Anthem UK cruises in the summer?

[SarahT]

On 7/7/2021 at 8:23 PM, Tatra603 said:

Looking into booking our PCR tests with a local clinic as I'm pretty sure there won't be a Eurofins over here on the Isle of Wight.

Is it 72 hours before check in or 72 hours before departure? I ask because the only clinic here has limited opening times.

We’re also on the island and struggling to find somewhere to take the PCR test. Did you manage to get something sorted?

 

[crosby99]

We are just off the Disney Magic after the week before being on Anthem. Getting a big cruising fix 😀

Royal Caribbean was, except for the odd PCR testing policy, so much more on the ball than Disney. 

I felt 100% safe on Anthem and would still have done with a significantly increased capacity. Unfortunately we didn't feel at all safe on the Disney Magic(not all staff are even vaccinated!)

Everything Royal Caribbean have introduced seems so much better including the improved AC, safety procedures, dining arrangements, entertainment and a much better App.

The Anthem was brilliant and tempted to book again if time and budget allows

[Pandamonia]

20 minutes ago, crosby99 said:

We are just off the Disney Magic after the week before being on Anthem. Getting a big cruising fix 😀

Royal Caribbean was, except for the odd PCR testing policy, so much more on the ball than Disney. 

I felt 100% safe on Anthem and would still have done with a significantly increased capacity. Unfortunately we didn't feel at all safe on the Disney Magic(not all staff are even vaccinated!)

Everything Royal Caribbean have introduced seems so much better including the improved AC, safety procedures, dining arrangements, entertainment and a much better App.

The Anthem was brilliant and tempted to book again if time and budget allows

 

What an utterly bizare way to judge a holiday when you base it on how "safe" it is.

 

I judge my holidays on how much fun i have and how enjoyable they are. Not based on some useless fake covid safety measures that make 0.1% difference in the chance of being infected. 

 

Did you get in a lift with other people or after there were other people in the lift? Because right at that point all those safety measures were worth zilch other than the vaccines everyone has had. 

[njkruzer]

27 minutes ago, crosby99 said:

We are just off the Disney Magic after the week before being on Anthem. Getting a big cruising fix 😀

Royal Caribbean was, except for the odd PCR testing policy, so much more on the ball than Disney. 

I felt 100% safe on Anthem and would still have done with a significantly increased capacity. Unfortunately we didn't feel at all safe on the Disney Magic(not all staff are even vaccinated!)

Everything Royal Caribbean have introduced seems so much better including the improved AC, safety procedures, dining arrangements, entertainment and a much better App.

The Anthem was brilliant and tempted to book again if time and budget allows

Great to hear.  We are scheduled to be on her for 2 cruises beginning October 9th, assuming the UK will let us in.  I notice on the app the Solarium Bistro isn't listed.  Did I hear that it was closed?  Any news on 5hat?

[Cool1054]

42 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

Great to hear.  We are scheduled to be on her for 2 cruises beginning October 9th, assuming the UK will let us in.  I notice on the app the Solarium Bistro isn't listed.  Did I hear that it was closed?  Any news on 5hat?

 

Yeah, it's closed currently. Will need to be at a higher capacity before it's worth having it open. 

[njkruzer]

9 minutes ago, Cool1054 said:

 

Yeah, it's closed currently. Will need to be at a higher capacity before it's worth having it open. 

That's what I thought. 

[Guest BigRoger]

6 hours ago, Pandamonia said:

Not based on some useless fake covid safety measures that make 0.1% difference in the chance of being infected. 

The world is back in equilibrium ….. we’ve so missed our ‘sunny disposition’ posts - good old ‘panda moania’ - keep up the fun and enjoy Harmony…..

[crosby99]

7 hours ago, Pandamonia said:

 

I judge my holidays on how much fun i have and how enjoyable they are. Not based on some useless fake covid safety measures that make 0.1% difference in the chance of being infected. 

 

Did you get in a lift with other people or after there were other people in the lift? Because right at that point all those safety measures were worth zilch other than the vaccines everyone has had. 

What a strange and antagonistic reply. If you judge your holiday one way then reply on a post surrounding that.

You are wrong if you don’t think a cruise line can reduce risk when on vacation
There is always a risk but it is how a company chooses to manage risk

Risk can be reduced.

Do you really think the only way a company can manage risk is by giving vaccines?

 

IMO I was more convinced how that that risk was managed by RCCL compared to Disney. Less crowds, more social distancing, improved healthcare facilities, improved filtration on AC, staff all vaccinated etc. etc. Contributes to reducing that risk.

 

Royal Caribbean have put a lot of effort into getting sailing once more and it is worth giving them credit.

 

[crosby99]

7 hours ago, Cool1054 said:

 

Yeah, it's closed currently. Will need to be at a higher capacity before it's worth having it open. 

Closed until capacity increases. Also, Windjammer closed for dinner.

[njkruzer]

17 minutes ago, crosby99 said:

Closed until capacity increases. Also, Windjammer closed for dinner.

Thanks.   We sail in October so no idea what capacity will be then.

[sgmn]

9 hours ago, crosby99 said:

We are just off the Disney Magic after the week before being on Anthem. Getting a big cruising fix 😀

Royal Caribbean was, except for the odd PCR testing policy, so much more on the ball than Disney. 

I felt 100% safe on Anthem and would still have done with a significantly increased capacity. Unfortunately we didn't feel at all safe on the Disney Magic(not all staff are even vaccinated!)

Everything Royal Caribbean have introduced seems so much better including the improved AC, safety procedures, dining arrangements, entertainment and a much better App.

The Anthem was brilliant and tempted to book again if time and budget allows

Thanks for the positive report. We're still on the fence about either Anthem or celebrity. 

Glad you had such a good experience 

[little britain]

Solarium bistro is open for Breakfast and Lunch though isn’t it? 

9 hours ago, Cool1054 said:

 

Yeah, it's closed currently. Will need to be at a higher capacity before it's worth having it open. 

[DiWilliams]

1 hour ago, little britain said:

Solarium bistro is open for Breakfast and Lunch though isn’t it? 

We just returned from a 5 night Anthem sailing and the Solarium Bistro was closed for all food service - breakfast, lunch and dinner. Our sailing had very low passenger numbers (more crew than passengers!) so I could see why it wasn't opened. 

[UKWLDCruise]

5 hours ago, sgmn said:

Thanks for the positive report. We're still on the fence about either Anthem or celebrity. 

Glad you had such a good experience 

I looked at both options and ended up on Celeb as it was nearly half the cost and a day longer.  That might have been because there was  no single supplement and the included tips.

[Pandamonia]

8 hours ago, crosby99 said:

What a strange and antagonistic reply. If you judge your holiday one way then reply on a post surrounding that.

You are wrong if you don’t think a cruise line can reduce risk when on vacation
There is always a risk but it is how a company chooses to manage risk

Risk can be reduced.

Do you really think the only way a company can manage risk is by giving vaccines?

 

IMO I was more convinced how that that risk was managed by RCCL compared to Disney. Less crowds, more social distancing, improved healthcare facilities, improved filtration on AC, staff all vaccinated etc. etc. Contributes to reducing that risk.

 

Royal Caribbean have put a lot of effort into getting sailing once more and it is worth giving them credit.

 

 

The issue is how do you live life going forward? Socially distanced with a mask on? 

 

Its all theatre to play to the utterly scared shirtless crowd. 

 

You still didnt answer the question on the lifts. Doesnt matter how far you eat your meal from someone or if someone has some underpants on their head. As soon as you get in that lift its all worthless. The entire population of the ship will use the lift on average 10x per day. Same with the ships bathrooms. 

How do you plan on going on a coach in the future? 

 

Maybe Disney are just more realistic about the type of measures that actually work. Testing and vaccines. Nothing else make any difference. 

[Guest BigRoger]

21 minutes ago, Pandamonia said:

 

The issue is how do you live life going forward? Socially distanced with a mask on? 

 

Its all theatre to play to the utterly scared shirtless crowd. 

 

You still didnt answer the question on the lifts. Doesnt matter how far you eat your meal from someone or if someone has some underpants on their head. As soon as you get in that lift its all worthless. The entire population of the ship will use the lift on average 10x per day. Same with the ships bathrooms. 

How do you plan on going on a coach in the future? 

 

Maybe Disney are just more realistic about the type of measures that actually work. Testing and vaccines. Nothing else make any difference. 

And the beat goes on….. the song remains the same

[james_19742000]

What happens if....

 

A friend of ours who is going with us had COVID around 8 weeks ago, he's been told he could test positive on the PCR test, its all listed with the NHS app etc he has been informed by the NHS etc that he is clear etc but the PCR test might return a 'false positive' if so, how do RC deal with this???

 

 

[Cool1054]

2 hours ago, james_19742000 said:

What happens if....

 

A friend of ours who is going with us had COVID around 8 weeks ago, he's been told he could test positive on the PCR test, its all listed with the NHS app etc he has been informed by the NHS etc that he is clear etc but the PCR test might return a 'false positive' if so, how do RC deal with this???

 

 

 

That allegedly happened on Freedom of the Seas. There is a video of her being taken off.

[Roybthered]

On 7/22/2021 at 8:38 PM, Cool1054 said:

So I seen on Cruise with Ben and David that on their Anthem sailing the drinks package was cheaper onboard 😮

We sailed on the 7th July and did not get the drinks package as it was so expensive but when we got on it was cheaper and in dollars so I would wait until you got on.

[Guest BigRoger]

1 hour ago, Roybthered said:

We sailed on the 7th July and did not get the drinks package as it was so expensive but when we got on it was cheaper and in dollars so I would wait until you got on.

Yep that’s interesting point. Do you know if the price quoted on board for each drink is inclusive of UK VAT or does that get added after like the 18 per cent gratuity? Eg if price for a drink is $14 is that plus 18 per cent or even more!

[Guest BigRoger]

17 hours ago, james_19742000 said:

What happens if....

 

A friend of ours who is going with us had COVID around 8 weeks ago, he's been told he could test positive on the PCR test, its all listed with the NHS app etc he has been informed by the NHS etc that he is clear etc but the PCR test might return a 'false positive' if so, how do RC deal with this???

 

 

Can’t say for sure but I have a suspicion it’s safer to work on a positive test being treated as a positive test regardless of circumstances…. Fingers crossed for you that it’s negative!

[Roybthered]

1 hour ago, BigRoger said:

Yep that’s interesting point. Do you know if the price quoted on board for each drink is inclusive of UK VAT or does that get added after like the 18 per cent gratuity? Eg if price for a drink is $14 is that plus 18 per cent or even more!

yes it is the price then plus 18% gratuity so getting a couple of glasses of wine is hitting $28 so after the first drink DW was looking at the cruise compass and noticed the drinks deal buy one get one half price and in dollars. We did a quick calculation and purchased the package. TBH we usually always get the package before we go on a cruise as it is worth it but at £79.80 each ( and only 4 nights) we could not seeing us getting our monies worth. We are glad we noticed it in the cruise compass and got it. Cruise was amazing (but quiet with only 1000 on board) and cannot wait to book another as soon as we can get away.

[Cool1054]

4 hours ago, Roybthered said:

yes it is the price then plus 18% gratuity so getting a couple of glasses of wine is hitting $28 so after the first drink DW was looking at the cruise compass and noticed the drinks deal buy one get one half price and in dollars. We did a quick calculation and purchased the package. TBH we usually always get the package before we go on a cruise as it is worth it but at £79.80 each ( and only 4 nights) we could not seeing us getting our monies worth. We are glad we noticed it in the cruise compass and got it. Cruise was amazing (but quiet with only 1000 on board) and cannot wait to book another as soon as we can get away.

 

Maybe didn't sell enough and they realised their error.

[njkruzer]

Question for those who've sailed Anthem.   Is Royal doing any onboard testing?  We are on a couple of October Anthem cruises and if flying back to the US we will need a test before flying.   I think they are doing it on Adventure.   Thanks. 

[little britain]

10 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

Question for those who've sailed Anthem.   Is Royal doing any onboard testing?  We are on a couple of October Anthem cruises and if flying back to the US we will need a test before flying.   I think they are doing it on Adventure.   Thanks. 

Hold that thought*… all Anthem cruises have been pulled from sale. Lots of rumours flying around; but yes, they test on Jewel before you get off so you have a Fit to Fly so no reason why they wouldn’t do it on Anthem.

 

*I think your relationship with this ship is jinxed!