Fresh Off the Anthem.....Any Questions???

[musicman85]

I am fresh off the Anthem coming off of the 9 night Canada/New England cruise. My sea legs are still there, and I swear the room is swaying......ahh the after affects of a cruise :)

 

I'll write a review with some pictures soon, but wanted to open the floor for any up-coming cruisers with questions.

 

Don't let the negative reviews deter you from having a good time. Yes the ship is big, and yes there are thousands of people, but on my cruise there was always a chair by the indoor and outdoor pool (not the solarium), and a table in the Windjammer Marketplace (buffet) if you looked around. It's like finding a parking spot, you can't always get a pull out, so if you drive around, you'll find another one!

 

I promise this isn't turning into a review, but just remember that the public spaces with food and entertainment are really only on decks 3-5, and 13-16. The rest are staterooms, and while the ship has a mega layout, navigating it is pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

 

Please feel free to ask any questions, and I'll try my best to answer them :)

 

Stay calm and cruise on!!! :D

[gatorclaws]

I'm on an upcoming canada/new england sailing. If there's one thing you'd say is "don't miss", what would it be. Excursion or otherwise. Still trying to plan out exactly what we want to do while up there.

[eel]

I'm on an upcoming canada/new england sailing. If there's one thing you'd say is "don't miss", what would it be. Excursion or otherwise. Still trying to plan out exactly what we want to do while up there.

 

 

We were on the cruise too. In terms of ports we enjoyed them all despite weather challenges in Portland and Halifax. Our favorite port was Bar Harbor. Don't mis Acadia National Park!

 

On the ship there are a number of amazing and unique venues. Don't miss spending time in 270, the tribute band in the Music Hall and We Will Rock You in the theater. For dining be sure to book the Solarium Bistro for dinner one night and if you are an adventurous eater, go to Wonderland.

 

 

 

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[cruisercathy]

I was on the ship with a group of 26. I loved to cruise but I have to say this was on the bottom of the list for me. Only my personal feeling!!

 

The ship is too big for me...We chose late seating therefore we were unable to see any of the tribute bands in the Music Hall as no seating for the later show. The food was so so in dining room. My opinion of the Windjammer....we had a very hard time finding a seat for breakfast and lunch.several times we had to ask to share a table, some food was cold.,

 

We were lucky on all sea days with decent weather,we hung by the outdoor pool...Solarium pool was so crowded and a very strong odor of cholrine.

 

Don't let it deter you...Going on a cruise is better than going to work..

[musicman85]

I'm on an upcoming canada/new england sailing. If there's one thing you'd say is "don't miss", what would it be. Excursion or otherwise. Still trying to plan out exactly what we want to do while up there.

 

Don't miss the shows. They are so technological and the production is amazing on all of them (Gift, Spectra and We Will Rock You.)

 

Another tip is reserve, reserve, and reserve. They scan your card so if you try and get in without a reservation, you'll have to wait till open seating.

[mugtech]

Don't miss the shows. They are so technological and the production is amazing on all of them (Gift, Spectra and We Will Rock You.)

 

Another tip is reserve, reserve, and reserve. They scan your card so if you try and get in without a reservation, you'll have to wait till open seating.

Gotta agree, it was the best music I ever saw at sea. If a reservation is required it is worth seeing. The only time the ship seemed too crowded was after the muster, with over 4,000 people having 10 minutes to get from Decks 4 & 5 up top for the sail away. We walked from 5 to 14. We made it a point to get to the buffet when it opened, never got any cold food. Glad we had my time dining, only went to MDR twice at 5:30, were served and finished in an hour.

[debshomespun]

Thanks for the great information. We will be on the 8/23/18 Canada 9 night sailing and looking forward to it. We love Park Cafe, so will plan to eat at 270 lots. Keep the info coming.

[gizfish]

What was the general dress on the formal nights?

[Btank]

OK, stupid question: do they still have the Stowaway Piano Player?

 

thx... --bruce T.

[PatLok]

I am fresh off the Anthem coming off of the 9 night Canada/New England cruise. My sea legs are still there, and I swear the room is swaying......ahh the after affects of a cruise :)

 

I'll write a review with some pictures soon, but wanted to open the floor for any up-coming cruisers with questions.

 

Don't let the negative reviews deter you from having a good time. Yes the ship is big, and yes there are thousands of people, but on my cruise there was always a chair by the indoor and outdoor pool (not the solarium), and a table in the Windjammer Marketplace (buffet) if you looked around. It's like finding a parking spot, you can't always get a pull out, so if you drive around, you'll find another one!

 

I promise this isn't turning into a review, but just remember that the public spaces with food and entertainment are really only on decks 3-5, and 13-16. The rest are staterooms, and while the ship has a mega layout, navigating it is pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

 

Please feel free to ask any questions, and I'll try my best to answer them :)

 

Stay calm and cruise on!!! :D

 

Can you tell me what bands played in the music hall. Usually there is a house band and then a guest tribute band. Thank you in advance

[rmf11699]

Is Captain Clause Anderson still in command?

[karyabc]

Voom price. Did you got it? How much you paid, ? How was the service? Did the price change on board or its better to buy it before sailing. Txs

 

Im leaving on 11/4 to bahamas? I think, idk with mrs irma.

[Breezegirl54]

My husband and I were on this cruise also. My husband and I don't want to sail with RCCL anymore. We've been loyal customers since 1988, but something has changed. And we are fed up. More nickel and diming, unhappy and overworked staff struggling to take care of customers; especially at the bars, at guest services, less going out of your way to please the customer with simple problems because they aren't empowered to take care of things by corporate,thus a runaround, lack of accurate information and confusion among staff both at corporate and onboard the ship, charges to our account that we didn't make, inquired about each day during our sailing, thought were resolved but weren't, including an onboard credit that looked to be applied on a printout while onboard, but we found out after we disinbarked in an email sent to my husband, wasn't. It was a credit given by Costco. I lay the blame for this right in the lap of the CEO. Everything starts at the top, with him and trickles down. In this age of technology, there is no reason that employees across the board of RCCL, shouldn't know the answers to simple reasonable questions about an upcoming cruise. When I called pre-cruise to ask about simple things, I got 4 different answers. I had to turn to cruise critic to find the answers I needed. I appreciated it so much, but it's not right. RCCL should be on top of it. My hubby runs a business and he agrees that the problems need to be addressed by the CEO and they aren't. Just look at the ongoing problems with their website. My brother in law is an expert in IT and he couldn't believe it. Its a simple fix. I feel that at corporate, Its all about the shareholders and not about the customer. If they think they will always have an open revolving door of new and past cruisers willing to put up with their nonsense they are wrong. They have lost us Diamond Members and I'm sure others will be as fed up as us and leave as well.

[barkleytaylor]

Did you use the Wow bands?

Was there anywhere they didn't work? Especially interested in using them getting on and off the ship.

 

 

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[Breezegirl54]

We purchased the WOW bands. I wouldn t do it. The only thing it worked for was our stateroom cabin.We were told all of our info was on them, including the UBP which was purchased in June. Well, it wasn't. At dinner we were told it doesn't show that you have the package, have to talk to my supervisor. A big deal making us feel like we were trying to get drinks for free. A visit to guest services three times assuring us all was taken care of. It wasn't. This went on for 3 days. Finally we started carrying our cards that had the stamp for the package. We paid 4 or 5 dollars for something that didn't work. My vacation is spent waiting in lines trying to solve their mistakes. So much for relaxing.

[maria1122]

Did you use the Wow bands?

Was there anywhere they didn't work? Especially interested in using them getting on and off the ship.

 

 

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You cannot use the WOW bands to get on or off the ship. They are used as room keys, getting into the shows, ordering drinks and onboard purchases. I'm sure if I missed anything someone will post.

[musicman85]

Can you tell me what bands played in the music hall. Usually there is a house band and then a guest tribute band. Thank you in advance

 

We didn't make it to the Music Hall, my whole family and I are kind of early to bed since a lot of ports of call arrival times were 7 am. The tribute band on our cruise was The Eagles.

[musicman85]

Voom price. Did you got it? How much you paid, ? How was the service? Did the price change on board or its better to buy it before sailing. Txs

 

Im leaving on 11/4 to bahamas? I think, idk with mrs irma.

 

I didn't use the Voom, but I used my iMessaging and I don't think I incurred any extra charges using the wifi signal from the ship. There was free wifi in most ports, except Halifax, you couldn't access the wifi from the ship facing the terminal, only inside.

 

I also was able to use iTunes on my iPhone and stream music, also not sure if any extra fees were added, but my data usage doesn't seem to be up from what it usually is.

 

They did have a Voom special last two days for either $25 or $20 per device. They also had a staff person on hand at various times throughout the cruise to help those with connection issues.

[mugtech]

Can you tell me what bands played in the music hall. Usually there is a house band and then a guest tribute band. Thank you in advance

The Long Run played 90 minute sets of all Eagles music, did it quite well. Rock the Boat was the house band, played all kinds of rock from the 50's through the 80's when I heard them, also did well they opened with two Ventures songs the first time I heard them, they had me. Joyce Kuo, who played lead guitar for We Will Rock You, did some solo acoustic instrumentals, very mellow.

[musicman85]

What was the general dress on the formal nights?

 

A mixed bag from tuxedos to shorts and t-shirts. I wore my usual khaki pants and a polo. Two nights I went in wearing shorts and a polo, and no one said anything.

 

I kind of feel like the dress code is a joke and no one follows it and dresses whatever they want. I mean it is everyone's vacation, so they should feel comfortable enough, but maybe don't have formal nights and if you want to dress formal everynight then go ahead :) We saw people dressed up the last night of the cruise, I dressed down because the luggage had to go out at night.

[mugtech]

I didn't use the Voom, but I used my iMessaging and I don't think I incurred any extra charges using the wifi signal from the ship. There was free wifi in most ports, except Halifax, you couldn't access the wifi from the ship facing the terminal, only inside.

 

I also was able to use iTunes on my iPhone and stream music, also not sure if any extra fees were added, but my data usage doesn't seem to be up from what it usually is.

 

They did have a Voom special last two days for either $25 or $20 per device. They also had a staff person on hand at various times throughout the cruise to help those with connection issues.

Connected for one 24 hour period for $19.99, but got a $2 discount because of my loyalty status (Gold) It was good from 9 AM on day 7 to 9 AM on day 8. I did not check in Portland, but free wifi was available in every other port.

[subtchr]

Is Captain Clause Anderson still in command?

 

Nope, it is Srecko Ban.

[dvond]

Does anyone know how often the tribute band changes?

 

We are going in early November and was curious as my son loves the Eagles

[eel]

Does anyone know how often the tribute band changes?

 

We are going in early November and was curious as my son loves the Eagles

 

Not sure about the tribute band but this was Rock the Boat's last sailing on Anthem for a while. We ran into them at Newark Airport and we had a long chat with their lead guitarist, Darren Atkinson. They are on vacation for a few months and then they head to Australia to board Ovation for a contract. I suspect they will return to Anthem next summer.

 

Interesting conversation and we learned a lot about what happens behind the scenes on a cruise ship. :cool:

[mugtech]

Nope, it is Srecko Ban.

At the Captain's Corner he said he works 10 weeks on and then 10 weeks off.