Nice ship, lovely decor, great crew. Terrible access to activities and food outlets if sailing with over 65% capacity.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was fast and easy - only if you use the RCI app and do it all beforehand.
Do this and you'll be on the ship from the terminal in a matter of minutes.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Once you get some food it's good quality & tasty.
The issue here is more about getting into the food venues. Never before on a cruise (and I've been on quite a few) have I seen a long queue for the breakfast buffet, especially on a port day after the excursions have left for the day. Indeed, the staff told the queue to use other venues for breakfast or have a long wait to get into the buffet.
Similar queues for evening meal at the main restaurants too. Very long lines even if you had a reservation, but that line moved quicker than the line for people without reservations.
Service in the MDR was good though once seated.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
There are great activities to do on these Quantum class ships, just don't expect to get to do them.
Flowrider - fully booked
Ripchord - fully booked
North Star - fully booked
Bumper cars - over 1 hr wait in queue
Film on pool deck screen - no chance of getting a seat or lounger where you can hear the sound & even then background noise will mean you can't hear properly.
You couldn't pre book activities on the ship only book on the day of the activity & everything was booked out by 8am.
Don't go on this class of ship if over say, 65% of capacity.
Entertainment
1 out of 5
Difficult to answer this one as;
270 Cabaret - fully booked (on embarkation day too when you couldn't book till onboard)
We Will Rock You - cancelled for this sailing & no replacement show offered.
However, major sporting event - yeah 3 huge venues across the ship showing it on large screens, even if you weren't the least bit interested in it.
Wasn't aware of any musicians playing across the ship.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
The staff were as I've found on other cruises attentive & happy to help.
Bar staff seemed to be overworked & constantly on the go but we're happy to help with getting you the drink you wanted even it meant sourcing the ingredients from elsewhere.
Room stewards kept the room in good condition and well presented.
Entertainment staff were sympathetic to my concerns of access to activities & did manage to get me on the North Star later in the day, so a big tick to them.
Guest services staff were also prepared to listen to my observations regarding not being able to do anything on the ship (and this was while in a port with half the ship ashore) but were unable to put in place any remedies.
Crew in the promenade cafes were very willing to serve & make sure they could supply the food & drinks you wanted.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Anthem of the Seas is a beautifully designed ship, nicely laid out and well furnished.
It has some really nice spaces like the adult only solarium, the Royal promenade, etc and everywhere appears to be well maintained & kept clean.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
I was travelling in a studio interior cabin. This was a very well designed cabin for the solo traveller - I'd say better designed than the solo cabins on NCL, and the virtual 'window' is a nice touch.
Interestingly the access to the cabin was shared with the adjacent balcony cabin not directly onto the passageway. A great idea as a family could book both cabins & use the solo cabin as a second bedroom as there's an outer door to the passageway.
Good sized & laid out bathroom in this cabin & the shower was very spacious.
Ship tip
If you can book activities before you get on the ship & as early as possible.
If you have to wait till on the ship then book as soon as you can - even if that means getting up in the middle of the night as a little lost sleep is nothing to the frustration of not being able to take part in any activities.
Be prepared to queue for things too.
Disembarkation was simple and easy.
The only drawback was my ship board account had been closed despite still having credit to use. After a bit of a wait at guest services I was able to resolve that issue and grab breakfast from the Starbucks/patisserie.
Disembarkation is very early in the morning though, the earliest I've ever experienced on a cruise.
Thanks for your input and honesty. We sailed her at full capacity 2019 and had none of these issues. Did book WWRY and others before embarkation. No problem getting into things on the ship. Staff very hard working and pleasant. Would not sail mega ships again, as we go for the ports.
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