Anthem of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

I loved the entire cruise.... just 3 things missing.

Hard to find coffee for early birds that wake up at 5am

Chapel for Sunday worship

Solo lounge for solo travelers

The ship itself was kept spotless.  The crew was very helpful and friendly.  The room stewards were very reliable and always attentive.  I definitely would recommend choosing the Specialty Restaurant package to enhance your experience.  The complimentary restaurants are OK, but the food and desserts tend to be similar among the four complimentary restaurants.  The Windjammer is good for families with young children.  The food in the Windjammer is nothing fancy.  The bumper cars were fun, but it's about a 30-45 minutes wait.  Get there early.  Overall, you will enjoy this ship and the activities and entertainment they provide.  Check-in was fast.  Check-out was slow.

Great fun for all ages. Karaoke, bumper cars, space gondola, shows, super restaurant choices. RC could have been a bit more explanatory about the need to reserve a restaurant every night if you don't want to eat in the buffet, the amenities on Labadee and the tip process. Late night snacks/food (soggy pizza!).and breakfast/lunch variety could be improved  Another pool would be good, but the enclosed section for adults near the front of the ship was a plus. Overall, something enjoyable for everyone!

Besides the people working on the cruise being unfriendly and unprofessional, there were a number of them that were down right nasty.  The food was very disappointing, including the soda machines which were not working more than they were working. Don't buy the soda package.  It was our honeymoon and when our family member made the reservations they asked for something special to be done, i.e. champagne, rose petals, sign on the door, etc.  We were disappointed when there was no acknowledgement of our special occasion.  We were able to make a fun time by meeting some really nice people and reserving our excursions before we left.  Will be contacting our agent to complain and hopefully get a refund of some sort.  Will try another cruise, definitely NOT ROYAL CARIBBEAN.

We had an amazing trip...this is a beautiful ship and yes, we would highly recommend it to anyone. The only two concerns we had were 1) the walking trail is in the wrong location...too busy with so many people in the way as you try to maneuver around the course 2) guest services needs more employees to take care of the high volume of people that stand in line for hours and usually for problems that were not theirs to begin with.

As for the positive, we can't begin to express what a grand job Royal Caribbean has done to accommodate their guests and the beauty of the ship is outstanding. You should be proud of your staff as they do an amazing job extending the best hospitality that anyone could want. We want to especially point out our Stateroom Attendant, Sookressen Mahadoo who made our stay perfect...he was amazing...had a small oil type leak in our bathroom which made the floor sticky and he got if fixed immediately...it was our 50th anniversary and he made it a beautiful week and we can't thank him enough. Headwaiter, Joray Baptiste also went beyond the call of duty and made sure our granddaughter who needs a gluten free diet was take well care of during our trip...planned her meals ahead and she was made to feel so special...she too is amazing! We also point out Shanabli Shahla, host at the Grande who too did a wonderful job with the guests each and everyday. Out hat goes out to R/C for hiring the best people to represent their amazing ship.

service!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pros - Ship was nice and the rooms were excellent. very roomy and enough space for all clothes and things. clean ship and a lot of activities to do on the ship, crew was nice and friendly. Boarding and Departing the ship was a breeze.The regular restaurants they had us change restaurants every night and keep our waiters.  that was good to sample all the menus and waiters and manager was excellent

Cons - they did not allow you to register for icord or north star online. then had to wait on long lines to get an appointment. they did not have enough staff at guest services everyday, long lines to ask questions and even call on the phone. Chops Grille meal (branzine fish) was terrible but all others were good. Entertainment was very technical for older people. we liked all the entertainment on all other royal ships.  this was a little too much for older adults. 

I had heard mixed reviews about the Anthem before we went. However, I surprised. Service was great! The ship had lots of great activities.

The bad news is the food. We had dynamic dining and no matter where they sent us it was almost always cold and often flavorless. We were shocked! So disappointing from Royal Caribbean. The exception was the Windjammer. Quite possibly the best upper deck food ever! Fresh salads, breakfast was fabulous, fresh fruit, you name it, it was good.

The shows weren't great, except the late night comedian. He was amazing!!!

The ship was fabulous but there was a sense that a big part of the crew just didnt meet Royal Caribbean's usual standard of high service, courtesy and attentiveness.  It was as if they had to hire a lot of people to staff the ship and way too many of them just didnt understand the level of service that should be presented.  

The ship itself was magnificent and deserves better staff.

Overall, it was a great cruise. Even with most of the days sailing at sea, there was so much to do, we still found ourselves debating which activity to do and how much sleep we can risk ;)

My only criticism is the booking of the onboard activities of the iFly and Northstar. They were booked for the whole week before we even embarked (or shortly thereafter). We tried right after the muster/safety briefing and the slots were all full. I was bummed as this ship was the only one in the area that had these features.

I'm very techie, but for a vacation, I really wanted to check out for a bit and only planned to use my phone for occasional photos. I was quite surprised I'd having to carry my phone with me everywhere booking shows/activities because the Royal IQ app was the preferred method. The Compass was on the app as well, but it still didn't have all the activities in the paper version.  You can add most activities to your calendar, but you can't take off items you added. You also can't seem to add things you really need to remember like the 2 for 1 drink specials (I didn't have a drink package).

The shows, wow, were amazing. The 270 Cafe/Lounge with the Robots and projection screens were awe inspiring and my husband and I enjoyed shows there the most. The food at the cafe was also really good for complimentary food.

The night scene seemed to be lacking, something we tried to get enough sleep to stay up for, but since we did enjoy our sleep, it wasn't too much of a loss. There was a party event on other cruises (Freedom and Allure) called Twenty that drew quite the crowd. The white party on Anthem couldn't compare to Twenty.

The Anthem of the Seas is a BEAUTIFUL ship; rooms are very spacious.

DYNAMIC DINING is TERRIBLE!  Classis Dining (wait staff travels with you) is better but still not the same as the "TRADITIONAL DINING". There are no set FORMAL nights.  The quality and variety of foods is lacking on this ship. Staff is not as friendly or accommodating as staff on other Royal Carribbean ships. Also, VERY limited seating around the outside pool and pool was "cloudy" on numerous days.  

The ship was absolutely beautiful.The rooms , restaurants and entertainment venues were very modern and the nicest I've experienced on any cruise I've been on before.The staff was inredible! On a scale of 1 to 10 they were a 15. Every one I encountered went out of their way to make sure every need was fulfilled even without asking. The entertainment was also the best I have seen on a cruise.I usually skip a lot of the shows or leave early but I attended a show almst every night and thoroughly enjoyed every one.Boarding and leaving processes were excellent.

Now for the flaws.

Despite the size of the Anthem there were just too many people. The staff did the best they could to accomidate everyone but in certain areas it was difficult.The two main pools could not adequately accomidate everyone.The water in the main pool was filthy.There were so many people that one could barely move when in the pool.The water was cloudy from everyone's sunscreen.Despite how hot the weather was I would not go back into the pool after the first day.

The dining procedure took time to get used to.There were four free sit down restaurants to choose from but you had to make a reservation for each night .When I called to do so the phone rang without any answer.When we showed up for a table I was told I needed a reservation.I told the host that I tried several times but no one answered the phone.She said there was only one person taking reservations and that I should come o the restaurant each morning to make my reservation.I finally decided to pre plan what I wanted to do for each night of the cruise and made all of the reservations for the week on the third day.

The food was average.Menus for esch restaurant were the same on the first four days and then chaged for another four days.Food at the Winjammer buffet was the same every day for breakfast and lunch with no variation.Pastries were stale with limited variety.Finding a table was always difficult due to the crowds.

Drinks were expensive and small.

There were definitely more positives than negatives.I wish I could take the staff,cabin and entertainment and put it on a smaller ship.I am not sorry that I cruised on the Anthem but I wouldn't do it again.

I was very disappointed in this ship and everything it offered! 

For Rotal Carribean to be one of the top of the line cruise lines in the industry, I was shocked at the way some of the ship mates were very rude and discriminitive towards some of the passengers. 

When I boarded the ship,  we were instructed to go up to deck 14 to the windjammer cafe, there's a wash station there to wash your hands,  it was dirty and remained dirty for the entire cruise. If you're dining at the windjammer, the staff is supposed to continually check to see if you wanted or needed a drink,  I  can't count how many times the staff walked past me and my daughter as if we were invisible.  We had to question ourselves was it because we were heavy or because we were black!   They walked past us and catered to other passengers.  In thr Casino, I  walked to the bar to order a drink and the barmaid refused to come to my end of the bar to take my order!

I feel as though the ship didn't have enough activities on board for the passengers, especially when out at sea. 4180 passengers, and not enough to do!  We had to reserve just about every activity ordered, and guess what?  By day 2, everything was booked through day 9!  No 24 hour restaurants,  an 18% gratuity for every drink ordered. Some passengers spent more time at guest services, because they were being charged for things they didn't purchase. If you ordered room service after 11pm, you were charged!  The good wasn't the greatest,  I met a passenger who took ill from the food and had to be quarantines for 24 hours. I got sick off of the hot dog from the seaplex, and overall some of the food was too salty. 

I was totally shocked at the service,  and the fact that they wanted to charge for just about everything!   I took my own survey asking everyone that would answer what did they think of the cruise 90% answered that they weren't happy!  Most had sailed Royal Caribbean  before and said it was the worst!

Reservations for meals at meal time a disaster if you try to book while on board.

Entertainment (shows) were pretty bad.

Could not use the sauna or steam room without buying an expensive package

Nice sized state room

Service:  Excellent

Drinks and room service were too expensive

Shopping:  VERY limited

We had a great 9 day cruise from Bayonne.

Pros:The entertainment was fantastic, especially We Will Rock You. Room was clean and functional. Our room attendant was a wonderful,  friendly man. Tons of onboard activities for us and our teens. Food was good.Cruise director Dru was very entertaining and accessible.

Cons: Stops at Islands were too short, I understand they have to have limits, but it was still frustrating. Onboard activities and dining can be hard to get reservations, they need to be booked prior to the cruise as we found out. It would be nice for the cruise line to have some sort of transportation to and from the Newark airport, it can be very expensive to take taxis.

The ship itself was not very exciting to look at compared to the other royal ships. The entertainment was also not as good as the others. We will rock you would have been better if we could see more than 1/4 of the stage. Spectral cabaret was just so so nothing I would pay to go see. One of the bands was in such a small area all you could do was hear them which I could do at home. The only good shows that we were able to see were the comedians which kept you laughing. They had surfing skydiving and rock climbing which was nice to look at but not for us. The best was the bumper cars. We heard a lot of people complaining about this ship, it is not one that I would go on again. We had a group of 7 so we had a good time otherwise probably would have been bored. Our cabin Stuart and waiter were outstanding. Our waiter even fanned us when we were waiting to get lunch, that was a first for us. 

Overall we enjoyed this cruise very much, but unlike other royal Caribbean cruises we have taken this ship lacked in service when it came to the dining staff. We expressed our dilemma with the service and the staff onboard was very quick to fix all the problems. We also faced some problems while booking onboard activities, before we boarded the ship. We also purchased an internet package and were soon discover the internet connection was very slow. The royal IQ app was very helpful but we always ran into a problem when trying to call someone.  

This was a great cruise and would not change anything. Very easy to naviagate the ship. Shows were excelent. Food was very good and enjoyed rotating four restaurants.

The room was excellent and in a very good location. Love the deck level and the availability to the nearest elevator. The dinner restaurants were very nice, especially Chop Grill and the Grande. The ports were excellent and I got a chance to see every thing by doing the tours. Smooth sailing and excellent weather, Will try you services again in the future.

1. Great food on specialty dining, great service, great shows, great casino ( we won something at least to pay for the drinks. Great fitness center. Great SPA. Everything Great.. Will do this again. Harmony of the Seas or OASIS of the Seas.