Just off Anthem and cancelled my other 3 cruises on her

[champagne123]

Actually I do not think that statement is accurate- I for one have written very positive reviews about my experience on other RC, Celebrity and many other lines and ships- the only really negative review was about the Quantum. And if you read the ratings of others, while some people have had a bad experience due to a cabin or service issue, overall, other ships have been given over 80% positive reviews by it's passengers in contrast to a 47% Quantum review.

 

We can agree to respectfully disagree!

 

Yes, we can agree to disagree...:) and I am very glad there are "true CC members" that add to the member reviews... I am a fanatic reading them however, for years and have a very bad habit of noticing the dates. "Most" just joined the day of posting their reviews.

[MisterBill99]

Yes, but most are not CC members. If you look at the date that they joined, it is the date they wrote the review. Funny how people find CC when all they want to do is post a complaint.

Many people "lurk" here, and never feel the need to sign up until they want to post a review (or something on the boards). Also, if searching for someplace to post a review, this is probably one of the top places. It certainly makes more sense than posting on someplace like Yelp. Amusingly, there are 2 entries on Yelp for Anthem -- one in Fort Lauderdale and one in Bayonne). Or someone told them about it on their cruise.

Edited December 4, 2015 by MisterBill99

[grouchomarx]

I used to think that the reason for the low numbers on the ratings was that only people who were unhappy took the time to write a review. And that's a reasonable thing to say, except that there are ships with much higher numbers, so it doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

 

I understood the displeasure with Quantum and the reason for the low numbers, it was lots of people who did not like DD. I'm not sure the reason for Anthem if it isn't real problems.

 

I have read many reviews of Anthem and my overall impression is that the unhappy people are the ones who were not prepared for this style of cruising. They wanted it to be like all their other RC cruises and it's not. Even some of the staff were complaining they liked the "old style" cruising better!

[tiggypooo]

Ok, 5 days into the sailing now.

Feeling a little less distraught than I was earlier.

 

To explain my displeasure during the first 3 days, our first 2 night's dinners, we're horrible.

I thought that we would have to put up with bad food and service for 12 days.

Since then we have found Costal Kitchen, which was excellent (unfortunately only for suite guests) and Silk and have heard that Chic is good.

We've also enjoyed the Windjammer. Very much like Celebrity's Solstice class ship buffet.

 

The biggest food issues seem to be American Icon & The Grande.

In AI, the food came very late and cold and just poorly prepared. I could go into each dish but that would be too long.

Other guests were saying that they just left while waiting for dessert and went to the buffet to get some.

That's how long the wait was.

 

We expected big things from the Grande. After all, it's suppose to be their fancy venue.

Our reservation was for 6:30 and we got seated about 7:10.

They sat us at a table right beside where the staff went in for their workstation.

My husband's chair was continually banged into by staff & carts. No one even said sorry.

I eventually had to yell for someone to move the cart that was blocking the way and was making everyone bang into his chair.

 

Our waiter was the most unpersonable person on the whole ship I'm sure.

He came over, mumbled his name, gave us menus and I guess figured he'd done his job.

We had to call him back to take our orders.

He eventually brought our food. It was just ok.

After that he pretty much ignored us. He never spoke to us, no engagement at all.

His assistant brought us dessert which was good, key lime tart, and some cold coffee.

No communication after that. We left madder than anything.

 

That's when I first posted so you can understand why I was upset.

I did try to complain yesterday, but I had sprained my ankle on Labadee and guest relations had to bring me to the medical center.

I was mentioning our bad experience to the fellow bringing me down, but he just left me at the medical center and left. So much for that.

 

Other issues we've had:

- handle in our room came off in my hand

- quite a few of the doors in the public washrooms don't close.

- we have a junior suite as we bring our adult daughter with us. Oasis class JS's are perfect. Walk in closet for lots of room, a curtain down the middle for privacy. 2 chaise lounges and a high table with 2 chairs on the balcony. Here we have NO privacy. They used the extra walk in closet space to put a 2nd bathroom in. Who needs 2 bathrooms in a room. That's just a waste of space. You would think in a Family Junior Suite, they would give some sort of privacy.

- it just seems like everything has been cut back. The prices have gone way up and quality has gone down.

 

Well that's it for now.

All of the above is my opinion and posted to try to help other people in making their vacation decisions.

Please no haters.

[737MAX8]

First time poster and cruiser, but I also got off the Anthem of the Seas Thanksgiving sailing and had a fantastic time.

 

I had booked my Anthem cruises prior to doing the Quantum inaugural and one other Quantum sailing. There were lots of problems and dislikes with Quantum that I won't go into here, but I decided to keep the four sailings I had booked with Anthem in the hopes that by my Thanksgiving sailing, many of my dislikes would be resolved. A few were, but many not and so, despite the convenience of not having to fly to board her, I opted while still on board her to cancel my other cruises on her and book other RC ships for the same time periods. Two of the cruises cost me more than the Quantum due to the late booking, but I am happy I made the switch.:)

 

Some of the problems on the Anthem Thanksgiving sailing:

 

• level of service among many of the crew
  I agree that service wasn't exceptional, especially for some dining and activities, but it wasn't that bad that it effected my cruise in a negative manner.
  
• poor stateroom prep despite special needs notifications: no shower stool
  My stateroom service was absolutely excellent...every time I came back to my room for something through out the day it was good as new. I guess this is hit or miss depending on your stateroom attendant?
  
• no bathrobes in room - took 2 days to get them
  I would not let a bathrobe effect my cruise. Seriously. a BATHROBE
  
• 2 broken elevators - one for the entire length of the cruise
  Other than returning from the Muster Drill, elevator waits were never that lengthy. Once again, this did not negatively impact my cruise at all.
  
• coffee machine in the Concierge Lounge broken for the first four days of the cruise
  Annoying yes, but once again I don't go on a cruise for coffee.
  
• cabin door repeatedly would not close or was extremely difficult to open - despite repeated attempts to fix it
  Did not have this issue, so cannot comment.
  
• long lines for activities (yes I know it was a holiday sailing but the allocated times could have been better planned out)
  I didn't wait in line for anything. Made reservations or went at less popular times. I do think they should have more hours though, especially at SeaPlex.
  
• Hit and miss in the Specialty Restaurants - Thanksgiving at Chops took almost 2 1/2 hrs. - had to keep reminding our waiter that we ordered drinks, needed bread, etc.
  Chops, Jamies, and Izumi were all extremely excellent for us - both the service and the food.
  
• Lots of creaks and noises- one being a loud repetitive thumping
  That would be the stabilization I think.
  
• limited number of bars made frozen cocktails due to the lack of a blender
  Don't drink too much, so never was a problem. But not every bar needs to offer frozen drinks
  
• embarkation time was 11:30 - got on board at 2:05 due to Wi-Fi issues
  Must have missed this, arrived at 11am and was on the ship about 10 minutes later
  in addition: Windjammer was not open 24 hrs as stated; and there was a charge for WOW bands despite the new policy going into effect AFTER final payment had been made and set sail pass said it would be in stateroom
  I also wish Windjammer was 24 hours, as Cafe Promenade and Sorrento's didn't do it for me. Could care less about the WOW bands. I don't like anything on my wrist.
  

 

I go on a Cruise to experience all the ship has to offer for food and activities, and both were excellent. My only true complaint (other than service getting a bit better) was the hours of operations. SeaPlex should NEVER close IMO. They seriously turn the X-boxs off and take the ping pong balls away. Activities should be open way more hours, too much teen only time. Late night activities were limited and short. The rare times they did something cool at night for adults (RED nightclub experience, silent disco, etc) it lasted for like...45 minutes? Two70 should be a kickass night club every night of the cruise.

[Dave85]

Two70 should be a kickass night club every night of the cruise.

 

 

This I agree with 100%.

[donnogirl]

I don't think the problems will ever be corrected on this ship. It is beautiful but service totally

mismanaged. I absolutely hate dynamic dining, service on this ship is lacking. I personally think RCCL is just interested in building bigger ships and forgetting about service to its loyal customers that made them what they are today. That being said I will stay away from these ships and possibly look into another line.

[AdvGirl]

First time poster and cruiser, but I also got off the Anthem of the Seas Thanksgiving sailing and had a fantastic time.

 

 

 

I go on a Cruise to experience all the ship has to offer for food and activities, and both were excellent. My only true complaint (other than service getting a bit better) was the hours of operations. SeaPlex should NEVER close IMO. They seriously turn the X-boxs off and take the ping pong balls away. Activities should be open way more hours, too much teen only time. Late night activities were limited and short. The rare times they did something cool at night for adults (RED nightclub experience, silent disco, etc) it lasted for like...45 minutes? Two70 should be a kickass night club every night of the cruise.

 

Odd that they close down the night life so soon - This ship does seem aimed at the next gen cruiser. Most next gen like to stay up late. It is the slightly older folks that like to go to bed sooner then later.

 

Other cruises I have been on always seemed to have at least one venue that stayed open to at least 2am.

 

I would imagine the music hall would fill that bill - 270 sounds amazing but also very large :D

[Dave85]

Odd that they close down the night life so soon - This ship does seem aimed at the next gen cruiser. Most next gen like to stay up late. It is the slightly older folks that like to go to bed sooner then later.

 

 

 

Other cruises I have been on always seemed to have at least one venue that stayed open to at least 2am.

 

 

 

I would imagine the music hall would fill that bill - 270 sounds amazing but also very large :D

 

 

They did have a night club open late on every night of my Anthem cruise -- some nights Music Hall (most common) and some nights 270. Both good venues, but I LOVED 270!

[737MAX8]

Yes, Music Hall was the nightly venue. However I am 24...the crowd was very old and the music was all from before I was born.

 

When they did do fun events like RED, silent disco, etc aimed at the younger crowd, EVERYBODY in their 20's came out. I absolutely loved the ship, but the night time activities were lacking. By like 10-11pm it seemed the entire ship was closed except for just the Music Hall.

Edited December 11, 2015 by 737MAX8

[cynicalscotsman]

Seems like you lot are talking about a completely different ship! I would sail on anthem Tomo if I could get the time off!

Edited December 11, 2015 by cynicalscotsman

[suzyluvs2cruise]

Yes, Music Hall was the nightly venue. However I am 24...the crowd was very old and the music was all from before I was born.

 

When they did do fun events like RED, silent disco, etc aimed at the younger crowd, EVERYBODY in their 20's came out. I absolutely loved the ship, but the night time activities were lacking. By like 10-11pm it seemed the entire ship was closed except for just the Music Hall.

 

Music Hall is nice but small. It was hard to get a seat downstairs and if you were upstairs you didn't feel like you were part of the party. We also felt 270 was underused.

[John&LaLa]

I don't think the problems will ever be corrected on this ship. It is beautiful but service totally

mismanaged. I absolutely hate dynamic dining, service on this ship is lacking. I personally think RCCL is just interested in building bigger ships and forgetting about service to its loyal customers that made them what they are today. That being said I will stay away from these ships and possibly look into another line.

 

Anything can be fixed. You don't invest a billion dollars and then just walk away from the issues

[MisterBill99]

I don't think the problems will ever be corrected on this ship. It is beautiful but service totally

mismanaged. I absolutely hate dynamic dining, service on this ship is lacking. I personally think RCCL is just interested in building bigger ships and forgetting about service to its loyal customers that made them what they are today. That being said I will stay away from these ships and possibly look into another line.

NCL does OK with the dynamic dining concept (although I will say that I hate NCL), and RCCL introduced DD Classic for people (presumably) like you who wanted to have the same waiter and tablemates every night. Did you not have that? I'm personally fine with DD if the food is good. I did the Ultimate Dining Package on Celebrity Silhouette where you eat at specialty restaurants every night and thoroughly enjoyed it, I did not miss the MDR.

 

And you make it sound like this is the largest ship that they've ever built. It's only 2/3 the capacity of Oasis/Allure.

 

Service clearly can be fixed if they acknowledge that there is a problem. My question is whether service issues are due to cutbacks on the number of staff and if they are, whether they're willing to restore the numbers to resolve the problems.

[John&LaLa]

NCL does OK with the dynamic dining concept (although I will say that I hate NCL), and RCCL introduced DD Classic for people (presumably) like you who wanted to have the same waiter and tablemates every night. Did you not have that? I'm personally fine with DD if the food is good. I did the Ultimate Dining Package on Celebrity Silhouette where you eat at specialty restaurants every night and thoroughly enjoyed it, I did not miss the MDR.

 

And you make it sound like this is the largest ship that they've ever built. It's only 2/3 the capacity of Oasis/Allure.

 

Service clearly can be fixed if they acknowledge that there is a problem. My question is whether service issues are due to cutbacks on the number of staff and if they are, whether they're willing to restore the numbers to resolve the problems.

 

If they increase staff, do they have the capacity to house them?

[cynicalscotsman]

I think anyone considering an anthem cruise should bear in mind...

 

~125,000 people have been on anthem now.

 

~250 people have complained about anthem on cruise critic. Everyone who has complained has been very vocal.

 

0.002% of people have thought that the service was that bad they had to complain about it!

 

Put in in reality - don't let it put you off your holiday.

Edited December 12, 2015 by cynicalscotsman

[Cruise a holic]

I think anyone considering an anthem cruise should bear in mind...

 

~125,000 people have been on anthem now.

 

~250 people have complained about anthem on cruise critic. Everyone who has complained has been very vocal.

 

0.002% of people have thought that the service was that bad they had to complain about it!

 

Put in in reality - don't let it put you off your holiday.

I believe more "complainers" our out their. Read the momber ratings and reviews for both the quantum and the Anthem If a ship has such low ratings, one should avoid if possible until the ratings improve. If I was unable to jump ship, as you suggest enjoy your cruise and make the best of it. Also a martini or two will help!

[denatravels]

Here is how I'm handling all the complaining: I double booked NCL and Anthem in 2017 for my February cruise. If I hate anthem this year, I will go back to NCL (which also has positives and negatives). But a week in the Bahamas in mid February to escape the snow-- I'll take it!!

[somerandomidiot]

Was on the Anthem sailing that ended 12/12.

 

First new-ish ship where I have to ram the door shut (with my shoulder) on the toilet door to get it to close (enough so that I can engage the lock) in multiple locations (the restroom outside the music hall, one in the casino, and one other spot I don't remember).

 

Didn't really care for any of the free restaurants (except devinly decadence, where they did a relatively good job with the food and dinner didn't take 2-3 hours every time). On my last few cruises (on Allure, Oasis, and Liberty), if I didn't like the other food, I could rely on the strip steak but Grande, Silk, Chic and American Icon all failed with the steak.

 

I preferred the Windjammer for meals because I don't have to waste extra time for the same mostly mediocre meals.

 

Windjammer - The hand washing station is a great idea but the area needs to be cleaned. It's consistently filthy. When asked one of the attendants said that the black spots all over the backsplash was a design element. Explain the black rings and spots in the sink itself then. The lack of cleanliness seemed to be the general trend in the Windjammer. At the beverage stations, coffee, tea and honey were often spilled all over the counter and there would be a worker or three there but there was no attempt to clean anything at any time unless you brought it up to one of the supervisors.

 

The system used for clearing tables is also extremely inefficient. The spray and wipe guys work in pairs but they are not allowed to spray or wipe unless the table is cleared by another person. So they stand there and do nothing until a server wanders by. It would make more sense to pair one with the other so that you don't have two guys standing around doing nothing, especially since it doesn't take two people to spray and wipe a two top.

 

The staff at the food stations need to learn to wipe down their stations and also to make the food look a bit more attractive by fixing/rearranging the piles of food when they get messy. This is buffet operations 101, I don't understand why the people in management roles don't have this drilled into their direct reports.

 

The variety of food in the windjammer this cruise was poor. Many less stations and most of them repetitive. The food quality also seems to be declining. It's approaching the levels of Carnival.

 

The food in Silk was abominable and atrocious. The committee that put together and approved the menu, especially the general tso's chicken and the mapo tofu, all need to be fired. The dishes had no connection to their names and tasted disgusting. If you don't know what a dish is supposed to look like, google it. How does general tso's chicken come out looking grayish yellow (kind of like curry chicken)? I'm not sure though, how I could help with the taste. The scallion pancakes that can be purchased frozen from a supermarket and microwaved tastes better than what they served. We were a party of eight so we sampled most of the dishes on the menu and they were all bad. I'll say it again, the food was inedible.

 

All of this was mentioned to people onboard and also in the survey. Most of it is fixable and hopefully it's fixed by the March, when I'll be onboard again.

[Dave85]

Was on the Anthem sailing that ended 12/12.

 

...

 

 

 

All of this was mentioned to people onboard and also in the survey. Most of it is fixable and hopefully it's fixed by the March, when I'll be onboard again.

 

Seeing as you seemingly did not like a single thing about this ship (unless you simply neglected to mention a single thing that you did like), I would suggest switching your March cruise to a different ship. It certainly seems that you will be happier that way.

Edited December 14, 2015 by Dave85

[somerandomidiot]

Seeing as you seemingly did not like a single thing about this ship (unless you simply neglected to mention a single thing that you did like), I would suggest switching your March cruise to a different ship. It certainly seems that you will be happier that way.

 

I'm too lazy to make the switch now and Bayonne doesn't require a flight.

 

Most of the things that I disliked, I can avoid.

 

I started to just kick the stall doors shut.

I bypassed the handwashing stations for the purell.

I stopped going to Grande, Chic, AI. For the next trip, I'll stick to DD and WJ.

[gazruss]

Cruisechick, people love to complain! You cannot let someone else's opinion sway you from going on a vacation. The ship has gotten very mixed reviews. Some LOVE it and some HATE it. So what.

These words are so true. I rarely ever respond to these posts where people complain about things on a cruise ship. It is so subjective, My DW and i have sailed on RC yearly since 2008 so can still be classed as newbies, we have done the Freedom (2) Oasis (4) Allure (1) and were on the Anthem for it's inaugural in Nov. I love the Oasis class and came to the Anthem wanting to dislike it so i could yet again book the oasis. We had 12 days on board, and while we found rude angry passengers, we loved every minute on board. We found the food to be fine for us, NO COMPLAINTS, service was the same as any other cruise, some happy staff, some not so, SO WHAT, is that not like life in general, we were not sure about dynamic dining, but ended up loving the choice to go where we wanted, I have seen people complain it was cold for 2 days.....YOU LEFT FROM NEW JERSEY IN NOV, is royal in charge of the weather now???, did you not know this would happen?????. If you go looking for issues, you will find them..... put a bunch of people in any restaurant, get them to eat the same meal, and you will get good reviews and bad. It's up to you, enjoy yourself, stop comparing it to other ships, your on vacation for gods sake.....

 

Every one of us is different, just because it upsets you does not mean it will upset me or a lot of other people, reviews should be that, reviews based on your cruise, telling other people they will not like a ship because you didn't is just BS.

 

By the way, we hated Anthem so much, that we already booked for another 12 day, same time next year.......hope to see some of you there.....:D

[cynicalscotsman]

Seeing as you seemingly did not like a single thing about this ship (unless you simply neglected to mention a single thing that you did like), I would suggest switching your March cruise to a different ship. It certainly seems that you will be happier that way.

 

 

Exactly! Some people just love lo complain!

 

At least when he goes in March he will have something to complain about for the proceeding few months!

[Cruise a holic]

Was on the Anthem sailing that ended 12/12.

 

First new-ish ship where I have to ram the door shut (with my shoulder) on the toilet door to get it to close (enough so that I can engage the lock) in multiple locations (the restroom outside the music hall, one in the casino, and one other spot I don't remember).

 

Didn't really care for any of the free restaurants (except devinly decadence, where they did a relatively good job with the food and dinner didn't take 2-3 hours every time). On my last few cruises (on Allure, Oasis, and Liberty), if I didn't like the other food, I could rely on the strip steak but Grande, Silk, Chic and American Icon all failed with the steak.

 

I preferred the Windjammer for meals because I don't have to waste extra time for the same mostly mediocre meals.

 

Windjammer - The hand washing station is a great idea but the area needs to be cleaned. It's consistently filthy. When asked one of the attendants said that the black spots all over the backsplash was a design element. Explain the black rings and spots in the sink itself then. The lack of cleanliness seemed to be the general trend in the Windjammer. At the beverage stations, coffee, tea and honey were often spilled all over the counter and there would be a worker or three there but there was no attempt to clean anything at any time unless you brought it up to one of the supervisors.

 

The system used for clearing tables is also extremely inefficient. The spray and wipe guys work in pairs but they are not allowed to spray or wipe unless the table is cleared by another person. So they stand there and do nothing until a server wanders by. It would make more sense to pair one with the other so that you don't have two guys standing around doing nothing, especially since it doesn't take two people to spray and wipe a two top.

 

The staff at the food stations need to learn to wipe down their stations and also to make the food look a bit more attractive by fixing/rearranging the piles of food when they get messy. This is buffet operations 101, I don't understand why the people in management roles don't have this drilled into their direct reports.

 

The variety of food in the windjammer this cruise was poor. Many less stations and most of them repetitive. The food quality also seems to be declining. It's approaching the levels of

 

The food in Silk was abominable and atrocious. The committee that put together and approved the menu, especially the general tso's chicken and the mapo tofu, all need to be fired. The dishes had no connection to their names and tasted disgusting. If you don't know what a dish is supposed to look like, google it. How does general tso's chicken come out looking grayish yellow (kind of like curry chicken)? I'm not sure though, how I could help with the taste. The scallion pancakes that can be purchased frozen from a supermarket and microwaved tastes better than what they served. We were a party of eight so we sampled most of the dishes on the menu and they were all bad. I'll say it again, the food was inedible.

 

All of this was mentioned to people onboard and also in the survey. Most of it is fixable and hopefully it's fixed by the March, when I'll be onboard again.

You are either very brave or enjoy suffering! It isn't to late to consider other options. Just stay away from the quantum also. Perhaps in a few years things will improve

[MaritimeR&R]

First time poster and cruiser, but I also got off the Anthem of the Seas Thanksgiving sailing and had a fantastic time.

 

 

 

I go on a Cruise to experience all the ship has to offer for food and activities, and both were excellent. My only true complaint (other than service getting a bit better) was the hours of operations. SeaPlex should NEVER close IMO. They seriously turn the X-boxs off and take the ping pong balls away. Activities should be open way more hours, too much teen only time. Late night activities were limited and short. The rare times they did something cool at night for adults (RED nightclub experience, silent disco, etc) it lasted for like...45 minutes? Two70 should be a kickass night club every night of the cruise.

 

I am glad that your first cruising experience was a pleasant one. With having been on cruise ships for 60+ years, I have found too many issues with the Quantum class ships that could have been either avoided or tended to in a more expedient manner.

I believe that once you have been aboard a few more ships and have a basis for comparison, you as well will have developed certain expectations for the dollars you spend to cruise and find certain inconveniences more than petty. Did they ruin my cruise - no.

Am I willing to pay for those same services again - obviously not, since I cancelled my 3 cruises on Anthem for a B2B2B on Vision.