On Anthem right now - pros and many cons

[Big_G]

Good review(s). Thanks everybody. We've shied away from Anthem because of it's home port but we've become ship people so it's still on the list.

[hollon]

This is true of EVERY bathroom on EVERY RC ship. The only outlet in the bathroom is a specialized outlet that only takes a specialized razor plug.

 

I'm thinking a man drew up the plans for this bathroom, women usually always blow dry there hair in the bathroom - more lighting, c'mon rccl, lets change this, my husband's razor is always charged so he doesn't even plug it in that often.

[cruisinfanatic]

From a cruiser who lives quite south of this port...we would never consider a cruise from there. #1 why waste two days in the cold to cruise to the south with very limited ports??

#2 why waste our time with a ship that obviously is not very cruiser friendly??? These ships are obvioisly not popular based on the reviews... We will just continue to sail from Florida or Texas and enjoy the great RCI ships!!!

FYI, it's not cold all year round and there are many sailings with many ports

 

Watched an episode of Megaships that was on Quantum. They where on first 12 day sailing out of New Jersey. They said two things about the ship and this came from the captains mouth. The ship is very sensitive to cross winds making it very hard to manage in ports and at sea. Also hinted that the system of bubbles that makes this class of ships very fuel efficient may also make it a little less stable. As far as the creaking may just be another design characteristic.

 

I know the Voyager, Freedom, and Oasis class feel like you are sailing on land not the sea they are so stable.

 

Plus side you can tell you are at sea. :)

You obviously have not been in any kind of storm on any of those ships. Those that have don't think they are as stable as you do

Edited November 29, 2015 by SeaUs

[Realtor at Sea]

My husband, son and extended family sailed on the Quantum for the New Years holiday cruise last year and found the lines for dining to be intolerable even though we had reservations for all dining venues. We waited over an hour to get in The Grande on New Years Eve and the food was thrown at us, no bread, no butter, really not a treat!

 

Returned for a second cruise in February and by that time they had added a few more staff members, but the bars were terribly understaffed still. I am not sure I will travel on this class again!

 

Quantum was beautiful, the cabins were lovely except for those half-backed vanity chairs (what were they thinking?), the staff servicing the staterooms on each cruise was fantastic! However, the problems with the restaurants was just not fun! The lack of friendly staff was so apparent! For the rather pricey fares I would much rather sail on any other RCCL ship!

[AdvGirl]

FYI, it's not cold all year round and there are many sailings with many ports

 

 

You obviously have not been in any kind of storm on any of those ships. Those that have don't think they are as stable as you do

 

 

I assume you mean oasis, freedom, and voyager ships. Voyager and Allure sailing had rough seas on return with very strong winds did feel some rocking. Same on Liberty but wind was really strong could not stand on top deck very well - but I tried. Still thought it was very good ride.

 

Anthem this Feb I will get real world comparison then.

[Merion_Mom]

I'm thinking a man drew up the plans for this bathroom, women usually always blow dry there hair in the bathroom - more lighting, c'mon rccl, lets change this, my husband's razor is always charged so he doesn't even plug it in that often.

 

Really? Drying your hair at the vanity makes so much more sense. I think that is was a good decision not to put a regular outlet in the bathroom.

 

1. They have to have special grounded outlets in a bathroom. Better not to worry about that. (why do you think that the razor outlet is way up high?)

 

2. Get out of the bathroom and let others use it. ;) :D

 

3. Get out of the moisture of the bathroom to dry your hair!

 

4. The vanity has a HUGE mirror, its own lighting.......perfect place for hair drying.

 

:)

[fishbonz]

WOW - the food/service situation was the same when we sailed on Quantum last November. I could have written your exact comments. I was hoping they'd have worked it all out by now. NJ is also our homeport, and we don't like flying...I wish they'd just bring Explorer or Liberty back.

 

WOW we will be on the ship this march and hope thing get better by than it really doesn't sound good now.

 

But I have to agree with you BRING back our Explorer I do miss that ship !!!!!!!

[Moltar]

Thanks for your post OP. The reviews I'm seeing on this class of ship is much more negative then positive. I live 30 minutes from the ship but have no desire to sail on it. The outside pool area looks so darn small to me too, that bothers me. I know how crazy the pool areas get on sea days and the look on Quantum class seems extremely tight and small.

Edited November 29, 2015 by Moltar

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Thanks for your post OP. The reviews I'm seeing on this class of ship is much more negative then positive. I live 30 minutes from the ship but have no desire to sail on it. The outside pool area looks so darn small to me too, that bothers me. I know how crazy the pool areas get on sea days and the look on Quantum class seems extremely tight and small.

 

Actually, IMO the pool areas seem to work relatively well for this class of ship. There's only one completely outdoor pool (+ the kids pool area), but theres also the indoor pool that can opened when the weather is nice, and there's lots of open deck space thats not directly around the main pool. I think it's fine for a solarium to be indoors.

[Moltar]

From my experience, on hot weather sea days, people like to be at the outside pool area. It gets crazy packed on Voyager class, can't imagine it on Quantum. The outdoor pool area is much smaller and you have the kid area smushed into it too. I love the layout of the Freedom class and so far that has been my best pool area(s) experience. Love the separated and spacious kids pool area.

Edited November 29, 2015 by Moltar

[Dave85]

Actually, IMO the pool areas seem to work relatively well for this class of ship. There's only one completely outdoor pool (+ the kids pool area), but theres also the indoor pool that can opened when the weather is nice, and there's lots of open deck space thats not directly around the main pool. I think it's fine for a solarium to be indoors.

 

 

For whatever reason they only opened the indoor pool roof while docked in port on my Anthem sailing last week -- never at sea, even when it was nice and hot in the Caribbean. This was a mistake IMHO. I was actually wondering if the roof was broken, but later realized it was not when I saw it open in port.

 

While I was initially concerned about the amount of space around the pool, it worked out just fine on my sailing if you were willing to sit one up, which we were. Of course, my sailing did not have the hundreds and hundreds of kids that are on the current sailing, so I won't be at all surprised to hear guests from the current cruise come back with a different opinion.

Edited November 29, 2015 by Dave85

[mets07]

Really? Drying your hair at the vanity makes so much more sense. I think that is was a good decision not to put a regular outlet in the bathroom.

 

1. They have to have special grounded outlets in a bathroom. Better not to worry about that. (why do you think that the razor outlet is way up high?)

 

2. Get out of the bathroom and let others use it. ;) :D

 

3. Get out of the moisture of the bathroom to dry your hair!

 

4. The vanity has a HUGE mirror, its own lighting.......perfect place for hair drying.

 

:)

It took me until the 5th day of our recent Anthem cruise to realize the mirror had that light!! The switch was below the mirror on the desk/table.

:):):)

[cruisedancemom]

The outside pool itself is a good size. But the loungers are so tightly packed next to each other that they are impossible to move around. You couldn't squeeze in between 2 loungers if you tried.

It's great there are so many loungers but horrible in reality in terms of actual usage.

I forgot to mention initially that there is a redundancy at the buffet.

It's pretty much the same food for lunch and dinner every day!

Lots of people with kids rely on the buffet to eat and it is boring!

I want to reiterate that we are having a great time because we are cruising and on vacation.

But I think there is something missing from this ship - I can't totally put my finger on it. It seems to be lacking in warmth.

That sounds like a weird thing to say - I know - but that is what comes to mind.

[cindivan]

Have you ever met anyone that had a razor that would fit in the specialized outlet?

 

 

 

Not that it really comes up in conversation, but I keep forgetting to ask gentlemen that we meet onboard. :)

 

 

I think you should start a new post asking that. That outlet has always confused me. My men have shavers with standard plugs. I guess I assumed it was a European thing.

[JMG]

I had a blast on the Anthem in September/October, but as a solo traveller, it was the first cruise ever where I ate alone on 3 separate occasions (I always go MTD), even though I requested a large table. I thought the food was good and I'm a picky eater. I never experienced poor service in any of the indoor bars (Pool bar was a different matter). It will be interesting to compare her with Ovation in May.

 

We were on the Quantum twice. - both unfortunately were holiday weeks. We would always ask to share a table and the staff just did not seem to know what tables were available. One night they told us it would be a 20 minute wait to sit with other couples. Then 10 minutes later we were seated with a couple that had waited 20 minutes for them to bring someone else to their table.

 

Our first cruise in Nov. '14, we found that people without reservations were seated and then when people with reservations arrived...the tables were full and you had to wait. Seriously? With all of the restaurants around the world that take reservations...Royal cannot figure out how to honor reservations? It got a little better by Feb '15 but still there were times when we had to wait or sat by ourselves at a table for 8!

 

I think the staff are just frustrated. They work very hard but Royal apparently did not offer sufficient training on this new system. It has to be difficult when you work long hard hours and the passengers complain and are not happy with the service.

 

We still enjoyed our cruise. The ship was gorgeous and the shows were above and beyond most shows we have seen on cruise ships. I am not sure if Sonic Odyssey is still around but it was an absolutely amazing show. As for our future cruising....time will tell!

Edited November 30, 2015 by JMG

[Coralc]

I think you should start a new post asking that. That outlet has always confused me. My men have shavers with standard plugs. I guess I assumed it was a European thing.

 

DH has a rechargeable. Standard plug. :D

[Turtles06]

For whatever reason they only opened the indoor pool roof while docked in port on my Anthem sailing last week -- never at sea, even when it was nice and hot in the Caribbean. This was a mistake IMHO. I was actually wondering if the roof was broken, but later realized it was not when I saw it open in port.

 

 

Wow, that's too bad. I wonder why they left it closed? It was never open on our TA, but that's because it was always too cold. Still, it was a great area. Loved that pool, and the outdoor pool as well. But I can't imagine what it would be like with a ton of kids on board (there were all of 117 on the TA, we were told).

 

 

^^^ Pool with retractable roof

 

 

^^^ Outdoor pool

 

(photos by turtles06)

[jstraw20]

Wow, that's too bad. I wonder why they left it closed? It was never open on our TA, but that's because it was always too cold. Still, it was a great area. Loved that pool, and the outdoor pool as well. But I can't imagine what it would be like with a ton of kids on board (there were all of 117 on the TA, we were told).

 

 

^^^ Pool with retractable roof

 

 

^^^ Outdoor pool

 

(photos by turtles06)

 

 

Damn shame, to my mind they both look claustrophobically tight.

[Kapnnem0]

We also were on the first sailing of Anthem out of Port Liberty. I agree with the following cons:

 

We had one meal (first night) of Traditional Dining in the Silk Restaurant. Food was poor including greens included with the fish that were gritty/dirty. Service was average at best. The rest of the meals were in the Coastal Kitchen and specialty restaurants. If you are in a Junior Suite, you can eat your dinners in Coastal Kitchen. It was excellent. We thought Chops was way too loud with harried service and not worth the $. We ate two dinners and a lunch at Jamie's Italia and were impressed. Wonderland was a treat.

 

Much of the staff was new and still learning the ship.

 

The phone app Royal IQ was very spotty, working some times and not working much of the time. Additionally, the wifi coverage and spotty around the ship and in staterooms.

 

I didn't notice any abnormal movement of the ship or creaking at all. Of course, I was in the Navy for 24 years.

 

Pro's: Two70 was amazing. Shows were an upgrade over the tired song and dances of recent cruises.

 

We waited in no line (first day) for bumper cars.

 

The check-in was ridiculously good. We parked our car in the lot, walked down the stairs and were met by people in the garage who asked if they could check us in (in the garage). That took about 2 minutes. We walked to security (no line) and then onto the ship where our stateroom was ready. Seriously, as best as I can estimate, from parking garage to our cabin took about 12 minutes. All ships should use this system.

 

No ship is perfect. And Anthem may be overpriced. And if we had to eat all dinners in the main dining rooms, we may had had a different feeling. ANd we heard complaints but mostly from people we would guess aren't happy unless they're complaining.

 

We enjoyed our cruise.

[330searay]

Just replying to the JA from Virginia. It's not cold in NJ year-round. That was a dumb statement. And in your case what's your problem with Baltimore? Still to chilly? Or is the ship too small.?

[conandrob240]

We didn't find the pools to be very crowded at all- not on sea or Port days. Always chairs to be found. Kids but not filled to the brim with them. I was actually quite amazed at how well the pools handled the crowd. The kids loved the kids pool area-that little whirlpool with the current kept dozens of kids busy for hours and they seemed to enjoy the wave pool also. Hot tubs were huge and even at their most crowded, still weren't too bad. As for weather- we only "lost" sea day 1 so we spent it at the indoor pool. By sea day 2, we could be outside comfortably. The pools were very well heated.

[gaylemh]

I have to say ditto. Great service total 18 days on Quantum. Looking forward to 12 days on Anthem starting Tomorrow. Will try to report back. Katherine

 

Me too spent 23 nights on Quantum and loved it. Including the first 3 night from Cape Liberty. Didn't have any of the problems I had read about on CC. It was a big let down on Liberty after sailing on Quantum, especially the food. It was so much better on Quantum, with so many more choices. Can't wait for my cruises on Anthem in January, March, May, February and April 2017.

[Zou Bisou Bisou]

MBO... "Management by the Objectives", and after reading some opinions it is almost like MBO gone wild.

 

I have said this for along time, just go to guest services and have a reasonable simple request, and they do not know how to handle anything out side of the norm for their assignment. That is not a put down on the employees but the way it works. I wish I could remember a good example, but as experienced cruisers, we just laugh about it and I guess forget it.

I also think that some ships are better than others, maybe the smaller ships are better, employee wise, just off the Serenade in October, and we DO MTD and rarely eat at the same time, service was good to excellent, and I attribute that to timing of when you are seated and how many diners and table sizes are in the waiters area are ahead of you.

Also the room steward was one of the best we have every experienced and Diamond lounge bar tenders were GREAT>

Serenade pretty much consistantly has the best service in the fleet. I don't know why, but we have sailed her several times from 2007 - 2015 and it is amazing how friendly and efficient the staff is.

[Biker19]

Can't wait to see prices going down in the future [emoji12]

 

You would think so given all of the "negative" reviews, but it's just not happening. The NY area market is big enough that it will take a long time and a lot of bad reviews for word to get out, affect demand and with it pricing.

[mluzzy1]

After reading all this negativity , I'm just going to have to prove you all wrong the next 12 days:)

 

Of course , people always ask me , after learning I like to cruise, "have you ever had a BAD cruise?"

 

I'm not sure that I have. Sure we have had issues like any guest , but I am realistic too.If a restaurant or venue is crowded , we just make sure we go early and avoid peak times. If we have a consistently bad server , we let their manager or the Hotel Director know. I am hopeful that this will be an enjoyable cruise and excited to experience the Quantum Class ships. I'll update with my humble opinion when we are back.