Anthem - Annoyed with the Complainers!

[Beardface]

People will complain about anything and everything. Just go to a HOA meeting sometime and you'll understand what I mean. Some people just aren't happy unless they're unhappy about something.

 

That said, after experiencing the Oasis in 2014 and the Freedom last week, my wife and I are very seriously considering a cruise on the Anthem, and we're probably going to try out one of those virtual balconies. The Quantum class just looks so much fun.

[silvermcs]

I usually hold back from posting on threads with topics like this but for some reason I felt I just had to do it this time. When we go on a cruise, it does not matter to us if everything is not 100% perfect. We stroll up the gangplank with the knowledge that we are going to be away from all of the daily issues that can complicate our lives and that alone makes it all worthwhile.

 

Can there be issues that I could complain about, absolutely. Do I contact Guest Relations when something is wrong, absolutely. However, here are two quick stories on how my contact with them still allowed us to have some of the best vacations we ever had.

 

Celebrity Eclipse - you name it, it was happening. A/C was not working when we got to our cabin, transformer on bathroom light failed, knob fell off drawer, phone cord would not stay in phone and several other small items. Housekeeping supervisor was trying to make sure we were not upset over all the issues. I told her "I am on vacation. If I was home, I would have to take care of all of these things. Your staff worked on them and fixed them so I did not. Thank you."

 

Our recent Anthem of the Seas - One morning for breakfast in the American Icon, the waiter was refilling my coffee. The flip cover stuck and when it finally opened, a couple of drops fell on me. He was horrified and said he would have to file a report, offered to have my t-shirt cleaned, etc. We said not to worry, things happen, we did not need the cleaning voucher, etc. Result - one of the best waiters we had the entire trip. He ended up with a WOW envelope because of the exceptional service.

 

It appears that the staff is always on edge because they think the worse will happen from a passenger and I think it sometimes comes off as indifference. I have learned that a small amount of understanding goes a long way and if you let the staff know you understand what they are going through, they will repay that kindness back many times over.

 

Well said. We have had similar experiences, handled the same way, and with similar results. Kindness and understanding go along way!

[tgloersen]

Well said OP,

 

Allot of cruisers take those hardworking people for granted, I know for my wife and myself, we try to keep our cabin neat all the time, if we can make there day a little easier we will. We even tip above the auto added gratuity in cases where its warranted which is most of the time.

[laseiber]

Save your money until the price on the Anthem comes down, I just came off a 3 day trip to nowhere just to experience it. And three weeks ago cruised on the Navigator out of Ft. Lauderdale. Unless you like crowds, skip Anthem. Don't get me wrong, the cabins are the best in design not as wide as they could be. It is a tight squeeze between bed and wall to walk length of cabin. Have yet to try Oasis class, but do love the smaller ships, feel they are better designed. They took some of the glitz sparkle from Navigator in the retro fit. So glad they kept the old grande feel on the Serenade. Just my opinion. Yes I did experience passengers being not satified with anything, and rude to other passengers. Our food this cruise was only warm, but we did not send it back, just eat it as is with no complaints. The poor Waiter has no control of this, had it been cold, then maybe I would have asked for another plate. Overall a cruise to nowhere is better than no cruise at all. Just wait until you can get a great price to cruise on the Anthem.

[FSUNole]

I am sure I will get a lot of heat for saying this, but when did cruisers become so entitled? I just posted a review on the Anthem stating that the cruise was not perfect...no cruise is. However, the way people treated the cruise employees was appalling! You could not pay me enough to work on a cruise ship dealing with these people on a daily basis.

 

Some CC members have remarked that they felt a lot of movement on this cruise....what ship were they on? We had the calmest seas ever! If you do not want to feel the motion, don't take a cruise! Regarding the food and service, if your food is cold, kindly send it back like you would in any restaurant. If your dessert is too small, they will be happy to bring more. If someone does not smile when they hand you a towel, so what? Who knows what that person is personally dealing with!

 

The food was sometimes good and other times not so good. It happens. I am sure that the waiters were apprehensive, especially after the way some cruisers treated them. After 10 days on this ship the majority of waiters were wonderful, and went out of their way to make sure we were satisfied with our meal. I witnessed a woman being really mean to her waiter after he tried everything possible to please her. She was just a nasty person.

 

These people depend on these jobs and most are working really hard. Please think twice before you open your mouth and start yelling at them. That could be your son or daughter, brother or sister, husband or wife trying to make a living.

 

This class of ship isn't for everyone. Royal has tried a whole new approach with dining, the type of shows, etc. If you don't like it, try another ship or cruise line. Do not take it out on the employees.

 

The old saying, "treat others like you want to be treated" should be posted on elevators on every cruise ship.

 

Enough said.....

Are you complaining about the complainers? ;)

[Keith1010]

Very well said.

 

To me life is very short so why not just go and have a nice time and treat others nicely.

 

My view is if you want to have a nice time you will and if you don't you won't.

 

We are very fortunate to be able to cruise when some around the world don't even have a roof over their heads.

 

keith

[Lizcourt]

Well I guess its time to add a contrary voice to this thread, if only to remind everyone that there are two sides to everything. I have been a cruiser, and a member of the boards, for years (decades?) now. When I post a review, I try to be accurate about what was good and what was not so good, because those kinds of reviews are the ones that help ME most when I am deciding where to spend my own limited vacation dollars and time. Far too often, however, I find that any criticism whatsoever of any cruise to be met on the board with cries of "haters gonna hate" by line loyalists.

 

There is, of course, no excuse for being rude to anyone, much less hardworking staff on board a cruise ship, who spend months away from home for all-too-often menial pay. But that doesn't mean that it is required, appropriate or even fair to your fellow cruisers, who depend on honest reviews to make their vacation choices, to sugar-coat when a ship or line fails to meet expectations.

 

My family and I were on the February 13th sailing of the Anthem (you know -- the only one in the last four cruises that actually hit all its scheduled ports and left and arrived home on the day it was supposed to). We all agree that she was a beautiful ship, and, under the heading that the worst day on a cruise is better than the best day on land, we had our usual grand family time on the cruise.

 

But we all also agree that with all the choices out there, the Anthem, and the Quantum class ships in general, are not a choice we would make again, and part of the reason was a level of staff service that fell below what we have experienced on other Royal ships and far below what we have experienced on other lines, including Celebrity and, in particular, NCL. Everyone was nice enough, so this isn't about a rude staff member. But we certainly didn't find anyone that excelled (as opposed to NCL, where that was practically a daily occurrence) and too often you would get different stories from different staff members when trying to deal with problems on board (and, frankly, there were too many of those -- cabins with faulty heating when it was 25 degrees in port, mini-bars that did not work for days, and were replaced only on Wednesday of a Saturday to Saturday cruise, cabin stewards who didn't understand that one of the cabins had an extended balcony (for, of course, a higher fare) and thus failed to open the divider to the additional balcony portion for days, even when asked to). Did any of these spoil our vacation? No. With all the choices of ships and lines out there that don't present these problems, and where staff consistently went above and beyond the call for us (I'm thinking Oasis, Voyager, and NCL Gem in particular), would we choose to sail Anthem in the future? Again, no.

 

Let the flaming begin.

[oldguysandgalls]

Our only complaint is........... why don't we have a chef to prepare different dishes (breakfast/lunch/dinner) for us every day and a butler to serve our appetizers, entrees and desserts...........at home?????

;);););)

[TC1957]

Just mentally remind yourself that some people are alive simply because it's against the law to kill them and move on.

 

Works in every facet of life, regardless of the circumstances.

[impatientlywaiting]

Well said OP,

 

Allot of cruisers take those hardworking people for granted, I know for my wife and myself, we try to keep our cabin neat all the time, if we can make there day a little easier we will. We even tip above the auto added gratuity in cases where its warranted which is most of the time.

 

We are the same way. We're not pigs at home so why be pigs on a cruise ship even though we have people taking care of us? On our last cruise our adult daughter and her best friend were down the hall from us but we had different cabin attendants. Since we always go back and forth between our cabins, our attendants got to know all of us. Their attendant just started calling us Momma and Pop and would just open their door for us and our attendant just called them daughters (even though only one was our daughter). We knew both of their personal stories and we just had a great time. We noticed they didn't have the same interaction with the other cruisers in our hallway as they did with us - it was kind of sad because we really enjoyed them.

[carterd2002]

I love everything I've seen about Anthem. Please send her to FL Royal Caribbean!

 

I second that! :)

[tlatrice]

We'll give her a Texas welcome here!!!!!!:D

 

EXACTLY!!!! Wouldn't that be awesome!!!!

[MikeandConnie]

I think everyone should be required to work as a waiter, in retail, or as a CNA at some point. I think we'd see a lot less entitlement if people focused on doing more for others instead of the me me me mindset, which unfortunately is rampant here on cruise critic. It's the same mindset as "the customer is always right," which does NOT mean you get to treat other people like crap.

 

 

Absolutely true !! Love it !!

[CasinoCruzGirl]

I was just on the Anthem 3 night cruise. I hated the food however I never ever complained to any of the servers. They didn't make the food. One night the server asked us why we didn't eat our dinner we simply said we didn't like it and not to worry about it. However if I were paying for a specialty meal and didn't like it I would have probably asked for something else but still not complain to the server who obviously has no control over it

[fourkittys]

i am sure i will get a lot of heat for saying this, but when did cruisers become so entitled? I just posted a review on the anthem stating that the cruise was not perfect...no cruise is. However, the way people treated the cruise employees was appalling! You could not pay me enough to work on a cruise ship dealing with these people on a daily basis.

 

Some cc members have remarked that they felt a lot of movement on this cruise....what ship were they on? We had the calmest seas ever! If you do not want to feel the motion, don't take a cruise! Regarding the food and service, if your food is cold, kindly send it back like you would in any restaurant. If your dessert is too small, they will be happy to bring more. If someone does not smile when they hand you a towel, so what? Who knows what that person is personally dealing with!

 

The food was sometimes good and other times not so good. It happens. I am sure that the waiters were apprehensive, especially after the way some cruisers treated them. After 10 days on this ship the majority of waiters were wonderful, and went out of their way to make sure we were satisfied with our meal. I witnessed a woman being really mean to her waiter after he tried everything possible to please her. She was just a nasty person.

 

These people depend on these jobs and most are working really hard. Please think twice before you open your mouth and start yelling at them. That could be your son or daughter, brother or sister, husband or wife trying to make a living.

 

This class of ship isn't for everyone. Royal has tried a whole new approach with dining, the type of shows, etc. If you don't like it, try another ship or cruise line. Do not take it out on the employees.

 

The old saying, "treat others like you want to be treated" should be posted on elevators on every cruise ship.

 

Enough said.....

 

 

thank you for this post!!!!!

[IndyKid]

It's pretty much about attitude. I went on my first ever cruise last year on the Radiance to Alaska, had the BEST time. Food was great, we did miss out on seeing the glacier the last full day at sea due to a storm, but I had a blast while we were rocking & rolling.

 

I've since then joined this forum, and read a lot of peoples' gripes about everything from the food to accommodations and service in general. If I had been on CC prior to last year I might have had second thoughts about going, or at least had a rather jaded opinion about it.

 

I've had several jobs from the time I was 15, from working a snack bar in a hotel, waiting tables, running a cash register, bagging groceries on up to being a manager supervising people myself. It's about RESPECT and minding the golden rule. I'm always extremely polite, and for those whose income is dependent on tips e.g. waiters I'm always generous having been in their shoes.

 

To use the PG-rated version of the term - "stuff happens". Get over it!!!

[Rod&Deb]

God some people go around looking for things to complain about. I would even say grandstanding. Nothing in life is perfect though I am sure everyone on the cruise is trying so hard to please you. There is no need t be rude and shouting. I would hate to be sat at a table with people that constantly complain and are so negative. They must live a very frustrating life. Cheers

[runawaysoul]

1) Happiness is the best revenge, because lots of people don't have any.

 

2) Some people's heads are so far up their butt they should be reported missing.

 

Don't be afraid to call these people out at the time it's happening. I simply tell them any experience is as miserable or as happy as you allow it be - maybe if you quit looking at things to complain about, make it a mission to find a way to be happy. Negative minded people actually get sick over positive things. To have a negative mindset is far easier than a positive one, even though it sucks twice the energy out of you. Funny thing, half the folks out there don't even know what complaining is - some will agree with this post then gossip about how your neighbor does this or that... So, some of the complainers don't know that that is how it comes across.

Edited March 11, 2016 by runawaysoul

[ladylemondrop]

I went on Anthem when she launched and thought she was a really beautiful ship! The shows were out of this world! I understand there have been some food and service issues but am sure they will get on top of that, I would sail on her again in a heartbeat!

[TigerLady]

I am sure I will get a lot of heat for saying this, but when did cruisers become so entitled? I just posted a review on the Anthem stating that the cruise was not perfect...no cruise is. However, the way people treated the cruise employees was appalling! You could not pay me enough to work on a cruise ship dealing with these people on a daily basis.

 

Some CC members have remarked that they felt a lot of movement on this cruise....what ship were they on? We had the calmest seas ever! If you do not want to feel the motion, don't take a cruise! Regarding the food and service, if your food is cold, kindly send it back like you would in any restaurant. If your dessert is too small, they will be happy to bring more. If someone does not smile when they hand you a towel, so what? Who knows what that person is personally dealing with!

 

The food was sometimes good and other times not so good. It happens. I am sure that the waiters were apprehensive, especially after the way some cruisers treated them. After 10 days on this ship the majority of waiters were wonderful, and went out of their way to make sure we were satisfied with our meal. I witnessed a woman being really mean to her waiter after he tried everything possible to please her. She was just a nasty person.

 

These people depend on these jobs and most are working really hard. Please think twice before you open your mouth and start yelling at them. That could be your son or daughter, brother or sister, husband or wife trying to make a living.

 

This class of ship isn't for everyone. Royal has tried a whole new approach with dining, the type of shows, etc. If you don't like it, try another ship or cruise line. Do not take it out on the employees.

 

The old saying, "treat others like you want to be treated" should be posted on elevators on every cruise ship.

 

Enough said.....

 

I've noticed a lot of that lately, on all the ships. We should be grateful we can afford to cruise. Some people, through no fault of their own, can't afford the basics for survival. Feel blessed you are on the ship, and stop looking down on others.. :rolleyes:

[TigerLady]

just mentally remind yourself that some people are alive simply because it's against the law to kill them and move on.

 

Works in every facet of life, regardless of the circumstances.

 

rotflmao :d

[FHSPSU67]

I love everything I've seen about Anthem. Please send her to FL Royal Caribbean!

With your weather, you don't need her as much as us. You can't have her :)

[gritsnc]

I think everyone should be required to work as a waiter, in retail, or as a CNA at some point. I think we'd see a lot less entitlement if people focused on doing more for others instead of the me me me mindset, which unfortunately is rampant here on cruise critic. It's the same mindset as "the customer is always right," which does NOT mean you get to treat other people like crap.

 

*APPLAUD!!!* I've worked in all 3 positions, so I've learned to smile while gritting my teeth and biting my tongue.

[DaniDanielle]

100 years ago I worked in a supermarket. There were no scanners, keyed in prices. If we hit the wrong button, even if it was a penny off, certain people went ballistic!!!! Yes, we had to smile and apologize. I think they thought we were going to retire on their money😄 My point is I make sure I am extra nice when out and about.

[theboydbunch]

Perhaps the website should be aptly re named: CruiseComplainers.:D:D or better still, there could be a new section dedicated to it.

 

:) YES!!

 

I can't wait to try the Anthem myself!