PiperHolliday

Tonight was Indian night at WJ. Our head waiter suggested we pop into the buffet tonight right when they opened so we could sample some snacks before our late dinner. It was a wonderful suggestion! We really liked everything we tried and highly suggest having dinner at WJ on the Indian night. Everything was delicious! 

We still went to the MDR for our usual late dinner so we could say our goodbyes to the awesome waitstaff and properly thank them and gather some contact info for future visits to India. We had to roll each other out of there, we were so stuffed. 

Baked French Onion Soup. Yummy. 

Coconut Shrimp. 

Aged Prime Rib of Beef. 

Cheese Tortelloni. 

Chicken and Veg Curries. Off-menu. Amazing, as always. 

Dark Chocolate Brownie. The brownie is inside the mousse. 

No Sugar Added Profiteroles. I actually didn't initially notice these were no sugar added, but they were good! 

For those of you that prefer a softer bed (or supportive without being hard) you may want to request extra mattress pads for your bed. It really helped with ours. Other than that, I like everything about the cabins on this ship very much. They're very nice and so much room. 

Our bed is away from the window/balcony and our friend's is the opposite. After being onboard for 11 days, I think I prefer our layout more. We used the balcony a lot, so keeping it easily accessible from the living area made it convenient. 

4 hours ago, Virtopia said:

Thanks for this live reporting - I'm on the 1/31 sailing and barring any last minute complications, I'm looking forward to my return to cruising. My last sailing ended December 2019 so it's been a long time coming!! Also, I've never been on Anthem before so it will be nice to have all this time to explore a new ship.

2 hours ago, shleds said:

Thank you Piper for entertaining us for the last couple of weeks. Like Virtopia, we’re leaving on the Anthem on January 31st, and we are hanging on every word you write!

You guys are going to have a great time! The crew are so awesome and really make the cruise! Really, some of the hardest working and kindest crew I've ever experienced on a ship. 

3 minutes ago, mets123 said:

I guess I'm not a food snob. I have no problem with their drinks or food. Are they all perfect, absolutely not. But I'm not going to complain about everything I don't like. If a dish is not to my liking, I politely let the wait staff know, and request something different. They are very happy to please. It doesn't have to be broadcast on cruisecritic. It's should just be between the staff and myself.

It's a live review, is it not? This is Cruise CRITIC? I don't expect things to be perfect either but I think customers have every right to know so they can choose the cruise line and ship that's right for them. And we have definitely discussed these things with the staff in a very polite manner but at a certain point, it's just not vacation anymore when you have to ask for everything to be fixed. It's also a lot of extra work for the crew, who are already working their butts off. I had to have one meal replaced three times and it still wasn't right so at that point, what do you do? There's also a difference between not liking a dish and having the meat dry and overcooked. That's what we are running into most. 

We've had a lot of great food, too. And I've been mentioning those as well. It's not as if I'm only saying negative things. And these are my opinions, not facts set in stone. I'm sure plenty of people have no problem with the things that bother me and that's fine. But it doesn't make my experience (or theirs) any less valid. This is the reason CC exists. 

Cruise Compass Day 11

Well, it's the last day of the cruise. We came to 270 for lunch and bingo is in full swing. Cash prize yesterday was $300 and today is $500. That seems low for the amount of people in for the pot, but I'm not a bingo player. 

Salad (and potato salad). Yummy! 

Kemmel Weck. Very good. 

We had dinner at Jamie's again last night. As always, awesome service. I didn't care for the food as much this time. We all really love the cheesecake and the carbonara, they're definitely the best things on the menu. 

Ultimate Garlic Bread. Didn't taste bad, but I'd remove the word 'ultimate'. It was underwhelming for me. 

Tomato Bruschetta. This was really good. 

Garlicky Prawns. Very tasty. 

Truffle Tagliatelle. Good but needed just a dash of salt and pepper. 

Our Famous Prawn Linguini. 

Calabrian Chicken. Not juicy enough. 

Pan-roasted Salmon. Overdone, otherwise really good. 

Chianti-braised Short Rib. Great flavor! But not as tender and juicy as it should have been. 

Posh Fries. Horrible. Tasteless. If you enjoy plain potato with zero seasoning at all, this is your dish. Even the cheese couldn't save them. 

I went for a snack at the SeaPlex Doghouse before my mani/pedi appointment. The buns are great! The dog itself wasn't bad, either. They also have nice looking brats. They have a few different toppings but not the things I was really hoping for. A quick, good option! 

Cruise Compass Day 10

31 minutes ago, BrianC0000 said:

 Point taken 🙂  Again, we do appreciate your reporting.  Out of curiosity, where are all the delicious looking "off-menu" curries coming from?  

We asked the MDR waiters on the first night. We let them know we love Indian food and they've been bringing us some every night we're there. The staff are fantastic! 

22 minutes ago, rimmit said:

Thank you so much for responding.  So you havent had any issues with capacity or being denied?

 

are they just combining age groups or is he really the only kid that goes most of the time?

We were told there's only 48 passengers onboard that are under the age of 21. They are still listing kids activities in the app. However, we've noticed the app isn't always accurate and they'll close or skip things without notice every so often (for adult or general activities). If nobody shows up with the answer, I'll still try to find out for you. 

2 minutes ago, ticketsunlimited said:

You making any money in the casino PIPER?

We don't gamble but our friend does! No luck at all in the casino! He played bingo today and no win there, either. They only did one round of bingo today and he was disappointed about that. 

We spent the afternoon on the open pool deck, in the hot tub. It felt great but after a while, we had to get out because the waves were so vigorous, it was exposing the jets and water was shooting across the pool deck. 

From what the captain said, we're taking a direct route through the Atlantic to get back to Bayonne. Following the coast would take longer and wouldn't allow us to arrive on time. That, along with the storm system that passed over last night is making for an adventurous ride. 

1 hour ago, BrianC0000 said:

You're annoyed?  Really??  

I do appreciate your live this week from the Anthem, Piper... but I'm guessing the vast majority of cruisers from the US would have no clue what a Gua Bao is.

Nevertheless, thanks for the updates!! Food pics have been most valuable for folks who are getting ready to hop on board in the coming weeks. Makes it a lot easier to come to certain dining decisions.

But they're not tacos. So someone that doesn't know what Gua Bao is but orders based on their 'taco' title will likely be just as confused. I mostly just find it insulting to the cultures that make this great dish. But I'm not allowed to say that on CC. 

6 minutes ago, aphrodite6528 said:

I can tell you there's been no kids compass. My son has gone a handful of times and is usually the only one there. He's enjoying himself hanging with the staff though and they're giving him tons of free stuff! 

Thank you! Every time I try to go, nobody is around. But I do sleep late. 

We went to the MDR for dinner last night. As always, the service was great. The food, in general, wasn't as good this time. 

They brought us these amazing mini samosas with the best tamarind sauce. Off-menu. 

Greek Salad. 

"Asian-style Pork Tacos". I'm a bit annoyed they don't just call this what it is. Gua Bao. 

Roasted Tomato Soup.

Garlic Tiger Shrimp. This was pretty dang good but I did add a dash of salt. 

Tagliatelle. Pesto, cream and mushrooms. 

Rack of Lamb. Better here than in Chops. 

Lamb and Bhindi (okra) Curries. Delicious. Off-menu. 

Tiramisu. Really good. 

Royal Chocolate Cake. 

1 hour ago, Tolkmit said:

Maybe, but only turn based games.

 

However, while I haven't in a while, can't you play Civ just on LAN? I don't think you actually need internet. Just take your own wireless router, plug it in, have everyone connect to it, and play over LAN. (I'm not 100% you can with Civ, but should be easy enough to test at home.)

I have played Civ 5 and 6 many times on LAN. It can be finicky to set up at times because occasionally it won't show the host. If it does this, just try again or give it some time and refresh. 

Cruise Compass Day 9

Cruise Compass Day 8

We went to see the magician last night and he was great! It was comparable to some magic shows I've seen in Vegas. Check him out! 

Quite a lot of drinks were consumed after that, so didn't get out of bed until 1PM today. Went to Windjammer and had a good lunch! The potato and egg salad was really good, as well as the asparagus and brie quiche. The head waiter came to chat with us for a little while. He's been so helpful, makes great suggestions and knows what we like. I really appreciate the personal service. 

We went to the MDR for dinner last night. Service was fantastic and the food was great. 

Roasted Poblano Pepper Soup. This was very good! Spicy, flavourful! Finally, something more than mild! But we heard people around us complaining that it was too spicy. 

Arugula and Radicchio Salad. 

Wild Mushroom Risotto. 

Chicken Parmesan. 

Vegetable and Chicken Curries. Off-menu. 

Mississippi Mud Pie. 

We did the North Star yesterday. It was kind of cool, but I wouldn't bother doing it again. It's just not that interesting for me. There's a lot of movement when you're up there, so you'll work those balance muscles. It's not the greatest design for getting good pictures - similar to the pods on the London Eye, there's just too much reflection from the curve. I can never get a good photo from that thing, either. 

12 minutes ago, aphrodite6528 said:

Saw Terry hanging out on the deck aft twice today. Still around if not performing.

We popped into the performance of Spectra tonight and he's still performing! Phew! I don't think the show would be the same without him. 

Just a bit later, with the strength of the sun diminished a bit, the Solarium felt great. We relocated there and have been having a great time. It's empty and the wait staff here keep the drinks coming, even without asking. I've switch to wine only and not even bothering with the sugar water cocktails. This is our happy place today. 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we talked to guest services about port fees and taxes being refunded but they're in the dark. They said they're waiting on HQ to tell them anything. I didn't think it was such a complicated feat to do, as I've anyways had them refunded same day for a missed port on other lines.