Anthem of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

It was average...

GOOD: Staff, activities on ship, rock band "Resurrection" , ship info app, 3D movies and movies poolside.

BAD: Headliner Shows , ship design, need more pools, dirty bathrooms, you can hear other people though bathroom vent "Awkward", pillows sucked take your own.

I would go again, but not if I had other choices of ships!   

This brand new technology loaded ship is not worth the time or the money spent.  The technology did not work most of the time, the food was awful and the attitude of most staff was equally bad.  Don't spend your money on the upcharges for the restaurants - the food at Jamie's was inedible.  The various restaurants were all out of things at some point - two appetizers, fruit, olives for the martinis.  The executive chef should be fired.

There were few activities of interest for free (discounting Northstar, RipChord, trivia, poolside activities). 

Two of the headline shows either started late or had to be stopped in the middle because of computer and technology problems.  Shore excursions were cancelled for no apparent reason.  There was a fee for adult jewelry making, adult scrapbooking and yoga to name a few.  The headline juggler did one 15 minute performance because his props didn't show up.

Cabin was tight (outside cabin with balcony), especially if you wanted the beds separated.  There was one plug on one side of one bed for charging.

With everyone needing cellphones or tablets, it was shocking that there were no charging stations around the ship.

Corridor outside cabin stunk like sewage.

Check-in agents in the terminal were rude.

The theater may look nice but if you are sitting on the sides of the balcony you can't see half of the stage.

Amazing cruise , robotic technology in service and entertainment is out off the world, 29 restaurants ,cafes and bars, huge stateroom with smart space design, loved the Ifly, North Star ,bionic bar and bumpers cars, delicious food everywhere 

Beautiful ship. Food was so-so. The the new dining plan needs MAJOR revision!!!

No passenger I spoke with was happy with the food service. 

The bumper cars were awesome!

The ship is new and technology, the dinner menu at all res are super! But the breakfast and luch buffet is horible! The staffs is super nice, specially the photographers! The waiters... Thank you guys all! 

Cruise was very nice. Dining staff and stateroom attendents were pleasant.

One concern is the dining staff in the Windjammer were understaffed. At times there weren't any dishes and silverware. Many times we couldn't find seating in the Windjammer. I was told by a supervisor that there were many new dining staff and only had two weeks training. I hope this situation improves.

The ship was amazing and it was obvious that a lot of thought was put into its design.  I'm glad it will be based in NJ as its convenient for us.  The drinks were pricey but the food was very good and the attempt to be sanitary everywhere extremely good.

brand new ship . food was not very good, many complaints from other people. than they ran out of many items such as potatoes , bacon, bananas, ice  tea, and other items cant remember. had to pay 5.95 for a glass of orange juice in the morning. The stuff they served for free was a orange punch. shows were of poor quality. Would not take this ship again.

** IMPORTANT NOTE: Very few islands on this itinerary accept American Express. I did not know that prior to sailing. Avoid having to ask total strangers you've never spoken to, but have seen once on the ship, for a loan to pay for your meal at one of the restaurant/bars...TAKE YOUR VISA OR MASTERCARD (or everyone gladly accepts cash, too)!! Although introducing yourself with, "Hi - I know we don't know each other, but we're on the same ship and all I brought was my AmEx - the rest of my cards and cash are in my cabin safe...and this place won't take AmEx, but we've already eaten the food and had the drinks...is there anyway I can PLEASE borrow $25 until we get back to the ship??" makes for an interesting - and memorable - situation! **

This was our second cruise - after our first on the Norwegian Getaway this summer, we couldn't wait to go on another. Everyone we met said Royal Caribbean was incredible and suggested we give them a try. We booked this cruise the same day we got home from the last.

Overall, things were "meh" - but the ship crew made for a pretty awful experience. I'm not usually one who complains - our last cruise received a 5 star rating from me, and I think I may have 4-5 negative reviews out of 487 on Amazon. However, to say this was a great time would mislead people. It wasn't just us - the discussions regarding the poor service were common on the ship.

For the cost of this cruise I expected good service - not poorly trained staff on their first contract, unhelpful bar servers who would rather stand in the corner and talk to each other rather than help passengers, billing issues every single day, crew working in the Windjammer (buffet) who can't locate things like ketchup or Parmesan cheese, bartenders who charge for your Cokes even though you have the Ultimate Beverage Package, or chefs who work the make-your-own-pasta station, but can't make spaghetti noodles with butter. (No kidding - the head chef overheard the chef tell me that was impossible to make - as they turn out all sorts of pasta with meats and veggies added - and came over to make it himself. Rather than just boiling the noodles and then adding some butter, the "head chef" cooked the noodles in a sauté pan with oil. I kid you not - I couldn't make that up!)

It's too bad, really - the Anthem is a beautiful ship. She's HUGE! Lots to do and some very inventive, cool features. The ship was wonderful - beautifully kept up and very clean. I didn't realize she was still in her inaugural year - but it was fun being some of the first to sail on her.

The problems really revolved around the staff. It was impossible to find anyone to assist you. Out of 12 days, the ONLY day we were able to get bar service was on our last day. I know we made several complaints, as did many of the new friends we made. When I stopped one guy dressed as a bar service employee and asked for a Coke, he told me - and I quote: "the bar is over there - go get it!". Yeah. We are not "experienced cruisers", having only taken one cruise in the past - but this was the complete opposite of our experience with Norwegian.

I was at Guest Services at least twice every day of our trip. Why? Because they couldn't manage to get our billing straight. I was charged for mini bar drinks we didn't consume. (At $2.66 a Coke, I threatened my daughter with swimming home if she even thought about touching anything in the mini bar!) We were charged for drinks we got at a couple of different bars (especially the pool bar), even though I had the Ultimate Beverage Package and my daughter had the Premium Package. We've been home for 3 days now and I am still dealing with erroneous charges. The promises of removing incorrect charges did not materialize. It's frustrating to spend so much of your vacation dealing with billing problems. We had purchased the texting package through the Royal IQ app when we first got on board - but it wasn't working. We would text each other, but not receive the texts for 8+ hours, if we received them at all. I can't tell you how many times I had to request a refund for that app (after I had cancelled it - which they managed to shut off immediately). I still have not gotten those charges removed.

We just ate in the Windjammer for most of our meals - it's quick and easy. The first few days the food was really good - we enjoyed all the fruit and different selections. However, by day 6 (of 12 days), the food had been reheated too many times - so the flavor wasn't there. Everything was bland and...over done. In a big way. Many items were dried out and unappetizing. I love new potatoes - the first night they were incredible and cooked perfectly. When I got them again toward the end of the cruise, they were so hard I could not cut them - and when I finally managed to make an indentation with my knife, the whole potato shattered. I'm not a picky eater - as long as I don't have to cook it, life is awesome! That changed as the cruise went on, and we finally took advantage of the restaurant dining for the remaining nights. Also, toward the end of the cruise, many things began to run out - if you weren't there before 9:30 (breakfast stops at 11) the bacon was gone and only small pieces of dry sausage remained. Several of the cereals were also gone by then. Throughout the cruise the oatmeal was soup. Not only runny, but truly soupy.

The bumper cars weren't open very often, even though the schedule said they would be available during certain windows. Out of the 4 times we went up to ride them (during scheduled availability), they were open once. The Flow Rider was fantastic and my daughter became quite good at that. The crew working the Flow Rider were some of the best we encountered - very helpful and patient, and both had a great sense of humor. The skydiving was good - we live very close to one of those facilities so we decided not to do it on the ship. (There was always a decent line so we wanted others to have a chance to ride it.) The pools were terrific - big and plenty of them. In this aspect, this ship totally kicked the Getaway out of the sea. The rooms are nice and we thought ours was pretty spacious. (We had a balcony.) The activities are fun - although we never did see the captain or the cruise director. (Except on the tv.) The casino staff - especially one of the hosts - was rude and acted put out if you asked him even the most basic question. (I'm not a gambler and did not know where to cash in my chips - he acted highly annoyed that I would bother him with that. No one else was with him or waiting to speak with him - he was all alone at the desk.) It was also difficult to find bar service throughout the casino - whether at the tables or the slot machines.

It is frustrating for the passengers (AND crew!) if the crew isn't well-trained. Everyone has to start at the beginning and everyone begins with their first contract - which has to be difficult. Filling a ship with brand new crew and not training them on other ships with experienced crew members, is just asking for disaster. And that's pretty much how it was.

I really hope Royal Caribbean listens to all the complaints they received about this voyage. The Anthem has the potential to be an incredible experience - it really does. However, if they don't train their crew better and change a few things, they will have to start paying people to stay on her - rather than raking in the money she could be making.

Awesome ship!  For the most part the crew was great and very helpful.  They have a few kinks to work out in the dining room but nothing that would stop us from cruising again - we booked another cruise on this ship for 2017.  

I was looking forward to swimming with the dolphins, but unfortunately it rained so the excursion was cancelled. Very disappointing. This is just one of the island. It rained in 3 different island.

Beautiful ship very high tech.  Some issues with the technology. Food quality in not consistent in all if the complementary restaurants. Tweeting needed in shows and activities for the seasoned traveler. Please go to better ports.  Need transfers for all of the NYC airports.  Very expensive to get to and from the pier from JFK and LGA if you do not buy choice air. I would go back b the shop again with different ports and shows.  Great staff. 

very disapointed with this cruise. number 1 the food was lousey number 2 we have never had to make reservations before we got on the ship before so when we got on the ship all reservations to shows were full we saw one show . Overall it was a bad trip . Would not tell anyone to take this Ship.

Upon arriving at Port Liberty NJ, people were in long lines with 1 RC attendant on duty for boarding - seems their computer lines had a glitz and they had to put everyone in by hand.  We didn't have a problem because we didn't know anything else so we kept our cool.  Found our stateroom and was so pleased with everything - enough closet space (and I need it) for both of us and what a view of the NY skyline and the captain's command post to the right of our balcony.  Looked the ship over and got familiar as we could being we never was on a ship of this size and magnificence.  The safety drill got postphoned til 4pm so we missed the sailing.  We discovered the different events, the areas they were being held in, made our plans and our adventures went from there.  We were in a gale and the ship was rockin but we found we had no seasickness at all and just went about our activities.  CoCoKay Beach Excursion was cancelled because of the gale and rough seas, but we ended up in Bahamas for 2 days.  Enjoyed everything to the best of our limited experience; would have liked the weather a bit warmer but we were still able to enjoy the beaches and that beautiful aqua water - just like you see in the movies! We relaxed, had a great time and hope to do it again in the next 1 to 1 & 1/2 year!  Thanks so much to Karen, my travel agent and true friend, for arranging everything for us - we enjoyed everything you planned for us.  Words can't express how appreciative we are! 

Beautiful ship but service was horrible. No professionalism, no personality. Rude staff and management virtually non existent. Even after complaining, nothing done to make things better.

The food was excellent, the ship was very clean. Everyone stood on lines for everything, Most of the crew didn't know what they were doing.   Dining staff served food to the wrong people and then the food was cold. Moslem women were in the hot tubs with their clothes on.  Don't like the idea of reservations for shows and dinner, I think the old way was better. The highlight of the trip was Richard Rubin and his piano  the guy is wonderful.

My wife and I (40s), we truly enjoy this ship. The food was very good, as we enjoyed eating salads, the gym was very large, and the specialty restaurants were tasty - worth the dinner package. The complimentary restaurants were surprisingly good as well. There are tons of activities, and a nice touch with the solarium for a peaceful relaxing environment. In addition, what impress me the most, this ship was fully booked room wise, and at times I thought the ship felt empty, so the design was well spaced out. The only time you feel crowed is mid morning at the buffet, but there are other breakfast options in the complementary restaurants. For what I call the chair game, get up early to claim a chair or spot, there were so many sections, the chair game was not a problem at all, only if you need a premier spot or view at one of the locations. I was just on the Breakaway in August, their competition, overall I preferred the Anthem of the Seas as the food is better in my opinion. The Anthem suites give little value unless you are entertaining friends and family with you on the cruise. I recommend the balcony room, best bang for your buck, it is the same size as a mini-suites on other cruise lines.

we had a great time on this newer ship. Very big ... If it wasn't for mike mears at cruise.com directing us towards this ship would have never know about the. My husband and I went on this ship last week sailing nov. 22 -30th. 

There needs some tweaks but all and all if was very fun and relaxing cruise. Would take this ship again , that's how much we liked it. 

unfortunately from start to finish things went wrong and was my worst cruise yet. I think the ship was understaffed and food quality was poor. The ship was beautiful but also over crowded because the stuff offered could not support that amount of people...... The shows were great and the room staff was great however bar and some resturant staff were not. I also think excursions prices are to high if you go on your own there much cheaper but of course that's scary because they tell about all the problems people have when they do that but the way I see it they already made a lot of money off of me and then they take advantage even more on the excursion prices

Ship was beautiful but needed some cleaning.  Floors were dirty in Windjammer and other eating facilities as well as hallways.

Overall ship experience was very nice - one complaint the music in public areas

was much to loud causing people to speak louder in order to be heard.

Entertainment was awesome and very enjoyable.  Food was edible but nothing

special in "complementary" restaurants.  I will not pay extra for restaurants.

Northstar was fun!  Most activities were geared to the young.

All in All a cruise is what you make it and I made it a wonderful cruise.