After 14 cruises, 5 with RCI, my wife and I had our worst dinning experiences aboard the Anthem, EVER. First, we waited in the reserved line watching as people who had not made a reservation got tables. Remind me again the advantage of reserving a time to eat? We were seated at table 214, downstairs, in a corner, right next to a waiters station. My wife was missing a fork and I was given last nights menu. The entire meal was a mad house of clanking dishes and rushing waiters pounding by our table every 3 to 5 seconds. A food cart was parked right behind my wife's chair and unloaded. This happened several times during the meal. Our waiter Ivon saw that we were upset and did his best. He was excellent. The head waiter never came by and in fact, seemed to avoid us, visiting other tables around us. Another evening we were seated at table 843. It sits right next to a wall next to, yes, a waiters station. My arm kept banging on the wall as I tried to butter my bread. There was also a wall right behind my chair so it would only move back about a foot. I had to squeeze in to sit. It felt like eating on a very noisy plane. Again the entire meal was filled with clashing dishes, waiters walking by every few seconds, and food carts being unloaded behind and next to us.

Let's talk about the Windjammer. I understand it's not easy to feed 4,600 people breakfast every morning. What a zoo. However, even when you say it in a nice way, telling people, in essence, eat up and get out so someone else can have your table, doesn't fit in the category of a relaxing vacation. The ship has rules. Without them there is chaos. At 5:30 in the morning my wife goes for a walk. Nearly every chair in the solarium has a towel pinned to it, saving it for someone that isn’t there and probably lying in bed. Guests are told at several shows not to save seats and that no children should be in the first 3 rows. Seats are saved and there are many, many children in the first three rows. I've saved the best for last. About half way through the cruise, I'm walking through the casino and find $60 in twenties lying on the floor. With it is a bingo receipt with the guests name and I believe room number on it. I pick it up and take it to the cashier, asking if they will return it to the guest. He tells me he will make sure it get's to the guest and thanks me. Three nights later I ask the same cashier if the money was returned and he tells me, not yet. This makes no sense to me. On the last night of the cruise I see a woman working the cashier desk. I ask her about the money. She says "yes, I saw that", mumbles something else, and then says, "we don't return money". I'm shocked. I finally find the casino manager and tell him the story. He says, "that's not right" and that he will look into it. He takes my room number and leaves. I never heard back from him and as far as I know the money was never returned to the guest. The idea that it is ship policy not to return found money, even when the guest that lost that money is known to the staff is theft. If I had known about this larcenist policy I would have returned the money myself. This is unacceptable. So no, this was not our best cruise.