on a non holiday sailing service will be much better.

I don't care if a server or crew member is new and making mistakes. I'm not that picky about service - I just want them to be pleasant!! This sailing seems to be lacking that IMO

I had great service on the Quantum in December and in February, and I am looking forward to my upcoming 3 weeks on the Anthem this winter.

I have to say ditto. Great service total 18 days on Quantum. Looking forward to 12 days on Anthem starting Tomorrow. Will try to report back. Katherine

Almost everyone we have met has been at least pleasant. A few bartenders and waitstaff have been fantastic. 1 or 2 have been clueless. None have been rude or miserable.

Lots of bad reviews on the Quantum class of ships.

I had a blast on the Anthem in September/October, but as a solo traveller, it was the first cruise ever where I ate alone on 3 separate occasions (I always go MTD), even though I requested a large table. I thought the food was good and I'm a picky eater. I never experienced poor service in any of the indoor bars (Pool bar was a different matter). It will be interesting to compare her with Ovation in May.