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Loveynj

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    Just off Anthem 12/23 holiday sailing! Detailed review here.

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Thanks for your review and all the smoothie talk! We sailed Anthem in September and I totally forgot to go try one of the smoothies.:( I just booked Anthem again for February, so I will have to remember to try at least one of these smoothies this time. Funny thing is though, I don't even remember seeing a bar in the Solarium:eek: We went to the Solarium Bistro a few times but stayed out of that area for the most part because we had really bad seas and were afraid that my Mom would fall.

    February 2018?? Or this February?

     

    Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

    Just off Anthem 12/23 holiday sailing! Detailed review here.

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    I don't think it had a name. I remember reading here on CC previous passengers saying that the Solarium bar made great morning smoothies. On Day 2 of the sailing I strolled over to that bar and simply asked if they indeed make protein smoothies. The wonderful bartender from Ukraine was so nice and just started asking me what type of smoothie I was looking for and she whipped that banana/granola/almond one up for me. It was so so good!!!

    I found this pic of their smoothie menu.. they all look good1a4e516876d8547e7171c517e9396ca5.jpg

     

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    Just off Anthem 12/23 holiday sailing! Detailed review here.

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    The ship is beautiful and spotless. We really had a wonderful family trip!!!

     

    My overall reason for giving 4 stars instead of 5 stars is for the reasons below. Enjoy reading and please contact me if you need any other info!

     

    We were in a balcony cabin (#9570) and had our kids (age 4 & 6) sleep on the pull out couch. It was great to have the angled larger balcony since there wasn't much space in the cabin with the four of us. I was under the impression that the sofa bed would get folded up each day to make more room --- However, it was left open for the entire cruise causing a very cramped cabin. With that being said - we hardly used the cabin so it wasn't much of an issue. However, I would seek out a larger cabin or a different set up (perhaps 2 adjoining cabins?) -- but only if the price made sense. Please note that the beds are super firm. We asked our cabin attendant to put a topper on it, and she did - which helped a little bit.

     

    The public areas of the ship seemed crowded and cramped at times, but those crowded areas were easy to avoid. The Esplanade area of shops was a traffic flow nightmare and there were usually people wall-to-wall unless it was first thing in the morning. Again - this was easy to avoid, but worth noting.

     

    Having 3 pools (one of which is adults only) was GREAT. This greatly dispersed guests and we were always able to find a lounger or two on the deck. If you prefer a chair (or group of chairs) close to the pool you will have to wake up very early (before 8am) and put personal belongings on chairs. Chair hogs were in full effect and the staff would not move these belongings even if the chair was not occupied for 30 minutes or more. So, you have to "play the game" if you would like a chair right by one of the pools.

     

    The Sunshine Bar in the solarium was wonderful. One of the bartenders (from Ukraine, but I can't remember her name) would make the most delicious protein/banana/granola/almond smoothies for me each morning and they were WONDERFUL! (The smoothies are included on the Royal Replenish drink package.)

     

    Dining was hit or miss. We ate in our main dining room Chic for 7 out of 10 nights. The dining staff worked very hard to accommodate everyone and really wanted everyone to have a positive dining experience. With that being said, the food was hit or miss. Sometimes the main dining room food was amazing, and sometimes it was simply not good. The positive meals definitely outweighed the bad ones, though.

     

    We ate breakfast daily in 270. It was never crowded and the coffee was so much better here than in the other areas of the ship. The coffee barista here was amazing. He would make the most beautiful cappuccinos for me each morning.

     

    Windjammer was always packed. Too many people all in one spot for my liking, so I never ate here. Plenty of other places to eat. 270 was great for a quick lunch. The dining room Grande had a really nice salad bar and sit-down lunch options too.

     

    We ate in Chops twice and Jamie's once. Both restaurants are exemplary.

     

    Overall, service on the ship was great. Yes, there were a few staff members that didn't seem to have much personality, but none of them were rude or surly. Only one staff member rubbed us the wrong way - I can't remember his name but he was one of the "Next Cruise" staff members. He was very annoyed that we were asking questions about future cruises and and he really didn't want to give us multiple price quotes on different future sailings. So, we left the desk and came back later in the day and worked with another agent who was very helpful and beyond nice. We ended up putting down a deposit for a future cruise with him. All other employees were really great.

     

    I read many reviews on Cruise Critic bashing the bar staff on the ship. We never had a negative experience. Some of the bars are grossly understaffed (only one bartender during busy times) but that is not a knock on the bartenders, but on overall management. All alcohol is strictly measured out, so you don't have to worry about "short" pours.

     

    We were on the cruise for Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Years. All of the holidays were lovely and the cruise really tried to make it festive for the holidays with special event. They had menorah lighting ceremony every night, Santa giving gifts to all children on Christmas day, big NYE parties in multiple locations on the ship. (To note: even if your family doesn't celebrate Christmas they had a time during the day for the kids to pick up their holiday gift without Santa too!)

     

    Cleanliness is paramount on this ship. They are constantly reminding people to wash their hands with a cute music video and jingle that is played over and over and over and over. I loved it! We had a very bad experience at a Beaches resort last year with a norovirus outbreak that was horrendous. The amount of cleaning and hand washing on this ship is so far and above anything we encountered at Beaches. I really think the Anthem staff is doing everything they can to minimize the spread of germs.

     

    Entertainment was good. We Will Rock You had a terrible plot, but the music was fantastic. Even my 4 and 6 year old kids loved it! The live music that was on the ship was good but not great. My husband went to the Led Zepplin cover band and he said they were amazing. The ventriloquist was awesome. The house band "Synergy" is exactly what you would envision as an old-school house cruise ship band. We really enjoyed them.

     

    My husband and I are in our late-30s and we traveled with my in-laws (early 70's) and our kids (ages 4 and 6). It's hard to make all generations happy --- and I think the Anthem did this very very well! Our 6 year old had a ton to do (iFly, rock wall, trapeze, bumper cars) but there was not much for the 4 year old as far as activities. However, she really enjoyed the kids' Adventure Ocean program. The camp staff didn't seem to have the best personalities, but my daughter was happy and requested to go play there, so I can't complain :)

     

    As far as motion on the ship - yes, we felt motion at times. None of us ever got full-on sea sick, but our son got very nauseous one day when it was particularly rocky. We gave him a kids Dramamine and within a hour he said he felt better. He's not a kid who complains about that stuff, so the Dramamine must have worked. I found that taking "Sailors Secret" ginger pills helped me a ton. There was only one day out of the 10 that really bothered me - I think it was the 2nd sea day. Of course, this all depends on the wind and sea conditions.

     

    Our North Star ride was cancelled for high winds and we got rescheduled to Day 10. However, when Day 10 rolled around, it was canceled due to high winds again. BOO!!! Of course, this was out of everyone's control. Oh well. Now we'll just have to sail on the Anthem again in order to try it out!!! ;)

     

    As far as activities, you MUST pre-reserve your activities before getting on the Anthem!!!!!! I can't stress this enough. There are simply not enough spots for the amount of people who want to participate. Period. For the activities that you cannot pre-reserve such as bumper cars, rock climbing, trapeze -- you MUST show up 20 to 30 minutes before the "opening time" or else you will be waiting on a very very long line. Again, simply not enough spots for the amount of people who want to participate. This annoyed me, but my son and husband didn't really care so they would just show up half an hour early and hang out before the activity opened up. They both got to try all of the special "adventurous" activities on the ship except for the FlowRider because my son did not meet the height requirement :)

     

    The Royal IQ app is a joke. Do NOT spend the $7.95 for text messaging. It simply is not reliable and does not work over half of the time. The phone calling to another passenger w/ the Royal IQ app does not work. Ever. The only thing the app is good for is to change/view/cancel any dining or activity reservations. Also good to view the daily Cruise Compass so you don't have to carry around the printed paper.

     

    You must check your account statement and make sure you get credit for any reservations you pre-reserved and canceled. We found many many errors on our account and had to have them rectified. RCCL's pre-cruise website is absolutely terrible and we had many errors on our account. Just be on top of it.

     

    We would not hesitate to go on the Anthem again. We live in NJ and it was so easy to get to the port and back. Bayonne has everything down to a science and both embarkation and disembarkation was totally smooth.

    Do you know what the name of the smoothie was?? It sounds delicious

     

    Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

    On Board Credit

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    You get OBC for being a diamond member? Where does that come from?

    I didn't say it was because I was a diamond member, although I am one.

    I got $200 for booking my cruise while I was on a cruise..

    I got another $200 from my travel agent for switching reservation to them

    And another $200 for rewards credits from my royal Caribbean visa card

     

    Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

    On Board Credit

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    I gave in and called Rccl... my $200 that is from booking a cruise on board hoes to the 2 primary people in the room. (Which works for me) the $400 that we got from travel agent as well as credit card rewards will probably go to room but said to go to desk when onboard. Which we all thought already... . Glad I called them though because they don't show my additional obc, which means I have to call agent now

     

    Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

    On Board Credit

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    DH and I always use our own credit cards when cruising. That way never any discussion or arguement. He charges what he wants on his sea pass card and it goes to his credit card and I charge what I want on mine, and never the two shall meet. Keep it simple.

    Yes, I agree... we ALWAYS use our own credit cards. I was just wondering if I can get Royal Caribbean to credit the onboard credits to my seapass only, and not my cousins. That way I don't have to ask her for the money for it.

     

    Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

    On Board Credit

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    As HRC would say: What difference does it make?

     

    Just charge whatever on whatever Seapass card and do the math of which charge belongs to whom after the cruise.

    No, way to confusing to try and figure out how much one person drank or spent compared to another. It's my mother and my cousin, we don't share expenses regularly. Plus last time I did that I ended up paying for my sister's 4 drinks a day when I am a not drinking as much.

     

    Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

    Anthem of the Seas Menus

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    The lobster tail was very little! A man at the next table ordered 2. He was not brought a dinner plate with 2 tails (and vegetables) on it. He was brought 2 complete dinner plates (1 small tail and vegetables on each). He looked surprised.

    Did I mention that the tails were very little? [emoji1][emoji1]

    They always bring a complete 2nd plate. .. there was only one cruise that I was on where they walked around with a big tray of Tails and asked if anybody wanted a second one

     

    Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

    On Board Credit

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    Question about on board credit. We have a lot of different onboard Credit One coming from booking while on a cruise another from being a diamond member and then some from a Royal Caribbean credit card. My question is can the onboard credit be credited to just one person see pass card? Because there's 3 of us in the room and the credit card on work credits really should go to the person who earned them.

     

    Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

    IFly/Northstar Reservations

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    This weekend friends informed us they will be cruising this February aboard Anthem. We told them about all the fun stuff including IFLY and Northstar, and told them to make online reservations immediately when they went home.

     

    Of course all online reservations were booked.

     

    Once onboard where can they go (immediately of course!) to make IFLY, and Northstar reservations?

    I too am sailing in February. . The 7th. When are your friends going?

     

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