Lovetocruise2002

According to the RC agents on the phone they claim they have zero problems filling the sailings. I questioned them about the same a while back. They claim this ship sails at full capacity every sailing. I don't believe them though. What I find interesting though is that for the sailing I'm on (March 9/2018) the ship has maxed it's 3/4 capacity already a while back. I am assuming that they probably have a lot of non-suite cabins booked with a 3rd and 4th passenger. I've been checking pricing and availability everyday and there are quite a few suites still available. So at this point no families (of more than two people) can book into one stateroom. You would automatically have to book two or more cabins. Non-suite cabin pricing has pretty much stayed quo for a while but suite prices keep climbing even though they are not moving. I'm guessing because most families cannot book 2 or more suites. This is where I am puzzled and perhaps others can shed some insight. Wouldn't the logical thing to do be to lower the suite prices and hope that some of your families upgrade thus freeing up more lower rate cabins? Then it might make more sense (and more affordable) for others still looking to book to book 2 cabins? Or am I looking at this all wrong?

When we cruise with our kids (also 9, 11) we always bring several stainless steel water bottles for them. Then we use the provided plastic cups and empty it into our own water bottles. At the buffet and restaurants they just drink from the regular cups provided.

One of my favourite vacations to date was a 12 nighter...Can't think of a better way to celebrate special occasions. Fingers crossed for you that Anthem stays put.

I always hang on to mine till the last minute lol. Literally, I call them usually close to 11pm to make final payment because I am hoping for price drops, upgrades, etc. I looked back, it was in the general discussion forum, the topic was "Very Disappointed".

In August we paid $49pp for Wonderland and $35pp for Jamie's. Not sure about the rest because we only wanted to eat at those two. In my cruise planner for Anthem in March 2018, Chops grill is currently going for $42, Chef's Table (not included in the dining packages) is $95pp, and Izumi is a la carte. If I remember correctly, 150 Central Park was also $49pp and Sabor was also a la carte. But maybe others can chime in on those...Dining package definitely worth it if you plan to eat at several of them. We only wanted to dine at two for Harmony and we did not want to dine 1st and 2nd night so we did not get the BOGO package. This time for Anthem we only want to dine at Jamie's so probably not getting a package either.

I think @twangster just posted something last week about trying to get a price adjustment after final payment and the answer was "no". Maybe he can chime in...

On the Allure we had a stateroom that was connected to someone we did not know and we heard nothing all week. The only time we heard conversations was if we were both on the balcony at the same time.

It's typically bewteeen $12-$15 (specialty cocktails) plus 18% gratuities for each drink. Don't forget the drink pakckage includes not just alcohol but bottled water, juices, specialty coffee, smoothies, etc. We use to not get the drink package because my husband doesn't even drink and I am like you, 2 cocktails by the pool, a drink at dinner, one after dinner. But recently we cruised with the package and I loved the convenience of it. Just the bottled water alone makes it worth it.

If you are worried about surprise costs it might be worth it to consider a drink or dining package. That way things are already paid for and you don't have to worry about checking your charges all time. Or do what @DocLC suggests and stick with main dining for this first time. I remember for our first cruise we stuck with that to just get use to the idea of cruising and cause we were trying to save money after our wedding. Don't forget gratuities. I believe they are $13.50/pp/day for non-suite guests and $16.50/pp/day for suites. Those charges can add up too at the end of the cruise. But again those can be prepaid if you are budgeting.

I believe the cost for kids at specialty restaurants is $10. Not sure if that particular restaurant as a kids menu. When we were there someone was celebrating a birthday and they made a special dessert just for him. It was fun to watch. Wonderland is a very unique dining experience and while we enjoyed we feel like we would not need to try it again. If your kids are adventurous eaters then they might like it. The presentation is very unique and for some other kids it might scare them off altogether. @Matt had a really good blog with pictures from a while ago. That will give you an idea of what it looks like. I personally would never take my kids but then again my kids are the "chicken nuggets and pasta or I will starve" type. When we go to back and showed pictures of our Wonderland food to our girls they said they were glad we did not take them to that. Hope that helps.

Yikes!

That is wrong all over the place! You should take a screen shot of your cruise planner and then speak to a supervisor and ask them if you are not satisfied with their response or calculations if you should call the FTC (federal trade commission). That is false advertising big time! I saw the ad and banners on my cruise planner too. It clearly looks like $45 and the next person is 1/2 of that. I did that two weeks ago when they refused to give me the free gratuities with the KSF even though there were banners etc. advertising it was possible. And as soon as I did that they credited me back for gratuities.

Wow. I just cannot wrap my head around that no matter what angle I try to see it from. Someone wants to give you more money, they have space, how does that hurt their bottom line?? I would be very angry too because I cannot stand rules that aren't logical. Maybe like others have said the rules are different between North America and Australia? Still, that makes no sense....

@twangster and @Paul&Karen just an FYI...I just called just to inquire about pricing to upgrade my Anthem sailing and I asked them hypothetically what would happen if I waited until final payment to upgrade instead. They (RC) assured me that it would be perfectly fine as long as I am willing to pay the difference. Getting money back would be a no. Then I went on further to ask if this would be considered a "new booking" and if I would lose out on my entire payment and they said most definitely not. Might be worth a call back for both of you....

Oh and @rjac not to add fuel to the fire but last week when I had to speak to a supervisor about the "free gratuities" nonsense, I was on hold for almost an hour waiting for supervisor...good thing you're retired...

Well don't leave us in suspense....

That sounds terrible...

That is usually the case with us too. We live a pretty healthy day to day lifestyle. We watch very carefully what we eat normally and pretty much avoid sodium. However, one of our cruise rules is that there is no holding back, no counting calories, let it all go and each time we come back we are only about 2-3lbs heavier and it comes off over a week or so with lots of fluids (the non-alcoholic type ). I find most of the weight gain actually comes from water retention due to sodium in the food. I think that might be why it is easy to bounce back.

Thank goodness! I thought I was the only one thinking that email made no sense! Where do we go from here? Well...I could just stay in the Family Junior suite that we have already which has the pullman and sofa bed and deal with no Sky Class. I've already accepted the fact that hubby is not going to surprise us with the genie (although those suites are still available which I keep telling him). Or I could keep an eye out on price drops for the OS or FS. First world problems...I know...

I emailed RC (the special needs dept.) and they confirmed that the GS cannot accommodate a roll away but then they said the suite attendant might be able to provide one? Good afternoon Sabrina, Thank you for contacting the Access Department. Please be advised that I have looked into the Grande Suites and they are also listed as not being able to accommodate a roll away. Once onboard you can speak with your stateroom attendant and they may be able to accommodate your request.

@Koz...not sure how important your hair is to you but if you are anything like me (I normally use a $300 hair dryer...i know...eye roll) then the hair dryers provided are quite weak. If you are like my husband who needs the dryer for two minutes then it should be sufficient. It's usually a small, fold up travel dryer. As far as toiletries go, all the standard rooms I have been in only provide what @Sarah has mentioned above. I don't believe there is conditioner provided in the standard cabins. In the suites, the line is L'Occitane I think which is pretty decent. There you will get bar soap, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion. I personally take my own too.

Pro for us: Can dine whenever it fits our schedule for the day. Especially with the Oasis class ships I find it is easier to work MTD around the show times. As long as you make reservations there's not much of a wait (maybe 5 min most). Although I have read on Shipmate that some people have waited longer on Anthem... Con: Hard to get the same waiters for each night. Missing that personalized service where they get to know you. And we have tried asking for the same waiters and tables like others have done but it has never worked for us. I think that is one of the reasons why I loved Coastal Kitchen so much because we really got to know the wait staff there and vice versa.

Yes lol. But the girls hate to share a bed...

But this could be their year That's what my husband keeps telling me. The saviour has arrived! I cheer for champs myself...Let's go Pens!

We booked Anthem a few weeks ago for March 9, 2018 and that was about 170 days out. Only dining available then. Then at about 168 days out ifly and North Star came up. Just this past Friday, all shows came up. That hopefully gives you an idea of how far things were released.