Anthem - Update on Dining from the January 3, 2016 Cruise

We returned today from our 12 night cruise on the Anthem that departed on January 3. We were in "classic" dynamic dining, in which you have the same waiter, assistant waiter, head waiter and wine steward as you rotate through four absolutely gorgeous themed dining rooms. In fact, some of the most beautiful rooms at sea. Prior to the cruise we read many negative reviews of Silk, an Asian - Fusion style restaurant. Our waiter, Stefan, who was a good as it gets, confirmed that prior to the cruise before ours, there were nothing but negative complaints about the food in Silk. He said they let go of the chef and changed some of the menu items. Passengers seem quite satisfied with the changes and we concur.

Silk was SO good and was probably our favorite of the four main dining rooms. The beef in the Hibachi Steak just melted in your mouth. When I couldn't find something I liked at one restaurant, our waiter gladly brought me a dish from the Silk menu. The short ribs at American Icon were as good as any I have had in fine restaurants.

We had also read complaints about slowness of the bar service in the four main restaurants. Our wine steward was at our table within a couple of minutes of us sitting down. If not, the waiter gave our wine order to the wine steward. Our wine steward even brought us wines from the wine list at other restaurants. Our favorite red was the Yangarra Shiraz at $16 a glass.

Somewhere I read on CC that Royal Caribbean doesn't have wine stewards. Well, we certainly had one and he knew his wines. He did take orders for other kinds of drinks as well.

Yes, dining could take and hour and a half to an hour and three quarters. That amount of time seemed just right to us and is consistent with our experiences on Celebrity, Princess and Cunard. We never felt rushed, but if we wanted to catch an early show, our waiter would speed things up for us.

We had lunch at Jamie's Italian. First class food and service.

The Solarium Bistro, which replaced Devinly Decadence, was a very pleasant, low load environment. For breakfast, you can ask for egg dishes made to order and they give you a number to put on your table. The problem is that if two people at the same table put their orders in at the same time, typically they were brought to your table many minutes apart. I would be finished by the time my wife got her order. Other people we spoke to reported the same problem.

The MDR used for breakfast is the American Icon. Breakfast, and only breakfast, service was absolutely terrible. We were placed at table for eight with other very nice people. However, if someone asked for a coffee refill, the waiter would refill that person' cup, but not check to see if anyone else needed a refill. The same would happen with bread and rolls. Orders placed at the same time would come out several minutes apart. In fact, we waited about a half hour for our breakfast order to appear. We were about to leave to go to Windjammer, when one of us got our order. AGAIN, THERE WERE NO SUCH SERVICE PROBLEMS AT DINNER, WHERE SERVICE WAS REFINED AND ELEGANT.

Overall, I would have to say that the food and service on the Anthem was no better and no worse than food we have had on other lines, such as Celebrity and Princess. However, some dishes really stood out, such as the Hibachi Steak and the short ribs. There was no evidence of low morale as has previously been suggested. The staff appears to have learned the new routine of rotational dining and it really works. In summary, our dining experience on the Anthem of the Seas far exceeded our expectations.

Thank you for the good news! We board in 10 days so this is very reassuring :)

OP: thanks for taking the time to post, and so glad to hear you had mostly good dining experiences.

It's quite newsworthy that they've changed the chef at Silk. On our TA in Oct./Nov., our dinner at Silk was hands down the worst meal of the entire cruise. Just awful food.

Glad things are improving food wise! (The ship is otherwise wonderful.)

Thanks for taking the time to write the review - sounds like good news on the service

Just off the same cruise as the original poster, I agree that the Silk Hibachi Steak was wonderful the both nights we had it. We also had classic dining and our wonderful server figured out quickly that we we not into 90 - 120 minute dinners, especially when we never eat dessert. Afterwards, we were usually out in about 50 minutes without anything being rushed.

The Solarium at dinner is very nice. You should make a reservation but they got us in the last night as a walk in just before they got busy. You serve yourself the salad and appetizers from a nice selection of hot and cold items. We both had the lobster which was better than Grande. Best part - Solarium at dinner is free!

We returned today from our 12 night cruise on the Anthem that departed on January 3. We were in "classic" dynamic dining, in which you have the same waiter, assistant waiter, head waiter and wine steward as you rotate through four absolutely gorgeous themed dining rooms. In fact, some of the most beautiful rooms at sea. Prior to the cruise we read many negative reviews of Silk, an Asian - Fusion style restaurant. Our waiter, Stefan, who was a good as it gets, confirmed that prior to the cruise before ours, there were nothing but negative complaints about the food in Silk. He said they let go of the chef and changed some of the menu items. Passengers seem quite satisfied with the changes and we concur.

 

Silk was SO good and was probably our favorite of the four main dining rooms. The beef in the Hibachi Steak just melted in your mouth. When I couldn't find something I liked at one restaurant, our waiter gladly brought me a dish from the Silk menu. The short ribs at American Icon were as good as any I have had in fine restaurants.

 

We had also read complaints about slowness of the bar service in the four main restaurants. Our wine steward was at our table within a couple of minutes of us sitting down. If not, the waiter gave our wine order to the wine steward. Our wine steward even brought us wines from the wine list at other restaurants. Our favorite red was the Yangarra Shiraz at $16 a glass.

 

Somewhere I read on CC that Royal Caribbean doesn't have wine stewards. Well, we certainly had one and he knew his wines. He did take orders for other kinds of drinks as well.

 

Yes, dining could take and hour and a half to an hour and three quarters. That amount of time seemed just right to us and is consistent with our experiences on Celebrity, Princess and Cunard. We never felt rushed, but if we wanted to catch an early show, our waiter would speed things up for us.

 

We had lunch at Jamie's Italian. First class food and service.

 

The Solarium Bistro, which replaced Devinly Decadence, was a very pleasant, low load environment. For breakfast, you can ask for egg dishes made to order and they give you a number to put on your table. The problem is that if two people at the same table put their orders in at the same time, typically they were brought to your table many minutes apart. I would be finished by the time my wife got her order. Other people we spoke to reported the same problem.

 

The MDR used for breakfast is the American Icon. Breakfast, and only breakfast, service was absolutely terrible. We were placed at table for eight with other very nice people. However, if someone asked for a coffee refill, the waiter would refill that person' cup, but not check to see if anyone else needed a refill. The same would happen with bread and rolls. Orders placed at the same time would come out several minutes apart. In fact, we waited about a half hour for our breakfast order to appear. We were about to leave to go to Windjammer, when one of us got our order. AGAIN, THERE WERE NO SUCH SERVICE PROBLEMS AT DINNER, WHERE SERVICE WAS REFINED AND ELEGANT.

 

Overall, I would have to say that the food and service on the Anthem was no better and no worse than food we have had on other lines, such as Celebrity and Princess. However, some dishes really stood out, such as the Hibachi Steak and the short ribs. There was no evidence of low morale as has previously been suggested. The staff appears to have learned the new routine of rotational dining and it really works. In summary, our dining experience on the Anthem of the Seas far exceeded our expectations.

We really enjoyed the meals on Anthem. I second the hibachi steak was excellent. I basically stuck with the signature dishes and was very happy. What could be bad; lobster tails, shrimp, etc., and the dining venues were beautiful. When it comes to Spectras Caberet and the Gift, the costumes and scenery were terrific, but I really did not care for the shows.

Our waiter, Stefan, who was a good as it gets, confirmed that prior to the cruise before ours, there were nothing but negative complaints about the food in Silk. He said they let go of the chef and changed some of the menu items. Passengers seem quite satisfied with the changes and we concur.

Hi, Emile and Krys! I mentioned the Silk chef change to two people on the ship (one of them was one of the top chefs, the other an assistant maitre'd in Silk) and they claimed that it was not correct. Now, maybe they didn't want to acknowledge it, that is possible, or maybe you got bad info.

I agree with you that the steak and shrimp entree there was excellent (even if the shrimp weren't really in tempura batter as the menu said). And the 5-Spice Lamb Chops were also excellent, so good that I also ordered it when we ate at American Icon, so I had them 4 times on the cruise. And both of those dishes came out medium-rare as requested, which doesn't often happen on a cruise ship, especially with lamb. The creme brulee at Silk was one of the best desserts we had on the ship, although it tasted nothing of lemongrass as it was supposed to. Our waiter at Silk was Dorel and he was also excellent -- we asked for him on our subsequent visits there. In fact, we had excellent service at all of the 4 main dining rooms.

However, other dishes at Silk were as bad as I'd read, mostly the Asian dishes. The General Tso's Chicken, while not grey as I had seen reported, did not have the correct sauce and the chicken tasted like it had been cooked earlier and just mixed (barely) with the sauce. I tried the Kung Pao Chicken on the second menu (newly added this cruise, it seems) and it tasted just like the General Tso's, and I confirmed with my server that he brought the right dish (I asked, since it didn't have the peanuts it was supposed to). The Egg Drop Soup was just terrible and the Coconut Lime soup on the second menu tasted like neither (or the soup it was supposed to be). They are definitely working on the menu there -- there were a couple of different appetizers on the menus we received than on the regular menus. Sadly they did not have the seared tuna, I was told that they didn't receive the tuna, although Grande had it for their Nicoise salad. They added a fried shrimp dumpling dish to the first menu the second time it was served and people who had it said it was very good. They added Samosas but they were nothing more than triangular versions of the vegetarian egg rolls on the other menu.

Other food was hit or miss, mostly miss. The Windjammer cooked dishes often looked terrible, although we did have some good eggplant parm there one day (amusingly, I found it on the cold buffet the next day, complete with sauce and cold melted cheese, listed as Marinated Eggplant, I'll post a photo if anyone doubts me). We had dinner there one night and I finally managed to get salmon cooked to order (it was pre-cooked elsewhere, even at Solarium Bistro), although they had cut the servings so small -- one inch wide, that the chef had to put them on the grill on their sides. The fries at WJ were good, although when I went to get them once they were all clumped together. The night we had dinner at WJ, they ran out of tables, because there were so many people eating there. They had the rear portions roped off to prevent people from sitting there, but we went around the rope since there was no where else to sit. I was very disappointed that no manager was on the floor helping people find seating, or proactively opening the closed section because they had no available tables. We tried Solarium Bistro one night and while the people in my party who had the lobster tail said it was better than Grande, no one was interested in going back a second time.

I did not eat at Jamie's. I really wanted to try the lamb chops there (only on the dinner menu) but a couple of people told me that the other food there wasn't good so I didn't bother chancing it. We did enjoy Wonderland and ate there the first night for 30% off.

Some things that bothered me --the only place to get a freshly cooked burger on the ship is at Johnny Rockets, which replaced the free pool grille they've had at every other ship I have been on. WJ closed at 4:30, even for snacks and drinks, but JR managed to stay open later (even later than WJ did for dinner, I believe). Soft serve ice cream at the pool closed at 5 sharp.

There is hope that the food will improve. I'm told the top food big-wigs from corporate are on the ship right now (some boarded in Barbados, others today). I am hopeful that they will figure things out by the time we are back on board in August.

Breakfast and lunch at Solarium are just a subset of the Windjammer slop. Yes, you can get eggs cooked to order, but the day we tried it, we were told there was a 20 minute wait. Omelets were available at Windjammer with a much shorter wait (typically only a couple of people ahead of us).

Little known fact: freshly made omelets were available for lunch in Windjammer, at the very back, near the outdoor seating.

...Some things that bothered me --the only place to get a freshly cooked burger on the ship is at Johnny Rockets, which replaced the free pool grille they've had at every other ship I have been on. WJ closed at 4:30, even for snacks and drinks, but JR managed to stay open later (even later than WJ did for dinner, I believe). Soft serve ice cream at the pool closed at 5 sharp....

Bill, thanks for your additional input on the Anthem dining venues. On our last sea day, I had a burger at Michael's Pub. It was cooked to order, and was thick and juicy. Krys had the fish and chips, which was as good as many we have had on land. Michael's looks rather genuine and had a good, but modestly sized, selection of beer.

We also had dinner at the Chef's Table, which is a private room inside of Chops. The waiter-presenter told us that eight people had reservations for this room that holds 16. The dinner was supposed to begin at 6:30. We, along with a couple from Siberia, waited politely for 15 minutes for the other four to show up. The presenter decided to call the missing diners, who apparently changed their minds. I guess these guests considered it proper manners not to cancel their reservations and allow others to wait for them. It was a big turn off.

The food offerings at the Chef's Table were so-so: fancily prepared and served, but not particularly flavorful, bland like the food on the rest of the ship. There was a beef dish that was as tender as meat from Argentina. However, we never got to meet the Chef of Chef's Table.

There was a wine pairing with each course. We were served five white wines and one red: an excellent Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon. The well-meaning waiter kept refilling the glasses of the earlier wines. Unfortunately, having too much to drink earlier in the meal takes away from the enjoyment of fine wines served later. I think six glasses of wine is more than sufficient.

The meal at the Chef's Table was $85 per person and I don't think it was worth it on top of what is included in the cruise. I would like to hear from others who also dined at the Chef's Table for their experiences.

Bill, thanks for your additional input on the Anthem dining venues. On our last sea day, I had a burger at Michael's Pub. It was cooked to order, and was thick and juicy. Krys had the fish and chips, which was as good as many we have had on land. Michael's looks rather genuine and had a good, but modestly sized, selection of beer.

I forgot about Michael's for a burger. But it's worth mentioning that it's not free there, either (what was it, $10?). For a free burger, you need to go to Windjammer, where they're precooked and in a tray, or American Icon for lunch, where I believe they were not cooked to order, either.

Hello Emileg,

Thank You for your upbeat and refreshing review of the Anthem dinner service and restaurants. So pleased to hear the menu at Silk has improved. We sailed with you on the Noordam in January 2007.

Can't wait to cruise Anthem in four weeks time.

Jonathan

Hello Emileg,

 

Thank You for your upbeat and refreshing review of the Anthem dinner service and restaurants. So pleased to hear the menu at Silk has improved. We sailed with you on the Noordam in January 2007.

 

Can't wait to cruise Anthem in four weeks time.

 

Jonathan

Oh, I remember you well, Jonathan. The January 2007 Noordam cruise was the first time I participated in a CC roll call. Since then, when I have started roll calls or created the list by default, you provided the model on the way to do it. For that, I will always be in your debt. Thank you, Jonathan.

Best wishes on your upcoming cruise on the Anthem. At this point the only general negative opinions I have is, unlike other cruise lines, the lack of any educational programming. And like every other major line, with the possible exception of Holland America, the painfully high volume levels at the shows. Even walking aboard the ship on embarkation day, you are accosted with ear blasting music in the Esplanade, as opposed to a glass of Champagne. Nevertheless, the ship is a marvel of beauty and technology. 99% of the time, which I think is pretty darn good, the service was outstanding. Every crew member, except maybe the senior officers, made you feel welcome and glad you were cruising with them. We had lots of down time, which we wanted, that allowed us to catch up on reading. 270 was our favorite room perhaps on any ship. Do not miss whatever programming they have in 270. Other passengers really enjoyed activities we chose not to do, such as the North Star, the iFLY, the rock climbing and the bumper cars. Once we got over the original turn-off upon entering the ship, we really did enjoy ourselves. We booked the new Oasis class Harmony of the Seas for January 7, 2017.

Thank you for your dining update. Maybe I missed it but could you tell me what the 4 restaurants you rotated through were? I know you mentioned Silk. We are doing the classic dynamic in May and very interested in any input on it. Thank you

Oh, I remember you well, Jonathan. The January 2007 Noordam cruise was the first time I participated in a CC roll call. Since then, when I have started roll calls or created the list by default, you provided the model on the way to do it. For that, I will always be in your debt. Thank you, Jonathan.

 

Best wishes on your upcoming cruise on the Anthem. At this point the only general negative opinions I have is, unlike other cruise lines, the lack of any educational programming. And like every other major line, with the possible exception of Holland America, the painfully high volume levels at the shows. Even walking aboard the ship on embarkation day, you are accosted with ear blasting music in the Esplanade, as opposed to a glass of Champagne. Nevertheless, the ship is a marvel of beauty and technology. 99% of the time, which I think is pretty darn good, the service was outstanding. Every crew member, except maybe the senior officers, made you feel welcome and glad you were cruising with them. We had lots of down time, which we wanted, that allowed us to catch up on reading. 270 was our favorite room perhaps on any ship. Do not miss whatever programming they have in 270. Other passengers really enjoyed activities we chose not to do, such as the North Star, the iFLY, the rock climbing and the bumper cars. Once we got over the original turn-off upon entering the ship, we really did enjoy ourselves. We booked the new Oasis class Harmony of the Seas for January 7, 2017.

Hello Emile,

I'm so flattered by your comment. Here's to many more roll calls and perhaps we'll sail together sometime in the near future.

Jonathan

Thank you for your dining update. Maybe I missed it but could you tell me what the 4 restaurants you rotated through were? I know you mentioned Silk. We are doing the classic dynamic in May and very interested in any input on it. Thank you

Silk, chic, American icon, the grande

We returned today from our 12 night cruise on the Anthem that departed on January 3. We were in "classic" dynamic dining, in which you have the same waiter, assistant waiter, head waiter and wine steward as you rotate through four absolutely gorgeous themed dining rooms. In fact, some of the most beautiful rooms at sea. Prior to the cruise we read many negative reviews of Silk, an Asian - Fusion style restaurant. Our waiter, Stefan, who was a good as it gets, confirmed that prior to the cruise before ours, there were nothing but negative complaints about the food in Silk. He said they let go of the chef and changed some of the menu items. Passengers seem quite satisfied with the changes and we concur.

 

Silk was SO good and was probably our favorite of the four main dining rooms. The beef in the Hibachi Steak just melted in your mouth. When I couldn't find something I liked at one restaurant, our waiter gladly brought me a dish from the Silk menu. The short ribs at American Icon were as good as any I have had in fine restaurants.

 

We had also read complaints about slowness of the bar service in the four main restaurants. Our wine steward was at our table within a couple of minutes of us sitting down. If not, the waiter gave our wine order to the wine steward. Our wine steward even brought us wines from the wine list at other restaurants. Our favorite red was the Yangarra Shiraz at $16 a glass.

 

Somewhere I read on CC that Royal Caribbean doesn't have wine stewards. Well, we certainly had one and he knew his wines. He did take orders for other kinds of drinks as well.

 

Yes, dining could take and hour and a half to an hour and three quarters. That amount of time seemed just right to us and is consistent with our experiences on Celebrity, Princess and Cunard. We never felt rushed, but if we wanted to catch an early show, our waiter would speed things up for us.

 

We had lunch at Jamie's Italian. First class food and service.

 

The Solarium Bistro, which replaced Devinly Decadence, was a very pleasant, low load environment. For breakfast, you can ask for egg dishes made to order and they give you a number to put on your table. The problem is that if two people at the same table put their orders in at the same time, typically they were brought to your table many minutes apart. I would be finished by the time my wife got her order. Other people we spoke to reported the same problem.

 

The MDR used for breakfast is the American Icon. Breakfast, and only breakfast, service was absolutely terrible. We were placed at table for eight with other very nice people. However, if someone asked for a coffee refill, the waiter would refill that person' cup, but not check to see if anyone else needed a refill. The same would happen with bread and rolls. Orders placed at the same time would come out several minutes apart. In fact, we waited about a half hour for our breakfast order to appear. We were about to leave to go to Windjammer, when one of us got our order. AGAIN, THERE WERE NO SUCH SERVICE PROBLEMS AT DINNER, WHERE SERVICE WAS REFINED AND ELEGANT.

 

Overall, I would have to say that the food and service on the Anthem was no better and no worse than food we have had on other lines, such as Celebrity and Princess. However, some dishes really stood out, such as the Hibachi Steak and the short ribs. There was no evidence of low morale as has previously been suggested. The staff appears to have learned the new routine of rotational dining and it really works. In summary, our dining experience on the Anthem of the Seas far exceeded our expectations.

I agree with Emile's food reviews.

We enjoyed the food and the dynamic dining experience. Although we had made prior dining reservations, we changed several days to eat together with friends, and were always accommodated at the same time or a few minutes later.

My star list for dinner:

Best: Solarium Bistro and Silk.

Great: The Grande.

Nice: American Icon and WJ

Hmmm: Chic.

Breakfast:

Solarium Bistro and WJ both were equally good. Did not go to AI after hearing about the breakfast service and also did not get a chance.

Absolutely no complaints about the food....although I came home 3 pounds lighter :) :)

Emile, thanks for your review. It was so nice meeting you and Krys! Overall I agree with your thoughts. Loved that Hibachi Steak at Silk!

Took your advice about not doing the Chef's Table the first night. We're doing it on the Harmony TA, and have moved it to day 5.

Arzeena, glad you lost 3, but did you have to send them to me? (must have been those damned cookies from Cafe Promenade...)

Hi Emile,

Can you tell me please what the actual rotation of the 4 comp restaurants i?, Which one you started in and how the progression worked for the duration.

Thank You Very Much.

Jonathan

Hi Emile,

 

Can you tell me please what the actual rotation of the 4 comp restaurants i?, Which one you started in and how the progression worked for the duration.

 

Thank You Very Much.

 

Jonathan

It will vary from person to person. I think you don't get your rotation until you get onboard.

Hi Emile,

 

Can you tell me please what the actual rotation of the 4 comp restaurants i?, Which one you started in and how the progression worked for the duration.

 

Thank You Very Much.

 

Jonathan

Sure. The rotation for classic dining goes in a counter clockwise fashion as you are walking aft to the restaurants. You find out which restaurant you start in when you get to your stateroom. But the rotation goes like this: Chic (deck 3 starboard), Grande (deck 3 port), Silk (deck 4 port), American Icon (deck 4 starboard). No matter which restaurant you start in, you progress in this order.

Facing aft, as this is how you approach the dining rooms:

American Icon <<<<< Deck 4 <<<<<<< Silk

\/ ............................................................ /\

\/ ............................................................ /\

\/ ............................................................ /\

Chic >>>>>>>>>>> Deck 3 >>>>>>> Grande

Sure. The rotation for classic dining goes in a counter clockwise fashion as you are walking aft to the restaurants. You find out which restaurant you start in when you get to your stateroom. But the rotation goes like this: Chic (deck 3 starboard), Grande (deck 3 port), Silk (deck 4 port), American Icon (deck 4 starboard). No matter which restaurant you start in, you progress in this order.

 

Facing aft, as this is how you approach the dining rooms:

 

American Icon <<<<< Deck 4 <<<<<<< Silk

 

\/ ............................................................ /\

\/ ............................................................ /\

\/ ............................................................ /\

 

Chic >>>>>>>>>>> Deck 3 >>>>>>> Grande

Thank You very much Emile. I got it. I figured everyone in Classic Dynamic started in the same restaurant but, it appears they stagger it so one spot is jammed the whole night.

Jonathan

arzeena, glad you lost 3, but did you have to send them to me? (must have been those damned cookies from cafe promenade...)

:d:d

Thank You very much Emile. I got it. I figured everyone in Classic Dynamic started in the same restaurant but, it appears they stagger it so one spot is jammed the whole night.

 

Jonathan

I assume you mean "no spot" and it makes no sense to have everyone start in the same restaurant. It would severely limit the number of non-Classic diners they could have in that restaurant on that night. They have a limited number of tables allocated to Classic, and they have some people in each restaurant each night so they can do the number of tables times 4.

Also, what difference does it make what the rotation is? You don't know what your first restaurant is, so you also won't know what the others are, even if you know the order.

I assume you mean "no spot" and it makes no sense to have everyone start in the same restaurant. It would severely limit the number of non-Classic diners they could have in that restaurant on that night. They have a limited number of tables allocated to Classic, and they have some people in each restaurant each night so they can do the number of tables times 4.

 

Also, what difference does it make what the rotation is? You don't know what your first restaurant is, so you also won't know what the others are, even if you know the order.

Yes, that's what I meant MisterBill99. Everyone starts at a different restaurant rather like a relay race.

Jonathan