This was my family's first RCI cruise in over four years. We were very excited at the prospect of spending 10 nights on Anthem (spanning both Christmas and New Year's Eve and Day), our first foray into the new Quantum class. Despite being within striking range of Diamond Plus, we had strayed from Royal Caribbean, probably because we had cruised too many times in short succession on RCI ships (e.g. 6 weeks at sea on Liberty, Mariner and Voyager in 2010) and could practically recite the old menu. In the meantime, we returned to Celebrity and sampled Norwegian, Windstar and Princess.
In short: we had a fantastic time, though we wouldn't cruise on Anthem again.
Anthem was too crowded. This holiday sailing was most definitely overbooked to accommodate huge groups and extended families of all sizes. The main public areas of the ship were not so pleasant as a result, and everywhere understaffed. The Esplanade was always so packed that we had to force our way through the hordes to get to our self-serve soft drink fix/Sorrento's pizza. NOT a pleasant place to stroll or linger the way I remember Oasis- and Freedom-class Promenades. And the crew, though most seemed to put in a valiant effort, seemed overwhelmed and overworked. Our room attendant was a nice guy and always took care of our requests (ice buckets, wine glasses, cleaning times, extra pillows and towels, etc.), but he seemed so distracted and frantic that he immediately cut off conversations with "Sorry, I have to go!" as soon as we responded to his initial "Hello." It seemed like he had literally not a moment to waste all week long.
We had connecting D4's for our family of four. Very nice staterooms, not much to say about them. The double balcony was a thing of beauty, however.
Easy embarkation, even though there was no special or expedited service for Diamond. Taking our own photos in advance was easy, and everyone doing it seems to really speed things up.