Just off the Anthem 11/4-/11/11- Long Lines-Pretty Good Cruise

They do have assigned check in times but no one in the terminal looked at that.

 

We arrived by car at 10:30 after heeding the advise here on CC. It was the best advise.

 

We drove into the terminal and waited behind a few cars to drop off luggage with the porters then proceeded to the parking garage. We entered the terminal and all the check in people before security had groups of people with them so we went through security and then got on the regular checkin line. We waited about five minutes in that line and after we were checked in we were directed to board the ship. We walked right on. I think we were on board by 10:55. I did notice people that got there earlier were seated in the waiting area and were boarding by groups. 10:30 arrival was perfect! Thanks CC

Very interesting post. Thanks. We will be on the Anthem next year, and will plan to get there no later than 10:30am.

Very interesting post. Thanks. We will be on the Anthem next year, and will plan to get there no later than 10:30am.

You are likely to run into passengers who haven't departed yet if you arrive too early.

Thanks everyone for the arrival tips. Here's to smooth sailing.

So, we waited in line for another 45 minutes at Guest Service regarding this issue. This set the tone for the cruise. Long lines for everything! But, we still managed to have a great time. If I were to go on this ship again, I would not choose MTD.

Same experience here. My running joke was that if you liked waiting in lines, this was an excellent vacation. I've done the version of MTD on Celebrity, never on Royal, and it was never an issue walking up without a reservation. We have small kids, so we usually lined up between 5-6 and it was always a 30-45 minute wait. We also overheard many people without reservations just getting in the reservation line and being seated right away. That's not the kind of example I want to set, so we waited patiently, but it definitely sours your experience.

I was on the Anthem the cruise before yours. Got back 11/4. Had a great time, no really long lines. Pre-booked excursions, shows, dining and ifly. You have to do your research. If anyone has any questions, I will be happy to answer them.

The idea of rotating dining rooms was part of Dynamic Dining, which has been gone for a year.

That's really too bad because we liked rotating through the different restaurants when we had classic. I guess too many complaints, yet heard many people liked it. Maybe those who liked it should have let Royal know

I was on the Anthem the cruise before yours. Got back 11/4. Had a great time, no really long lines. Pre-booked excursions, shows, dining and ifly. You have to do your research. If anyone has any questions, I will be happy to answer them.

I agree that you have to plan everything as we have been on over 30 criuses and know the ndeal and we did but it just did not work out;

Did all excursions on our own which went great

Thought we were set on dining as we had reservations every night but still waited every night

Ifly never opened to reserve before cruise, got on the ship went on the app but they had technical difficulties and had to wait on line to reserve

We reserved shows and had no issues other than walking out on Spectra

Got tender tickets the day before but even with a good number took over 2 hours to get off at Coco Cay.

The ice cream machine was up and down, in an awful spot and if you wanted a cone, it was another 20-30 minute experience.

Glad you had a better experience but we just felt all we did was wait on lines half our vacation unlike any other of our other 30 cruises

I agree that you have to plan everything as we have been on over 30 criuses and know the ndeal and we did but it just did not work out;

 

Did all excursions on our own which went great

Thought we were set on dining as we had reservations every night but still waited every night

Ifly never opened to reserve before cruise, got on the ship went on the app but they had technical difficulties and had to wait on line to reserve

We reserved shows and had no issues other than walking out on Spectra

Got tender tickets the day before but even with a good number took over 2 hours to get off at Coco Cay.

The ice cream machine was up and down, in an awful spot and if you wanted a cone, it was another 20-30 minute experience.

 

Glad you had a better experience but we just felt all we did was wait on lines half our vacation unlike any other of our other 30 cruises

Amen! I haven't been on 30 cruises, but I have been on quite a few (including a previous cruise on the Anthem), and have never seen lines like on this one!

That's really too bad because we liked rotating through the different restaurants when we had classic. I guess too many complaints, yet heard many people liked it. Maybe those who liked it should have let Royal know

We had the rotation last year, but didn't do because we were assigned late seating, Never went to MDR. Wish we had inquired about changing to early time. However we still enjoyed our cruise

Haven't cruised Jersey Week since oldest went into HS so it's been a while, but we do cruise during spring break and will cruise again this Christmas on Anthem (we sailed her same time in 2015).

 

I'm got all of our dining set up, and we'll make a specialty reservation on board since we have a promo for a couple of nights. Saw the shows last time, and the only one I think I'd see again is We Will Rock You.

 

If someone can comment on whether the Royal Swedes (or another tribute band) will be on over the Christmas holiday, that would be great. Wish Wanted or one of the Journey tribute bands were going to be on during our trip.

 

Even with the cooler weather, we never had trouble finding seating near the indoor pool during the day, while the boys used the Flowrider as much as possible. Of course, during our trip, it went down during the run back to NJ, so that put a damper on the end of their trip, so hoping this year it's in good working order.

 

They did iFly last time (not sure either one cares if they do it again), missed North Star, so might try that, but not too worried about it.

 

Since we're local NJ, hopefully we'll be able to get on and off without too much issue. I have a check in time for embarkation; getting off, we just have to make sure we get back home by around 11, since our dog needs to be picked up by noon on Saturday.

What is Jersey Week????

What is Jersey Week????

All public schools in NJ are closed on a Thursday and Friday in early November for the NJEA Teacher's Convention. This year the convention was November 9 & 10. Some schools are also closed for election day, which typically falls in the same week. And, some schools are even closed for the entire week. So, it ends up being a good week for families to go on vacation.

All public schools in NJ are closed on a Thursday and Friday in early November for the NJEA Teacher's Convention. This year the convention was November 9 & 10. Some schools are also closed for election day, which typically falls in the same week. And, some schools are even closed for the entire week. So, it ends up being a good week for families to go on vacation.

We have done a cruise this week for 9 years, even if the kids had to miss 2 days of school but this year they had whole week off as superintendent likes to vacation

We chose this cruise because we go away every year during jersey week as our son is off from school and its a 30 min drive from home;

 

Embarkation- The line of cars took over an hour as we arrived at 11am and did not check in till 12, once parked it was easy and a 15 min process.

 

Once on the ship waited on line for 40 min to eat lunch which became a running theme for the week. No sail away party, was a nice dice so not sure why.

 

Dining- We had reservations for my time dining every day, even with a set time, there was a long line every night, took 30 mins to get seated after our reservation then at least 90-120 mins to eat, an exhausting process. The food was very good, all steaks were cooked to order, service varied some spotty to very good. Breakfast in Windjammer was below par other than the donuts which was best in any of our 30 cruises. Did not really have lunch as was not hungry and could not deal with the craziness of the lines. Hot dog truck was awful and generic.

 

Entertainment- What we liked- the band Wanted-so much fun, We will Rock you-story is silly but cast sound the Queen songs well, Abba show was corny but fun. Comedians were fine, not great , not awful. House band was ok All 4 One. I fly while great was worth doing but is only 1 minute. What we did not like-while all the bells and whistles sounds great- the lines to do anything fun was just brutal and not making it worth it for us nor our teen. Indoor pool and Solarium were packed on the cold day, Walked out at Spectra after 10 mins- beyond awful. Did not see The Gift.

 

Staff-Cruise Director and staff were OK, nothing special but not bad. Nothing memorable to be honest.

 

Teen Club- Our son made friends which was good but the activities were awful, he called it one of the worst of his 25 cruises.

 

Main Pool- we had 2 nice days, very hard to find seats, only 1 activity by the pool, band was bland.

 

Drink package- I had it and my wife did not, took patience to get drinks and they were understaffed but I did not attentive waiters while sitting on the 2nd deck so that was a positive, Bionic bar was cute.

 

:Ports- Florida- We rented a car, went to Epcot on our own and had a great time. Coca Cay- Awesome warm day, went to the end of island away from everyone who get off and sit at a very crowded beach, floating bar so much fun even if drinks were limited. Fantastic day. Nassau- took a taxi to Melia, solid day

 

Cabin- Had a Handicap room, so large and great, room steward was invisible but fine.

 

Ship- Crazy crowded, lines for everything you can think of, not sure we would ever go on this ship again.

 

Over all good cruise but we will remember the norovirus, long lines more than anything else other than Wanted and We will Rock you. We were able to use imessage for free when connected to the wifi . Also had a free apps work as well and we did not pay for anything

 

 

Debarkation- We walked off our selves, ate breakfast at 8, then it took about an hour to walk off and get through customs.

How much was the taxi to Melia? And what is the daily fee to relax at Melia?

Thanks

How much was the taxi to Melia? And what is the daily fee to relax at Melia?

 

Thanks

I'm not the OP, but I also went to Melia on this sailing. Cab was $20 each way. The day pass was $45 and included a voucher for a free beverage at Starbucks.