Anthem of the Seas: inaugural transatlantic -- my review (detailed by subject)

[Turtles06]

Food and beverages and food service -- an overview (“complimentary” venues)

 

Now, unfortunately, I have to deal with some negatives, as the food and food service in some of the “complimentary” venues were substandard. Too often, we found the servers to be harried and confused, and the quality of the food to be subpar. In some cases, the food was actually inedible. We are not picky eaters, it doesn’t take much to make us happy when we eat out – just some decent food and decent service, but this was too often lacking on Anthem. Many dishes really did not taste good. And a number were described on the menu by “classic” American names, like “New England clam chowder,” or “Ruben [sic] sandwich,” but bore absolutely no relationship to that dish (and tasted awful). Maybe this was not an issue when Anthem was in Europe, but it’s hard to believe it will play well now that Anthem is sailing out of New Jersey.

 

The food service issues could easily be solved by having better trained servers, and perhaps more of them. There really was no excuse for the service issues we encountered, and hard to believe they existed on a ship that has been sailing for six months. And the food quality issues need to be addressed by the chefs and those above them.

 

Another problem we encountered is that the freestyle soda machines (of which there are not many) were often totally empty, or did not have popular items available. Neither of us is a big soda drinker, but every now and then I did like to be able to get sparkling water or a diet soda and, in my spouse’s case, Coke, and too often we were stymied by the unavailability of our selections. At one point, I spoke to a staff member in the Windjammer about this, and her response was to tell me to go to a bar, not “I’ll get this taken care of right away.” In fact, the machines need to be managed better – inspected and filled more often. (I will say, though, that carrying around the big mug needed to use these machines was a PITA, and we rarely did so. I imagine RCI counts on that as a money saver.)

 

In the following posts, I’ll give our thoughts on the specific places where we ate.

[Turtles06]

“Complimentary” dining venues -- Windjammer

 

(I hate RCI’s use of the term “complimentary” to describe the restaurants that guests have PAID to eat in as part of our cruise fare. “Included” would be more accurate.)

 

RCI has implemented an important innovation here – you can’t enter the Windjammer without first going through an actual hand washing station. This is so much better than spraying people with sanitizer. From what I saw, people really were washing their hands. (I’m Lady Macbeth when it comes to hand washing, so I was very grateful to be able to wash my hands immediately before eating and not be limited to Purell.)

 

 

If you’ve been on a Celebrity S-class ship, Anthem’s buffet will feel quite similar to you. It has the same well-designed layout of separate serving islands and stations, making it much easier and faster to get your food. (Food items often were not placed where you’d expect them, though; e.g., bagels were not with the rest of the bread, nor cookies with the other sweets. But once you figured out where things were, you were fine.) With some exceptions, we found the food here to be quite good for a buffet.

 

One real oddity was the made to order omelets – the only cheese they had to put in them was mozzarella. Are you kidding? Mozzarella? There was no cheddar, Swiss, Jack, feta – just mozzarella. I’ve never heard of a cheese omelet made with mozzarella, but in any event, I have never been on a ship or hotel anywhere in the world (including in Europe) where I couldn’t get cheddar or Swiss cheese in an omelet. Having a made to order cheese omelet to start my day is my little guilty pleasure on a cruise ship, and this really annoyed me. I did ask a Windjammer manager about this as he happened to walk by me, and he said, “We can’t change the menu.” Wow.

 

At meal times, the Windjammer was an absolute zoo. I think one problem is that the seating area -- which seemed about the same as on a (much smaller) S-class ship, just can’t handle a ship of this size; the problem, however, was exacerbated because crew sometimes were not clearing and cleaning tables quickly enough. Here’s a tip: walk all the way to the back of the buffet, as far as you can. There are tables back there (and a small serving station), as well as tables outside. It was many days into our sailing before others realized this little hideaway. So don’t tell anyone. :)

 

Another tip: there are fresh baked cookies put out virtually all day (chocolate chip, mudslide, oatmeal raisin, cranberry), and they are all good and not to be missed. In the buffet, they are in the front at the “fresh baked” station, with the breads. They are also available in Café Promenade.

 

Some time ago, I’d read that a small serving station in Windjammer was supposed to be open all night. This was not the case on the TA. The place was locked up after dinner (not that there was a shortage of food on board).

 

(photo by turtles06)

[mom2tcdx2]

Enjoying your review so far, we have booked this ship as our first Royal cruise for a Canada New England trip next October. The ship looks absolutely stunning from the photos I have seent. I am so super excited.

[brfan]

Food and beverages and food service -- an overview (“complimentary” venues)

 

Now, unfortunately, I have to deal with some negatives, as the food and food service in some of the “complimentary” venues were substandard. Too often, we found the servers to be harried and confused, and the quality of the food to be subpar. In some cases, the food was actually inedible. We are not picky eaters, it doesn’t take much to make us happy when we eat out – just some decent food and decent service, but this was too often lacking on Anthem. Many dishes really did not taste good. And a number were described on the menu by “classic” American names, like “New England clam chowder,” or “Ruben [sic] sandwich,” but bore absolutely no relationship to that dish (and tasted awful). Maybe this was not an issue when Anthem was in Europe, but it’s hard to believe it will play well now that Anthem is sailing out of New Jersey.

 

The food service issues could easily be solved by having better trained servers, and perhaps more of them. There really was no excuse for the service issues we encountered, and hard to believe they existed on a ship that has been sailing for six months. And the food quality issues need to be addressed by the chefs and those above them.

 

Another problem we encountered is that the freestyle soda machines (of which there are not many) were often totally empty, or did not have popular items available. Neither of us is a big soda drinker, but every now and then I did like to be able to get sparkling water or a diet soda and, in my spouse’s case, Coke, and too often we were stymied by the unavailability of our selections. At one point, I spoke to a staff member in the Windjammer about this, and her response was to tell me to go to a bar, not “I’ll get this taken care of right away.” In fact, the machines need to be managed better – inspected and filled more often. (I will say, though, that carrying around the big mug needed to use these machines was a PITA, and we rarely did so. I imagine RCI counts on that as a money saver.)

 

In the following posts, I’ll give our thoughts on the specific places where we ate.

 

If I were to guess regarding the service issue is that a lot of new crewmembers (either brand new or back from vacation) joined the ship for the TA and many of the existing crew went on vacation (at least those that had been with the ship since the beginning). I've heard that they do a major turn over of staff during TAs.

[Turtles06]

If I were to guess regarding the service issue is that a lot of new crewmembers (either brand new or back from vacation) joined the ship for the TA and many of the existing crew went on vacation (at least those that had been with the ship since the beginning). I've heard that they do a major turn over of staff during TAs.

 

All I can say is that this was our fourth TA and we've NEVER experienced food service issues like the ones we experienced here. but I certainly hope things improve for future cruisers.

Edited November 8, 2015 by Turtles06

[Turtles06]

Other “complimentary” dining venues

 

Café @Two70 -- this small café just forward of Two70 on Deck 5 was a nice alternative to the Windjammer for breakfast and lunch. The offerings were more limited, but the views in Two70 could not be beat. The café has hot and cold cereals, breakfast and lunch sandwiches, bagels, pastries, desserts, and salads. It’s a very small place, and the lines were sometimes quite long.

 

Silk – we had dinner one night in Silk. The service was actually pretty good, but the food was awful, hands down the worst meal of the entire cruise. Except for the spring rolls (which are pretty hard to ruin, especially when you dip them in duck sauce), everything else -- the other appetizers, our main dishes, and the desserts – just tasted bad. No other way to describe it.

 

American Icon Grill – we had dinner reservations here, but before that evening arrived, we decided to eat lunch at AI, having read good things about the “tutti salad bar” – a salad bar where you pick your ingredients and a chef mixes up (or chops) your salad for you. We both enjoyed the salad bar, and my spouse was particularly happy to be able to get a Caesar salad made to order. The service at the table, however, was a bit frenetic. Also, I ordered a “Ruben sandwich” (that’s how they spelled it). The menu said it was made with pastrami; I don’t know what meat was between the two pieces of far too thick bread, but it wasn’t pastrami. It also tasted foul, totally inedible. My spouse had a “Philly cheese steak.” It wasn’t quite the same as the real thing, but at least it had good flavor. The desserts we ordered –- a warm skillet cookie and Icon’s Candy Bar -- weren’t bad.

 

A couple of days later, we returned to American Icon Grill for the salad bar lunch, but this time we were ushered into Silk across the hall, which was being used as an overflow. Same salad bar and menu. The service was just horrible, however; it was as though none of the servers knew what they were supposed to be doing. It took 20 minutes for them to bring my spouse the Coke she had ordered. And the salad bar had no croutons, which meant no Caesar salad for my spouse. (Really, no croutons at a salad bar? When I asked about them, the guy behind the bar looked at me as though I were crazy.) We each ordered a bowl of “New England Clam Chowder” and were served an unappealing looking, congealed, gelatinous mass. We tried a spoonful; it was another inedible dish.

 

The Grande – we had reserved one dinner at Grande and brought fancy clothes and dress shoes for this supposedly “formal” venue. Despite having a reservation, there were no two tops available, and there was a line of couples waiting. The host kept asking if people wanted to share a table for eight. No takers. Then she asked if people wanted to go across the hall to Chic. She had a few takers there. We waited it out, and were finally seated in Grande. The service here was harried and disorganized. When a server finally showed up, he never even asked if we wanted anything to drink, he immediately wanted to take our food order. My main dish (duck a l’orange) was pretty good, but the lobster bisque I’d ordered was inedible. (Really, I can’t think of any ship we’ve been on where so much food has actually been inedible.)

 

As for the "formal" dress code at Grande -- when men are allowed in with open-collared, non-white, casual shirts and can borrow a jacket, walk to the table and hang the jacket off a chair, the dress code is a joke. Also, nothing about the food or the service was special enough to make this a "formal" venue. Unless you really love dressing up and it doesn't bother you to bring clothes you wouldn't otherwise wear, don't feel the need to bring them.

 

After the foregoing food and service experiences in the “complimentary” venues, we decided to cancel the dinner reservations we had at American Icon and Chic, especially after I read on the “live blog” being written by one of our fellow passengers that the food at Chic was marred by poor service.

 

Devinly Decadence – we actually hadn’t planned to eat here (the concept of low calorie meals on a cruise ship seemed to be a sort oxymoron :) ), but I found myself in the solarium at lunchtime one day and decided to try it out. The vegetarian enchilada was delicious – what great flavors! And the brownie was awesome. So I came back the next day for breakfast, and had an egg white enchilada that was also superb.

 

The last day of the crossing, we decided to have our final dinner at Devinly Decadence, but couldn’t get a reservation. So we walked up and hoped for the best; the wonderful host found a table for us, and we were able to enjoy our final night in a very nice setting with tasty food and no service issues. (My spouse made the better choice with the chicken enchilada than I did with the surf and turf.) Did I say how great the brownies were? So were the rolls – a sort of whole grain salted roll with tons of flavor. The entrees may be limited to 500 calories, but when you add the rest of the stuff, hardly a low-cal meal. :)

[Turtles06]

Specialty Dining and Coastal Kitchen

 

As an unexpected perk of being in a “spa junior suite,” we were able to eat dinner at Coastal Kitchen, and so we dined there on our first night. We had a superb meal with excellent service. (Lobster tails for my spouse, rack of lamb for me.) What a great way to start things off! We wound up eating two more dinners here, and probably would have eaten another but for the limited menu. (If you are fortunate enough to be able to eat here, the dark chocolate tiramisu is a great dessert, as is the salted caramel pudding.)

 

Before the cruise, we booked a dinner at Chops for the second night. As in Coastal Kitchen, we had a wonderful meal; excellent foot and excellent service. (My braised short ribs were delicious.) I’ve read numerous complaints here on CC that Chops has “gone downhill.” Since this was our first sailing with RCI, I can’t say how Chops was in the past, but we thought it was fine now (although I agree that only having two cuts of steak available in a steakhouse is a little stingy). Had this been a longer cruise, or if we hadn’t had Coastal Kitchen as an option, we’d likely have eaten here again.

 

Jamie’s – we’d booked a dinner here pre-cruise, but once we were on board and saw the setting, we decided to cancel. Jamie’s is in an un-enclosed space along the passage to Two70; it looks like you are eating in a shopping mall. Most of the chairs looked like small, metallic lawn chairs. No thanks. We can get good Italian food at home.

[renech]

Really enjoying your review and pictures. Thanks for sharing them. :)

[ladylemondrop]

Turtles thank you for posting your review, I love your photos! Great to get such detailed insight, I spent two nights on Anthem when she debuted, but the ship was at half capacity, and top executives were onboard so I am not sure I got a balanced view.... a good friend of mine has also just returned, and she echoed your feelings, beautiful ship, but not such good food or service. I too would find the towel deposit annoying after our experiences on Celebrity. I felt that Anthem was stunning, with amazing use of space for entertainment, so much for kids, I long to take my boys on her, but I do have worries about the food and service. The shows were amazing, but again, my friend said she had trouble getting bookings, and seating even with a booking?

 

Looking forward to reading more! Your photos of the North Star are just lovely.

[Turtles06]

Really enjoying your review and pictures. Thanks for sharing them. :)

 

Thank you and everyone else following along and also for such kind words.

[Turtles06]

Turtles thank you for posting your review, I love your photos! Great to get such detailed insight, I spent two nights on Anthem when she debuted, but the ship was at half capacity, and top executives were onboard so I am not sure I got a balanced view.... a good friend of mine has also just returned, and she echoed your feelings, beautiful ship, but not such good food or service. I too would find the towel deposit annoying after our experiences on Celebrity. I felt that Anthem was stunning, with amazing use of space for entertainment, so much for kids, I long to take my boys on her, but I do have worries about the food and service. The shows were amazing, but again, my friend said she had trouble getting bookings, and seating even with a booking?

 

Looking forward to reading more! Your photos of the North Star are just lovely.

 

Thank you for the kind words!

 

I haven't yet posted my comments on the entertainment (the main shows were extraordinary), but let me go ahead and reply about seating.

 

Two of the reserved shows -- We Will Rock You and The Gift -- are in the Royal Theatre, which seats about 1400 people. I'm short and care about where I sit, so I showed up early for each and waited in line before the doors opened, and had great seats. But there are plenty of great seats, and seating for those shows for those with reservations should not be a problem as long as you show up on the early side. (Reservations are released 15 minutes before the show, at which time those without reservations are allowed in.) My advice is to get there early and get in line, and pick your seat.

 

Spectra's Cabaret is performed in Two70, which is much smaller. And people with reservations for a show can hang out in there well in advance if they want, so it's much harder to get a good seat. The place is just packed in advance.

 

Compounding that problem for us on the TA was that several days of bad weather caused the shows to be postponed and then postponed again. By the time our reserved performance of Spectra's Cabaret had been re-scheduled the second time, it was for 9 PM on the final night --- yes, that time when you're packing up the luggage! So that was a non-starter. As a consequence, there were hundreds of us on the standby line for the performance the prior afternoon. They finally let everyone in; it was standing room only. Presumably, this was a rather unusual circumstance.

[BourkeBlogs]

Great review, interesting to see how your dining experiences and service mirrored some of our observations.

[Turtles06]

Great review, interesting to see how your dining experiences and service mirrored some of our observations.

 

Thanks, and thanks for all your great work on your live blog. You saved us from a frustrating evening in Chic.

[Turtles06]

Entertainment

 

 

There are three shows on Anthem that you need to book in advance (or take your chances going standby) – We Will Rock You, The Gift, and Spectra’s Cabaret. The first two are performed in the Royal Theatre, while Spectra’s Cabaret is performed in Two70. Overall, these shows were incredible – not just the talent of the performers, but the fact that such amazing productions were taking place on a cruise ship. The sets, the technology, the music, everything.

 

We Will Rock You is about two hours long. We thought the first half was kind of cartoonish, but things really picked up in the last 45 minutes or so, and the finale was terrific. The Gift is a short musical with a loose story line/life message; don’t worry too much about following along, just enjoy the great beauty of the show. My spouse enjoyed Spectra’s Cabaret more than I did, it just wasn’t my thing, but I still could appreciate how exceptional the production was. As I said, it was amazing to see things like this on a cruise ship.

 

Get to Two70 as early as you can for the best seats. The Theatre is much larger, but still, going early will get you the best seats.

 

One tip: when you embark, check your Cruise Compass for a Two70 preview show that evening. We missed this in the Compass, but fortunately stumbled on it just before it started. It was a fantastic introduction by the Cruise Director to this amazing space, how it was built, and what it can do, with a sampling of the entertainment. It’s a don’t-miss.

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

[Turtles06]

On board technology

 

 

Royal iQ app -- Long before boarding, we had dutifully installed the Royal iQ app on our phones and tablets. After embarking, as we waited for the cabins to become available, we periodically checked the app to see where our checked bags were. (Remember those RFID tags put on the bags by the porter?) The app was supposed to tell us where in the process the luggage was – on the ship, on our deck, delivered. However, from the time we boarded until 2:30 PM, the app never showed us any information at all. But then suddenly, at 2:30 PM, it said our luggage had been delivered. This was news to us, since we were in our cabin by then and nothing had been delivered. The bags actually showed up around 4 PM. Others reported a similar experience with the luggage tracker (which did not work on the disembarkation end either). No doubt the luggage tracker is an interesting way to pass the time when it works, but don’t sweat over this gimmick if it doesn’t.

 

The app was, however, useful during the cruise, although it meant carrying your phone around. Using the app, you could see your daily calendar, make dining reservations in an instant, view the Cruise Compass, etc. I was surprised that there were no deck plans on the app, I think this would have been useful for many guests. In operation, the app was a bit quirky – it froze up periodically and would have to be closed out and re-launched. Not a big deal once I realized what was going on.

 

Wi-fi -- In the places where wi-fi was working (which included all of the public spaces, as best I could tell), the speeds were amazing, far better than anything we’ve experienced at sea. Unfortunately, the wi-fi didn’t work very well in our cabin – the tech people explained to me that there is only one router for every five cabins, so depending on where you are, you may be out of luck. (Royal refunded 20% of what we’d paid for the wi-fi package.)

 

Underutilization of technology – Anthem is without a doubt a very high tech ship, and the use of technology is incredible. But it seemed to us that there were ways in which technology could have been used even more. For example, the restaurants changed menus on certain days, yet the menu for a particular day was not shown on the Royal iQ app nor on the interactive TV in your stateroom. Similarly, no information was given on the app (or on TV) as to which activities had been cancelled due to weather.

 

Of course, we've cruised quite happily in the past without any of this technology at all! :)

[Turtles06]

The casino

 

My spouse and I are not gamblers, and it struck me on about the second day of the cruise that even though we'd pretty much been all over the ship, we hadn't seen the casino. Where was it? Many ships are intentionally set up so that you have to walk through the casino to get to critical venues, even if you don't want to be there.

 

It turns out that RCI has very nicely located Anthem's casino down in the bowels of the ship on Deck 3, where it's easily avoided if you want to avoid it (and since RCI still allows smoking in the casino, we consider it an avoidable place). You do need to walk through the casino if you are walking from the middle of the ship and want to enter the Music Hall on Deck 3, although you can enter the latter on Deck 4 as well.

 

Great job by Royal in the placement of the casino!

[michele128]

Thank you for the great reviews! We are sailing in March and are getting excited!

[conandrob240]

Turtles, if you only do Northstar once - day or night? In Pitt or at sea? Would love your opinion!

[Turtles06]

Turtles, if you only do Northstar once - day or night? In Pitt or at sea? Would love your opinion!

 

Having had the good fortune to have done both night and day, if I could only do it once, I'd do it during the day. While it was cool to see the ship from above lit up at night, the views, including of the vastness of the ocean, were better during the day. (At night, you are pretty much seeing only the ship. [Might be different with a full moon on a clear night.]) Also, I'm an enthusiastic photographer, and the reflections from inside the capsule are much greater at night.

 

Assuming by your second question you mean "in port or at sea," :) I'd pick at sea, because the thrill (for me) was being 300 feet above the water. Also, in port, I believe they are not allowed to swing North Star out to the side. (I say all this not knowing your ports, and obviously not having done North Star in a port as we had none on our TA! :) But I still think I'd prefer doing it at sea -- it's so incredibly dramatic!)

 

I hope that's helpful.

[conandrob240]

Stupid auto- correct. Yes, Pitt = port LOL. This is what I thought so thanks for confirming that at sea gets you higher and more movement of the arm.

 

I booked 5pm thinking it'd be cool at sunset but now I am realizing it'll be pretty dark. Hopefully we can hop on again for a day view.

 

Thanks.

[TomTN]

The casino

 

My spouse and I are not gamblers, and it struck me on about the second day of the cruise that even though we'd pretty much been all over the ship, we hadn't seen the casino. Where was it? Many ships are intentionally set up so that you have to walk through the casino to get to critical venues, even if you don't want to be there.

 

It turns out that RCI has very nicely located Anthem's casino down in the bowels of the ship on Deck 3, where it's easily avoided if you want to avoid it (and since RCI still allows smoking in the casino, we consider it an avoidable place). You do need to walk through the casino if you are walking from the middle of the ship and want to enter the Music Hall on Deck 3, although you can enter the latter on Deck 4 as well.

 

Great job by Royal in the placement of the casino!

 

That is good news. Hopefully other cruise lines that choose to allow smoking will place their casino where the smoke does not bother people who do not want to be near it.:)

[Turtles06]

Some miscellaneous activities

 

Puzzle Break: Escape From the Future --- Anthem has a “puzzle break” room in which a small group of people (around 12 max) are locked in a room and must solve various puzzles in order to get out. You’re given one hour to do this. A staff member is in there with you, providing some clues. This activity is free, but it’s not listed in the Cruise Compass and it books up very quickly. If you are interested in it, go to the Seaplex or Guest Services as soon as you can and reserve it. My spouse and I did the puzzle break; she enjoyed it more than I did, but I still found it to be an interesting experience. We did not know the other six people in our group, four of whom knew each other. I think it would be more fun if you knew your teammates, but don’t let not having a big enough group dissuade you.

 

 

All Access Tour -- for a fee of $150 per person, you can book an “All Access Tour” of Anthem, in which you and about a dozen other people are taken into various non-public areas of the ship (with crew members explaining what happens in each), including one of the galleys, the food storage area, the “I-95” crew corridor running the length of the ship, the laundry room, the food waste disposal room, the crew mess, the theatre backstage, and, the two highlights as far as I was concerned, the engine control room and the bridge. I’ve been on bridge tours before, but have never seen a bridge as high tech as Anthem's. The whole tour lasts about 3.5 hours. It was pricey, but since we had no ports on our TA, we considered this to be a morning shore excursion. :)

 

Was it worth the money? My spouse would say no, but I love this sort of thing, and I’m glad I got to do it on Anthem. But now I have no need to do it ever again on a ship. TIP: this tour opened up for booking in our Cruise Planner shortly before we sailed, so keep an eye out for it if it’s of interest to you. (It’s not listed in the Cruise Compass.)

 

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

[Turtles06]

I think Gigi would be upset with me if I did not post a photo of her. :)

 

 

(photo by turtles06)

[cruiserking]

The ship (Part I – Two70)

 

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

 

Hello turtles06, Thoroughly enjoying your spectacular and detailed review of Anthem. Your photos are superb. I keep reading about these random vistarama shows that occur at 270. Are they on any sort of a schedule or do they just flash these projections throughout the evening when there isn't a performance at the venue?

 

Jonathan

[Turtles06]

Hello turtles06, Thoroughly enjoying your spectacular and detailed review of Anthem. Your photos are superb. I keep reading about these random vistarama shows that occur at 270. Are they on any sort of a schedule or do they just flash these projections throughout the evening when there isn't a performance at the venue?

 

Jonathan

 

Jonathan, thank you so much for reading and for your very kind words.

 

There did not seem to be any sort of schedule that we could determine, which is why we tried to pop in there whenever we could.

 

PS: I just noticed your cruise history; I was on the Leonardo da Vinci in 1968, my very first cruise!

 

 

 

(photo by turtles06)

Edited November 10, 2015 by Turtles06