Anthem of the Seas 3/24 Review

[tennislvr8]

We returned this am from the Anthem of the Seas, here is my review in no particular order. We booked a jr suite guarantee the end of Jan. 2018. We were assigned jr suite 13632 late February. I was concerned because we were in a vestibule. That was not a problem. We never heard or saw the single in our vestibule. The balcony was HUGE but it had a slight obstruction. If you rearranged the lounge chairs it was not an issue. Being on the 13th floor with the pool deck and Johnny Rockets directly above us was not favorable. We heard running anytime we were in the room. I will never stay in a floor thats not insulate by stateroom floors again. There were cookies waiting for us when we arrived. We also received a bottle of champagne from our TA. One night they also delivered chocolate covered strawberries. Not sure where or why the cookies and strawberries but a nice surprise nonetheless. We also got a $50 gift card each to the spa for our anniversary. We arrived at the port at about 11 and were on board, with parking and all 11:30. We didn't go to the windjammer so I don't know if it was packed or not, I am sure it was though. We ate at 270, it was not too busy.

We ate dinner one night at Jamie's the appetizers were o.k, would not get them again. The main course was delicious....i had the pappardelle and bolognese and DH had lasagne......both were delicious. We also ate at Coastal Kitchen on the second formal night, we were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. The waiter told us to order two lobster tails, he said they were small and not filing. They brought us a death by chocolate cake and sang happy anniversary to us, they also gave us a bottle of champagne (our second) we toasted and shared the rest with the table next to us.

We ate most meals either in the MDR or windjammer. At times, the windjammer was crowded at both lunch and dinner but there were seats available, if only in the back. One night I was eating an oblong meatloaf like thing.....i think it was a Greek dish. I bit down and heard a crack, my tooth cracked. I called over a RCI employee in a suit, told him what happened and showed him my tooth. He kept smooshing the meat and saying how could it crack my tooth, its soft. After the third time, I simply said, "ok" and showed him my tooth let him keep talking. When he realized I was no longer responding he took my plate and said he would be right back. He came back and said so do you want me to take you to medical. I said what other options do we have????? We get to medical a nurse makes me fill out an accident report, and assures me I would not have to pay for consultation. They send me back to see a dr, who keeps telling me he's not a dentist. He looks at it and says, if the pain is unbearable come back I will give you Aleve. I got a copy of the report and we on my way. This was Wednesday, the remainder of the trip, I had to chew only on one side and drink EVERYTHING through a straw so it didn't get near my tooth which was hot and cold sensitive and hurt if food touched it. We went to Guest Services after 3 EARLY am calls from them. The line was LONG so we went to the loyalty ambassador, they wanted to check on me. They also offered us 10% a next cruise and to pay any expenses once back on land. I will make an emergency dentist appointment Monday morning to fully assess the situation. I had a dentist appointment the week before we left and no issues, i have no idea what was in that meat....

We didn't do any of the major shows, we saw them all before as this was our second time on Anthem. We did do Quest, which was in 270 not the best location but it worked. They added a new "activity" karaoke, they had 2 rounds with judges and a finale in 270 with judges. We also did both comedians, the first one whose name i cannot remember was not funny at all! The second guy was funny, but not to everyone. He was talking about how our parents (45+) drank and smoke while pregnant and these new moms don't drink, smoke or eat tofu, organic seaweed, etc. and kids have all kinds of stuff, i.e. peanut allergies. Well one woman decided she had enough, stood up and said, your jokes aren't even funny as she was walking out. He said you are right, they aren't. He then told the crowd that they are just jokes they don't mean anything...word can't hurt you....she screamed from the elevators, but food can. We to the Crown and Anchor private party (for which they closed 270) they gave free drinks, introduced the officers, let the captain speak and gave out wine to 3 of the longest cruising people. I was mad i missed Star Wars trivia for that.....I wont go again. I didn't do the meet and mingle, they really need to change the time of that, 10am is too early for me anyway and i assume others since its never well attended.

Interestingly enough they did the Newlywed Game and Quest on the same day. The Newlywed game was in the afternoon and Quest at 11:30 on the last night. There were two celebrity couples on the newlywed game, Vanessa Bell Calloway and her husband and Bill Bellamy and his wife. They old couple, married 64 years, won.....they got EVERY SINGLE QUESTION right, it was great.

There were 3 distinct groups on this ship:

1. Autism of the Seas - passengers with children who have autism, some very severe were assigned an aid, volunteers who assisted the children and families. Some people need to check their kindness levels....they looks some of the kids got were rude and unnecessary.

2. About 100 HS orchestra students on school trip...they played twice in the afternoon in 270. From my observation, these were the most well behaved HS kids.......not sure how many parents came with but many were alone and being chaperoned.

3. Star Jones B-day and Wedding. There were some celebrities in attendance...i named them in an earlier post but will name them here for those who may have missed it.

Vanessa Bell Calloway - most famous for being the woman eddie murphy was going to marry in coming to america. She is also directs.

Holly Robinson Peete - the original 21 jumpstreet, Hanging with Mr. Cooper and now Meet the Peetes (a reality show about her family, very good wholesome family)

Suzzane DePasse - director and producer

Bill Bellamy - comedian and former MTV VJ

Phaedra Parks - Housewives of Atlanta

They closed 270 one night for her b-day and her wedding. They also closed off certain areas for her crew-----her bridal shower was in 270 but people could still use 270. THe music hall had a private section for them too. It didn't impact anyone's ability to enjoy the venue that had private areas closed off. Some people were upset that they allowed a celebrity to have private parties and closed off certain parts of venues for them. I have seen it done before not for a celebrity....Star also co-hosted the second part of the Love and Marriage game with the male cruise director.

 

Randomness.....

1. elevators people still need to learn manners and WAIT for people to get off before trying to get on.

2. chair hogs - went to solarium and they were in FULL FORCE

3. When waiting to talk to the loyalty ambassador, heard two couples behind us waiting for their chance to complain about.....the fact that once couple was still gold and thus not invited to the invite only loyalty reception. He also wanted to know why he wasn't platinum yet, why did he bother taking this cruise if he wasn't going to be platinum. The other couple was complaining because there were too many poles on the ship that blocked their veiw, something should be done about that.

4. the number of parents who had their MS and below ages children at 18 and over events. One couple had a 1-2 yr old at Quest. No big deal the baby doesn't realize what they are seeing or hearing.....the host asked for the youngest and oldest member of the team....THIS MOTHER OFFERED UP HER BABY ACTUALLY PASSED HIM TO THE TEAM CAPTAIN - they host did not allow it......

5. The cruise directors....Clo is horrible, I saw her twice and she was just bad both times and then invisible. The guy, I don't remember his name was better and more visible but not the best. A member of the staff, a young guy who did most things including quest was better than both of them.

6. I purchased several starbucks drinks with my ultimate drink package and was never charged.

It was a great cruise, I have never had a bad one, and i am sailing her again in Nov. 2018 (booked before this cruise)

any questions, I will try to answer and if I remember anything else i will add.

[Lovetocruise2002]

Tennislvr8...you mentioned earlier this week that room service had increased from $7.95 to $9.95? Was that actually $7.95 plus the 18% gratuity or an actual $2 increase in price?

[tennislvr8]

Tennislvr8...you mentioned earlier this week that room service had increased from $7.95 to $9.95? Was that actually $7.95 plus the 18% gratuity or an actual $2 increase in price?

 

So sorry i forgot to mention that, it was without the gratuity added.

[tennislvr8]

The weather was bad, it was very rocky some nights. We missed Coco Cay and spent the night in the Nassau.

[Lovetocruise2002]

So sorry i forgot to mention that, it was without the gratuity added.

 

 

 

Wow! Room service is now $11.74 with grats? That's disappointing.

 

 

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[tennislvr8]

Wow! Room service is now $11.74 with grats? That's disappointing.

 

 

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The total we were charged was $9 figure.

[tennislvr8]

One other thing..... As we disembarked and were just off the ship we saw to armed cops escorting a man. One next to him and one behind him, they also had his passport. When they met up with his family he got a bag and one of the officers said, well where is the money. Not sure what that was about but it couldn't have been good.

 

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[Dibbadiane]

We just got off Anthem too. It was not a terrible cruise but other than our steward, who was amazing, the staff was not nearly as friendly as our cruise last year. My 13 year old daughter and I were the only two on our trip and I think we are pretty low maintenance but on the first night I was fed up. We only get the soft drink package as I rarely drink alcohol and our cups that are supposed to work in the soda machines were giving us error codes. I complained once to guest services and they sent us to a bar. Talked with bar staff who said maybe the system wasn't updated yet. I did not just buy the drink package, they were bought months ago so that made no sense. He offered us soda from the bar. At this point the bar was already jam packed and while I could deal with that I really didn't want my 13 year old daughter fighting her way through a bar scene on a regular basis. When the cups still didn't work we were back at guest services and it took me being nastier than I like to admit and amazingly out of no where two new cups that worked.

 

I agree that Clo was no great prize. At the CC meet and mingle she told the same joke twice and I don't think she even realized it. I found the woman at the comedy show amusing as she gave the finger yelling as she went.

 

Twice my daughter and I were having lunch in 270 and practices were going on. Once for Star's wedding and once the people in Spectas Cabaret that did the work hanging from the ceiling. In both cases I actually thought that it was interesting. A great deal of work went into both and for some reason I often am intrigued with the event more when I see some of the planning.

 

Windjammer was pretty full most days but we are dinners in two speciality restaurants and the MDR.

 

My daughter wanted me to add that the teen club was not as good as on Allure last year. She said the staff in Allure were big on getting the kids to have ice breakers to figure out who you had things in common with. On Anthem she went to the teens club because she couldn't find a teen compass anywhere. They told her they were still printing them so she felt that also didn't spur as much interest. Even when they did have activities planned they didn't always do them.