Bob Burd

Just got off this ship on 12/14 and I have been on a few cruises. We took a first time couple with us and I also talked to a few other first time couples. 

Pros:

Price was great. 

No problem ever getting a seat in Windjammer.

No problem really getting a chair/lounge around pool area, but I consider up one deck fine too

Sorrentos pizza was actually very good and i'm from NJ and the other couple NY.   Huge difference from my last cruise on Anthem 2 years ago(and any other cruise before).

Compass deli had late night food if you wanted it and my wife loved it. 

Service everywhere was great.

Never a line really into anything.  Entertainment was fine. 

Casino was fine, never really had an issue getting to a table. I talked to the hostess a few times just to make sure i was being rated and she was very accommodating. 

Con:

Room is smaller, but you don't spend much time there.  The tv in room is ridiculously small where it's hard to even see the picture

Doesn't really have specialty dining.  My wife and the other couple did Sushi making and absolutely loved it.  They all skipped dinner that night and the price was very reasonable. 

Doesn't have all the fancy new stuff, but ship is clean.

Viking lounge TV picture was so bad could not watch it.  Not sure if it's was just the President's cup golf or all the time. 

Overall a great trip.  The other first time couple with us will do another cruise. Some of the other first time cruisers were on the fence about doing another.  I told them, you should at least try one of the newer ships.  They loved the price, but there wasn't too much to do they thought.   Food was good, not great. 

 

We will be doing another one, but probably on one of the newer ships as I've not done Oasis type yet. 

Thank you for the explanation!  It's appreciated. 

Just curious to how many engines are on Majesty.  Shortly after we left the Bahamas Friday night, the Captain came on board and said they lost 2 of the engines and that we would be delayed getting back to Fort Lauderdale on Saturday.   They then were able to fix one and we got back a couple of hours later than normal.  We were driving back to NJ so we got in at 430am instead of 230am, so not too big a deal for us.  I know some people had before noon flights and they were going to have a problem. 

We are 15 days out and we just got our room assignment today. The bar code did not work for me as it didn't show the room. 

I did the bar code scan.  I guess i don't have a room yet for the GTY. When I scanned it it came back with my reservation number and then -1-1.   It has my muster as 011, so I'm assuming at some point the room number will be added. I'm 40 days out from my Majesty cruise. I also received the royal up email which I think I might try.

I was on Anthem last year for the Super Bowl, although they were not allowed to say that expression and I think they called it the Big Game.  I was able to bet on the game in the casino and I picked up my winnings soon after the game was done. 

We were on Anthem January 2017 for 12 days.  I gambled every day, but i would not say for hours. I also only played the tables   I know i did not get up enough points to get anything while i was on the cruise.   About 2 or 3 months ago I received an email that I could get a free cruise on a number of sailings that were happening in October to mid November.  I was not able to use it as I already had a vacation scheduled for that time.  I believe i still would owe port and all taxes if I had gone.   I was surprised I received this out of the blue and I figured it was due to maybe the hurricanes or maybe they were cruises that still had a lot of openings.  I also received an email stating i could use the casino rate and they gave me a code. I've not tried that out yet to see what kind of discount i would receive.  For some reason work seems to get in the way of vacations!   That is my experience so far with the casino.  Did other get that email for the complementary cruises in Oct/Nov????

I used it a year ago on Anthem. I called a couple of times and received the same story about waiting till closer to departure.  I actually did not see it on my account until after the first day of the cruise.  I also made sure i had all my paperwork with me in case there was an issue. 

Stephanie - I just got off of Anthem this week.  It's very easy to just change your dinner reservation and a lot of times we showed up and they fit us in. We did that a few times so I gave the guy an extra tip for taking care of us. 

cjappert. We just got off the Anthem yesterday and we did the BOGO dining package for the first 2 nights.  We had Chops the first night and Wonderland the 2nd night.  Both were really good.  Wonderland is an experience and I know I'd do that one without the kids.  But that is my opinion.   I took a picture of the menus with my phone and will provide them later hopefully.  We did the my time dining and the food was pretty good.  We had no complaints about any of the food really.

I originally used the contact us page and sent them a note. But RCL responded with what Way put in his response of web_reservations@rccl.com.

 

They also said that line up is tentative and could be changed.  I know Wanted is during the first half of the cruise as I contacted them.

 

I wish you could get a copy of the Cruise Compass ahead of time, but I don't know of how to do that.

 

Bob

 

For the Jan 26 Anthem Sailing is the following entertainment.

 

Joe Yannetty, Comedian
Wanted, Music Hall
Tommy Green Jr., Pub Guitarist
Lou Gazzara, Male Vocalist
Donovan and Rebecca, Aerial / Balancing Act
Levent, Comedy / Magic
Mosaic, Acapella Group
Carl Banks, Comedian

 

mo5aic is actually the name of the acapella group and they are pretty good from what I've seen in youtube.

 

Tommy Green jr is out on youtube as well and very good

 

Wanted is a cover band from LA of Bon Jovi music.  If you look them up get the LA band and not the Cleveland one with the same name

 

Lou Gazzara was on American Idol

 

The others I didn't want to look up so as not to know their show before I get on.

 

I hope that helps and I hope we have good weather.

Bob

 

I emailed them about a month ago and I know all the entertainment on my cruise. I'm on the Anthem at the end of January.

Bsbrady and rjac, thanks for responding.  We have looked into both places.  I've emailed both places over a month ago and neither emailed me back which is surprising.  Especially the Marriott and we are even Marriott owners.  Antigua has a course called Cedar Valley and they emailed me back with prices and they were reasonable.  We'd like to bring the clubs, but then you have to have them in the way the whole trip. Plus the lugging of them all around would not be much fun either.

Thanks for your feedback and we are leaving on the Anthem on Jan 26 from Cape Liberty.

Bob

We are leaving on the Anthem Jan 26, 2017 and are going on a 12 day Caribbean cruise. We are golfers and I'm seeing if anyone has golfed at any of the islands and how was the experience. We are going to Antigua, Barbados, Martinique, and St Kitts.

Thanks in advance,

Bob 

I have an upcoming 12 day cruise on the Anthem. I really don't need to be connected 24/7, but I would like to check my email every couple of days. I know the cost to be 24/7 is about 107 dollars, does anyone know what the cost would be just to check from the internet cafe so I can make an educated decision on whether to get the package or not? We've been on a number of cruises but this is our first on this new of a ship. Thanks in advance.  Bob