What's wrong with the Anthem?

[russnleanne]

we sailed on the Anthem and loved it.

[95south]

Interesting, every one of those was from a cruise May 2018.

Yeah, I was reading these "reviews" and I'm suspicious of most of them, specifically the accounts that were create 2018 with 1 review. They're not reviews but more bitching about "$3.00 water" and things like that that I don't consider a review. Also, the one post that stated " The announcement came on the loudspeaker making emphasis on the fact that you need to give more money (gratuity) for the service you received". I've been cruising since the Old Rotterdam and I've NEVER heard that type of announcement nor any announcement other than an emergency ones in the MDR. Edited June 21, 2018 by 95south
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[Gaile]

We sailed Anthem in August of 2017 for 9 nights & really enjoyed the ship. My husband & I are in our early 50s and our daughter was just starting her junior year of college. We have sailed Voyager class once but usually, Freedom class & Oasis class on RCL and just experienced the Majesty (our smallest ship in the fleet) to Cuba. Aside from having to learn a new ship layout on day 1, we found her to be in great condition, friendly staff and we loved the "new" things like Northstar, iFly and most of all the bumper cars. We enjoyed all of the food venues, but cannot comment on the MDR as we were spoiled with Star Class on this sailing. The Grand Loft Suite was amazing & my daughter said that she never slept on such a comfortable sofa bed. I tried it out and she was right - just like a real bed. Would not hesitate to sail the Anthem again for the right itinerary. Enjoy your trip!

[Clarea]

Yeah, I was reading these "reviews" and I'm suspicious of most of them, specifically the accounts that were create 2018 with 1 review. They're not reviews but more bitching about "$3.00 water" and things like that that I don't consider a review. Also, the one post that stated " The announcement came on the loudspeaker making emphasis on the fact that you need to give more money (gratuity) for the service you received". I've been cruising since the Old Rotterdam and I've NEVER heard that type of announcement nor any announcement other than an emergency ones in the MDR.

Sometimes I think competitors have people creating some of these negative reports.

[hazeleyes46]

We just sailed the Anthem a week ago and honestly, we liked Oasis and Allure better. We had a great time but we just felt there was more shopping and things to do on the bigger ships. The bigger ships never felt as crowded either. The set up is different and doesn't allow for big crowds at one time in many places. We did like our inside virtual balcony room. That was very cool. This book is known for all the technology and they did very well with that. We always found things to do and sometimes too many at one time as they tried to squeeze a lot into 5 days but everything you went to, you had to get there an hour early to get seats.

[ONECRUISER]

Don't know if statistically correct, but someone quoted on here that 90% of critiques are negative. More likely to write about something negative. Most people have a great cruise and won't write anything...

Cruising more than 30 yrs on Royal and never had a bad cruise. Some issues, yes. But after career in Military maybe more likely to go with the flow...

[orla56]

We sailed on Anthem on one of the early sailings and loved the ship.We lovled the difference to the other classes.Thought the dynamic dining was a great idea but but it was a disaster.We put it done to being a new concept.

We enjoyed the shows and everything that was different about it.

We had been on Independence Freedom and Serenade before Anthem.

[boscobeans]

Aside from the fact that we don't expect a 5 course 3 star Michelin experience every time we plunk our rumps in a chair It is hard to imagine that on the Anthem we would complain, with the large variety of things to do and venues to visit along with ports of call and the fact that we are at sea. We have never had a problem avoiding crowds if we wished to do so or find entertainment on any of our cruises, whether on Celebrity, HAL or Royal Caribbean. We are sure that on our first Anthem cruise we will find plenty to enjoy for the entire 12 days and will just skip around and avoid somethings as well.

 

There were even good points to be found on our first and last cruise with NCL.

 

bosco

[MikeBTN]

Got off a 9-night on Anthem a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time. My observations:

 

1 - the layout is more similar to NCL than other Royal ships. No Promenade, narrow hallways, etc. No designated comedy club on Anthem. Music Hall is a good idea but a terrible layout - upstairs only about the first 10 feet or so can actually see the stage.

 

2 - less public areas/bars than Oasis or Freedom class. Didn’t bother us, just something I noticed.

 

3 - only one outdoor pool. Since it was designed to sail from the East Coast year round this makes sense, but I heard people on our cruise complaining about it. Didn’t bother us one bit.

 

4 - iFly, bumper cars, roller skating all included and a lot of fun.

 

5 - Windjammer was OK, but not much variety. The food was virtually identical every single night.

 

I would sail Anthem again, but for the itinerary to Bermuda. Definitely prefer Oasis class for the ship itself, and would probably sail Freedom over Anthem if the itineraries were identical (I know that wouldn’t happen, just giving a comparison).

[Merion_Mom]

There was something odd/off/suspicious in almost every one of those linked reviews.

 

There were also A LOT of unrealistic expectations and lack of research.

 

"I expect a more luxurious experience because it's a larger ship." HUH?

 

"Our obstructed balcony was obstructed!!!"

 

"The entertainment was terrible. We didn't go to any, because we didn't know that we had to make reservations ahead of time. We never had to do that on any other cruise."

 

"I wasn't allowed to fly high enough on iFly."

 

 

 

And of course, the obvious comparisons to other cruise lines, which, as Bob pointed out, are a bit suspicious in the way that the review runs.

[Life is Good Cruising]

We’ve sailed on Anthem 6X already since January, not counting our other umpteen times we’ve been on her since she came to Bayonne. We know many that love her, looking forward to our future sailings on Anthem :D

[LuCruise]

We just sailed the Anthem a week ago and honestly, we liked Oasis and Allure better. We had a great time but we just felt there was more shopping and things to do on the bigger ships. The bigger ships never felt as crowded either. The set up is different and doesn't allow for big crowds at one time in many places. We did like our inside virtual balcony room. That was very cool. This book is known for all the technology and they did very well with that. We always found things to do and sometimes too many at one time as they tried to squeeze a lot into 5 days but everything you went to, you had to get there an hour early to get seats.

 

We booked two of those. I know it's not the same as a balcony...but seems like such a neat concept for interior.

[57grandma]

There is nothing wrong with the Q class. Sailed Anthem twice and Quantum once. Will be sailing Anthem's 9 niter this August visiting NE/Canada and will enjoy as much as the last one a few years ago. Love this class right behind the Oasis class.

 

Initially the primary complaints were the lack of a RCL standard promenade and the intro of DD dining, which to this day, IMHO, RCL erred greatly in ending this dining program.

We are 6 retirees that were on Harmony in April. Loved it and booked Anthem-9 day Canada and New England on 09/12/19 out of Cape Liberty! I love to plan and would love any information you can give me! TIA!

[57grandma]

There is nothing wrong with the Q class. Sailed Anthem twice and Quantum once. Will be sailing Anthem's 9 niter this August visiting NE/Canada and will enjoy as much as the last one a few years ago. Love this class right behind the Oasis class.

 

Initially the primary complaints were the lack of a RCL standard promenade and the intro of DD dining, which to this day, IMHO, RCL erred greatly in ending this dining program.

I was also wondering about the drink package- we all enjoyed the convenience of it but I'm not sure if we would come out ahead because of more ports( only went on 1 excursion on Harmony), cooler temperatures. TIA

[nelblu]

We are 6 retirees that were on Harmony in April. Loved it and booked Anthem-9 day Canada and New England on 09/12/19 out of Cape Liberty! I love to plan and would love any information you can give me! TIA!

 

I did the same itinerary a few years ago around the same time in August. Loved it as it was the first time going North. Did an extensive review, including tours that we took, but don't know how to link to it. If interested, I'll copy & paste.

[pokerguy90]

I would say most of the negative reviews of “Q” class come mostly from those who have sailed on “0” class ships.

 

Then again, people enjoy complaining. I’m Jewish, it happens to be my birthright...

 

[emoji1134]Shalom[emoji1134]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[57grandma]

I did the same itinerary a few years ago around the same time in August. Loved it as it was the first time going North. Did an extensive review, including tours that we took, but don't know how to link to it. If interested, I'll copy & paste.

That would be great if it’s not too much trouble! Thanks!!

[nelblu]

That would be great if it’s not too much trouble! Thanks!!

 

Before doing that try this. At the top right hand side of the thread page you will see a box titled "More about Royal Carib ships review". Click on it and then filter by Anthem's reviews. There are many reviews--good an bad. Mine is at the bottom of page 173 titled" Wonderful 9 nights, 8/25/16 Anthem cruise."

 

Disregard my review of Dynamic Dining as RCL discontinued this dining concept.

 

Let me know so that I can take the other step--copy & paste.

[broberts]

Sometimes I think competitors have people creating some of these negative reports.

 

That's alright, it balances out the cheerleaders. :D

[Princess Ceil]

We’ve been on Anthem twice and booked Southern Caribbean while on board 5/31/2018. Love this ship! The entertainment was great, lots to do. Jamie’s and Chops very good. MDR - staff great, food decent but limited menu we thought from previous cruises. Didn’t care for the dancing by staff in MDR on last night. Had tips all prepared but parading around dining room felt fake and was a turn off. Been on 7 cruises between Celebrity and Royal and Anthem is our favorite.

[nelblu]

We’ve been on Anthem twice and booked Southern Caribbean while on board 5/31/2018. Love this ship! The entertainment was great, lots to do. Jamie’s and Chops very good. MDR - staff great, food decent but limited menu we thought from previous cruises. Didn’t care for the dancing by staff in MDR on last night. Had tips all prepared but parading around dining room felt fake and was a turn off. Been on 7 cruises between Celebrity and Royal and Anthem is our favorite.

 

We did the Southern Carib. in January. By the way, do they still have the chocolate fountain to go along with the Tutti salad bar in Grande on sea days.

[Baron Barracuda]

Sailed Quantum shortly after she debuted and Anthem later on. Q class ships feel somewhat different from other Royal ships and long time cruisers who made up the bulk of Quantum's early passengers weren't quite comfortable with her. Both Q class ships were also beset by operational problems early on which caused them to receive a high number of negative reviews. As Royal implemented fixes reviews began to even out.

 

Much of the problem came from Royal rolling out many new gee-whiz features without first testing them. Dynamic dining was one. The reservation system alternately lost or double-booked reservations, a plan to have waiters take orders on ipads never worked, and both kitchen and dining rooms were under-sized and under-staffed. Also, Royal IQ didn't initially function as promised and the robotic bartender couldn't pour a drink without spilling it. WOW bands, one cool item that actually worked, soon went from being free to a pay item.

 

Royal (and ta's) also did a poor job of educating passengers on the need to book meals, shows, i-fly and Northstar ahead of time. Many were irate to come aboard without reservations and learn that activities and entertainment were fully booked for the duration of the cruise and without dinner reservations they sometimes had to dine in the Windjammer.

 

I personally like Anthem. The cascading solarium pools are my favorite shipboard pools. 270 and the music hall are wonderful venues. DW loves bumper cars & I-fly. Best of all I can drive to pier in under an hour. Will be on her again in 5 weeks with db, sil &kids. They've only sailed Oasis & Disney so will be interested in their impression.

[julielouhoo]

Interesting, every one of those was from a cruise May 2018.

 

 

I was on the Anthem in May 2018 (Bermuda and Eastern Caribbean) and it was amazing!! I hope to have my full review completed this weekend, but for now, suffice to say, I LOVED pretty much everything about it! (and I, too, worried I'd miss the Promenades and the 3 story beautiful dining room). I cruised on the Indy in Dec and was a bit underwhelmed. Some things were just off (although I'd take an "off" day on a cruise to pretty much any other day on land). I was concerned it was a decline in service and attention to detail issue, fleetwide. But the Anthem exceeded my expectations. Been trying to figure out when I can get back on her, since I returned home.

 

Book the Anthem and enjoy!!

[57grandma]

Before doing that try this. At the top right hand side of the thread page you will see a box titled "More about Royal Carib ships review". Click on it and then filter by Anthem's reviews. There are many reviews--good an bad. Mine is at the bottom of page 173 titled" Wonderful 9 nights, 8/25/16 Anthem cruise."

 

Disregard my review of Dynamic Dining as RCL discontinued this dining concept.

 

Let me know so that I can take the other step--copy & paste.

Thanks so much-I will find it!

[CRUSINGFAMILY]

Well we did the 5 day Bermuda cruise last week, and we enjoyed our cruise and it was the first time on the ship. As you can see we are avid cruisers and have been on most of the fleet. We are traditional cruisers and we like our early seating dinner around 6pm. We booked this cruise late as it was a comp from the casino, we had a cabin on deck 3 ocean view it was very nice. We had my time dinning and we were assigned 5;30 which is a little early, but the first night we had to lovely couples beside us and the Maitre'd asked us if we would all like to come and sit at the same table every night at the same time and we did do that.

 

The ship is defiantly broken up into much different spaces that Royals other ships. We did find the elevators quite busy always the shows were excellent and different. The casino was crazy busy all the time which is different for us as we normally do long 14 night cruises and the casino is never so busy. As busy as it was we didn't see a lot of people winning jack pots like we had on the Explorer of the seas in May.

 

The 270 theater being on the back of the ship is very cool and most of the dinning and entertainment is on 4 and 5 there is quite a lot of walking for bow to stern, and there is an incredible amount of retail stores on this ship. More than any other i believe.

 

I believe that Royal is making different ships with different things to attract a bigger spectrum of customers and they are doing a good job. The New York and New Jersey area's populations are well suited for this ship.

 

WE will sail again on this ship.

 

Brian J