Anthem of the Seas dining and entertainment schedules

[Phil7558]

There seems to be a few problems when trying to book dining slots and shows on Anthem of the Seas.  We are sailing on 22 May and booked our dining for the whole cruise about three weeks ago.  It is a little tricky to do as we have friends on board and want to include them but once you get the hang of it is not too bad.  There is difficulty at the end of the process though as if you book more than 30 places (a place is one person on one night) it throws you out without much explanation.  It is also a bit concerning that even at this early stage there is very limited availability.

 

I also need to ask about an aspect we normally enjoy; formal night.  We have three reservations for Grande but I am not sure about taking a dinner suit.  Anyone any ideas if a small proportion ie those in Grande go formal for the night and dress up or are RCCL becoming much more relaxed and indirectly getting rid of this aspect of a cruise.

 

This week I realised I can now book some shows.  The booking process seems simple enough but there is a discrepancy between the online show times and the times published in the PDF you can download.  On the night we want to see 'The Gift' the PDF gives 7 and 9:30pm shows but when you book these are 7:00 and 7:30pm.  As the show is not 30minutes long I guess this is a mistake but who knows.  There are also limited times when you are able to see the shows to coincide with the already limited dining slots.  in addition you are allocated a 2 hour dining slot (I hope it does not take that long!) so for a 9:30 show you need to start dining before 7:30 or you are given a warning that two bookings clash.

 

I am really looking forward to our cruise.  Love Celebrity and RCCL but I am wondering if the move to the new dining is a good one.  We have nearly always gone for the standard dining times in the past without any problems.  We have tried My Time dining too and again there have not been any issues.  I just think they are trying to fix a problem that just is not there

[jticarruthers]

Grande is formal every night (jacket required I believe), apart from that restaurant though the rest of the ship does not have formal nights.

[WAAAYTOOO]

I have heard many such stories about difficulties with scheduling and making reservations. I think there are still some logistical and software glitches that are being worked out. Any new system takes time to master. I also agree that they bought themselves trouble that they didn't need with changing a system that wasn't broken. We'll just have to see how it all works out. Judging from the fact that RCI has just refunded everyone $100 who has sailed on the Quantum EVER, I think it is an indication that they are getting some not-so-positive feedback on their decision.

 

As for formal night, I have not sailed on a Quantum class ship so I cannot speak to that specifically, but I can say that the level of formality on formal night spans quite the spectrum. One change that RCI has made that I think it a GOOD thing is the softening of the formal "requirements" and accommodating those that do NOT enjoy doing the formal thing. According to the feedback and comments that I have read, I would expect to need at least a jacket for meals at the Grande.

 

Show and entertainment events scheduled times...I would not rely on anything that is found in the PDF document. I would think that the online times are closer to accurate but I don't know that I would even depend on them as I have read MANY postings that say that the times that they reserved were not accurate once they got onboard. On my January sailing on the Oasis they made some last minute changes to the showtimes for the Water Show so those kinds of last minute changes are inevitable. I think these onboard schedule changes are a main causal factor for the frustrations that have been rampant on the Quantum. Once your dinner time gets bumped as the result of a change in the entertainment schedule, getting that dinner time rescheduled is problematic. It causes a kind of domino effect. I am not familiar with The Gift.

 

Have a great cruise !!