Needs improvement

Item: Anthem of the Seas
Rating: 3
Author: KC27

Anthem of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

KC27

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 44

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

Verified Review

10 Night Eastern Caribbean (Cape Liberty Roundtrip)

Sail date: April 08, 2016

Ship: Anthem of the Seas

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 9123

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

I sailed on the Anthem from 4/8 - 4/18. First, I would like to compliment the captain and crew on keeping us informed on a daily basis of weather conditions and re routing of the ship. We ate the first night at the Grande - I had the osso bucco and it was ok. My husband had the seafood pasta and it was not edible - the pasta was like mush. We tried the Grande a few days later and it was even worse - I had the gnocchi figuring there was no way they could screw this up. The gnocchi was had the consistency of stale/hard bread with no flavor at all. My husband chose the safe route with Pork loin - it was edible, but tasteless. A few days we had breakfast at the WIndjammer - the omelets were excellent. The waffles and pancakes were dry and hard around the edges - a couple of days there was no syrup available. We ate a few specialty restaurants - Chops was just ok - service was fantastic! We chose to pay up for the dry aged steaks in addition to the restaurant charge and it was not worth it at all. We also ate at Jamie's which was good - the pasta sauces were way to heavy and rich, they can lighten up on that a bit. The lamb chops were fantastic. So in a nutshell - the food at the restaurants can use improvement. We didn't bother to eat at Silk, Chic or American Icon Grill as we heard horror stories on those as well. We ate 2 nights at the Wine Bar Vintages - ordered the cheese plate from Jamies for an extra charge. We also ate at Michaels Pub for an extra charge and had the cheeseburger and fried chicken - both were delicious and the service at both of these bars was excellent. Now to the outside bars. The first obnoxious thing about the pool area is that unless you reserve a chair by 9 a.m. you are basically out of luck. We were in the solarium bar on the 1st day of sailing and I literally stood at the bar for 25 minutes waiting for a drink. There were 2 bartenders for approximately 40 guests. 3 times someone walked up next to me, said "hey buddy" to the bartender and were served before me. Finally I spoke up and the bartender said "im waiting on someone right now" then after he finished serving the passenger - walked into the back room now leaving just 1 bartender. This was the experience at all pool bars during the day. I usually just went down to the 4th or 5th floor and got my drinks there - a bit of a hassle, but better than getting aggravated. Usually there are pool servers walking around making it much easier to get a drink. My thought is that since everyone seems to have the liquor package, there was no incentive to the bartenders to expedite any type of service. As far as getting on and off the ship - they did a very good job.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

Our cabin steward was excellent

Ports of call

Cape Liberty (Bayonne), New Jersey

1 out of 5

San Juan, Puerto Rico

1 out of 5

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

3 out of 5

Basseterre, St. Kitts

3 out of 5

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

5 out of 5

21 Comments

damarie 8 years ago

159 days to go...

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ginabrown 8 years ago

Our classic was originally 6 but got changed to 5:30 .... didn't feel too rushed for the shows. And if we made other plans we just didn't show up for classic that night. We missed a couple but your schedule stays the same so got back to it the next night. My fav thing about classic is having the same table mates and getting to know them (we always request the latest table seating). You also have the same wait staff on classic and they get to know what you like! As for shows after the later seating .... there were shows starting at 9:30/10:00 for the late nighters!

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glennasuz 8 years ago

And then jump

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glennasuz 8 years ago

And I am guessing that 8 is too late to get done in time to see the shows? I am confused to if you want to do any specialty restaurants do you reserve them and rent jump back into the classic rotation the next evening?

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mkb1173 8 years ago

for classic you can pick either 6:00pm or 8:00pm. we did the 6:00pm. only negative about that time was I felt they were trying to rush you out of the restruant for the next reservation.

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glennasuz 8 years ago

That a great idea too, Thanks for all the good advice!

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ginabrown 8 years ago

Glennasuz, I loved Anthem! I had read a fair amount of negative comments about it but we went with open minds and were never disappointed! Beautiful ship, wonderful crew, comfortable clean room with balcony, delicious food, fun shows .... We were happy cruisers! Would have booked again for 2017 but we were looking for a longer cruise and ended up booking back to back on Oasis next February! Counting down!! Have fun on Anthem! You are on vacation so don't worry, be happy lol!!

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glennasuz 8 years ago

Thanks, I am thinking that is what I will end up doing as well. We don't cruise till January so I have a while.

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ginabrown 8 years ago

Some of the shows started at 7:30 and then later as well. We saw We Will Rock You during the afternoon while at sea. I think the later dining time was 8 pm but don't quote me on that lol! I didn't see these choices online so I called RC and booked classic by phone. Always great service when I call them!

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glennasuz 8 years ago

Gina51, also do you know what are the dining time choices for the classic?

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glennasuz 8 years ago

Do you know what time most of the shows are.

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ginabrown 8 years ago

We did the classic at 5:30 (I'm not crazy about eating late!) and then off to the show! Love classic as we enjoy getting to know our table mates during the cruise and once again we met wonderful people! Sailing on Oasis next Feb and I don't think they have the classic option so not sure how that will work out.

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glennasuz 8 years ago

Gina51, did you do the classic or the choice, we would like to see shows and don't know what time we should dine as to not miss them.

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ginabrown 8 years ago

We sailed in Feb and neither of us had a complaint about any of the food we had in all 4 complimentary restaurants!! From good to deeeeelicious!

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tish501 8 years ago

I attended a wedding on your cruise 4/8 that morning before you sailed - It was held inside the Music Hall ... did you happen to see it? I was hoping to get a good preview before our cruise on 8/6 but was unsuccessful LoL ... I got a brief glance at the bionic Bar as I passed through quickly to the Music Hall. Thanks for sharing!

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pinarino 8 years ago

Me too taking the May 5th cruise ... I really hope RC reads this and makes it better 👍

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bill66 8 years ago

I sailed on 4/8/ also I found the food to be very good. As far as the bars with 4000 people on board you should expect a little wait. When you are at any bar that is popular back home you will have to wait. I thought the anthem was a very nice experience but prefer the Oasis call.

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sylvia7851 8 years ago

I am sailing on May 5th, and wish I wasn't reading that the food was terrible......very disappointing.

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nancystone1900 8 years ago

Leaving on the 5 th of May. Thanks for the information.

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nurselife 8 years ago

I was on in Feb. Chops we thought was good but ridiculous that you are already paying for it and will be charged extra for shrimp which is small and the dry aged steak for that much extra is insane my husband chose to only get the shrimp for extra. And American Icon was very good we ate there 3x. The others we didn't eat in. And we heard Michael's was very good too. The rest of the food I agree not so great. A few people raved about the lamb chops (I believe that's what the chops were. And did you eat those scrambled eggs in Windjammer? They looked like they went through a blender. The only problem we had with the bartenders was in the Solarium bar, they were asking me how to make drinks I ordered, one being a Pina colada. Are you kidding me!?!

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helenvillare 8 years ago

That you for sharing. Will be boarding on May 5th. Will not expect to be wowed.

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