Just off Anthem, thoughts on "hot topics!"

[twofit]

Had a GREAT time on Anthem, 5 days to Bermuda Aug. 20 - 25. Traveled with hubby in balcony on deck 10, son (age 23) & his girlfriend (age 22) in balcony on deck 10, and daughter (age 20) in inside cabin on deck 8.

 

Thought I'd take a slightly different approach to this review and stick to the "hot topics" that keep going 'round on these boards, so here goes:

 

Drink Package - Husband, myself and my son had the Premium Package. No issues, no mistaken charges. Bionic Bar was never crowded and a great way to get exactly what you want in the portion you want. Girlfriend and daughter had Royal Replenish; I did order a sangria for my daughter at dinner one night on my card. Other than that, no sharing.

 

Dress Code - Most everyone looked fine at dinner - dress shorts for men not a problem at all. Neat and clean appearance but not a lot of long pants (fine with us!) My son started wearing t-shirts and it wasn't a problem either. But we're a casual family. Everyone dressed appropriately to eat at Grande.

 

Dining/Entertainment Reservations - Could only reserve 3 of the 5 included restaurants before boarding, so reserved Silk and Solarium twice. Only late times available - 8:45 and 9pm, but we really liked that - no rushing! Was able to change 2nd Silk to Chic on the 1st day using the Royal IQ app, but kept checking for American Icon for days and nothing available. Finally walked up to the desk there on the last night and got something at 9:15, so we managed to try everything. The Grande was all of our favorite. Reserved all the shows on the website at home for times before dinner. Always empty seats, so standby didn't seem to be a problem.

 

Activities Reservations - this was tough, couldn't reserve ANY of them before we boarded. Found out they were doing sign ups at the Schooner Bar after muster and a HUGE line formed. Was able to get ifly but nothing else. My daughter did rock climbing standby later in the week and the rest of my group (not me) got into the puzzle/escape room the same way. Never got to Northstar. If you can't reserve in advance just have to keep trying, but no guarantees.

 

We LOVED the Music Hall - Journey cover band, silent party, karaoke, reggae. 270 just okay - Spectre's Cabaret is VERY bizarre. The gift is disjointed and odd but the signing and amazing. We Will Rock You blew us away.

 

I think if you are somewhat open minded, youthful in mindset and easy going you will love this ship as we did!

[Yorkvillain]

Nice review. Did you notice if they ever opened the roof at the indoor pool?

[BekkaW]

Thanks for the review 🙂 I'm hoping to try Ovation when it comes out here this summer.

 

Just so you know, T-shirts are never a problem. They are not against the dress suggestions at all, there is a list of items they ask you not to wear but t-shirts are not on it.

 

 

Dress Code - Most everyone looked fine at dinner - dress shorts for men not a problem at all. Neat and clean appearance but not a lot of long pants (fine with us!) My son started wearing t-shirts and it wasn't a problem either. But we're a casual family. Everyone dressed appropriately to eat at Grande

[twofit]

They never opened the roof in The Solarium, and we spent all of our pool time in there. Thanks for the t-shirt comment!

[Clarea]

Nice, concise report, thanks.

Edited August 26, 2016 by clarea

[Surfguyxxx]

Thanks for giving me things to think about before we book our next cruise.

[cb at sea]

On RCI, the "Retracable" roofs over the pools are hardly EVER opened. Consider them to be enclosed spaces...I hate that. Why bother with the mechanics if you aren't going to use them? Pet peeve.

[cruise47]

Thanks for your short and concise review.

[Yorkvillain]

They never opened the roof in The Solarium, and we spent all of our pool time in there. Thanks for the t-shirt comment!

 

Thanks. Yeah the Solarium roof doesn't open at all. I was referring to the pool in the middle - the one with the retractable roof. I'm guessing they probably never opened it. They never opened it on the Quantum, even when it was hot out for 5-6 days.

 

How about drink cards - did you see those advertised at all?

[twofit]

No drink cards (that I saw.) Sorry, didn't check out the center inside pool.

 

Forgot to mention Zoom - got the 5 device package and we were easily able to keep in touch, use social media, and stream movies.

Son and GF have Verizon, they paid $10 per day in Bermuda to use their regular data package, worked fine.

[Clarea]

... Forgot to mention Zoom - got the 5 device package and we were easily able to keep in touch, use social media, and stream movies....

Do you recall if you purchased the surf package or the surf & stream package?

[Iluvmypuggle]

Activities Reservations - this was tough, couldn't reserve ANY of them before we boarded. Found out they were doing sign ups at the Schooner Bar after muster and a HUGE line formed. Was able to get ifly but nothing else. My daughter did rock climbing standby later in the week and the rest of my group (not me) got into the puzzle/escape room the same way. Never got to Northstar. If you can't reserve in advance just have to keep trying, but no guarantees.

 

Thanks for your review. I leave on the Anthem in 6 days (woohoo!!) but the activity reservations were the most challenging part so far. We booked this cruise about 5-6 weeks out from sail-date and all reservations were taken already. When I emailed RCCL to resolve the issue, I was told that I could make reservations on board and 'keep checking back' to see what opens up. That's so disheartening - We specifically booked a ship that has the iFly and other features, but in order to take advantage of them, RCCL wants us to 'keep checking back', which means continuously interrupting your day onboard to run to customer service or up to iFly to see if people canceled. In the end, I was persistent and did get activity times booked, BUT, guests shouldn't have to jump through hoops to eat dinner, see a show or enjoy the iFly. I'm not sure what the solution is for this moving forward, but I'm a little turned off by RCCL based on my experience so far. I know I will have a blast on this trip, and everything will be great so i don't want to bash the ship or cruise line, but no matter where I travel, I want to feel like I am getting the value I expect from my vacation dollars and time away from work, family, etc. and I'm sure others would agree with that statement.

 

Question for the OP - do you recall if the better beer brands were included with the Premium Drink package? If so, do you remember which ones? The sample list on the website is a bit vague and it had a lot of Bud, Bud Light, etc. on it. :)

[akcruz]

I think the issue is mainly with the 5 day sailings. Just not enough time slots available for the passengers on those sailings to do everything they would like. On the longer sailings it does not seem to be as much of an issue.

 

It really is a shame that these "attractions" are promoted so much when it reality most will not get to do them.

 

Don't let this sway you from RCL however as this is very specific to this class of ship. We had a great time on Anthem but will not book another cruise on this class of ship of less than 7 days.

 

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

[DaisyL]

 

Question for the OP - do you recall if the better beer brands were included with the Premium Drink package? If so, do you remember which ones? The sample list on the website is a bit vague and it had a lot of Bud, Bud Light, etc. on it. :)

 

We each had the premium drink package on Anthem in May and there are many brands of beer available with the package. The Pub had the greatest selection and hubby was satisfied since he doesn't drink Bud, or light or Coors, etc....Some bottled he could remember: Sam Adams, Dos equis, Corona, Becks, Heineken, Guinness, but the pub probably had 50 different beers, and at least 4 draughts....try them all. Does not include the Fosters 'oil can' with the package.

[CrusinAgain]

We have been on her twice now on the 12 dayers and agree with everything you said especially the shows. IMO they can do away with Spectre. Windjammer is the best of any of the RCL ships we have been on and offer alot of choices.