Submariner

The Sunshine sails tomorrow, June 20th, not today.

And I shall be on it ... :D 8 days to the Carribean

How do I find out for June? We sail tomorrow :)

Regretfully no. The Cigar Bar is going the way of the dinosaur which is a shame. Last cruise I took I had to mingle with the common folk smoking cigarettes on an open deck ..

Seriously, it does suck that this little pleasure is being phased out on more and more ships.

Hi

We arrive around 3pm in port. After checking out the fort and shops downtown, we are electing to eat dinner in the town. We are 3 couples and two kids. We are looking for a good restaurant for a delicious meal.

Does anyone have any good recommendations?

Thanks

How come I can't seem to find anyone, very few at that, saying the food was good.

Planning a trip in June and don't want to be spending close to six thousand bucks and find the food is a bummer.

Please put you .2 cents in.:confused::confused:

The food was probably our pet peeve on our last cruise on the Anthem.

I was looking forward to succulent dishes in the various free dining rooms. Instead, we found the choices to be limited and frankly, rather bland.

The General Tso chicken in the Silk restaurant was absolutely horrendous that it should be court-martialed to a Private Zso's Chicken (even better, dishonorably discharged from the menu!).

Our whole party of 8 were disappointed overall. I think the new norm is to move the better dishes to the paid restaurant and , even in the paid restaurants, the fees were higher than before. They even upcharge on a Porterhouse steak in Chops, for crying out loud!

I miss the choice of fine cheeses after dinner. Non-existent now.

I expected Whole Foods type of salads in the Windjammer and instead received a bunch of raw vegetables. Blech!

Underwhelmed is the appropriate feeling on the whole food situation .... (sigh!)

Up until our last cruise on the Anthem in November, our family group of 8 enjoyed cruising. We were really looking forward to our cruise on the Anthem.

Bottom line, we were all left underwhelmed by the whole Anthem experience - especially in the food and waiting-in-line dept etc that we have been put off from cruising for a while... including abandoning any thought of doing a Mediterranean cruise for my upcoming 10 year anniversary this year.

Probably in the next year or two, I might get the bug again but I would never consider a Quantum Class again. Probably do and Oasis class if I go back to RCL.

With gaps between our cruises of a year or two, we definitely felt the standard lowered on our recent cruise on the Anthem. Unfortunately, I believe this now the new norm... which is sad. :(

Nothing drains a fine cigar than a constant breeze outdoors as I experienced on the Anthem last November... :mad:

They could have easily converted part of the Vingates bar to a fine lounge. Bah!

Don't forget that you can bring two bottles onboard with you per stateroom if you desire and can be had in the dining rooms too sans corkage.

We find the pay restaurants a little pricey than they used to be. Once they exceed $15 - 25 then it becomes off putting.

As I mentioned in my review. That General Tso in Silk should have been demoted to Private Tso or, even better, dishonorably discharged ... it was that bad. Seriously.

I thought about 'sounding off' to RCL but my impression is that they couldn't give a rats ass about how past customers feel. As long as the ships are full, life is good.

Besides, I firmly believe, as with many public companies, they get way too corporate and forget the small touches and customer service and quality that got them there in the first place.

You think anyone from RCL will read these threads and ACTUALLY do anything?

I think not.

Good to see that wasn't the only one that thought the food was utterly bland on the Anthem...

We always bring 4 walkie talkies in our group of 8 whenever we cruise together. We find that it works great and has helped us a lot. Get one with a large transmission distance (although that is mute on a steel ship).

When we were docked in Nassau, Bahamas, we could talk from the ship to our party who are walking around town with no problems.

Oh, we also ensure we have the version that vibrates so as not to disturb fellow passengers with loud ringers. We dont talk loud on them too to avoid the douchebag factor.

We did the Breakaway last year and the Anthem last week.

Anthem wins hands down with the pools and kids area but Breakaway wins for us as an overall ship due to better food and overall service experience.

Call 1-800-PSYCHIATRIST. Now.

:)

8 of us had 6 bottles. We bought a bottle in the restaurants most nights with nary a problem. Go for it.

I hope Ken Rush is gone by April - can't stand the guy.....

Funny... I thought he did a fine stand-up job. Professional, and polite yet provided the necessary comic relief, where applicable.

submariner, where are you from?

New York City. :D

To answer your question.. I have a palate that can appreciate most spicy foods and Asian cuisines from Indian to Thai to Chinese. The same could be said for most of my table mates . All agreed that the food in Silk was very bland/tasteless indeed.

Let's not even mention those disgusting fish tasting chips served once seated.. Blegh!

Removed wrong bread comment ...

your post is exactly how our party of 8 felt throughout our trip too. Nicely said.

I got my survey link yesterday and emphasized the points mentioned.

Our party of 8 just got off the Anthem today. We concur with the sentiment that the free dining areas were poor, food quality-wise. Lot of repetitions too. (I mean, C'mon! Almost every entrée was accompanied by the same two or three vegetables: A carrot or two, an asparagus spear or two - or a couple of broccoli.). We too opted to eat in the WIndjammer once in lieu of the dining room. Sacrilegious thought a few cruises ago...

And the major disappointment foodwise was the abomination at Silk. really, really crappy food. Bland, tasteless slop and a firing offence for the chef.

Ah Yes... the pillows. I forgot about them. I found them rather poor and lumpy.

Was on this 22nd November sailing too.

Bottom line: Nice features but a disappointing cruise. Apart from great bits like the Two70 area and the shows, food was bland, service very slow and numerous other points to mention that make Anthem cruise our least favorite cruise.

I guess its a matter of perspective.... :cool:

I was also on this cruise as the OP and have to agree with her almost entirely with respect to the Cons.

1. Food was very mediocre. Oh the repetition, the repetition... and very bland. In the restaurants, many tables, situated right near the busy, and noisy kitchen area with bustling waitstaff. In general now, the food portions are much smaller. The appetisers are a mere morsel, really.

2. Planning was BAD. many times, we had to queue and queue and queue. This was especially true at restaurants or waiting to go on the North Star or even get roller skates or bumper cars. I felt like I was at a Disney amusement park. No way to relax here.

3. Service.... what service? Only one, maybe two nights on our 8 day trip were the servers memorable. many times, our server forgot our orders, or in my case, brought me the wrong food.

4. Silk restaurant .... our ENTIRE party of 8 was utterly disappointed in the food quality in this Asian restaurant. That was the worst tasting General Tso's chicken ever! The head chef should be dragged into the street, shellacked and then fired!

5. I also agree with the 'something missing' factor. Its not a magical ship. Utterly forgettable.

On a personal gripe... No relaxing cigar lounge exists. Had to sit at the 'bus shelter' with the rest of the aficionados while the wind blew and hastened the demise of our fine stogies :)

I received an email to the link to the survey today. I intend to answer it honestly. Bottom line, none in our party said they will sail on a Quantum Class again. A few were put off RCL too after this.