Live review Anthem of the Seas - 18th April 2016

[djmikedog83]

i was wondering if you could take a clear picture of the specialty coffee menue in 270 cafe.

[novicetraveller]

While you're on the cruise can you conduct a casual investigation to confirm any of the following: menu changes coming and if so, when?

Dynamic Dining leaving (or changing)!and if so, when?

Thank you in advance. Love your review! Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

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If I am able to make the Captains Corner on this cruise, I will try and ask. I am supposed to be on Dynamic Dining, but I am avoiding it as I was booked in on the 2nd seating which I didn't want due to my medical condition.

[novicetraveller]

One more question, this about the Meet and Mingle. Were there any refreshments?

 

Thanks

 

Roy

 

The usual light refreshments were available. Nothing to boast about.

[novicetraveller]

How was the Internet and is it worth prepaying for it.

 

The internet is good. Some occasional glitches which were fixed by disabling and re-enabling wireless on the laptop and the phone. There were occassional slowdown in connection, but I can only assume people were either facetiming, skyping, Whatsapping, etc. etc. at around the same time. Other than that, uploading hi-res images to my Flickr stream, Facebook and writing my blog entry simultaneously appeared effortless most of the time.

 

Was it worth pre-paying for? As I can't remember if I am entitled to a discount if I booked it online, I say it's worth getting the internet, whether it's in advance or on the ship. The good thing is that for as long as there is internet activity, you won't get disconnected.

[novicetraveller]

i was wondering if you could take a clear picture of the specialty coffee menue in 270 cafe.

 

If I make a visit to 270 during the day, I'll try and remember to do so.

[novicetraveller]

My original plan today in San Juan was to go to the fort via Taxi and spend a few hours there photographing. However, earlier today I decided to do the Old and New San Juan tour. A lot of it was informative, but my specific objective was to go to the old fort to take some photos. 40 minutes at the port isn't enough, but with the weather changing all the time during the day, I don't know if I would have had a better opportunity to get some snaps.

 

Had dinner in Windjammer. Didn't realise they had a Mongolian corner. I've fallen in love with Windjammer at last.

 

Went to the Royal Theatre to watch another headliner act. This is the act that was on tonight - http://donovanandrebecca.com/DONOVAN_AND_REBECCA/index.html. I thorougly enjoyed it, as this type of artistry is my type of thing. It may not suit everyone, but for me, it was the perfect end to the day.

 

The weather wasn't great today, sadly. I'm hoping the whole cruise isn't going to be jinxed by the bad weather. Tomorrow is Sint Marteen. Nothing booked, so may go to the beach in the afternoon and to the Butterfly place to take a few shots.

[UnMe4ever2gether]

A what now? I wouldn't know what one would look like if it slap me in the face and hugged me.

 

OMG You made me laugh. It looks like a martini glass with a blue rim & base.

[Life is Good Cruising]

While you're on the cruise can you conduct a casual investigation to confirm any of the following: menu changes coming and if so, when?

Dynamic Dining leaving (or changing)!and if so, when?

Thank you in advance. Love your review! Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Those questions were asked at the Captain 's Corner on last week sailing 4/8 and the HD responded and gave no indication of any changes. I guess it's a hush-hush thing right now. Maybe they 'll give us a little more information on current sailing and maybe not.

[Empirestateofmind]

I will be sailing on Anthem on Monday and flying to NYC tomorrow from an unknown place called London, England. I am a solo cruiser with a passion for photography. Would anyone be interested in a live(ish) review of my pre-cruise and cruise experience?

 

 

Good morning,

 

Yes, I would like to see your review(s) please. I am travelling with my family in April '17 on the Anthem and staying in NYC pre/post cruise.

 

Thank you.

 

Enjoy your trip.

[novicetraveller]

OMG You made me laugh. It looks like a martini glass with a blue rim & base.

I will see what I can do. As always with requests, I can only complete if the opportunity presents itself.

[novicetraveller]

Those questions were asked at the Captain 's Corner on last week sailing 4/8 and the HD responded and gave no indication of any changes. I guess it's a hush-hush thing right now. Maybe they 'll give us a little more information on current sailing and maybe not.

I suspect that whoever I ask, I will get conflicting / contradicting answers and it will result in he said / she said and my contact is high up in RCI debate. So any info I may be able to provide will need to be taken with a huge pinch of salt.

[BND]

Those questions were asked at the Captain 's Corner on last week sailing 4/8 and the HD responded and gave no indication of any changes. I guess it's a hush-hush thing right now. Maybe they 'll give us a little more information on current sailing and maybe not.

 

What he actually did was give a non-answer. He basically said there are no current changes, not that there weren't going to be in the future or any plans to. It was a very carefully worded answer. I looked at DH and said "well, that was a non-answer". The person who asked the question, let it go at that and didn't pursue a more specific question.

[novicetraveller]

What he actually did was give a non-answer. He basically said there are no current changes, not that there weren't going to be in the future or any plans to. It was a very carefully worded answer. I looked at DH and said "well, that was a non-answer". The person who asked the question, let it go at that and didn't pursue a more specific question.

Technically it was am answer, but not the one you were expecting. ;)

[novicetraveller]

Ok, quick review of yesterday.

 

Yesterday was San Juan day, well half day to be fair. I decided at the last minute to take a RCI excursion to Old and New San Juan. I saw it went to the Fort.

 

 

The Fort was the main reason for getting off the ship. I could have gone on my own, hired a taxi, walked or taken the cruise excursion. The weather wasn't great in San Juan where it was raining on and off all afternoon.

 

 

 

Was the excursion worth the money? For a guided tour, probably. I don't know if there are cheaper ones available, but for a mass transporting offering it does the job.

 

Last night's Headliner act was one of the best I have seen on an RCI ship.

 

Today we are heading to Sint Maarten. I plan to take a taxi to the beach and then to butterfly place and back to the ship. Don't plan to do much today in Saint Maarten.

Edited April 23, 2016 by novicetraveller

[UnMe4ever2gether]

I will see what I can do. As always with requests, I can only complete if the opportunity presents itself.

 

Thank you & enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[Luv06012012]

I hope you weather improves and that you enjoyed time in St. Maarten. The first thing I do there is grab a coconut smoothie from the little stand to the left when heading in from the port. Soooooo addicting!

[Mom.to.2]

What he actually did was give a non-answer. He basically said there are no current changes, not that there weren't going to be in the future or any plans to. It was a very carefully worded answer. I looked at DH and said "well, that was a non-answer". The person who asked the question, let it go at that and didn't pursue a more specific question.

 

 

 

Agreed. He completely skirted the issue and did not answer the question being asked. Instead of commenting on whether there are changes to dynamic dining planned for the near future, he answered we currently have dynamic dining.

[novicetraveller]

Some images have been posted on my cruise diary on that well known social media site.

 

If I have time, I will write a review with a couple of images on here later. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day and I hope I don't get left behind. :o

Edited April 23, 2016 by novicetraveller

[novicetraveller]

Quick review of today. We docked into St Maarten today at 9am and departed at 5:30pm. I've been to this island a few times and to the beach at least once before. So today I could have stayed on the ship, or go and photograph the planes that were landing into the airport. I abandoned the idea of going to the Butterfly Farm as I couldn't justify the Taxi fare to take me there from the beach and from there to the port.

 

 

 

I don't dislike St Maartin, but I wouldn't do a tour unless it was one that smacked me in the face and said to me "Just do it!", so it was a case of going down to Maho Beach and took a few landscape shots (see above) and a few Aeroplane shots (see below).

 

 

 

For those who have never been to St Maarten, or have been to St Maarten, but not the Maho beach, yes, they are that close. :)

 

It has been a pretty much uneventful day to be honest. I came back to the ship after 4 hours being on shore. I spent some of the free time sitting on my Balcony looking at the glass panels and listening to the birds squawking. St Maartin is a lovely place to visit if you haven't been there before.

 

Pardon me if my review of the island isn't great, it's not as bad as I am making out.

Edited April 24, 2016 by novicetraveller

[Overtyme]

Quick review of today. We docked into St Maarten today at 9am and departed at 5:30pm. I've been to this island a few times and to the beach at least once before. So today I could have stayed on the ship, or go and photograph the planes that were landing into the airport. I abandoned the idea of going to the Butterfly Farm as I couldn't justify the Taxi fare to take me there from the beach and from there to the port.

 

 

 

I don't dislike St Maartin, but I wouldn't do a tour unless it was one that smacked me in the face and said to me "Just do it!", so it was a case of going down to Maho Beach and took a few landscape shots (see above) and a few Aeroplane shots (see below).

 

 

 

For those who have never been to St Maarten, or have been to St Maarten, but not the Maho beach, yes, they are that close. :)

 

It has been a pretty much uneventful day to be honest. I came back to the ship after 4 hours being on shore. I spent some of the free time sitting on my Balcony looking at the glass panels and listening to the birds squawking. St Maartin is a lovely place to visit if you haven't been there before.

 

Pardon me if my review of the island isn't great, it's not as bad as I am making out.

 

 

I get it, same ole, same ole...

How is the ship so far? It it living up to expectations (and hopefully those expectations were good)?

Where to tomorrow?

 

 

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[novicetraveller]

I get it, same ole, same ole...

How is the ship so far? It it living up to expectations (and hopefully those expectations were good)?

Where to tomorrow?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

To be honest? After hearing all the negative remarks about the Anthem, I decided to go with no expectations at all. There were one or two niggles, but not worth shouting about. So far, I'm happy enough with what I have seen. In general, the staff are good. Only had one problem with a bar staff giving me someone else seapass card during the headliner act, but was fortunate enough to meet the people who had my seapass card whilst in the queue. I would have been annoyed if RCI didn't provide a new card, but won't be able to tell you that tale.

 

We are off to Martinique today. Arrival time around 9am and return by 5:30pm. I am on a private excursion with 2 other Cruisecritic members from a site I am not sure I am allowed to provide a link to, but will provide some details in my post-cruise review, providing we make it back on time to the ship.

[Overtyme]

To be honest? After hearing all the negative remarks about the Anthem, I decided to go with no expectations at all. There were one or two niggles, but not worth shouting about. So far, I'm happy enough with what I have seen. In general, the staff are good. Only had one problem with a bar staff giving me someone else seapass card during the headliner act, but was fortunate enough to meet the people who had my seapass card whilst in the queue. I would have been annoyed if RCI didn't provide a new card, but won't be able to tell you that tale.

 

 

 

We are off to Martinique today. Arrival time around 9am and return by 5:30pm. I am on a private excursion with 2 other Cruisecritic members from a site I am not sure I am allowed to provide a link to, but will provide some details in my post-cruise review, providing we make it back on time to the ship.

 

 

Have a great excursion! I haven't been to Martinique.

It's one of the few that I haven't been to.

I hope that in the near future RC visits Cuba as one of its ports.

 

 

 

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[novicetraveller]

I am back on board the ship from my visit to Martinique. Whilst there are some great excursions via RCI, doing a private tour on your own or in a small group is so much more enjoyable. We went to the Volcano, botanical gardens, the village that was destroyed by the volcano around 100 years ago and a couple of churches. More info to follow later. Just need to decide what to do tomorrow in Barbados.

[chiapet]

Thanks for the live review ... love it!

[novicetraveller]

So I had some of my clothes sent to laundry service a few days back and got them returned in the afternoon of when we were in St Maarten. I didn't get around to opening the laundry due to being a bit busy.

 

I have opened the laundry bag to find that I am missing all of the shirts that I had sent off for washing. And all the underwear that have been returned have not been tagged. On all the cruises I have been on, the clothes have been tagged with my room number. I am wondering why I haven't received my shirts back. I will go and speak to guest services to get an answer, but suffice to say, I am not happy, especially as I have been charged the amount that I have been.