Just off first US sailing of Anthem - any questions, fire away! :)

[njkruzer]

2 minutes ago, Etta1213 said:

I would love to spend time exploring England before a cruise but am at a loss how to go about it. Would love more info if you'd be willing -- could email Etta2213 at all for com.

We're doing that next October before the Anthem’s TA.  Will arrive 5 days before and use London as our base.  This will not be our not be our first time in Britain.   Last trip was the QM2 to Southampton.  Stayed there and took day trips to Salisbury for Stonehenge,  Portsmouth, and Isle of Wight.  Lots of options. 

[Etta1213]

2 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

We're doing that next October before the Anthem’s TA.  Will arrive 5 days before and use London as our base.  This will not be our not be our first time in Britain.   Last trip was the QM2 to Southampton.  Stayed there and took day trips to Salisbury for Stonehenge,  Portsmouth, and Isle of Wight.  Lots of options. 

Thank you 😊

[boscobeans]

We were booked into a grand suite, went directly into the terminal to security ( around 12 Noon ) , waited for what seemed like an eternity for the THREE T.S.A. stations to process about 10 passengers that were ahead of us ?????

Looked like they were training 3 new agents, and this may have been partially why the line outside was going so slow and was wrapped around the terminal.

 

Went to a check-in station, showed our vax cards, got our purple "vaccinated" wrist bands and  boarded the ship. 

 

Aside from the T.S.A. issue we basically walked through the terminal and up the escalator.

 

Great cruise and looking forward to our next Anthem cruise in 66 days..

 

 

[Rysyonok]

9 minutes ago, 142w said:

Thanks sharing your experiences. Did you try Ifly or North Star? Do you know the prices for the extended trips and was it easy to reserve?

also interested in how the bumper car sessions work. We are traveling with a 10 and 14-year-old who are quite interested in these activities!

 

North Star is free for limited / preview sessions and $29 for extended ones (12 minutes). I went for NS right off the bat upon boarding, and that ended up being a good choice; I couldn't secure a free NS flight for the rest of the cruise to save my life.

 

Bumper cars are fun but brutal. My gf ended up with 2 bruises and 1 major scruff. Those seat belts are just not positioned right.

[Rysyonok]

12 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Do they still have the MDR tables crammed into each other for the deck with vaccinated passengers?

I was sure hoping they would give more space between tables but other ship reports say you still sit on top of others.

 

Tables are crammed, I can't deny that. But some sections are semi-free. Ask for 900+ numbered tables in American Grill.

[Another_Critic]

Just now, Etta1213 said:

I would love to spend time exploring England before a cruise but am at a loss how to go about it. Would love more info if you'd be willing -- could email Etta2213 at all for com.

You can either contact a travel agent to discuss, or plan / book on your own.  I personally plan / book on my own.

 

It's pretty simple.  It's really no different than planning any other land based trip, expect you are cruising home vs flying home.  Accommodations, transportation, activities.  I almost always plan a pre-cruise or post-cruise stay when doing transatlantics.

 

The obstacle for some is the transportation.  Some may not be comfortable driving in a foreign country, especially on the other side of the road.  But public transporation is usually an option, especially if you stay in a city.

[RoyalC]

2 minutes ago, Rysyonok said:

 

North Star is free for limited / preview sessions and $29 for extended ones (12 minutes). I went for NS right off the bat upon boarding, and that ended up being a good choice; I couldn't secure a free NS flight for the rest of the cruise to save my life.

 

Bumper cars are fun but brutal. My gf ended up with 2 bruises and 1 major scruff. Those seat belts are just not positioned right.

Where do you book Northstar? Did you board and go right to it or did you need a reservation?

[boscobeans]

14 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Do they still have the MDR tables crammed into each other for the deck with vaccinated passengers?

I was sure hoping they would give more space between tables but other ship reports say you still sit on top of others.

We ate in both the Icon Grill (for vaxed guests) and Coastal Kitchen and both had decent separation from each other. Strict spacing as well in the Windjammer.

[boscobeans]

32 minutes ago, boscobeans said:

We ate in both the Icon Grill (for vaxed guests) and Coastal Kitchen and both had decent separation from each other. Strict spacing as well in the Windjammer.

To correct my above response

 

The dining areas still have the basic number and placement of tables as well as chairs it  is how they seat people at these tables that is fairly well controlled to allow for social distancing.

[kwokpot]

I'm curious if you found the bars too crowded in the evenings. One of the main complaints when the Anthem was sailing the UK this summer was there weren't enough bars and there was no place to sit at the bars in the evening. Having been sailed on the Anthem three times prior to Covid I didn't agree with that assessment and attributed the criticism by several posters here on CC to be a cultural anomaly in that Brits of all ages socialize at Bars at all hours of the day and that's not how Americans congregate. 

What's your take on that on your particular cruise?

Edited November 14, 2021 by kwokpot

[EllieinNJ]

Following.  First time on Anthem will be January 9th.

[mets123]

Who's the CD on the ship? Were any changes made during the drydock, or was it technical in nature?

[Biker19]

4 minutes ago, mets123 said:

Were any changes made during the drydock, or was it technical in nature?

The latter. 

[Sunshine3601]

4 hours ago, Rysyonok said:

 

Tables are crammed, I can't deny that. But some sections are semi-free. Ask for 900+ numbered tables in American Grill.

Why tables 900+ ?  Is that vaxxed mdr?  Are those tables in front or rear area?

[goldengirl]

Hi do you have any menus you can share please? When they canceled the shows did they put something on in its place?

also  we’re you a diamond menu and eligible for four drinks a day? I wonder if you can get served orange juice in the dining room and use that as one of your drinks?

[Tracy Po]

7 hours ago, Trailcon said:

DW and I were originally booked on this cruise. I cancelled as I was not sure if it would sail.  Rebooked on Oasis Oct 24.  Tested positive Oct 22 and had to cancel.  Still waiting for refunds.  My wife was much sicker than I and is still recovering in a

nursing home. 

Off topic, but I am so sorry this happened, and I hope you and your wife have a full recovery. All the best!

[late2cruisin]

Were the wrist bands the rubber ones or the cloth ones that you can't remove?

[Rysyonok]

36 minutes ago, late2cruisin said:

Were the wrist bands the rubber ones or the cloth ones that you can't remove?

 

October 3rd Oasis was a cloth / tightening one light blue band. Sealed to death upon arrival at check-in, loose whichever way you wish when re-acquired at Guest services later.

 

November 8th Anthem was a rubber easy-remove purple one.

 

Flowrider remained once placed and sealed not to remove a plastic white one.

 

[LorraineP]

6 minutes ago, Rysyonok said:

 

October 3rd Oasis was a cloth / tightening one light blue band. Sealed to death upon arrival at check-in, loose whichever way you wish when re-acquired at Guest services later.

 

November 8th Anthem was a rubber easy-remove purple one.

 

Flowrider remained once placed and sealed not to remove a plastic white one.

 

Oasis 10/10 & 10/17 a light cloth. 

[Rysyonok]

2 hours ago, goldengirl said:

Hi do you have any menus you can share please? When they canceled the shows did they put something on in its place?

also  we’re you a diamond menu and eligible for four drinks a day? I wonder if you can get served orange juice in the dining room and use that as one of your drinks?

 

Menus were pretty basic:

 

WJ:

- Salad bars

- Selection of various breads

- A meat cut every night

 

MDR:

- Escargot

- A couple of vegetarian options

- Always a fish somewhere

- Always a salad, varying from Caprese to Greek to Caesar

- Lamb 3 of 6 nights

- Always a steak

 

Solarium:

- Always a salmon for dinner

- Always a lamb

 

The most unique and unusual things were:

- Full-size mussels in Solarium for lunch day 4

- Seafood salad in Sorrento last 3 nights

- How Caesar salad kept morphing in size, consistency, and quality throughout the sailing 😄

- That two70 had better food than MDR

- That Solarium was always empty despite being simply amazing.

[Rysyonok]

2 hours ago, goldengirl said:

Hi do you have any menus you can share please? When they canceled the shows did they put something on in its place?

also  we’re you a diamond menu and eligible for four drinks a day? I wonder if you can get served orange juice in the dining room and use that as one of your drinks?

 

So, show cancellations were very sudden - there was an announcement from cruise director as soon as we had sailed from Port Canaveral, but even the app took several hours to react. Needless to say, rumors instantly ran galore, with the forbidden word instantly voiced - after all two distinct group of crew were knocked out! Sure, "understaffing" could have explained WWRY, and "technical difficulties" - Spectra, but both combined? Why not simply run Spectra in Main Theater?

 

Cruise director was very clearly scrambling.

 

But he did not give up.

 

Assistant Cruise Director had an Elton John tribute (I highly recommend). New trivias kept popping up. Additional latin dance hours did too. Actually, the entire cruise seemed like a true test run -

 

*The app kept adjusting events and venues non-stop the entire journey*

 

And that's a good thing for me - that means feedback is solicited and listened to, attendance did matter for event selection.

[Rysyonok]

2 hours ago, goldengirl said:

Hi do you have any menus you can share please? When they canceled the shows did they put something on in its place?

also  we’re you a diamond menu and eligible for four drinks a day? I wonder if you can get served orange juice in the dining room and use that as one of your drinks?

 

I'm sure that's an option, but do be consistent: MDR drinks are always a delay (as they do have to leave to go elsewhere for drinks). I'd recommend set dining where the waiter team picks up on your preferences.

 

The Diamond lounge did open but (and I could use a second opinion from another CC member here) happy hour did not return - one would still be limited by 4 coupons rather than legacy drink-all-you want from 5 to 8.

 

Or do like I do: help yourself. I'd always hit a bar right before MDR and then waltz in with a drink of my choice 😉 That's probably the most under-spoken feature of RCCL - it's is OK to come in with a drink and leave with a drink.

[Rysyonok]

2 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Why tables 900+ ?  Is that vaxxed mdr?  Are those tables in front or rear area?

 

Vaxxed is Deck 4 (Icon and the red-colored section); unvaxxed - 3.

 

900+ tables are in a private alcove within American Grill (you take a hard left upon arrival into MDR and keep going straight) in what appeared to be a previously secluded section (you can even spot a private exit in the corner). It is an overflow section, and as such has the least traffic and density - most nights we had only 4 other couples with us, with 60% of tables being empty.

[mets123]

Sure, "understaffing" could have explained WWRY, and "technical difficulties" - Spectra, but both combined? Why not simply run Spectra in Main Theater?

 

FYI - Due to the nature of Stectra, it cannot be done in the main theater. It was designed for the 270 experience.

[Rysyonok]

5 hours ago, mets123 said:

Who's the CD on the ship? Were any changes made during the drydock, or was it technical in nature?

 

Mark something - a Brit, quite active, but...

 

It's the Assistant Cruise Director that genuinely stole the spotlight: Andy Elton.

 

A great singer.

An amazing Liar, Liar performer.

A hit-and-run entertainer - would swing by venues for a bit to light up the room.

 

Ever since he had his Elton John special day 5, he's been on a roll - I'm genuinely jealous of the current sailing to see how much more he would blossom!

 

Andy Elton was the most memorable cruise team member of the sailing.