NYC - NCL Breakaway or RCL Anthem for holidays

[heathermiller86nj]

Hi,

 

We are a family of four with grown kids and are looking to sail out of NYC for the holidays again. We haven't sailed NCL in 5-6 years. We usually sail with RCL and last year aboard the Anthem of the Seas was our favorite cruise to date.

 

Both cruises are around the same price per day, with Anthem being more due to it being an extra night. Both cruises would be during Christmas.

 

Has anyone been on both ships for the holidays? In summary, some pros/cons include:

 

Anthem:

Pros - favorite ship, there will be new comedians and a new tribute band. Typically meet some good people aboard RCL ships aboard the holidays, like the tri-state area crowd. Some new live music. Love the indoor spaces for the winter sailing - Solarium, 270, Esplanade.

Cons - Same ship. 3 same productions shows and will likely have the same holiday activities. Even one of the fly-on acts will be the same (Finnis Henderson) - was at least hooping the fly-on entertainment would change and be different for some vareity within the entertainment department. Same food menus.

 

Breakaway:

Pros - new ship for us. 2 production shows plus second city and dueling pianos. New dining options and menus.

Cons - Limited indoor space and crowding from what we've read for a ship not meant to sail during the winter with a significant portion of outdoor space (no indoor pool, no large indoor venus like 270). 7 nights instead of 8 nights probably means only 2.5 days in warm weather vs 3.5. Also another con seems to be entertainment - doesn't seem like NCL has fly-on acts. We usually like variety with tribute bands, a variety of comedy and magician/juggler etc. It seems like besides the two shows, there is only second city and dueling pianos which leaves 4 nights of no show / main form of professional entertainment. The bands and live music are usually secondary entertainment to do before and after a show.

 

For anyone who has been on both ships during the winter and/or during the holiday season, how do they compare? How does entertainment compare - daytime and nighttime, food and the crowd of passengers?

 

Thank you very much.

[Mom2B&Z]

We've sailed both ships and prefer breakaway. Yes, Anthem has indoor areas but they are usually crowded on cold days, and we hate crowds. Breakaway has some amazing outdoor activities like the ropes course and water slides that keep kids busy for hours. We found our kids got bored constantly waiting in long lines for things to do on Anthem (bumper cars, flow rider). IFly was neat, but again it was over an hour of waiting in line (even with a reservation) for 1 minute of flying. The rock walls on both ships are very similar. Shows are personal taste, I wasn't a fan of 270 and didn't like Rock of Ages.

We were on the Gem for Christmas and New Years a few years ago, the Christmas celebrations were lovely and my boys were tickled by the gifts from Santa. Tasteful and a nice touch. I don't know what Anthem has for Christmas celebrations.

If you book a Haven cabin, you get access to the indoor pool area. It's small but does the trick for cool weather. Our favourite cabin is the H6 aft penthouse, once you sail in that cabin you're hooked!

 

 

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[bob brown]

I think I replied to your other thread regarding shows on the Breakaway.....

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=54162644#post54162644