Anthem Review - from a Princess cruiser

[friend of Eeyore]

Traveling RCCL – from the view of a Princess Elite Cruiser

 

Anthem – June 28 - July 7

 

We have 21 or so cruises on Princess, and have booked two more with them, but when the In-Laws say they want to take you on a cruise, how can you refuse? We chose the Anthem to Bermuda, St. Maarten, San Juan, and Labadee (their “private island” on Haiti), a 9 day cruise. This was the In-Laws first cruise as Diamond on RCCL.

 

 

TL : DR version – Traveling RCCL was nice, and I’d do it again given the chance, but I’m glad to be back on the Pacific Princess at Christmas.

 

 

I’m going to do a review that compares different parts of the ship to my opinions on Princess. Again, this is from a Princess cruiser, so if you’re a RCCL cheerleader, take it with a grain of salt.

 

THE SHIP:

The Anthem is a large ship, around 4500 passengers I believe. If you look at my cruise history, you see that almost half of our cruises are on the Renaissance line ships (600-700 passengers) – the Royal (Royal 2), the Ocean, and the Pacific. We prefer the smaller ships – currently the Pacific and the Coral (haven’t cruised the Island since the refit). This ship was HUGE to me. Too big, really. However, I never really felt crowded, except in the buffet or during disembarkation or embarkation. Overall, tie with Princess.

 

 

THE BUFFET:

People claim that RCCL’s buffet set up is better. I’m not sure I agree. Because of the layout, I actually only ate there 3 times, I think, because I could never find what I wanted. My normal breakfast includes a fried or poached egg on cruiseships, and I never found one. The omelet line was ridiculous, and not well cooked for the time and effort it took (even though there were 3 lines). You had to go to this counter and that counter, and another counter to get a rounded breakfast, and stand through a line at each. I’d rather stand in the one line at Princess, and go through everything. The one time I tried lunch was just as bad. After that, I stuck with the Solarium restaurant or pizza for breakfast and lunch (one time at 270 also – that was a nice quick breakfast. Never got there for lunch, but the whole part about going to the other end of the ship was a lot, for me). Overall, point to Princess.

 

 

DINING ROOM:

We ate with the In-Laws every night. We had MTD (Anytime), but reservations for 5:30. After the first night, we had the same table and waiters reserved, and sat down between 5 and 5:30. That worked for us. Good service and an EXCELLENT head waiter – Alan. I have recent (diagnosed a year ago) fruit allergies that I’m still working through, and Alan and our waiter Hormuz took good care of me. I got the next night’s menu each night, and they worked through any changes for the allergies. With fruit allergies, it usually isn’t an issue, but mango, kiwi, and banana tend to crop up everywhere. I dislike RCCL’s practice of putting ALL the silverware on the table before the meal, and only sending in a soup spoon or steak knife when needed. I much rather Princess’s practice of putting out just what is needed for each course. Until my fruit allergies, I didn’t have many interactions with Head Waiters, but Alan was one of the most personable ones I’ve met. Overall though, tie with Princess.

 

 

FOOD:

Food is subjective. We’ve had cruises with really bad food, and cruises with excellent food. For this particular cruise: Chocolate molten cake the first night (don’t know what they called it) was excellent. The one they actually called the lava cake later in the cruise was not. Meat, in general was well cooked. We had a problem with the Chops steak (extra cost) the first time it was made, but they comped it. Next time it was great (although they couldn’t produce a bernaise sauce that night – I honestly think their hollandaise sauce had gone bad). I ordered escargot one night, and thought that it was not as good as Princess – but it is available every night. Lobster on the second formal night was just as bland as on Princess. Their version of Baked Alaska wasn’t any good – there was less than a centimeter of meringue on it. In general though, the food was good. Overall, tie, with a slight lean towards Princess.

 

 

BARS:

My In-Laws were Diamond, but we probably did the LEAST drinking I’ve ever done on a cruise. The only two drinks I paid for were a 2 for 1 margarita, and a caipirinha. The caipirinha was excellent. The margarita tasted like bad lemonade. Long Islands made by Toni in the Bolero bar were excellent – we tipped her extra at the end. However, drinks were expensive – the margarita and caipirinha were both $15ish with the tip. I brought on a bottle of dessert wine (which they did not charge for opening in the dining room). We paid around $20 in Vancouver, I think, where we bought it. They wanted $46 on ship (and because it’s a desert wine, this was for a 375mL). Overall, points to Princess – both because of the bad margarita and the cost.

 

 

Other drinks:

We had the Coke package, which allowed us the gun service at the bars, and use of the Freestyle Coke machines (in 3 places on the ship). These Coke machines allowed me to get my Fanta, which on Princess I have to get from cans (and I think I won’t be able to get with a sip and sail package, which makes me mad). Coffee all over the ship, but specialty coffee in at least 2 places, which I paid for twice. Good enough, but I’m not much of a coffee drinker. Lemonade (generally too weak), tea, and infused water were available in the buffets (and orange juice at breakfast). Milk choices were skim or whole – Princess usually has lowfat available. Overall, even with the lack of lowfat milk and weak lemonade, I’m giving the points to RCCL, because of the freestyle machines.

 

 

ROOMS:

RCCL doesn’t have the closets that I’m used to on Princess. However, they have so much more in the way of storage – shelves and drawers – that we actually didn’t even need them all. A stateroom is a stateroom in general. We had a balcony, and the chair and stool (two each) were adequate. Shower is a little bigger. Our stateroom attendant Alison was great. He got what we asked for, except for ice, and we didn’t ask after the first time, so it was probably our fault for not following up. He did miss the last 2 days – the substitute indicated an hand injury. I hope he came out okay – he was apparently medically on leave for the two days. 4 towel animals over 9 nights, and only borrowed 1 pair of sunglasses for them. My Eeyore that travels with me also got posed a few times. We’ve gotten travel animals on Princess before, and they seem much the same, but we don’t get them every cruise on Princess. Overall, points to RCCL, because of storage.

 

 

SOLARIUM/SANCTUARY:

We were doors down from the lower entrance to the Solarium, which was wonderful. I spent a great deal of my time in there. I love the round loungers they have. However, it was full of chair hogs – many times, towels were down for hours, and no one ever came. Especially with the few (maybe 10) round loungers. This area is 16 and up, but they should have made it 18 and up, or higher (more on that later). Because this one is free, and Princess charges, I’ll have to give points to RCCL, even with the issues.

 

 

CHAIR HOGS / TOWELS:

RCCL charges for towels – you have to check them out, and if you don’t return them, they charge you $25 a towel. I think that’s ridiculous, and I never checked one out. I sun-dried, or in Bermuda, we took our own (because we knew in advance). However, almost everyone else had checked them out, and they were all over the place on loungers. Supposedly the staff will remove them after ½ hour, but I saw no evidence of it. The one time I tried, the guy said he’d “check the pool” – even though no one had been in them for 3 hours. However, soon a guy nearby came, and he said that the towel on the lounger was part of his group, and that I could use it, that they probably wouldn’t be back. That same group took the same lounger and did the same thing the following day, so I just moved it myself. When he came back I said something, and he said I was fine. I’d much rather RCCL not charge for them, and make a better practice of removing them, plus other belongings. Overall, points to Princess (because I’ve never seen it this bad).

 

 

CHILDREN / TEENS:

I mostly stayed in the Solarium, so I didn’t encounter children, but the teens on this cruise were ridiculous. RCCL did not do a good job of policing them, and there were often teens that were under 16 in the solarium. In addition, on at least two nights, the teens came in and took over the hot tubs in the Solarium, including using Bluetooth speakers to blast their music, not paying any attention to adults who were trying to relax. I said something to the attendant who was cleaning, and he at least got them to turn it down, but it was still playing, and they took over 3 out of 4 hot tubs (and were starting in on the 4th). That, plus there were clearly kids under 16 there, and they were exceeding the max usage. There should have been some oversight over it. I think there may have been a hot tub party listed, but not every night, and don’t take the adult pool to do it, IMO. Points to Princess, because I’ve not seen it as bad as this before, even though I cruise on holidays and summer (and have been on bigger ships).

 

 

ACTIVITIES:

I’m going to have to give this one a tie, because I simply didn’t do much. I did do the NorthStar (an observation pod that rises up from the pool deck) and the bumper cars, but those were just gravy to me – I would’ve been fine without them. The in-laws did the iFly, and enjoyed it. I did one scrapbooking session, and it was much cheaper than Princess for the kit ($5 for a kit that is half the size of Princess’s kit, but costs $20, as I recall). I bought two kits, and they were fine with that. I did a little punching there, but I scrapbook at home, so didn’t stay long. Usually I play trivia, but I didn’t attend one session. Again, tie.

 

 

SHOWS:

We went to 2 out of 3 of the shows. They were okay, but overall just as bad as Princess, in my opinion. We didn’t go to the comedian or magician. We missed the Rock musical, because we had it scheduled on a night it was cancelled due to high seas, and were packing (and a little ill) during the re-do time. (We’ve seen it on land, too, so we were fine.) The Gift and Spectra’s Cabaret were both a little strange. The Gift was supposedly based on a story, but really it was a story forced around the songs, IMO. The songs were current (or more recent, at least) songs. Spectra’s Cabaret had no theme. It had a “host”, “Spectra”, who would introduce the songs/performances, but it seemed a little forced too. Good musicians, okay singers, in general. We don’t enjoy the Production Shows on Princess much, either. They both seem like high-school musicals, IMO. And I’ve seen better done by high schools. Overall, tie – though Princess gets a little edge, because their comedians are timed a little better – we don’t stay up for late-night shows.

 

 

EXCURSIONS:

We did not take any ship excursions, but I’m going to have to give the points to Princess. RCCL seems to discriminate against people of size. I’m large, and my husband is large, but we are both active. We hike, snorkel, etc. Many of RCCL’s excursions had a weight limit that I would meet, but not my husband. While I understand it for things like the iFly and the Northstar because of safety concerns, it doesn’t make any sense to have a weight restriction on a bus to the beach. One of the excursions was exactly that, with a weight restriction. Most of the snorkeling excursions had a weight limit. Again, points to Princess.

 

 

PRIVATE ISLAND:

We stopped at Labadee. It was severely overcrowded, but we were on a big boat. They have a large artisan market area, much bigger than Princess Cay. Many activities to do, but all overpriced (except maybe the blow-up swim toy area, but it was mostly kids, so I didn’t even try). Lunch was good. Perhaps more choices, but overall about the same. They did have a “fruit cake”, and I’m glad I asked, because it was banana-based. They need to mark things a little better. Overall, tie.

 

 

Other stops:

No points to either, since it’s subjective on what you choose to do. We rented a small boat in Bermuda (a Boston Whaler?). It was fairly easy to use, though we had a couple bad moments when we couldn’t get it to restart, and again when we ran out of gas in the middle of the big bay, with a storm approaching. I found I couldn’t get back in via the ladder, so it’s good we didn’t stop to snorkel at the wreck. We did stop at a beach and at a sandbar area, where we fed bread to the fish – they loved that. Mostly just saw little fish, or white fish. In St. Maartan we just walked around town – it was too hot to do much. In San Juan we walked to El Morro. Again, it was too hot. I had 3 asthma attacks just due to heat, and it took 3 days to recover fully (inhaler at night, okay during the day).

 

OVERALL:

6 points tie

5 points to Princess

3 points to RCCL

 

 

Would I cruise RCCL again? Yes, though on a smaller ship more quickly. I don’t need the bells and whistles of the iFly, NorthStar, etc. I’d love to try them off-season, though it’ll have to wait until I retire. The life of a teacher – vacationing when the kids are off.

[JPV072900]

Thanks for the review....We'll be on the Anthem later this month.

 

That's pretty awful to hear about the chair hogs and young people in the Solarium....Especially with the music they brought. How is that okay??

[reallyitsmema]

Interesting perspective.

 

We have sailed Anthem three times and never had an issue getting over easy eggs for breakfast which is what I always eat. Fried eggs are available at all omelet stations and the grill on the left side of the WJ, where they are usually making pancakes, will also fry eggs, they usually ask people in the omelet line if anyone is just looking for fried eggs. The gluten free area at the back of the WJ will also fry eggs.

[friend of Eeyore]

Thanks for the review....We'll be on the Anthem later this month.

 

That's pretty awful to hear about the chair hogs and young people in the Solarium....Especially with the music they brought. How is that okay??

Exactly.

Interesting perspective.

 

We have sailed Anthem three times and never had an issue getting over easy eggs for breakfast which is what I always eat. Fried eggs are available at all omelet stations and the grill on the left side of the WJ, where they are usually making pancakes, will also fry eggs, they usually ask people in the omelet line if anyone is just looking for fried eggs. The gluten free area at the back of the WJ will also fry eggs.

As I said, I only ate in the WJ twice. The first time I was determined to get an omelet, so I waited through the line. The second time I didn't even try. I figured they might be there, but it wasn't obvious. The WJ was just too big and busy for me. I don't know if I could've gotten them in the Solariam bistro or not.

[lovescats5]

We would .love to try Princess but what they do not have that RCCL does is the balcony. We spend half the time on our balcony and Princess does just not have one of any size.

[friend of Eeyore]

We would .love to try Princess but what they do not have that RCCL does is the balcony. We spend half the time on our balcony and Princess does just not have one of any size.

The Royal and Regal (and Majestic) have small balconies, but on other ships, my balcony was no smaller than the one we had on Anthem. And sometimes larger.

[taxatty]

We are Elite on Princess and Diamond on RCI and generally agree with your comments (and the former Royal #2, Coral and Pacific have been our favorite Princess ships as well.) What Princess doesn't have is a "Central Park" or a lot of the active outside deck activities and shows that the larger RCI ships include, and we thought the high-end RCI specialty restaurants were much better than their Princess equivalents. Be that as it may, Princess does exceed RCI in several areas IMHO. All in all, we obviously love them both, but if they have similar itineraries, we'd take the smaller Princess ships over the larger RCI or Princess ships.

[Brickwood]

Thanks so much for your review. My husband and I have been on a number of RCCL and Princess cruises (and a few others) and I prefer RCCL and he prefer Princess. We haven't done one of the RCCL mega ships yet but we do want to try one. Food seems to vary from ship to ship and from cruise to cruise, regardless of which line you take. I will say that we both love the RCCL ships that feature the Royal Promenade..

[renee_gee0405]

We were on the same cruise as you. We absolutely loved the Anthem. I didn’t spend any time in the Solarium, so I can’t speak about the crowds in there.

 

We have never cruised Princess. I’m guessing though that if you are used to a smaller ship, sailing on a mega ship can be an experience. I personally found the buffet much better to navigate than any other cruise I’ve been on.

 

I also, did not have any problems with finding a chair on the top deck in the shade or sun for that matter.

 

It’s always interesting to hear a review from someone on same sailing and get a completely different perspective. 😃

[95south]

Regarding towels, why pay for one they're laying on every empty chair by 8am!! Thanks to these chair hogs...I mean kind people I never pay for towels! LOL!! :loudcry::loudcry:

[Iamcruzin]

Thanks for the comparison. I am also a Princess cruiser and we are booked on the Anthem the first week in June next year. School will still be in session in the Northeast at that time so I'm hoping less kids. I haven't been happy with the the timing of the Princess Caribbean itineraries since they are mostly during the winter or spring break. The Caribbean Princess is the only ship sailing during the summer and we have sailed 4 times on that ship. I am giving the Anthem a try due to the fact that my 23yr old son will be joining us, it's a 9 day itinerary and I don't have to fly to Ft Lauderdale. I'm not a big fan of the buffet other than breakfast and lunch so I'm happy to here that there are other choices where I can avoid the crowds. With that said I do prefer the longer buffet hours that Princess offers. Sometimes I just want a price of fruit or salad past 9:00pm

[SHIP TRAVELER]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and taking time to write the review. We sail on both Princess and RCCL and also find pluses and minus points for each. I like the big closet on Princess but miss the cabin seating (sofa) available on RCCL. I give a plus to RCCL on shows on most ships (flying shows and ice shows) but neither line has great "production" shows in my opinion. I say this but usually we never miss a show on either line so how awful can they be. I am sure knowing the routine in the buffet and what to order in the MDR improves the food on both lines because you avoid the "misses" on the menu. We liked the happy hour drink specials on Princess but think the loyalty program perks are better on RCCL.

 

Again thanks for the review.

[sparks1093]

Appreciate the thoughts!

[friend of Eeyore]

My hubby informs me that we have not seen the rock show on land - what I was thinking of is a different show. Still, I don't think watching it would change my opinion of production shows. ;) I've seen some good ones, but most aren't worth it.

-Cathy

[piper28]

What really struck me on this particular cruise was just how bad the elevator situation on the ship is. It's weird, because it sure seems like there are plenty of elevators on the ship, but yet it still would take forever for one to stop, at which point there'd be enough people waiting for the elevator to amass that not everyone would fit. Also had a couple of times where I was in an elevator going one way, it hadn't reached my floor, but all of a sudden all the buttons would clear and the elevator would go in the other direction.

 

I also think they should have just skipped the artwork in the elevators. A) it's kinda creepy, and B) it's all been defaced by idiots.

 

I honestly think the elevator situation is something fixable. To me, there's plenty of elevators on the ship. I just think there's something not right with the logic programming to make them work efficiently.

[denamo]

We would .love to try Princess but what they do not have that RCCL does is the balcony. We spend half the time on our balcony and Princess does just not have one of any size.

 

We are primarily RCCL cruisers. Have done a few Princess cruises. The Caribbean Princess we were on last spring had a huge balcony. Equivalent to Royal Caribbean's, and even a bit bigger. Princess larger ships, the Regal and the Royal balconies are among the smallest we've ever seen. Not a big deal for us. It's about the bottom line and the itinerary.

[denamo]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and taking time to write the review. We sail on both Princess and RCCL and also find pluses and minus points for each. I like the big closet on Princess but miss the cabin seating (sofa) available on RCCL. I give a plus to RCCL on shows on most ships (flying shows and ice shows) but neither line has great "production" shows in my opinion. I say this but usually we never miss a show on either line so how awful can they be. I am sure knowing the routine in the buffet and what to order in the MDR improves the food on both lines because you avoid the "misses" on the menu. We liked the happy hour drink specials on Princess but think the loyalty program perks are better on RCCL.

 

Again thanks for the review.

 

Unfortunately, Princess has decided to no longer do the happy hour drink specials. It's been a big bone of contention among regular Princess cruisers. We appreciated those specials since we didn't have any loyalty standing with them like we do on Royal.

[JJ2sail]

We cruise mostly on Princess now also since Royal Caribbean left California a few years ago. So we are Elite on Princess and Diamond on Royal. Agree with most everything except I have a really hard time getting a good drink on Princess. They have some of the strangest concoctions. I do like the new beds on Princess a bit better. But overall love the cabins on Royal which most have a sofa and feel a bit more spacious. I also miss the towel animals when we sail on Princess.

 

Both cruise lines have warm and friendly crew.

 

Basically happy to be cruising!

[Nessa1dc]

Thank you for your review. I like to hear reviews from a different perspective. I have never cruised another line. Have thought about Celebrity....we will see.

[Enigma1981]

Thank you for your review.

 

I've been on 2 cruises. Caribbean Princess in Nov. 2016, and Anthem in Nov. 2017.

 

Overall, I have to agree, both my bf and I prefer Princess. We are in our mid 30's but travel without the kids on cruises and we found princess much more relaxing. Anthem is great and modern and I did participate in a few activities (ifly, rock climbing etc) but wouldn't have missed it if they weren't there.

 

We preferred the overall ship experience including buffet, MDR, bars on Princess.

 

We had an interior on Princess, and got a balcony on anthem and I have to say if we would have had a balcony on Princess, it would have won hands down. Thank goodness we had a balcony on Anthem, as it was our sanctuary away from the 1500 kids on board (We didn't realize it was New Jersey Week when we booked).

[SHIP TRAVELER]

Unfortunately, Princess has decided to no longer do the happy hour drink specials. It's been a big bone of contention among regular Princess cruisers. We appreciated those specials since we didn't have any loyalty standing with them like we do on Royal.

 

This may not have been at official Happy Hour time wise but nearly every afternoon on the Regal Princess Trans Atlantic last September (2017) they had a 2 for 1 special which you could split between two people. There was always a line up at the participating bar a little before the time which I think was around 3:30 to 4:30. Seating was full and the wait staff was a little overwhelmed but it was a highlight of the day for many of us. Lots of people ordered two martinis each and made an event out of people watching and sipping. This may have been a promo specific to this cruise. We did not go to daily evening loyalty "snack" event but I don't think they ever had free drinks. The buy one get one was open to everyone on the ship.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

This may not have been at official Happy Hour time wise but nearly every afternoon on the Regal Princess Trans Atlantic last September (2017) they had a 2 for 1 special which you could split between two people.

that WAS the official Happy Hour. We still got it in November 2017. But it's gone now.

[PortSideCruzan]

What really struck me on this particular cruise was just how bad the elevator situation on the ship is. It's weird, because it sure seems like there are plenty of elevators on the ship, but yet it still would take forever for one to stop, at which point there'd be enough people waiting for the elevator to amass that not everyone would fit. Also had a couple of times where I was in an elevator going one way, it hadn't reached my floor, but all of a sudden all the buttons would clear and the elevator would go in the other direction.

 

I also think they should have just skipped the artwork in the elevators. A) it's kinda creepy, and B) it's all been defaced by idiots.

 

I honestly think the elevator situation is something fixable. To me, there's plenty of elevators on the ship. I just think there's something not right with the logic programming to make them work efficiently.

 

Hi Piper :)

 

On my previous 12-night sailing on Anthem I noticed this as well. However I noticed this did not occur with the forward elevators, only the mid/aft bank of elevators.

 

I also noticed Royal Caribbean Genie's had override control of an elevator when needed.

 

 

 

:)

[reallyhooked]

We would .love to try Princess but what they do not have that RCCL does is the balcony. We spend half the time on our balcony and Princess does just not have one of any size.

We cruised on Princess for the first time in March. Had a balcony. Very good experience on Caribbean Princess ( Panama Canal ) Royal didn't have a ship going there when we wanted to go.