Anthem Random Thoughts 5/11/17 - 5/20/17

[mmgilb200]

Mini-review Random Thoughts

 

*No pictures - sorry but I'm not good at taking pictures and so many other people have taken such great pictures and videos!

*PRE-CRUISE PLANNING - I enjoy the planning part of the vacation so I did alot of pre-planning and signed up for everything we could ahead of time - Dinners, shore excursions, activities and shows - I'm really glad we did this.

*PRE-CRUISE - We are from Cleveland Ohio and we drove to NJ. Stayed at the Country Inn and Suites in Elizabeth NJ for three nights before the cruise and spent some time in Manhattan. Chose this hotel because it had a shuttle to the port, shuttle to the airport (for access to the train to Manhattan), parking and free breakfast. The hotel room was fine (clean), the shuttle was fine (on time) but the breakfast was not edible! I would probably stay at the Embassy Suites next door if I had to do it again.

*EMBARKATION: I checked us in online and uploaded our photos ahead of time so it was VERY EASY. Arrived at 10:40 am - was on the ship by 11:00 am!

*THE SHIP - Very very nice. Clean. Pretty. Great wayfinding signage. So big and nice that we never really felt like there were 4,000 people on board.

*CABIN - We don't mind the interior cabin because we aren't in our room very much. We had a virtual balcony (nice touch). This room was very nice. A little bit bigger which helped. Lots of storage. Luggage fit under the bed. Nice bathroom and had shampoo, conditioner, soap and lotion. Only drawback was the bed - a little hard for us - woke up each day with a little bit of a backache.

*SOLARIUM BISTRO LUNCH - I had read on here that the Solarium Bistro was the best place to eat on embarkation day because you can avoid the crowds in the Windjammer. This was GREAT! I'm so glad we did this - we got right in and the food was decent.

*SOLARIUM BISTRO DINNER - We ate here on night 2 ( I had reservations but they were not necessary) and I was not impressed with the dinner (but I am a picky eater). My fiance loved it because he got a huge lobster for a $20 upcharge as opposed to $29 in the main dining room.

*DINING IN GENERAL - We had My Time Dining which was fine. We did not eat in any of the speciality restaurants. The food was above average. Service was average. I thought the service was more personal on the smaller ships but it was fine.

*NORTHSTAR - Signed up ahead of time to do this right as we were arriving in St. Maarten. Glad we did that. A little disappointed in the staff member we encountered. Even though we had reservations she was a bit rude in telling us that there were people lined up ahead of us (who did not have reservations) who would be going ahead of us. Hmmm... Strange.

*iFLY, FLOWRIDER and ROCK CLIMBING WALL - we did not do these activities but we watched them and they all seemed really fun

*SEAPLEX - cool space and lots to do

SOLARIUM - beautiful space, lots of comfy seats, only had trouble finding a seat one time and that was just for a short while. Small complaint - we like to actually swim and the pool in the Solarium was only a couple feet deep. We went to the other indoor pool to swim and splash around so it wasn't a big deal but why have a pool that you just sit in?

*PUZZLE ROOM - LOVED THIS!! Do this for sure. I was perplexed that we could not sign up ahead of time but as soon as we got on the ship I signed up via Royal IQ. We had a great group and did it in record time.

*CASINO - nice casino - very happy to find non-smoking tables. Only complaint is that the minimum bets for the tables were $10. We really liked the $5 tables on the Grandeur.

*SNACKS - Loved Sorrento's pizza and the little sandwiches they had. Also LOVED the coconut RANGER COOKIES!! Yum!

*WINDJAMMER - did not have trouble finding a seat. Food was average (as expected)

*270 - cool place to hang out and read, listen to music

*SPECTRA'S CABARET - had reservations for this for 9:30 pm. We arrived at 9:20 pm to find that they let anyone in (even those without reservations) at 9:15 pm. Hmmm.. So we had to sit in the balcony. We were not crazy about this show. The technology and the aerial acrobats were good but it was a bit weird and we did not like the music (repetitive dance music)

*THE GIFT - great show! Great performers - dancing and signing!

*WE WILL ROCK YOU - our favorite show! It probably helps that we love Queen but we thought the performances were amazing!

*ELEVATORS - yes, this ship really could use more elevators. Had the wait for them alot. We just did the stairs when we thought it would be too long of a wait.

*WI-FI - Pretty fast and only a couple of times had trouble getting on and it was only for a short time. We were able to stream videos and FaceTime.

*DISEMBARKATION - we did not have a flight to catch so we did not request an early time to leave - ended up with a 9:40 am time which was fine. Waited in 270 for about a half an hour and then right off the ship. Not bad.

*SMALL COMPLAINT - The Cruise Compass stated that the Windjammer would be open until 9 am for breakfast. Arrived at 8:30 am and the crew was already packing up the food and taking it away. Barely got any food and felt as if we were being pushed out. I know they have to get ready for the new cruisers but don't say you are open until 9 when you really start closing at 8:30.

 

That's about all I can think of - please feel free to ask questions and I will be glad to answer if I know.

[SailAwayInAugust]

Thanks for the great review. Question about the Windjammer - Was it only open until 9 on disembarkation day or is that everyday?

[Guest maddycat]

Thanks for the great review. Question about the Windjammer - Was it only open until 9 on disembarkation day or is that everyday?

 

The Windjammer is open until 11:00 every day except disembarkation day for breakfast. It then reopens at 11:30 for lunch.

[easyboy]

That was a well-written review. Thanks.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Clarea]

Thanks for the detailed report. I would have been disappointed with the early Windjammer closing too.

[wendyatpml]

We were on this cruise also. I would agree with most of it except we didn't like The Gift or We Will Rock you. Everything else was great.

We had a balcony cabin and I can say after being on 22 cruises that this was the nicest one we have had. Lots of storage. The entire ship was beautiful. Room service was wonderful each morning.

The one thing I thought was distasteful was Matt Yee in the Schooner Bar passing around a tip jar after his act.

The Diamond Lounge had lots of seating and was never very crowded. The service there was excellent.

We liked the Anthem very much. We read many negative comments and don't agree with them.

We booked on board for another Anthem cruise.

[mmgilb200]

The Windjammer is open until 11:00 every day except disembarkation day for breakfast. It then reopens at 11:30 for lunch.

 

Agreed. Windjammer was open most days between 10:30 and 11. Disembarkation day was the only day that it closed early.

[Guest maddycat]

The Diamond Lounge had lots of seating and was never very crowded. The service there was excellent.

 

We were on the same cruise. Early in the cruise we found the Diamond Club to be very crowded between 5:00 and 6:00. It was almost impossible to get a seat. The over flow area in the Music Hall was also crowded. The last few days of the cruise it was much less crowded. We did go back after dinner a couple of times at 8:00 and found it pretty empty.