Nice Cruise, but had better value for the money on other cruise lines

Item: Anthem of the Seas
Rating: 4.2
Author: dzh

Anthem of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

dzh

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 37

Overall rating:

4.2 out of 5

Verified Review

9 Night Bermuda & Caribbean (Cape Liberty Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 12, 2018

Ship: Anthem of the Seas

Cabin number: 10624

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Jr Suite was perfect for my family of 4. 1.5 baths was great with 2 girls (11 and 13) and plenty of space. Coastal Kitchen for dinner was excellent. WOW bands were very convenient. You get them with your suite (otherwise they are $5.00) which is worth it for the convenience.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

RCL has mastered embarkation. Embarkation was quick and seemless based having all my information loaded on the their website upfront.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Food was not as good as NCL or Carnival. The food was the same in the Windjammer for both breakfast and lunch. Dinner selection over the week were not varied or creative enough. The only plus was that we had access to the Coastal Kitchen for dinner since we were in a Jr. Suite . Service and Staff here are excellent. The Drink package although expensive was worth it if you drink. Bottle water was included which was a nice convenience. Bartenders were excellent and there were no premixed drinks. All premium liquor was included. Servers and Bartenders were all excellent!

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

4 out of 5

All show productions were good and you could see that RCL invested a lot of money in the shows. RCL had a very Nice variety of entertainers in the evening. Pool entertainment during the day and pool activities were lack luster.

Children's Programs

1 out of 5

Absolutely terrible programs for kids. NCL and Carnival were exceptionally better. The age 8-11 program was really geared toward a much younger age group in terms of activities. 12-15 age group had minimal actitiviies. Neither of my girls would go. RCL really needs to revamp there kids program. Both my girls, 11 and 13 have no desire to go back on RCL. My girls also commented on the lack of pool entertainment.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Coastal Kitchen staff was outstanding as was our room stewart. All staff were extremely attentive.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ship tip

Reverse all shows in advance. Book your activities as soon as you get on board. It is easy RCL on board was very flexible to assist to adjust times as needed. You do need to do this directly with the activities rep. Royal e ID is only good to show you your daily planner and activities. It does not work for reservations. Pre-Cruise: RCL customer service is not knowledgable on ship policies so don't bother trying to get them. If you do you will be on the phone for an hour and still not get correct information. Service on board was much better. If you are in a Jr. Suite you can't book CK until you are on board, but it is not an issue to get reservations.

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