Anthem of the Seas; Dec 27 sailing, some thoughts

[figment9999]

We wanted to pass along a few thoughts about our experience on the Dec 27 sailing of the Anthem of the Seas. Net-net this was our 24th cruise and we rated it a 10. Thank you RC.

 

Offering champagne as you boarded was such a great touch, something that seems to have been lost on our last cruises; thank you RC.

 

Abe Huges is an outstanding cruise director; this was our 24th cruise and I can only think of two others that ever left such an impression (John Heald on Carnival, Julie Valeriote on NCL). Abe set up a Facebook page while we were on the ship "Abe Hughes - Cruise Director" so that should be interesting going forward.

 

We had a balcony room (7654); great layout, especially the his/hers closets. note that the desk pulls out if you want a "coffee table". Our room steward John Bourne was great, his towel animals were super.

 

VOOM Wi-Fi was really impressive as was the Royal IQ app.

 

Really appreciated the 2 enclosed swim areas; especially with a NJ home port.

 

If you do the iFly you need sneakers / closed toe shoes; saw some very upset folks turned away.

 

Embarkation/debarkation was awesome; one suggestion: @ check in they should tell you the sheet they hand you will work as sea card till your room is ready.

 

New Year’s Eve – we went to the pool deck party and enjoyed the band. fun stuff.

 

Much has been said about the ship, all I can say is that it is awesome; impossible to see/do everything in 7 nights; but it was fun to try.

 

Many CC posts have been negative on the crew / waitstaff; our experience was the opposite. We found them engaged, friendly and good at what the did. We found the service in the Grande, Chic, Jamie's, and Michael's to be friendly, fast, and good at their jobs.

 

I took the "all access" tour. Excellent, worth the $$ to see behind the scenes. "Magic Mike" did a great job.

 

One notable negative: the safety drill was the worst in 24 cruises; folks should be made to line up & be quiet for the 10 min.; it was noisy and virtually no one paid an attention. Needs attention.

 

A great cruise, nicely done RC.

Edited January 9, 2016 by figment9999
add'l thoughts

[MisterBill99]

Either the person who checked you in didn't tell you or you did not hear them because we were clearly told that the Set Sail Pass served as our card. And it wasn't the sheet they handed you, it was the sheet that you handed to THEM.

 

The problem with the muster drill is that it dragged on too long. The captain didn't even address passengers during the drill as I've seen on all other cruises. I'm quite happy not having to stand in a cramped space while everyone shows up and during the presentation

Edited January 9, 2016 by MisterBill99

[cruiserking]

Thanks for your helpful review Figment9999. When were you able to book the All Access Tour? Was it announced before the cruise or while you were on board?

 

Thank You.

 

Jonathan

[Turtles06]

Thanks for your helpful review Figment9999. When were you able to book the All Access Tour? Was it announced before the cruise or while you were on board?

 

Thank You.

 

Jonathan

 

I'm not the OP, but we were able to book the All Access Tour in advance on our cruise planner about a week or so before sailing. There's no fixed time for when those bookings open up (except its generally not been long before sailing) so just keep checking your cruise planner and also read your Roll Call daily, as you may also be alerted to it there.

 

Enjoy the stunning Anthem!

[nycruise]

Good review and glad you enjoyed the cruise. We were on the same cruise and enjoyed it also but can't rate it a 10. For us a cruise encompasses not only the ship, food, service and entertainment but also the ports, sea conditions and weather. We'd be hard pressed to rate any cruise out of New Jersey or New York a 10 due to the lackluster and repetitive ports and the cold weather on the first and last days of the cruise at this time of year.

 

Our cruises to Alaska, the Mediterranean, the West Coast and the Panama Canal definitely rate higher because the destinations were so much more interesting. Afterall, cruises used to be about the ports, today it seems the ship is the destination. Hope to eventually cruise the Baltics, the British Isles and Hawaii. NY/NJ cruises are great for the convenience but not number one on our hit parade when thinking back on past cruises.

 

I'd rate the cruise a 7, due to the factors stated above in addition to the food in the MDR's being fair to good but not great. Also the fact that they cancelled all showing of The Gift and didn't give us our Gold benefits until I went down to guest services, and in our opinion the ship felt crowded.

 

Just our opinion.

 

Glad you enjoyed it enough to rate it a 10.

 

I

[cruiserking]

I'm not the OP, but we were able to book the All Access Tour in advance on our cruise planner about a week or so before sailing. There's no fixed time for when those bookings open up (except its generally not been long before sailing) so just keep checking your cruise planner and also read your Roll Call daily, as you may also be alerted to it there.

 

Enjoy the stunning Anthem!

 

Thanks Turtles06. I've always wanted to do an All Access Tour and to experience one on the brand new Anthem would be really thrilling. I will continue to monitor the vacation planner and keep my eyes peeled. :D;)

 

Jonathan

[Turtles06]

Thanks Turtles06. I've always wanted to do an All Access Tour and to experience one on the brand new Anthem would be really thrilling. I will continue to monitor the vacation planner and keep my eyes peeled. :D;)

 

Jonathan

 

You're welcome. We did this tour on Anthem and I very much enjoyed it. I've been on a number of bridges, but Anthem's was as high tech as I've ever seen.

 

Have a great time!

[denatravels]

Good review and glad you enjoyed the cruise. We were on the same cruise and enjoyed it also but can't rate it a 10. For us a cruise encompasses not only the ship, food, service and entertainment but also the ports, sea conditions and weather. We'd be hard pressed to rate any cruise out of New Jersey or New York a 10 due to the lackluster and repetitive ports and the cold weather on the first and last days of the cruise at this time of year.

 

 

 

Our cruises to Alaska, the Mediterranean, the West Coast and the Panama Canal definitely rate higher because the destinations were so much more interesting. Afterall, cruises used to be about the ports, today it seems the ship is the destination. Hope to eventually cruise the Baltics, the British Isles and Hawaii. NY/NJ cruises are great for the convenience but not number one on our hit parade when thinking back on past cruises.

 

 

 

I'd rate the cruise a 7, due to the factors stated above in addition to the food in the MDR's being fair to good but not great. Also the fact that they cancelled all showing of The Gift and didn't give us our Gold benefits until I went down to guest services, and in our opinion the ship felt crowded.

 

 

 

Just our opinion.

 

 

 

Glad you enjoyed it enough to rate it a 10.

 

 

 

I

 

 

It seems unfair to downgrade it for where it started and lousy ports-- you booked it. I also live in NY and CHOOSE to book from here. I know there are some cold days and even my first trip there I found the ports to be lousy. But it was still my choice. I wouldn't rate the ship lower because I decided to book from a northern port.

[nycruise]

It seems unfair to downgrade it for where it started and lousy ports-- you booked it. I also live in NY and CHOOSE to book from here. I know there are some cold days and even my first trip there I found the ports to be lousy. But it was still my choice. I wouldn't rate the ship lower because I decided to book from a northern port.

 

As I said, I'm rating the "cruise", not the ship. I consider the ports, weather and seas a big part of a "cruise". If you have a great ship but it rains all week and you get sea sick due to the sea conditions and the ports are 3rd rate, would you rate it a great "cruise"? I wouldn't. True, it has nothing to do with the cruiseline but it's all part of that particular cruise experience.

 

I know that when I think back over the cruises we've taken, all of the factors I mentioned above play into the total "cruise" experience. If you have a great ship, with interesting ports, beautiful weather and calm seas, now that is a cruise I would consider a 10.

 

The rating is based on the entire cruise experience. Just because it’s a new ship doesn’t automatically justify a perfect score for us. The whole experience – overcrowding, “ok” food, etc., doesn’t warrant a 10. The ship has a frenetic feel – it’s only fair to state this. They pack as many people in as possible and cut down on staff (assistant cabin attendants, assistant wait staff). There’s a lot of running by the dining room staffs which makes the dining experience much less than “10”, no fault of the staff.

 

It’s similar to comparing a four or five-star hotel with a huge convention hotel. Apples/oranges. The ship and the staff might rate a 9 but the other factors bring the rating down.

 

Remember only 44% of cruisers on CruiseCritic loved the ship.

Edited January 10, 2016 by nycruise

[figment9999]

since I did the OP I thought I'd respond a bit:

 

1. all access tour: when I originally investigated this an called RC I was told that the tour was sold out, try w guest services on-board. A few days before sailing I noted that 2 new sessions had shown up in the cruise planner. So I'd advise to keep checking if you miss the first round.

 

2. safety drill: the drill by it's nature inconvenient, but I continue to believe passengers should be required to be silent and attentive during it. I think RC did not meet their responsibilities to conduct an effective drill, they should improve.

 

3. my rating: interesting discussion here; it shows the difference in the methodologies folks use. For me a 10 indicates an absence of material faults rather than perfection in all categories. hope this clarifies.

 

4. to the ref that CC folks do not universally love the ship I can only say that I am a daily CC reader and better than 50% of postings for any ship / line seem to be negative. Not sure why but over the years it has seemed to stay constant so basically I filter info understanding that apparent bias.

[MisterBill99]

2. safety drill: the drill by it's nature inconvenient, but I continue to believe passengers should be required to be silent and attentive during it. I think RC did not meet their responsibilities to conduct an effective drill, they should improve.

I'm not sure what you're looking for here. It was no different than other drills I've been on recently. The days of lining up outside with your life vests seems to be a thing of the past. How could they improve it? Should crew members raise their voices and tell guests to be quiet and pay attention?

Edited January 11, 2016 by MisterBill99

[johnjen]

Many CC posts have been negative on the crew / waitstaff; our experience was the opposite. We found them engaged, friendly and good at what the did. We found the service in the Grande, Chic, Jamie's, and Michael's to be friendly, fast, and good at their jobs.

 

I took the "all access" tour. Excellent, worth the $$ to see behind the scenes. "Magic Mike" did a great job.

 

One notable negative: the safety drill was the worst in 24 cruises; folks should be made to line up & be quiet for the 10 min.; it was noisy and virtually no one paid an attention. Needs attention.

 

A great cruise, nicely done RC.

 

Thanks so much for posting this. I was admittedly caught up in the negativity myself and nearly sent a letter trying to get RCL's attention so maybe they could correct some issues, so if this is true what you're saying, that is good.

 

I'd like to do an all access tour as well. I'll need to read into how this is accomplished.

 

I completely agree with you on the safety drills. People, I think, just want to enjoy themselves and turn a blind eye on these. It's sad for the rest who want to pay attention.