My wife and I wanted to check out Anthem of the Seas on a short cruise to see what it was like and this seemed like a good opportunity. We were considering going on Anthem later in the year with the kids, but wanted to see what it was like first before we brought them along.
The first thing you need to know about the new, bigger RCCL ships is that they do everything different. Reservations for everything. I guess they have to when there are so many guests onboard. Maybe if this was the first way I ever cruised I would be okay with it, but it wasn't how I always cruised. So, if you do not make all your dining and entertainment reservations early... well, you are out of luck.
The ship was woefully understaffed.... especially at the bars. Service in the restaurants was okay; not great. While the Bionic Bar is interesting... that interest fades pretty quick. It takes most people forever to decide on a drink and then it gets put in a queue to be made. Hopefully the cup doesn't fall over and the drink gets poured into the cup. Honestly, the Bionic Bar had a lot of interest the first day and after that... there was hardly anyone there. It is very gimmicky.
For a big ship, it was a very rough cruise. I've been on a lot of small boats and big ships and this ship had a lot of motion. I think that, because it was the cruise to nowhere, the ship went very slow. That probably accentuated the slightly rough trip.
We have definitely been on better cruises than our Anthem of the Seas cruise. That is disappointing to us because we have loved cruising on RCCL in the past. The next time we cruise RCCL, we will go back to the Freedom class ships.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
Riddle me this. You go on a Freedom class ship and they have a full sit down Johnny Rockets and for $5 you can order anything (except drinks) on the menu. You build this huge ship, and Johnny Rockets is a little outdoor walk-up place where you wait in line for 20 minutes to order food (at ala carte prices akin to an actual Johnny Rockets) and then they hand you a pager and tell you that your food will be ready in about 20 minutes. So, 40 minutes and a lot of money to get a hamburger, milk shake, and fries. Then you need to find a place to sit.
One bit of advice... make all your dining reservations before you get on the ship. The new ships have smaller themed dining rooms so you have more varied dining options.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
The one reservation that we were able to was North Star. As fate would have it, North Star broke down during our reservation time so we did not get a chance to go on it. Being that it was a short cruise, and our reservation was the last day of the cruise, there was no opportunity to go on it during a different time.
We were told the line for the bumper cars was crazy so we did not bother. The people we spoke with who got a chance to go on Rip Cord said it was cool, but you literally get one minute to do it and then you are done.
My wife used one of the hot tubs on board and she said it was more warm than hot.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Children's Programs
1 out of 5
We did not bring kids with us so we did not look at all the kids things on the ship. I did look at the H20 zone; it was small! Smaller than on other RCCL ships. That does not make sense to me when the ship is so much bigger.
Service and Staff
1 out of 5
I hate to give this rating to the entire service and staff, but this cruise was woefully understaffed (and that comment was shared with me from other passengers as well). We were constantly waiting at the bar for service and there was no one coming around asking anyone if they wanted drinks. The side effect of this is when you do feel it is your turn at the bar, someone next to you tells the bartender it was their turn. Basically, slow service = unhappy, impatient people.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We did like our cabin. We rarely get inside cabins, but since this was a short cruise without the kids, we decided to go the inside cabin route. We did think the virtual window/balcony was kind of neat. No complaints at all about the room.
Ship tip
Book all of your entertainment and dining as early as possible or you will be disappointed with your options.
We may NEVER cruise out of Cape Liberty again. The line of cars to get in was insane (and we arrived early). We have cruised out of a lot of ports and we have never seen anything like that before.
I like leaving from port liberty just easier then flying..but I agree wholeheartedly with you about the Anthem. I am looking forward to her relocation...I pray for it everyday. I've been on her three times already going again soon and it just doesn't have the same great cruise feel like other class ships.....
Thank you for your review! Your review was honest and straight forward. I cruised out of Bayonne a long time ago (07ish) and I just remember getting there early, but it was a bit of a cluster. Been thinking of going back since we live in MD, but still contemplating... The ship/cruise/price will have to be right.
Thanks JusMe. Appreciate the feedback. I tried to be thorough and accurate in my review in my review of Anthem. I wish I would have been more thorough in my earlier review of the Carnival Dream. Thought I would have to chance to go back and modify my review to include additional information, but that was not the case.
Eric, if your on Cruiseline.com you get points for badges and rewards for each review you post and for participating in Forum topics. The more points the higher your level and the better rewards........... and if nothing else it will piss off some of the the nasty people that leave nasty comments on reviews.
Great review, very through with examples. Thanks for the review.
Pam007, you are correct. I just created my account a couple of days ago and was invited to leave a review on this site after our cruise. Just not populating all of my information. I have a excellent recollection of how our cruise went in March. It was, unfortunately, notable for all the wrong reasons.
I do not plan on leaving a review for the first cruise I took in 2001 though... but you never know. ;)
Kimbojam, may be Eric just discovered Shipmate, maybe he didn't have time or maybe he just didn't want to before now!!! The real question here is, since you have all of this free time to stroll through people's posting commenting random thoughts and asking stupid questions why don't you book yourself a cruise.. . And don't forget to blog about it as soon as you disembark😂
Windjam064, I don't know if there is another way in/out of the port. I think there is only one way in so, unfortunately, I do not have any recommendations for you. My hope is that the day we went was the exception and not the norm. With that in mind... I would suggest getting there as early as possible.
My wife and I went on the Anthem last year, we too found the ship were under staffed. There's were lots of high tech designs but we found there's a lot of bottle necks around the lifts and walkways, the worst was near the restaurants entrance area. I have taken my family on the Freedom and Independence we found them so relaxing and perfectly balanced between crew/space/passengers ratio.
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