Which ship for 30 years old couple?

[ak1004]

Hello all,

 

Our daughter and her husband are turning 30 next year, and we wanted to give them a present - a Caribbean cruise in February.

 

In terms of ships, we have 4 options:

 

1. Anthem
2. Harmony
3. Oasis
4. Symphony

 

Is any of them preferable, or all of them provide similar level of service, entertainment etc? Prices are similar, and itinerary is less important.

 

I'm new to RCI (it has been a while since we sailed on the Allure), so apologies for the basic quesion.

 

Thank you in advance!

[Cruise Gopher]

I think Symphony would be best option as it’s the largest and newest and has the most to see and do. 

[gumshoe958]

My vote would be for Symphony too - it’s the newest of those four and has a great musical (Hairspray) plus Hooked Seafood.

 

But I doubt they’d be disappointed with any of those ships so I wouldn’t worry too much about making the wrong choice.

[neverbeenhere]

Thanks Mom!!!

 

(or Dad)

Edited November 6, 2021 by neverbeenhere

[rockmom]

I'd say Symphony or Oasis (now that she's amped).  The downside of Harmony is that there isn't a pool in the adults-only solarium.  I know I love hanging out in the solarium when the main pools are packed with kids, and being able to take a dip in the small solarium 'pools' is nice.  

[Merion_Mom]

27 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

Hello all,

 

Our daughter and her husband are turning 30 next year, and we wanted to give them a present - a Caribbean cruise in February.

 

In terms of ships, we have 4 options:

 

1. Anthem
2. Harmony
3. Oasis
4. Symphony

 

Is any of them preferable, or all of them provide similar level of service, entertainment etc? Prices are similar, and itinerary is less important.

 

I'm new to RCI (it has been a while since we sailed on the Allure), so apologies for the basic quesion.

 

Thank you in advance!

 

Are they also in Canada?   If so, then they have to fly no matter which ship you choose.

 

I suggest Symphony, for the reasons that others have stated.    However, Miami is not my favorite port of embarkation.

 

Harmony is a great choice, too, and it sails from Port Canaveral, which means flying into Orlando.  Would they want to spend some time at the theme parks there?

[ak1004]

36 minutes ago, Heymarco said:

Any one of those ships would be an incredible experience and you can’t go wrong. Between those ships, I would focus on price and  itinerary instead. 
 

There are some ships I would not recommend for that age, but none of them are listed.

Just for my education, which ships you would not recommend and why?

[neverbeenhere]

Personally 

 

Titanic - disembarkation was a bit cold

 

 

 

 

 

most Others are great!!!

Edited November 7, 2021 by neverbeenhere

[marktwothousand]

Symphony. But I think NCL might be better for your age.

[PolytheneGirl]

11 hours ago, ak1004 said:

Hello all,

 

Our daughter and her husband are turning 30 next year, and we wanted to give them a present - a Caribbean cruise in February.

 

In terms of ships, we have 4 options:

 

1. Anthem
2. Harmony
3. Oasis
4. Symphony

 

Is any of them preferable, or all of them provide similar level of service, entertainment etc? Prices are similar, and itinerary is less important.

 

I'm new to RCI (it has been a while since we sailed on the Allure), so apologies for the basic quesion.

 

Thank you in advance!

 

We have done Freedom and Anthem and booked for Wonder (originally Allure and Harmony). 

 

Mid 30s couple with no children 🙂

 

Anthem was phenomenal TBH and we loved it. 

 

I would agree with the person above though, look at the itinerary as well. All those ships have all the bells and whistles, are impressive and have plenty to do and entertain

[smokeybandit]

Any of them

[cruisin from florida]

13 hours ago, rockmom said:

I'd say Symphony or Oasis (now that she's amped).  The downside of Harmony is that there isn't a pool in the adults-only solarium.  I know I love hanging out in the solarium when the main pools are packed with kids, and being able to take a dip in the small solarium 'pools' is nice.  

I really missed the solarium pool on Harmony. My vote would be amped Oasis. In fact, that's what we've booked for our family cruise with our adult kids and their families.

[bajathree]

12 hours ago, ak1004 said:

Just for my education, which ships you would not recommend and why?

I wouldn't recommend Harmony as when it was built they removed the pool from the solarium. That alone ruined the solarium on that ship IMO.

Edited November 7, 2021 by bajathree

[bajathree]

I know it's not in your list....but if you were to add Odyssey into the list of choices it would be my top pick.

[broadwaybaby123]

If it can wait until Feb. I'll let you know.  I'm in my 30's and going on Anthem twice next year.  My first time ever on the ship will be in Feb., then I'm taking my niece on her in April.

[LXA350]

It depends what they are looking for, if it's just the two of them without kids I would even more so recomend looking into cruises on the Edge Class of Celebrity Cruises; Apex, Edge and Beyond if they are looking for a more stylish than action packed onboard experience. 

 

Otherwise for their first Cruise, Harmony, Symphony (Oasis Class) and Odyssey (Quantum Class). Explorer (Voyager Class) out of San Juan due to the routings but the ship has not been refurbished at it's last dry dock and not sure in what for condition it's in.  

[loman]

Flying to a Miami based ship from Toronto  is an easier travelling destination rather than the Orlando airport and then getting to the pier in Port Canaveral. 

For that reason alone Symphony out of Miami would be my first choice. 

Not a fan of the Anthem and i prefer Oasis class ships. 

[PhillyFan33579]

In order I would recommend Symphony, Oasis, Harmony and Allure. No doubt in my mind they will enjoy any one of these ships, but based on the ship only the pick for me would be simple…Symphony. 

[SkaterJasp]

17 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

Symphony. But I think NCL might be better for your age.

If you mean age as in the 30s… Nope nope nope… I went on NCL and it was my. Worst. Cruise. Ever. Out of my 82 cruises, that one cruise on NCL Epic is still by far the worst experience ever…. No other cruise even came close to how bad the experience was on NCL. It’s the ONLY cruise line I would never ever go on again. 

[marktwothousand]

1 minute ago, SkaterJasp said:

If you mean age as in the 30s… Nope nope nope… I went on NCL and it was my. Worst. Cruise. Ever. Out of my 82 cruises, that one cruise on NCL Epic is still by far the worst experience ever…. No other cruise even came close to how bad the experience was on NCL. It’s the ONLY cruise line I would never ever go on again. 

WEIRD!!! I have never cruised with anyone but NCL. Epic definitely isn’t my favourite ship of theirs. I wouldn’t judge NCL based on Epic

Edited November 7, 2021 by marktwothousand

[SkaterJasp]

All 4 ships are good ships, they all have something different to offer. I personally like Anthem of the Seas better because it’s big but not too big. To be honest, they’re all really good.. the ports would be the tie breaker in your situation.

[allisonb22]

I think all are good options but i would recommend any of the oasis class ships over Anthem. Anthem is great but my boyfriend and I (in our 20s) wish there was more to do late night on Anthem. There isn't really a good late night spot we have found that we loved. We have also done Anthem multiple times and haven't done an Oasis class ship yet (since we are so close to cape liberty and like to cruise in the winter) so maybe i am biased....  can't really go wrong either way!

[ak1004]

Thank you very much everyone for your input!

 

We decided to go with the Symphony. My TA called RCI and they quoted a price that was 10% higher than the price on the website. Not sure the reason, and supervisor was not available due to a weekend. They transferred her few times. She will call tomorrow and try to speak to a supervisor.  

 

Not a good booking experience so far.

[SkaterJasp]

59 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

Thank you very much everyone for your input!

 

We decided to go with the Symphony. My TA called RCI and they quoted a price that was 10% higher than the price on the website. Not sure the reason, and supervisor was not available due to a weekend. They transferred her few times. She will call tomorrow and try to speak to a supervisor.  

 

Not a good booking experience so far.

Make sure your TA enter all the relevant information that could get you a discount such as crown and anchor number, state for residency discounts, etc… -OR- you could just book on the website than transfer the reservation to your TA. 

[ak1004]

8 minutes ago, SkaterJasp said:

Make sure your TA enter all the relevant information that could get you a discount such as crown and anchor number, state for residency discounts, etc… -OR- you could just book on the website than transfer the reservation to your TA. 

The discounts they applied in the reservation are the same as on the website, but the starting price is higher.

 

3 minutes ago, Heymarco said:

If TA can’t match Royal’s price, time for a new TA. That should be one of the easier things they do.

what do you mean? Don’t they make reservations by calling RCI directly?