It is No More than an Oversized Cattle Truck/too much cost cutting

Anthem of the Seas Cruise Review to Transatlantic

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 46

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Verified Review
Anthem of the Seas

8 Night Voyage Across The Pond (Southampton To Cape Liberty)

Sail date: October 27, 2015

Ship: Anthem of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 7268

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

We have been on Royal Caribbean many times but this Anthem of the Seas ship was a bad experience.

They had so many people piled into the ship that it was very hard for example it was hard to find a table in the Windjammer Buffet Restaurant at any time. Very few wait staff are there to clear away the dirty dishes. Also the loungers on the indoor decks by the pool all had blue towels on them for the whole day (being saved) SO we never managed to get one. Long lines for restaurants, mediocre food, but the staff were always smiley and pleasant and the ship clean and really beautifully built. The Schooner Bar is half the size of Schooner bars on other RC ships so when you go for Trivia you cannot get a seat, even if you go 30 minutes early -- also there are very few wait staff in the bars. Our balcony cabin was lovely and we spent most of the time in it rather than battle huge crowds in all the public rooms and public areas. The arrival in Bayonne NJ was a complete disaster.

None of the few number of staff in Customs and Immigration had any idea what was going on. There were  NO taxis at the dock, only shuttles etc. RC should get its act together for this ship. We will NOT be using Royal Caribbean again.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
too crowded

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5
Eunice in Cabin 7268 was excellent

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
spotlessly clean and shining... expensively fitted out.. mall in the middle of the ship is packed like Manhattan with traffic jams in it.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Excellent design - and lovely furnishings - this "saved" the cruise for us as we could not stand the massive crowds in all the public areas and rooms

Ship tip

Library is ridiculously small... Internet is very costly. $25 a day.... or package for 8 days was $100 with sometimes patchy connection. Less people, more staff and more seating in the Windjammer and in the Schooner Bar.

Ports of call

Southampton (London), England

5 out of 5

Cape Liberty (Bayonne), New Jersey

3 out of 5
easy access to Manhattan, but the cruise terminal is hopelessly inadequate for a ship the size of Anthem of the seas!
Was this review helpful? 46

15 Comments

Cruzthrulife    8 years ago

The port problem has nothing to do with Royal Caribbean, that is all on the port and there were plenty of taxis there when I went

jonbywater1927    9 years ago

Asdfghju, Not as a formal night as its freedom dining and you can eat where you want. The Grande is the formal restaurant where people should be dressed up!

Asdfghju    9 years ago

Was there a night where people dressed up in like nice gowns and prom dresses

nicola271081    9 years ago

Your review is spot on Dianaga, couldn't agree more!

dondon1    9 years ago

I sailed on this in July and by what am reading not a lot has changed. I sent a long letter to RC when I came home. Real disappointment

jonbywater1927    9 years ago

Susancaraccio, Towels were not put on for people to use - books, shoes and bags were also with the towels as people were reserving them (I went up at 5am to the Solarium and loungers had books and towels on them with no one about) and not coming back for hours. RC policy was 30 mins but not followed through.

susancaraccio    9 years ago

I was on the same cruise and this report is really unfair. There were towels on the lounfgers ready for people to use...not because they were reserved already. The food all over was excellent. The bars were probably more busy inside as people couldnt use the outside bars due to the lousy weather.

enitna    9 years ago

People, stop killing the messenger - I have paid my money too and will be leaving in a couple of weeks for my trip on Anthem, but if the ship has problems, then that's RC's fault - not the person leaving the review.  If you are worried about what you might read then don't read it.  That being said, I have had nothing but problems with the cruise planner.  The reservations made have disappeared and they told me IT can't fix it until the week before the cruise. Thank Goodness I printed the confirmation email sent to me when everything was booked showing that the reservations were made!  I have contacted RC multiple times to get the reservations booked properly and even when they book them they are disappearing.  I have already spent over 5 hours on this issue and will be extremely unhappy if I have to wait, planner email confirmation in hand,  in a very long line when I get on the ship.  If you haven't printed your planner, please do so!

debbiej    9 years ago

Everything written in this review is spot on - I will write my own review to be fair and also give the positives but I have to say if you were a first time cruiser you wouldn't book a second. I hope these were just teething problems that RC will deal with as this is a beautiful ship that could have the wow factor.

farend    9 years ago

People criticize Jesus Christ too.. It's ok .i already paid all this money I'm gonna do my best to enjoy it ..I'm sure I'm gonna have a great time ..

mcbkwt1    9 years ago

I'm curious if it was bc 1st sailing out of US & 1st time such a large ship out of that port? Maybe they have to work out glitches? I'm sure by time we go in July it will be great!

allemo    9 years ago

I've heard similar disappointments about the Quantum. We're sailing Dec 12 on the Anthem

bramau2418    9 years ago

I'm going on 12/19 loved to hear some positive comments, thanks

kiwi02    9 years ago

would like to see your comments afterwards....have a safe journey

munchymeow    9 years ago

I'm going in 3 days, so I'm going to politely ignore this.

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