Just off Anthem of the Seas - a few thoughts

[Tatka]

The Royal Esplanade was always congested during the night when they had their $10 sales tables opened. Other than that, the Quantum class design is good a keeping a feeling of not be crowded even with 4K of passengers.

We wouldn't even think of going there during sales, but it was very congested during dinner hours and later. Sailed on her twice.

[Clarea]

So where do you go to snorkel on Coco cay?

There's a submerged airplane near one of the lifeguard towers. There's also a reef on the left side, towards were the ship is anchored.

[luv2cruise523]

There's a submerged airplane near one of the lifeguard towers. There's also a reef on the left side, towards were the ship is anchored.

Good to know. Thank you for sharing this information, my son loves to snorkel.

We are so excited to sail on the Anthem.

[Nectarologist]

By any chance did you do any specialty restaurants or was the MDRs good? On NCL, we pick them as one of our free options and have become quite spoiled. We are trying to decide if we want to purchase a 3-4 restaurant dining package on our upcoming cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I didn't, sorry. And I didn't talk to anyone about it while on board.

[Nectarologist]

So if I’m understanding you, there’s no need to purchase an excursion. Just head to the beach from the tender. Is that right? Costco has snorkel sets and my kids have vests for kayaking...may think about lugging them along. Thoughts?

 

Omg, soooo excited!! Thank you!

The kids vest at Coco were only $5 to rent for the day so an adult vest can't be too much more. Do the kayak vests inflate or are they a permanent flotation device? Typically the snorkel ones inflate using a valve on the vest (and deflate that way). So if your vests will take up a lot of room I'd just rent them for what would be each $10 max. The snorkel ones are just support for floating and are chest only. If their kayak ones are front and back they may not be good for snorkeling as you might float more vertical as opposed to horizontal. No excursion tickets needed if you have your own stuff. I think the "excursion" is just renting all the equipment that's needed and a safety video (but I didn't look too into it). I'd head to the left as you exit the tender and grab some loungers. You'll be nice and close to where you need to go to snorkel. You'll see the floating docks (small) that have been mentioned.

[Turtles06]

By any chance did you do any specialty restaurants or was the MDRs good? On NCL, we pick them as one of our free options and have become quite spoiled. We are trying to decide if we want to purchase a 3-4 restaurant dining package on our upcoming cruise.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

We were on Anthem a couple of weeks ago, and had one dinner at Chops. We were very much looking forward to it, as we'd had a fabulous dinner there during our first cruise on Anthem (two years ago). This cruise, though, Chops was a huge disappointment. Our server was totally rushed and terrible. We had to send two courses back, the first being our hot appetizers, which he brought into the dining room and left sitting out, unserved (we could see them) while he dealt with the checks for a nearby table. (Never leave food unserved!) By the time he served the appetizers, they were of course cold, and we sent them back. This apparently threw off the entire meal, as my steak, when finally served, was so overdone I could not cut it. (It clearly was not a great piece of meat to start with.) Back that went too.

 

Worst meal of the cruise.

 

We met some folks who enjoyed Jamie's a great deal. We've never tried it; it looks like you are eating in a shopping mall. But please decide for yourselves. Wonderland looks too gimmicky for us; we've eaten at Qsine several times on Celebrity, and we've decided we're done with gimmicky food. Lots of folks love Wonderland. Again, you should decide.

 

We were in a JS, so we never ate dinner in the MDR. When we wanted a break from Coastal Kitchen, we ate in the Windjammer, which was just fine when you don't want to do the whole sit down meal thing.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[daisyh]

We were on Anthem a couple of weeks ago, and had one dinner at Chops. We were very much looking forward to it, as we'd had a fabulous dinner there during our first cruise on Anthem (two years ago). This cruise, though, Chops was a huge disappointment. Our server was totally rushed and terrible. We had to send two courses back, the first being our hot appetizers, which he brought into the dining room and left sitting out, unserved (we could see them) while he dealt with the checks for a nearby table. (Never leave food unserved!) By the time he served the appetizers, they were of course cold, and we sent them back. This apparently threw off the entire meal, as my steak, when finally served, was so overdone I could not cut it. (It clearly was not a great piece of meat to start with.) Back that went too.

 

Worst meal of the cruise.

 

We met some folks who enjoyed Jamie's a great deal. We've never tried it; it looks like you are eating in a shopping mall. But please decide for yourselves. Wonderland looks too gimmicky for us; we've eaten at Qsine several times on Celebrity, and we've decided we're done with gimmicky food. Lots of folks love Wonderland. Again, you should decide.

 

We were in a JS, so we never ate dinner in the MDR. When we wanted a break from Coastal Kitchen, we ate in the Windjammer, which was just fine when you don't want to do the whole sit down meal thing.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

 

I have read several bad things about Chops. We will probably just stick with the MDR and may decide to book one or more during the week if we are underwhelmed by the MDR.

 

Thanks

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Jaynice:)]

The kids vest at Coco were only $5 to rent for the day so an adult vest can't be too much more. Do the kayak vests inflate or are they a permanent flotation device? Typically the snorkel ones inflate using a valve on the vest (and deflate that way). So if your vests will take up a lot of room I'd just rent them for what would be each $10 max. The snorkel ones are just support for floating and are chest only. If their kayak ones are front and back they may not be good for snorkeling as you might float more vertical as opposed to horizontal. No excursion tickets needed if you have your own stuff. I think the "excursion" is just renting all the equipment that's needed and a safety video (but I didn't look too into it). I'd head to the left as you exit the tender and grab some loungers. You'll be nice and close to where you need to go to snorkel. You'll see the floating docks (small) that have been mentioned.

 

Good to know - thanks, I'll keep the vests at home.

 

Separate question I hope you might know... how much were games in the arcade? Trying to decide how much to pre-buy with arcade cards ($50 or $100 per kid). Also, were the soda machines working most of the time? I'd seen other reviews that they were often broken.

 

Thanks again!

[MrSnarkyPants]

By any chance did you do any specialty restaurants or was the MDRs good? On NCL, we pick them as one of our free options and have become quite spoiled. We are trying to decide if we want to purchase a 3-4 restaurant dining package on our upcoming cruise.

 

We were on board last month; we ate at Jamie's Italian and Izumi twice, Chops and Wonderland once, plus the Chef's Table.

 

Jamie's is wonderful. If all you want out of Italian food is red sauce and pasta you'll probably be disappointed (and you will find people in this category). Jamie's does very nice lamb chops. If you've eaten at any of his restaurants on land you'll find the quality and flavor on board will match that experience.

 

Izumi does great sushi. The first time we went there our server wasn't that great but the second time we had someone who really know what she was doing. If we had more time on board I would have gone back here a third time.

 

I have no complaints with Chops. We had good quality steaks and good service.

 

Wonderland? They're trying too hard to be hip. So they bring you this blank piece of paper as your menu and have you put water on it with a paintbrush to make the menu appear. I don't see the point in them bringing out the menu when the server proceeds to tell you that HE will be making the decisions for you tonight, then he proceeds to bring out a bunch of stuff that we wouldn't have ordered had we been given the chance. Half of our starters were duds because they were made of things we don't like to eat. The other half were duds because they were more about presentation than taste. The main course got better, and dessert was great. Meanwhile, people on both sides of us who had been there before, were given the option to order what they wanted because they knew the menu. This pissed me off. If you're on a dining package, if you repeat this restaurant they charge you a fee. And if you're not on a package, you have to shell out $70 for a party of two before you can come back for the chance to pay to order what you want? GTFO with your pretentious self, Wonderland. If you're going to hand me a menu and make a big deal over "discovering" what's on it, let me order from it.

 

 

Chef's Table: I think the chef in charge of this is behind both Wonderland and Chops. Some of the courses were more about how they looked over how they tasted. The wine steward, who was at the end of his contract and kept talking about wanting to go home, switched out most of the pairings on the menu with what he thought were better wines and they were very good. The wine is what saved this meal.

 

There's one other specialty restaurant that's complimentary. Solarium Bistro, which serves a brunch buffet on sea days, has a healthy Mediterranean menu at night. They also server a whole lobster for $20 that comes with a glass of champagne. This is slightly less than what you'd pay for the same lobster in the MDR and was excellent. At the server's suggestion we paired that with the skirt steak for some surf & turf.

 

We did MTD and went to the dining room for dinner a few times. (This was the 12 night itinerary.) Tip: make a reservation on the app ahead of time. The dining room quality is on par with a good banquet hall. It's good, but the specialty restaurants are a step above the dining room.

[Jaynice:)]

 

There's one other specialty restaurant that's complimentary. Solarium Bistro, which serves a brunch buffet on sea days, has a healthy Mediterranean menu at night. They also server a whole lobster for $20 that comes with a glass of champagne. This is slightly less than what you'd pay for the same lobster in the MDR and was excellent. At the server's suggestion we paired that with the skirt steak for some surf & turf.

 

We did MTD and went to the dining room for dinner a few times. (This was the 12 night itinerary.) Tip: make a reservation on the app ahead of time. The dining room quality is on par with a good banquet hall. It's good, but the specialty restaurants are a step above the dining room.

 

 

Is Solarium Bistro adults only? It allowed me to make reservations for me and my 14 and 10 year.

 

Back in November I made MTD reservations for all other nights on the website, and even found an email confirming 2 of the specific times. Cruise Planner is showing 21 dining events (3x7...ok, all nights accounted for) but the MTD times all say ‘at your leisure’. I picked specific times. When you mentioned the app, Royal IQ? And did you have ZOOM?

 

Thanks?

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Clarea]

Is Solarium Bistro adults only? It allowed me to make reservations for me and my 14 and 10 year. ...

No, the restaurant is open to all ages.

[Jaynice:)]

No, the restaurant is open to all ages.

 

 

 

Great, thanks. Do you have any idea why the specific MTD times are not appearing in my Cruise Planner? While I have you...has anyone posted recently about acupuncture on board Anthem? Do they have better sales on board? Anyone recently say they used the acupuncturist? They can be hit or miss. Thank you!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Clarea]

Great, thanks. Do you have any idea why the specific MTD times are not appearing in my Cruise Planner? ...

It's typical that sometimes in the middle of the dinner period do not show up in the Cruise Planner. You can try to change onboard, or just show up when you want. Reservations are not mandatory.

Edited March 1, 2018 by Host Clarea

[Jasukkie]

Great, thanks. Do you have any idea why the specific MTD times are not appearing in my Cruise Planner? While I have you...has anyone posted recently about acupuncture on board Anthem? Do they have better sales on board? Anyone recently say they used the acupuncturist? They can be hit or miss. Thank you!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Those times are already booked up. There will be lines for people with and without reservations. If you don't mind waiting, you can go at any time and just wait for a table. The first night is the worst in terms of lines and service with MTD but it tends to get a lot better as the cruise goes on.

[Jaynice:)]

Those times are already booked up. There will be lines for people with and without reservations. If you don't mind waiting, you can go at any time and just wait for a table. The first night is the worst in terms of lines and service with MTD but it tends to get a lot better as the cruise goes on.

 

 

 

That’s why I booked back in November! So we knew when we’d have a reservation and it varied every night. Ugh.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[MrSnarkyPants]

Is Solarium Bistro adults only? It allowed me to make reservations for me and my 14 and 10 year.

 

Back in November I made MTD reservations for all other nights on the website, and even found an email confirming 2 of the specific times. Cruise Planner is showing 21 dining events (3x7...ok, all nights accounted for) but the MTD times all say ‘at your leisure’. I picked specific times. When you mentioned the app, Royal IQ? And did you have ZOOM?

 

Thanks

 

As Bob mentioned, Solarium Bistro doesn't have an age restriction.

 

When I mentioned the app, I meant Royal IQ. You don't need to buy Voom. Download the app before you get on, then connect to Royal WiFi when you get on board. The app uses the WiFi to work even if you haven't purchased the internet.

 

 

I used Royal IQ to make MTD dining room reservations while on board. (We would adjust when we ate to work around things on board we wanted to do.) You can make and change those reservations same day if you need it. Then you go to the My Time dining room and get in the much shorter "with reservations" line and are shown to your table.

[robtulipe]

That’s why I booked back in November! So we knew when we’d have a reservation and it varied every night. Ugh.

 

 

 

I just did the dining reservations for our upcoming April Anthem cruise, which we have two connecting cabins and My Calendar in our Cruise Planner for the four of us all MTD are showing "at your leisure" also even though I reserved specific times for these. The only other dining reservation we have is for the Solarium Bistro and those show the time our reservation is for.

You should have received an email confirmation with the actual times listed for MTD so I would print that confirmation. Our email had these MTD times and I plan to print a copy of it.

We were on Anthem four times previously, last being this past January and My Calendar in our Cruise Planner always showed the reservation time for MTD so I don't know why it is this way now. It may be that once onboard your My Calendar will display actual time reserved.

[robtulipe]

It's typical that sometimes in the middle of the dinner period do not show up in the Cruise Planner. You can try to change onboard, or just show up when you want. Reservations are not mandatory.

 

Those times are already booked up. There will be lines for people with and without reservations. If you don't mind waiting, you can go at any time and just wait for a table. The first night is the worst in terms of lines and service with MTD but it tends to get a lot better as the cruise goes on.

 

 

As I alluded to above, Jaynice is likely discussing their My Calendar in the Cruise Planner once their dining reservation were made and not the actual reservation process in that section.

I am seeing the same lack of times for MDT in My Calendar of our two Anthem reservations for April.

[Turtles06]

As I alluded to above, Jaynice is likely discussing their My Calendar in the Cruise Planner once their dining reservation were made and not the actual reservation process in that section.

I am seeing the same lack of times for MDT in My Calendar of our two Anthem reservations for April.

 

I had the same issue on our Feb. 9 Anthem sailing. Before the cruise, I had made reservations on line through the Cruise Planner for specific MTD times. But those times never showed up on My Calendar in the Cruise Planner. Clearly a glitch in their Calendar system.

[Nectarologist]

Good to know - thanks, I'll keep the vests at home.

 

Separate question I hope you might know... how much were games in the arcade? Trying to decide how much to pre-buy with arcade cards ($50 or $100 per kid). Also, were the soda machines working most of the time? I'd seen other reviews that they were often broken.

 

Thanks again!

 

The arcade was reasonable thought I don't remember the exact prices. No more than a Dave & Busters (probably less). I'd say $1.25 to $2.45 a game. One game was two player for only like $1.25. Cheapo me loved it and my son was just glad to keep playing :) It says the exact price in $ on the badge reader. No funny lingo like "tokens" or whatever Dave and Busters has where you need to do math to figure out the cost of each game. Also fyi, you swipe your room card and then need to press two green buttons at the same time to confirm you want to purchase. That was good. So if you kids have charging privileges on the their cards they can go to town with them. The prepaid card eliminates this and makes a nice gift/surprise too.

 

I found the soda machines to be working most of the time. Once in a while they would be out of a flavor but there was plenty to choose from. The one at the seaplex was spotty. It wouldn't recognize 1 out of our 4 cups (but eventually did). Also the one it Windjammer was broke once but they seem to fix them quickly. I didn't have recurring issues. I wish they'd have a few more through out the ship but that's just me being lazy :)

[Maraprince]

We were on board last month; we ate at Jamie's Italian and Izumi twice, Chops and Wonderland once, plus the Chef's Table.

 

Jamie's is wonderful. If all you want out of Italian food is red sauce and pasta you'll probably be disappointed (and you will find people in this category). Jamie's does very nice lamb chops. If you've eaten at any of his restaurants on land you'll find the quality and flavor on board will match that experience.

 

Izumi does great sushi. The first time we went there our server wasn't that great but the second time we had someone who really know what she was doing. If we had more time on board I would have gone back here a third time.

 

I have no complaints with Chops. We had good quality steaks and good service.

 

Wonderland? They're trying too hard to be hip. So they bring you this blank piece of paper as your menu and have you put water on it with a paintbrush to make the menu appear. I don't see the point in them bringing out the menu when the server proceeds to tell you that HE will be making the decisions for you tonight, then he proceeds to bring out a bunch of stuff that we wouldn't have ordered had we been given the chance. Half of our starters were duds because they were made of things we don't like to eat. The other half were duds because they were more about presentation than taste. The main course got better, and dessert was great. Meanwhile, people on both sides of us who had been there before, were given the option to order what they wanted because they knew the menu. This pissed me off. If you're on a dining package, if you repeat this restaurant they charge you a fee. And if you're not on a package, you have to shell out $70 for a party of two before you can come back for the chance to pay to order what you want? GTFO with your pretentious self, Wonderland. If you're going to hand me a menu and make a big deal over "discovering" what's on it, let me order from it.

 

 

Chef's Table: I think the chef in charge of this is behind both Wonderland and Chops. Some of the courses were more about how they looked over how they tasted. The wine steward, who was at the end of his contract and kept talking about wanting to go home, switched out most of the pairings on the menu with what he thought were better wines and they were very good. The wine is what saved this meal.

 

There's one other specialty restaurant that's complimentary. Solarium Bistro, which serves a brunch buffet on sea days, has a healthy Mediterranean menu at night. They also server a whole lobster for $20 that comes with a glass of champagne. This is slightly less than what you'd pay for the same lobster in the MDR and was excellent. At the server's suggestion we paired that with the skirt steak for some surf & turf.

 

We did MTD and went to the dining room for dinner a few times. (This was the 12 night itinerary.) Tip: make a reservation on the app ahead of time. The dining room quality is on par with a good banquet hall. It's good, but the specialty restaurants are a step above the dining room.

 

Is the Solarium open on boarding day? Do they serve a buffet breakfast and can you have made to order eggs/omelets? Is lunch only available there on sea days?

 

MARAPRINCE

[MrSnarkyPants]

Is the Solarium open on boarding day? Do they serve a buffet breakfast and can you have made to order eggs/omelets? Is lunch only available there on sea days?

 

MARAPRINCE

 

I think boarding day lunch is in 270 and Windjammer.

 

I did not see eggs made to order in Solarium Bistro. There were pre-made omelets on the buffet there.

 

 

I didn't stay on the ship on port days, so I can't answer if they're open for lunch then or not.

[Dina7]

Is the Solarium open on boarding day? Do they serve a buffet breakfast and can you have made to order eggs/omelets? Is lunch only available there on sea days?

 

MARAPRINCE

 

On my 2016 Anthem cruise, the Solarium Bistro buffet was open for lunch on embarkation day. It was a much calmer alternative to the Windjammer.

[Jaynice:)]

Thanks everyone for the followups to my questions. My iPhone is glitching so I've been forced to make use of my laptop to check things here and on My Planner... and thankful that I did. I found all of my exact reservation times under Order History (or something like that) so indeed, I made them and they are there. Whew!

 

I have downloaded the Royal IQ app but don't see a way to let it know who I am/my reservation information. Does it start working when you are on board? Looks like I will need an iPhone upgrade and glad to know that now and not after boarding the ship later this month. Again, appreciate all the info and tips!

[Merion_Mom]

Thanks everyone for the followups to my questions. My iPhone is glitching so I've been forced to make use of my laptop to check things here and on My Planner... and thankful that I did. I found all of my exact reservation times under Order History (or something like that) so indeed, I made them and they are there. Whew!

 

I have downloaded the Royal IQ app but don't see a way to let it know who I am/my reservation information. Does it start working when you are on board? Looks like I will need an iPhone upgrade and glad to know that now and not after boarding the ship later this month. Again, appreciate all the info and tips!

 

 

 

Correct: Royal IQ does not come alive until you are on board.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums