Just off Anthem and cancelled my other 3 cruises on her

I had booked my Anthem cruises prior to doing the Quantum inaugural and one other Quantum sailing. There were lots of problems and dislikes with Quantum that I won't go into here, but I decided to keep the four sailings I had booked with Anthem in the hopes that by my Thanksgiving sailing, many of my dislikes would be resolved. A few were, but many not and so, despite the convenience of not having to fly to board her, I opted while still on board her to cancel my other cruises on her and book other RC ships for the same time periods. Two of the cruises cost me more than the Quantum due to the late booking, but I am happy I made the switch.:)

Some of the problems on the Anthem Thanksgiving sailing:

• level of service among many of the crew
  
• poor stateroom prep despite special needs notifications: no shower stool
  
• no bathrobes in room - took 2 days to get them
  
• 2 broken elevators - one for the entire length of the cruise
  
• coffee machine in the Concierge Lounge broken for the first four days of the cruise
  
• cabin door repeatedly would not close or was extremely difficult to open - despite repeated attempts to fix it
  
• long lines for activities (yes I know it was a holiday sailing but the allocated times could have been better planned out)
  
• Hit and miss in the Specialty Restaurants - Thanksgiving at Chops took almost 2 1/2 hrs. - had to keep reminding our waiter that we ordered drinks, needed bread, etc.
  
• Lots of creaks and noises- one being a loud repetitive thumping
  
• limited number of bars made frozen cocktails due to the lack of a blender
  
• embarkation time was 11:30 - got on board at 2:05 due to Wi-Fi issues
  in addition: Windjammer was not open 24 hrs as stated; and there was a charge for WOW bands despite the new policy going into effect AFTER final payment had been made and set sail pass said it would be in stateroom
  

I had booked my Anthem cruises prior to doing the Quantum inaugural and one other Quantum sailing. There were lots of problems and dislikes with Quantum that I won't go into here, but I decided to keep the four sailings I had booked with Anthem in the hopes that by my Thanksgiving sailing, many of my dislikes would be resolved. A few were, but many not and so, despite the convenience of not having to fly to board her, I opted while still on board her to cancel my other cruises on her and book other RC ships for the same time periods. Two of the cruises cost me more than the Quantum due to the late booking, but I am happy I made the switch.:)

 

Some of the problems on the Anthem Thanksgiving sailing:

 

• level of service among many of the crew
  
• poor stateroom prep despite special needs notifications: no shower stool
  
• no bathrobes in room - took 2 days to get them
  
• 2 broken elevators - one for the entire length of the cruise
  
• coffee machine in the Concierge Lounge broken for the first four days of the cruise
  
• cabin door repeatedly would not close or was extremely difficult to open - despite repeated attempts to fix it
  
• long lines for activities (yes I know it was a holiday sailing but the allocated times could have been better planned out)
  
• Hit and miss in the Specialty Restaurants - Thanksgiving at Chops took almost 2 1/2 hrs. - had to keep reminding our waiter that we ordered drinks, needed bread, etc.
  
• Lots of creaks and noises- one being a loud repetitive thumping
  
• limited number of bars made frozen cocktails due to the lack of a blender
  
• embarkation time was 11:30 - got on board at 2:05 due to Wi-Fi issues
  in addition: Windjammer was not open 24 hrs as stated; and there was a charge for WOW bands despite the new policy going into effect AFTER final payment had been made and set sail pass said it would be in stateroom
  

most of your issues are not ship specific. Could happen on any ship

Since you were so unhappy with the Anthem, you made the right decision for you. Enjoy your new cruises.

:)

Generally agree with the OP. We were on this cruise as well and have cancelled an Anthem cruise booked for 2016. We don't expect any cruise to be totally problem free and tend to go with the flow. All the bells and whistles of a beautiful new ship didn't compensate for the awful dining room service in the Grand and American Icon. Specifically, dirty dishes not cleared between courses, wait staff rolling carts past aisle tables throughout dinner while bumping into guests without acknowledgement or apology. Not ideal to have no nearby bathrooms other than in the smoky Casino, especially with children.

Rather than add to a litany of complaints, I want to acknowledge the wonderful staff in the Coastal Kitchen and Concierge Lounge. Without this "bubble" of great dining and a congenial place to spend time with family, I would have been grousing a bit more. Please note that we don't always sail in suites and generally have great RC cruises in all levels of cabin accommodations.

Anthem definitely needs some adjustments. I certainly hope that future cruisers have a better experience than we did.

most of your issues are not ship specific. Could happen on any ship

But they don't, at least not in our experience, and certainly not all one one cruise.

We are booked to said on Anthem next September. Hoping your issues are just from the "newness" of the ship. I'm glad you changed your upcoming cruises. A vacation is no time to be unhappy.

Generally agree with the OP. We were on this cruise as well and have cancelled an Anthem cruise booked for 2016. We don't expect any cruise to be totally problem free and tend to go with the flow. All the bells and whistles of a beautiful new ship didn't compensate for the awful dining room service in the Grand and American Icon. Specifically, dirty dishes not cleared between courses, wait staff rolling carts past aisle tables throughout dinner while bumping into guests without acknowledgement or apology. Not ideal to have no nearby bathrooms other than in the smoky Casino, especially with children.

 

Rather than add to a litany of complaints, I want to acknowledge the wonderful staff in the Coastal Kitchen and Concierge Lounge. Without this "bubble" of great dining and a congenial place to spend time with family, I would have been grousing a bit more. Please note that we don't always sail in suites and generally have great RC cruises in all levels of cabin accommodations.

 

Anthem definitely needs some adjustments. I certainly hope that future cruisers have a better experience than we did.

There are bathrooms at the elevator lobbies on both Decks 3 &4, where the dining rooms are.

The closest bathrooms to the grande and chic are as hw stated - through the smoky casino

When we were on Anthem we were told that they did not do frozen blended drinks in bar 270 because a blender would be too loud and disturb the many performances that take place there.

Goody! I am watching for price drops with so many people cancelling. :) :)

Thanks for posting.

Sorry you had disappointments and issues, and hope that your other cruises will be better. Just an FYI, we have seen the coffee machine down on many different ships. Sometimes it is down in both the Concierge and Diamond lounges. One cruise both machines were down the entire cruise.

M

But they don't, at least not in our experience, and certainly not all one one cruise.

We were also on the Quantum "Inaugural" and we were in such disbelief that we booked another cruise on the Q to see if there were as many problems as we thought there were. We thought that perhaps there was so much hype that we expected things to be totally awesome. Our second cruise...some things improved...others were worse. As a result, we do not plan to book the Anthem until the reviews start to show improvement. It is so sad because the ships are amazing. The crew gets the worst of it! They hear the complaints 24/7 so it has to have impact on how they feel. Yes...very sad!

I can't blame you. Hope you enjoy your new cruises !

OP, thanks for your observations. I have been reading so many reviews on this ship, both positive and negative. We sail soon on a New Years Eve cruise and it is sold out. Going with a great positive attitude, but really, any company that puts out a new product really should be ready. Negative reviews are bad for business. Like you, I already have another cruise booked on Anthem, so we shall see what happens.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

The closest bathrooms to the grande and chic are as hw stated - through the smoky casino

Not a great set-up but, in reality, the bathrooms are literally 5 steps into the casino in an area that wasn't really smoky at all due to it being wide open to the rest of the ship. Now the back corner of the casino- yes, that was smoky.

Since you were so unhappy with the Anthem, you made the right decision for you. Enjoy your new cruises.

 

:)

Thank you. I am looking forward to 28 days of warm weather on the Vision:)

There are bathrooms at the elevator lobbies on both Decks 3 &4, where the dining rooms are.

The closest bathrooms to the grande and chic are as hw stated - through the smoky casino

I apologize. My memory on that count is apparently faulty. :)

I can't blame you. Hope you enjoy your new cruises !

Thank you!

FIRST world problems. Get a real life!

Isn't this whole forum designed to discuss first world problems? It is a place for us to talk about good AND bad experiences so we can make smart decisions with our vacation dollars. I, for one, appreciate the insight of others.

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Seriously! Its a forum dedicated to vacation travel. Duh. Not trying to serve world problems here- just talking about how to best spend our hard-earned leisure $ (and yes, I give plenty of those $ to charity too!)

Not a great set-up but, in reality, the bathrooms are literally 5 steps into the casino in an area that wasn't really smoky at all due to it being wide open to the rest of the ship. Now the back corner of the casino- yes, that was smoky.

I apologize. My memory on that count is apparently faulty. :)

As conandrob said, they are only a very short distance into the casino. I confirmed with the deck plans.

And if one is still not happy with that, they can go up a set of stairs and go the bathrooms that are in the hallway on deck 4.

:)

Thanks for your report Maritime. As a currently booked anthem cruiser, I appreciate your review since it puts Royal Caribbean on notice of potential problem areas, giving them the opportunity to correct where necessary. Service and dining-if there are problems there...there are problems!

Thanks for your report Maritime. As a currently booked anthem cruiser, I appreciate your review since it puts Royal Caribbean on notice of potential problem areas, giving them the opportunity to correct where necessary. Service and dining-if there are problems there...there are problems!

:)You're very welcome.

FIRST world problems. Get a real life!

Considering the First World price of this type of vacation, the complaints aren't unreasonable.