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Few Anthem questions

grouchomarx
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grouchomarx

grouchomarx

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Hi,

I have not sailed Anthem since 11/2015 so I have a few questions about my upcoming 2/23/2020 cruise since I can't remember a few details and some things have changed.

 

-Can I arrive at the port early like 10:30 and get on the ship straight away or will they assign me an embarkation time?

-Do they still have WOW bands available for purchase?

-Is the food in the MDR any "nicer/better" on formal nights vs other nights or is the selection similar on all nights?  Trying to decide about specialty reservations and which dates.

-We dined at Wonderland last cruise and they essentially fed us what seemed like 90% of the menu.  This time we'd prefer to pick and choose dishes ourselves rather than have our server drive the dining selections/amount of food. Is this possible or do they only want to do it their way bringing so much stuff at their discretion?

-Is is correct that My Time dining is only in the Silk and American Icon restaurants?  Do I get to choose or they choose?  

-Did anyone do the unlimited dining package and have success getting desired reservations? It's a very good deal (we like to do a lot of specialty dining) but it stresses me out not being able to pre-book dinners and worry our choices will not be optimal or just plain terrible.  Any advice on this one is greatly appreciated.  

 

TIA, and sorry if these questions read as annoying or repetitive.  I haven't been on the Royal boards much since my last cruise was Princess and I just booked Anthem yesterday!

 

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Clarea

Clarea

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You can arrive at the port whenever you like.  The suggested arrival times have not been enforced by RC for cruises out of US ports.

 

WOW bands are still available for purchase.

 

The ship chooses the venue for My Time Dining.  The venues differ only in decor, menus and food are identical at all the main dining room venues.

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DaniDanielle

DaniDanielle

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Silk and America  Icon were our MTD restaurants.  We alternated between the two.  Lobster night  was a little better as far as food selections but most  nights were okay.

Get to the Port whenever you want, once boarding starts it goes quickly.

 

 

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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

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19 minutes ago, grouchomarx said:

We dined at Wonderland last cruise and they essentially fed us what seemed like 90% of the menu.  This time we'd prefer to pick and choose dishes ourselves rather than have our server drive the dining selections/amount of food. Is this possible or do they only want to do it their way bringing so much stuff at their discretion?

You can order what you like

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twangster "Live from...." Rare

twangster

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Wow bands are available for purchase.  They are included with suites and for this sailing they no longer have the muster station printed on them so they can be reused on other Wow enabled ships or on another Anthem cruise.

 

What I've observed for MTD in the past is that one side is often used for MTD guests that have reservations while the other side is for guests without reservations.  They can still cross populate the two dining venues as required based on demand and availability.  

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chiguypaul

chiguypaul

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8 hours ago, grouchomarx said:

Hi,

I have not sailed Anthem since 11/2015 so I have a few questions about my upcoming 2/23/2020 cruise since I can't remember a few details and some things have changed.

 

-Can I arrive at the port early like 10:30 and get on the ship straight away or will they assign me an embarkation time?

-Do they still have WOW bands available for purchase?

-Is the food in the MDR any "nicer/better" on formal nights vs other nights or is the selection similar on all nights?  Trying to decide about specialty reservations and which dates.

-We dined at Wonderland last cruise and they essentially fed us what seemed like 90% of the menu.  This time we'd prefer to pick and choose dishes ourselves rather than have our server drive the dining selections/amount of food. Is this possible or do they only want to do it their way bringing so much stuff at their discretion?

-Is is correct that My Time dining is only in the Silk and American Icon restaurants?  Do I get to choose or they choose?  

-Did anyone do the unlimited dining package and have success getting desired reservations? It's a very good deal (we like to do a lot of specialty dining) but it stresses me out not being able to pre-book dinners and worry our choices will not be optimal or just plain terrible.  Any advice on this one is greatly appreciated.  

 

TIA, and sorry if these questions read as annoying or repetitive.  I haven't been on the Royal boards much since my last cruise was Princess and I just booked Anthem yesterday!

 

 

Just off from the 12/28/19 sailing. 

- Ignore the embarkation time. The earlier you come the earlier you'll get on based on your place in line for your tier when boarding starts.

- WOW bands - yes.

- Except for Lobster night I didn't find the food "better" or of higher quality on formal nights.I no longer see value in specialty restaurants. We have already paid for food in the MDR.

- Contrary to my last answer, I've been to Wonderland. Most people have no clue what they want so the staff drive the selection. Feel free to be specific about what you want, but be prepared for the server to be a little thrown off by that.

- Correct on MTD. You can be specific about where you want to eat. 

 

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chiguypaul

chiguypaul

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8 hours ago, twangster said:

They are included with suites and for this sailing they no longer have the muster station printed on them so they can be reused on other Wow enabled ships or on another Anthem cruise.

 

 

 

Was just on. Not true for us. The bands all had muster stations printed on them.

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chiguypaul

chiguypaul

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1 minute ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

twangster and I are on the Anthem right now.  Bands are blank.  🙂 

 

That's interesting. We had the Wow Band guy go through all of the trays of bands trying to find one without a muster station - no luck on our sailing.

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Merion_Mom

Merion_Mom

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23 minutes ago, chiguypaul said:

 

That's interesting. We had the Wow Band guy go through all of the trays of bands trying to find one without a muster station - no luck on our sailing.

 

Maybe they were trying to use the printed ones up on your cruise. 😊

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smokey01

smokey01

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23 hours ago, twangster said:

Wow bands are available for purchase.  They are included with suites and for this sailing they no longer have the muster station printed on them so they can be reused on other Wow enabled ships or on another Anthem cruise.


are they included with junior suites? If not how much are they?

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grouchomarx

grouchomarx

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7 minutes ago, Croozin Soozin said:

They have a really good burger for $8.00, pulled pork nachos for $4.00, pretzels for $4.00. There are other food items also, but I can’t recall what they are. 

Wow thanks so much for posting the menu and pics!  I now have another venue to help me gain my mandatory 5 cruise pounds LOL.

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LuCruise

LuCruise

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On 1/7/2020 at 2:34 PM, Host Clarea said:

 

WOW bands are still available for purchase.

 

 

Where do you purchase these?  Don't see them in cruise planner for pre-purchase.  Thinking they would be useful for our kids.

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