Great ship, Okay staff/entertainment

Item: Anthem of the Seas
Rating: 3.3
Author: meaganm

Anthem of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Bahamas

meaganm

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 51

Overall rating:

3.3 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Bahamas (Cape Liberty Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 30, 2019

Ship: Anthem of the Seas

Cabin number: 11562

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Overall, the ship was amazing, but the service was subpar. Even though it was a sold out cruise, we rarely felt overcrowded at restaurants or in other areas of the ship. However, I have never been more disappointed in a cruiseship staff than I was on this trip. Our cabin steward was terrible. We asked on the first day if they do towel animals at night (as all the other cruise lines we've used have). She said only every other day. We asked if there was a way we could get them everyday, as our daughter loves them and we'd certainly tip generously to appreciate it, she said she'd do it and never followed through. Additionally, our TV broke the second day of the cruise and was not fixed until the 6th day, despite multiple calls/trips to guest services. And the entertainment staff and shows aboard are terrible. We went to the pub every night to listen to the acoustic guitar player because there were limited other options (no nightly themed parties, dance clubs, etc). The stage shows were the worst we've encountered. Overall, we had fun relaxing aboard the ship, which is very well laid out, but the amenities and staff from other cruise lines are heads and tails above this one.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Best port to depart from ever!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Main dining was excellent. Buffet was better than most ships. Many of the bars were slow and overcrowded

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Lots to do on the ship, although at times they were very crowded

Entertainment

2 out of 5

Worst shipboard entertainment ever

Children's Programs

2 out of 5

It was not on par with other cruise lines. Our daughter still had fun, but there wasn't as many actual themed nights or activities for the kids.

Service and Staff

2 out of 5

Some were good, some were terrible. Overall, the friendliness of other cruise lines we've been on just wasn't there. It took almost 3 days to get our stateroom TV working. Our cabin steward refused to do towel animals for our daughter (7 years old) daily, even though we requested up front and said we would tip her extra if she could do them every day because it's our daughter's favorite part of the cruise. We got 2 animals for 7 days, and one of them was a bat, which was just a towel hung up on a hanger.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Ports of call

Cape Liberty (Bayonne), New Jersey

4 out of 5

Port Canaveral, Florida

2 out of 5

Perfect Day At Coco Cay, Bahamas

4 out of 5

Swim up bar at the pool was awesome!

Thumbs Up 4

Nassau, Bahamas

3 out of 5

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

5 Comments

wgammon1 4 years ago

Sorry you had such a bad experience.

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Sarahs58 5 years ago

When we were on the Anthem during its first summer in the UK we had a wonderful room attendant called Michael. We used to joke with him that he was the world champion in towel animals as his were absolutely perfect. He used us to invent new animals which we used to decorate with ties, baseball caps, ipod earplugs etc.

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joyandjerry 5 years ago

We were on the Anthem last September and loved it! Staff was wonderful and very hard working. Shows were fab. Just because other cruise lines do towel animals daily doesn't mean they should do it too. Your T.V. should have been serviced immediately though.

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Mike787 5 years ago

Nice

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onlysail 5 years ago

Towel animals can make or break a cruise

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Other reviews of this sailing

Great cruise from NYC area

Great cruise...highly recclmmend