Anthem of the Seas – one step closer to Southampton.

Excitement is building as ship builders Meyer Werft are ready to float the Anthem of the Seas for the very first time in Germany. The float out was originally scheduled for the 21st of February, but was brought forward a day.

The 8 night maiden voyage on the 22nd of April will take the ship to Vigo, Gijon and Bilbao in Spain then to Le Harvre in France before returning to Southampton on the 30th of April.

When her sister ship Quantum of the Seas was launched in October her first port of call was also Southampton and I was lucky enough to spend 2 nights on board and therefore I know how different and special these ships are compared to other ships.

Lessons have certainly been learned since the Quantum was launched over 4 months ago, not least with the dynamic dining which has had mixed reviews from customers. My own experience of the dynamic dining was excellent. I liked being able to book the restaurants I wanted for the time that I wanted for each day. The restaurants were much more intimate and had more of a feel of a restaurant that you would dine in on land, rather than a huge dining room as on most ships. The issue that people have been having is really down to the fact that they hadn’t pre-booked restaurants and when they turned up at the venue they wanted to dine at it was either completely full or there was a very long wait for a table. I have advised all my customers to book before getting on board, even if they change their plans later. That way, they know you are guaranteed to eat at the restaurants they want at a time they want. The only down side is the actual booking of the restaurants on the cruise planner which is a bit of a chore, but in my opinion it’s certainly worth investing the time to do this before you get on board.

However in response to customer demand Royal Caribbean have announced a second dining option on Anthem which they have named Classic dining, allowing customers to choose early or late sitting, dining with the same guests as with traditional cruise dining, however the 4 complimentary a la carte restaurants will be rotated throughout the cruise but having the same waiter & wine waiter. Disney Cruise Lines operate a similar system on their ships which seems to work well. This option will be available to book in early March. I have to applaud Royal Caribbean for responding to customer feedback so swiftly, but I can’t help thinking that the whole dynamic dining idea would have worked a lot smoother if RCI had stressed to its customers the importance of pre-booking restaurants in the first place.

As I said, these beautiful ships are very modern & very different to other cruise ships in lots of ways from the giant pink teddy bear on the top deck to the dodgems, huge Xbox pod, Two70 lounge & virtual balcony cabins. RCI marketed them as ‘Game-changing’ ships. Let’s hope they don’t change many other things like the contemporary artwork, bionic bar and the robo-screens.  These ships were designed to attract a new type of customer, previously dissuaded from trying a cruise due to their thoughts of a cruise being old-fashioned & stuffy (however wrong that perception may be). There is no shortage of ships out there with traditional furnishings, jazz bands and fixed dining times if that’s what you like, but having had the Quantum class experience I like it just the way it is.

Do you think RCI made the right move in offering the Classic dining option or should they have stuck to their guns?  Let me know by leaving a comment below.