nycruise

2 comments:

1.) There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 million people within driving distance of Bayonne. That's the primary audience for New Jersey/New York Winter cruises.

2.) Something about the sink area outside the Windjammer doesn't seem sanitary, not sure why. Also if everyone used the sinks there would be a line out the door and past the elevators. Seems to me the use of hand sanitizer should be enough, it always worked (to varying degrees) on previous cruise ships. Not sure how many ships have sinks at the entrance of the buffet, probably a very small number. Obviously the sinks didn't help on the Anthem.

Happened to be at a hospital this week and seems they think hand sanitizer is enough, everyone including the doctors use it. I know hospitals have their own sets of problems but they are filled with sick people so it's not a surprise if someone contracts an infection. I haven't heard much about Noro being an issue at most hospitals.

Here's an update from the current roll call this past Tuesday.

"That's because the solarium was unusable for the first two days due to a broken window. North Star is down, puzzle break is broken.

On the upside, I spent the day at the pool and it was quite lovely!!"

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2151613&page=56

We know the passengers and crew made it through, but most importantly did the Giraffe survive the storm? :confused:

Probably coming in late due to high tide at 4:10PM, can't get under the Verrazano Bridge at high tide.

It's being reported that the ship is heading back to New Jersey.

"A Royal Caribbean cruise ship headed from New Jersey to Florida encountered rough seas and high winds in the Atlantic Ocean Sunday, forcing frightened passengers into their cabins overnight as their belongings flew about and winds howled outside. Those onboard described waves as high as 30 feet, but the cruise line says no one was injured and the ship suffered minor damage and was safe to remain at sea.

It was initially expected that the ship would continue to Port Canaveral, but officials announced Monday that the Anthem of the Seas would turn around and sail back to Cape Liberty, New Jersey."

http://abc7ny.com/news/cruise-ship-headed-to-florida-encounters-rough-seas-will-return-to-nj/1191555/

Agree that Jamie's is a flop in both decor and food.

We did get shower gel in our cabin along with shampoo and body cream.

Travel ban in NYC lifted this morning.

"Eat dinner anytime versus the Traditional dining times. "

NCL was first but virtually every line offers that option and have for the past 10 years.

Have to disagree with Jamie's, we didn't like it for both ambiance and food. Doesn't compare to Italian restaurants here in NYC or Philadelphia.

All of the main dining rooms with the exception of Silk were fine. It's hit or miss based on the waiter and the particular food selections for a given evening. I'd try them all at least once and make your own judgement.

Great review.

This line summed it up.

"they were prepared for 2000 people....not 4000."

We were on the New Year's cruise and had 4700 passengers. The ship seems too small to accommodate much more than 3500.

Agree on Martinique, we were there 20 years ago on a cruise and I guess not much has changed.

The only area we disagree on is that we loved "Spectre's Cabaret".

Only really bad thing is I never understood in this one was the propensity/desire to slam someone for their views on the food - in particular, calling them "Michelin food critics" - is that really necessary? They're just telling us what they experienced.

I was responding to the OP who hadn't yet been on the ship, so they weren't telling us what they experienced. :rolleyes:

Although Princess is our favorite line, Royal Caribbean might suit you best.

Check out the new Quantum Class Ships like Anthem of the Seas and soon to be Ovation of the Seas. They have all the usual bells and whistles of a RCCL ship but have added Bumper Cars, Circus School, North Star (lifts you over the ship and ocean in a kind of space capsule) and Ifly (sky diving) to the mix along with the Bionic Bar which has robots for bartenders.

Also they have a showroom called 270 which is the most high tech you'll see on land or sea. It gives your 270 degree views of the ocean and the windows turn into projection screens during show times. They have a show called Spectre's Cabaret that will knock your socks off, incorporating tons of technology and acrobatics.

Well, maybe it is because RCI sales brochures say stuff like: "From cupcakes to California rolls, finger foods to a five-course gourmet meal, a Royal Caribbean cruise is a journey of culinary discovery. Our innovative chefs, each trained and certified, will take your palate global with a lineup of complimentary and specialty options." what you are saying they should promote is: " Our food is OK but please be patient and consider that we are serving 4000 people so give us some slack."

 

If I expected food to be equal to an AI, I would not even bother. My first cruise on Disney, the food is a big reason we wanted to cruise again. On our second cruise, for our anniversary, my DW & I went on Liberty and the food was for the most part, superb. I've read many disappointing reviews for Anthems food, but given that we are going on a cruise with 7 or 8 families, the Departure port, Sail dates and on board activities were a more important factor, but I'm hopeful that by then, they will have most of the issues ironed out.

 

I can't get over how some people just accept mediocrity as the norm and are willing to pay for it. No wonder things aren't made like they used to.:(

 

Did you even see this page: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/anthemoftheseas/dining/restaurants/

 

Nothing on that page tells me to expect what you are saying.

 

dp

I guess I'm realistic enough to know that RCCL is not a luxury line but much more middle of the road. The brochure you quote is simply "puffery" as you'll find in the description of most products and services. I think it's much more realistic to temper expectations and then be pleasantly surprised if they're exceeded. Knowing they are serving over 4,000 people 3 meals a day or more than 84,000 meals on a one week cruise, it's just unreasonable IMO to expect every meal to be consistent regarding quality and service.

As the ships get larger the service and quality suffer. RCCL hopes to make up for that with over the top entertainment and attractions which currently seems to be working based on their stock price which has nearly doubled in the past 2 years.

Are you kidding? what a joke.

 

RCCL Cruises are massively more expensive in the EU than other lines. The food is consistantly worse than other lines too. Anthem Food was the worst i have eaten on a cruise by far. 5 white steaks which looked like pork sent back in a row! Cold bland curry and breakfast which was worse than a £3 cafe.

 

They are cutting costs on food. Prices this year on Indi are 50% more expensive than 2 years ago. staff are happy to serve you crap and when you send it back its suddenly better most of the time. Its like you have to eat crap first to get the meal you should have had. One Menu on Allure was so bad not one person on the table would eat any of it and we ended off with a secret curry from a menu that was for indian customers which was 100x better than the crap "beef tenderloin" they tried to pass off to us earlier.

You must be one of those Michelin critics! :D

By the way if they are massively more expensive then other lines, take the other lines. :rolleyes:

Why is it that people who eat hot dogs, burgers and pizza at home all of a sudden become Michelin food critics when they board a cruise ship??

The food on the Anthem is fine, not the best and not the worst, but when you're serving 4,000 meals a day in the main dining rooms, don't expect the same food you would find in a fine dining restaurant on land that is serving a couple of hundred customers.

Keep in mind the money you are spending is primarily for your cabin, transportation, entertainment, swimming pools, hot tubs, Ifly, Northstar, Bumper Cars, Flo-rider, rock climbing, etc. and of course destinations (ports). It's not all about food.

We sailed last month and found the cabin to be cold no matter how high we turned the temp and whether we turned the fan on or off it made no difference. The public spaces were fine.

It seems unfair to downgrade it for where it started and lousy ports-- you booked it. I also live in NY and CHOOSE to book from here. I know there are some cold days and even my first trip there I found the ports to be lousy. But it was still my choice. I wouldn't rate the ship lower because I decided to book from a northern port.

As I said, I'm rating the "cruise", not the ship. I consider the ports, weather and seas a big part of a "cruise". If you have a great ship but it rains all week and you get sea sick due to the sea conditions and the ports are 3rd rate, would you rate it a great "cruise"? I wouldn't. True, it has nothing to do with the cruiseline but it's all part of that particular cruise experience.

I know that when I think back over the cruises we've taken, all of the factors I mentioned above play into the total "cruise" experience. If you have a great ship, with interesting ports, beautiful weather and calm seas, now that is a cruise I would consider a 10.

The rating is based on the entire cruise experience. Just because it’s a new ship doesn’t automatically justify a perfect score for us. The whole experience – overcrowding, “ok” food, etc., doesn’t warrant a 10. The ship has a frenetic feel – it’s only fair to state this. They pack as many people in as possible and cut down on staff (assistant cabin attendants, assistant wait staff). There’s a lot of running by the dining room staffs which makes the dining experience much less than “10”, no fault of the staff.

It’s similar to comparing a four or five-star hotel with a huge convention hotel. Apples/oranges. The ship and the staff might rate a 9 but the other factors bring the rating down.

Remember only 44% of cruisers on CruiseCritic loved the ship.

Good review and glad you enjoyed the cruise. We were on the same cruise and enjoyed it also but can't rate it a 10. For us a cruise encompasses not only the ship, food, service and entertainment but also the ports, sea conditions and weather. We'd be hard pressed to rate any cruise out of New Jersey or New York a 10 due to the lackluster and repetitive ports and the cold weather on the first and last days of the cruise at this time of year.

Our cruises to Alaska, the Mediterranean, the West Coast and the Panama Canal definitely rate higher because the destinations were so much more interesting. Afterall, cruises used to be about the ports, today it seems the ship is the destination. Hope to eventually cruise the Baltics, the British Isles and Hawaii. NY/NJ cruises are great for the convenience but not number one on our hit parade when thinking back on past cruises.

I'd rate the cruise a 7, due to the factors stated above in addition to the food in the MDR's being fair to good but not great. Also the fact that they cancelled all showing of The Gift and didn't give us our Gold benefits until I went down to guest services, and in our opinion the ship felt crowded.

Just our opinion.

Glad you enjoyed it enough to rate it a 10.

I

Got kick off internet for awhile. I'll have to check why this is happening. Here is my response to the above.

On this cruise Anthem has been very stable although the maximum seas we've had so far is 6 to 8 feet. Our cabin is on deck 10 over last lifeboat so is fairly close to the stern and we have had no problem what ever with movement in our cabin or even when we have been at the very front in the solarium.

We were on deck 10 also, near the center of the ship, virtually no movement at all the entire cruise.

Would be curious to know if the Gift if on the schedule.

If you're looking for an elegant cruise from the days of yore the Quantum/Anthem are not for you. Hard to do elegant for 4000 to 5000 passengers. Go for a smaller ship.

Are you talking Quantum in Asia or Anthem in Jersey?

On the Anthem the average price for a glass of wine was $15 in the dining rooms, with tip 2 glasses of wine came out to $35. Same price or more than we pay at a restaurant here in Manhattan.

We did the North Star on both the Quantum and the Anthem. More of a marketing gimmick, the experience doesn't live up to the hype.

How's the weather on the current cruise?

Found the Anthem to be one of the smoothest cruises we've experienced. Not sure if it was luck or engineering.

"The Gift" was cancelled on our cruise last week, is it playing this week?

Did you have any issues with the mattress? There have been many complaints about the "rock hard" mattresses but I haven't seen anything about them being on the Anthem.

Found all of the bedding very comfortable, biggest problem was the room temp. Seemed cold most days, particular on the first and last sea days. We turned off the fan and turned up the temp, all to no avail.

We just got off the Anthem also. Thought the meals in the MDR's were good both in quality and variety. Service is hit or miss based on the particular server but will say everyone is working hard to please. We liked Grande the best and Silk the least but all were fine when you consider they were serving 4000 people. We didn't use any of the paid restaurants, we tried Jamie's on the Quantum and weren't impressed.

They cancelled all showings of "The Gift" on this sailing, they claimed some type of technical difficulty. The rest of the entertainment was high caliber based on typical cruise ship offerings.

Good weather, smooth sailing, good food and service, pretty much sums it up but prefer a smaller ship. On this holiday sailing the ship was carrying 4,700 passengers and all venues were crowded and seating was limited at bars, shows and particularly the Windjammer.

Don't think I'd want to spend 3 hours of a sea day touring the ship unless the cruise had an inordinate number of sea days. We've been cruising long enough to remember when the ships were much smaller and the tour only took an hour and it was free. Times have changed. ;)