MTD on Anthem

[KeywestK]

When Anthem was launched, I didn't pay too much attention to all the different threads about her and her original concept of Dynamic Dining (which I remember reading fizzled out after some controversy.) Since there is no main dining room, where is MTD served? I'm thinking we'll try one or two of the specialty restaurants, since they have several that will be new to us, but we will mostly be utilizing MTD. Which restaurant is that served in? Does anyone have a favorite specialty restaurant on Anthem?

[Clarea]

When Anthem was launched, I didn't pay too much attention to all the different threads about her and her original concept of Dynamic Dining (which I remember reading fizzled out after some controversy.) Since there is no main dining room, where is MTD served? I'm thinking we'll try one or two of the specialty restaurants, since they have several that will be new to us, but we will mostly be utilizing MTD. Which restaurant is that served in? Does anyone have a favorite specialty restaurant on Anthem?

MTD is served in 2 of the 4 "main" dining rooms. All 4 of the "main" dining rooms serve the same food from the same menu.

[cb at sea]

There are several dining rooms...you will be assigned one depending on if you choose traditional seating or MTD....they serve the same menu and have the same suggested dress....it's just like any other ship that never had dynamic dining.

[CruisingSwedes]

I’m also wondering about this. I have MTD and how will I know which restaurant we will be in? Since the four restaurants have very different decors it would be nice to change it up during the week. It seems quite boring to go to the same dining room every night. Can I change dining rooms or do I have to be in the same dining room the whole week?

 

 

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[grouchomarx]

I believe I have read on CC that MTD got Silk and American Icon and fixed dining got Chic and Grande. But I cannot say with certainty, I just recall reading that. IMO Chic and Grande are the nicer dining rooms. That is why I remember, because I thought, oh that sucks, next time I sail I cannot use those dining rooms which are very pretty and elegant.

[gerif]

I’m also wondering about this. I have MTD and how will I know which restaurant we will be in? Since the four restaurants have very different decors it would be nice to change it up during the week. It seems quite boring to go to the same dining room every night. Can I change dining rooms or do I have to be in the same dining room the whole week?

 

 

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Seriously? What do you do on all other cruises where there is only one dining room assigned to traditional and one to MTD? Maybe you should do Disney with revolving dining rooms if it's that big a deal.

[grouchomarx]

Seriously? What do you do on all other cruises where there is only one dining room assigned to traditional and one to MTD? Maybe you should do Disney with revolving dining rooms if it's that big a deal.

 

You obviously don't know anything about this ship.

[Turtles06]

I’m also wondering about this. I have MTD and how will I know which restaurant we will be in? Since the four restaurants have very different decors it would be nice to change it up during the week. It seems quite boring to go to the same dining room every night. Can I change dining rooms or do I have to be in the same dining room the whole week?

 

 

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Seriously? What do you do on all other cruises where there is only one dining room assigned to traditional and one to MTD? Maybe you should do Disney with revolving dining rooms if it's that big a deal.

 

Geri, I don't think Cruising Swedes deserved that reply. Anthem in fact is not like other ships -- it was designed from the start for Dynamic Dining, with four very different "main" restaurants, with extremely different decors, not the nice elegance of a large, traditional MDR on a ship designed with traditional dining in mind. It was never the intent that pax spend an entire cruise having dinner in just one of those four restaurants (though they could if they wanted to).

 

One of those four restaurants on Anthem -- Silk -- was originally an Asian restaurant, designed with the garish red velvet decor that is a stereotype of American Chinese restaurants. It was bad enough eating in there one night, I'd hate to spend an entire cruise there. American Icon Grill was designed, as its name suggests, as a sort of American comfort food spot. Its decor, while pleasant, is pretty casual. Chic and Grande are, well, more chic and grand, and now that Dynamic Dining is dead, they apparently have been turned over to the pax who opt for traditional dining, leaving the two less visually desirable restaurants for those who have chosen MTD.

 

We will be on Anthem again in February, this time with MTD. I cannot imagine repeat dinners in Silk.

 

When RCI decided to get rid of Dynamic Dining, they really needed to give Silk and American Icon Grill a makeover, imho.

[robtulipe]

We were able to select either of the MTD restaurants, Am. Icon and Silk, on our Anthem cruise last January even though the sign at the check in desks indicated Am. Icom was for those with a reservation and Silk for those without. In fact one evening we were taken down to Grande, one of the traditional DR, when it was very busy up stairs at the MTD locals.

Also there is the option of dining in the Solarium Bistro with it's served main entrée for a change in the evening. Salads, appetizers, soups and desserts are still served bar style there in the evening. For lunch and breakfast everything is bar style in that venue.

Edited December 28, 2017 by robtulipe

[KeywestK]

I appreciate these responses. I do plan to make my MTD reservations as soon as they open up, so hopefully we'll be assigned American Icon.

 

Still would like recommendations for specialty restaurants on Anthem.

 

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[grouchomarx]

I appreciate these responses. I do plan to make my MTD reservations as soon as they open up, so hopefully we'll be assigned American Icon.

 

Still would like recommendations for specialty restaurants on Anthem.

 

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We enjoyed Chops quite a bit and ate there twice. Great food and service, nice ambiance (but not such a great view of lifeboats though).

Wonderland is for the more adventurous eater, and quite a large amount of mostly very good food. If you're a foodie, this is for you. Such a fun, unique and immersive experience.

Izumi had very good sushi and a great cocktail list, but the space is quite small and felt a bit of an afterthought as you're kind of in the corridor as opposed to a dedicated dining room. (It is sushi only, no teppanyaki.)

Jamie's has great food, especially homemade pasta and antipasti. A little weak on protein based mains though. Very casual atmosphere. Nice for lunch too.

Michael's Pub is great for a very casual meal or snack, good burgers and wings and polenta fries. Also great craft cocktails.

We also did the Chef's table and I would not necessarily recommend that. A bit expensive for what it was and no "chef" involved.

Overall you can't go wrong. Just depends on your personal taste.

[Biker19]

When RCI decided to get rid of Dynamic Dining, they really needed to give Silk and American Icon Grill a makeover, imho.

Instead, they added such decor to Harmony.:confused:

[138east]

I believe I have read on CC that MTD got Silk and American Icon and fixed dining got Chic and Grande. But I cannot say with certainty, I just recall reading that. IMO Chic and Grande are the nicer dining rooms. That is why I remember, because I thought, oh that sucks, next time I sail I cannot use those dining rooms which are very pretty and elegant.

This is correct. Typically American Icon is for MTD with reservations and Silk for MTD without reservations. However, depending on the daily split between reservations and no reservations, folks can be seated in either dining venue (these restaurants are across from one another on deck 4).

The Grande is the restaurant currently used for breakfast and Sea day lunches, so eating in there during a cruise would be an option.

[KeywestK]

We enjoyed Chops quite a bit and ate there twice. Great food and service, nice ambiance (but not such a great view of lifeboats though).

Wonderland is for the more adventurous eater, and quite a large amount of mostly very good food. If you're a foodie, this is for you. Such a fun, unique and immersive experience.

Izumi had very good sushi and a great cocktail list, but the space is quite small and felt a bit of an afterthought as you're kind of in the corridor as opposed to a dedicated dining room. (It is sushi only, no teppanyaki.)

Jamie's has great food, especially homemade pasta and antipasti. A little weak on protein based mains though. Very casual atmosphere. Nice for lunch too.

Michael's Pub is great for a very casual meal or snack, good burgers and wings and polenta fries. Also great craft cocktails.

We also did the Chef's table and I would not necessarily recommend that. A bit expensive for what it was and no "chef" involved.

Overall you can't go wrong. Just depends on your personal taste.

Thank you for your thoughts on the specialty options. I'm leaning toward Chop's and Jamie's.👍😁

 

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[jerseygirl74]

You obviously don't know anything about this ship.

 

All 4 of these dining rooms are unimpressive. We were on her when they had switched to "Traditional Dynamic" (dynamic wasn't working well) so we were rotated (along with staff) to a different dining room each night. The low ceilings made each dining room boxy and gave a "diner" feel. We sat next to a window, which helped but the person at the next table spoke so loudly that I couldn't hear what my husband was saying most of the time. Poor acoustics with low ceilings. All the other ships have magnificent multi-floor MDRs which add to ambiance. I liked almost everything else on the ship. I loved Wonderland! Jaimie's was horrible...uncomfortable metal chairs, unimaginative, tasteless food and poor service. Have thought about going back on her but the MDR issue is really a deal breaker for us.

[Biker19]

Have thought about going back on her but the MDR issue is really a deal breaker for us.

Icon class is likely to follow the same formula - so the days of that open multi level MDR may be over with new ships.

[Lady Hudson]

FYI - on a B2B recently the restaurant used for breakfast and lunch was Grande. On the second trip breakfast and lunch was in American Icon. I am thinking they are alternating the restaurants to “even out” the wear and tear. Just my theory. Katherine

[grouchomarx]

All 4 of these dining rooms are unimpressive. We were on her when they had switched to "Traditional Dynamic" (dynamic wasn't working well) so we were rotated (along with staff) to a different dining room each night. The low ceilings made each dining room boxy and gave a "diner" feel. We sat next to a window, which helped but the person at the next table spoke so loudly that I couldn't hear what my husband was saying most of the time. Poor acoustics with low ceilings. All the other ships have magnificent multi-floor MDRs which add to ambiance. I liked almost everything else on the ship. I loved Wonderland! Jaimie's was horrible...uncomfortable metal chairs, unimaginative, tasteless food and poor service. Have thought about going back on her but the MDR issue is really a deal breaker for us.

 

I thought Grande was really pretty and had an old fashioned elegance. I also appreciated the decor of Chic with all the sparkling details and cool furniture/lighting. Silk was ok, nothing too special and American Icon just slightly tacky and weird, but not horrendous. I don't like that I won't have access to all of these on future cruises because I enjoyed for once having more than one or two (usually identical) MDRs to choose from. That being said, I'm much more into the specialty dining so it won't be a deal breaker for me. I know what you mean about the decor in Jamie's, I don't know why it had to be so uber casual. But I did think the pastas were very good and those planks, yum. I have not been on any other Royal ships but seen plenty of shows about their other ships and I do think the multi level MDRs are quite elegant and beautiful. I can imagine someone used to that might find the Anthem setup gross or unsatisfying. For me, I thought it was fun back when all 4 were for everyone. But if I'm only stuck with American Icon, I might only eat there once. The ship is so great with so many features I love, I'm dying to sail on her again even with dining situation what it is.

[reallyitsmema]

FYI - on a B2B recently the restaurant used for breakfast and lunch was Grande. On the second trip breakfast and lunch was in American Icon. I am thinking they are alternating the restaurants to “even out” the wear and tear. Just my theory. Katherine

 

On our recent sailing, breakfast was served in both Grande and Chic because of the high volume of people.

[DaniDanielle]

And we managed to eat in Silk most nights with MTD reservations. American Icon is just too noisy for some reason. Mema, going back on January 7th for the 12 night!

 

 

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[nelblu]

I believe I have read on CC that MTD got Silk and American Icon and fixed dining got Chic and Grande. But I cannot say with certainty, I just recall reading that. IMO Chic and Grande are the nicer dining rooms. That is why I remember, because I thought, oh that sucks, next time I sail I cannot use those dining rooms which are very pretty and elegant.

 

I did not mind American Icon (AI) on both the Quantum & Anthem. I loved AI as they had a penny crushing (?) machine with some of the logos, eg: North Star, etc.

[reallyitsmema]

And we managed to eat in Silk most nights with MTD reservations. American Icon is just too noisy for some reason. Mema, going back on January 7th for the 12 night!

 

 

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That's great! We have Alaska booked for May, so I don't think I will be able to sneak another Anthem in before that. Between the cruisetour and a few days on our own, DH will miss two weeks work. Once we get back, I hope I can convince him to book Anthem to Bermuda for September.;p

 

Have a wonderful time! I would love to be able to escape from this terrible cold weather!