NCL Breakaway or RCL Anthem

Hi Everyone,

I am debating on going on the NCL Breakaway or RCL Anthem out of NY/NJ for a Holiday or New Years sailing.

We've done the RCL Oasis class and Freedom class the past few years for the holidays. We're looking for a change with either a new class of ships or a new line and are debating the Breakaway or Anthem. We've only cruised once with Norwegian on the Dawn awhile ago.

Both ships seem like they could offer a new experience with new dining, new shows and new venues.

Has anyone been on both ships? Has anyone been on either ship for a holiday sailing? How was it and how do they compare? What is entertainment like on one of these longer sailings? The NCL sailing is for 8 nights and RCL sailing is for 10 nights.

-The NCL 8 night Christmas sailing on the 18th is $4,000 for an inside and balcony room with free gratuities and $200 onboard credit.

-The RCL sailing is 10 nights and goes for Christmas and New Years and is $7,800 with a $800 onboard credit.

-We aren't considering the NCL 7 night New Years Breakaway sailing on the 26th as it is $6,200 and only goes to the bahamas.

Anthem: I'm concerned that the Anthem sailing is so expensive and may not be worth it. We would probably have a family crowd which would be great and we would go to the Caribbean for some warm weather.

Breakaway. The 18th Christmas sailing is relatively cheap but only goes to the Bahamas and Florida. We are concerned about the weather. Also, since some schools don't yet have off, we are worried that the crowd wouldn't be filled with as many families.

Thanks for any opinions!

There is an excellent review of Anthem OTS if you CLICK HERE.

ok, Anthem is 3 years newer than Breakaway so I would expect it to be more expensive. Holiday sailings are usually more costly as well.

Note that the Bahamas waters in the winter are not what I expect from the beautiful blue Caribbean sea. We did a Gem cruise one December the week before xmas, and both Nassau and GSC water was COLD!

I have been on both ships. Breakaway several times, and Anthem once. I have Anthem booked again. Anthem has the Solarium--two decks at the front of the ship that are warm regardless of the outside weather. Breakaway has outdoor pools only.

Not much help, I know, but I think both are good choices. Maybe read member reviews section on both ships.

Been on both. Both are good.

Anthem is NOT like the Oasis or Allure, except for the RCCL touches on all of their ships. Kind of some unique stuff....the automatic bar (where a machine mixes your drink, which sometimes works, and sometimes doesn't.

Personally, I enjoyed just hanging out at the Solarium, and watching the entertainment there.

But, entertainment on the Breakaway was better.

My Anthem cruise was expensive. For about $800 more I was able to book the Haven on the Breakaway, which is in a much higher league when it comes to cruising. It's fantastic.

Food is about the same.

Both are fun, in their own unique way. I love Bermuda. And, would sail there again in a heart beat.

I have cruised on both as well. I think everyone in my family would agree that we liked the Breakaway better, but it was more expensive than the Anthem. I would note that we have two young boys, 5 and 7 at the time and the Anthem has more activities for older kids compared to the Breakaway.

That said, they are both nice boats and I would choose the Anthem in the winter and the Breakaway in the summer. The Anthem has a lot better indoor spaces compared to the Breakaway and despite our preference to the Breakaway, the lack of indoor spaces for the first couple of days could be an issue.

I have been on both ships and loved them both. I give the advantage to Anthem for the winter time due to it's vast amount of indoor pool/loungers/hot tubs. You can enjoy it in the cold weather. Breakaway is really better for the warm weather as someone else mentioned. It's Waterfront area will not be usable when it's cold outside. However they do have the thermal suite which is good for cold weather but if you don't have a spa suite you may not be able to get passes. Another thing worth mentioning is that the Florida/Bahamas itinerary is not very good. We did this one and actually did not get off the ship at all. There is not enough time in Orlando to get any value out of the cost of admission to the Disney parks, and there is little else to do there except stroll around a local beach or do an 8 hour tour of the space center (too long IMO). Bahamas are pretty boring. Food and entertainment are great on both ships, as were the cabins and public spaces. Whichever you choose it'll be a great time!

Anthem

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We just got off the Anthem a few weeks ago so I might be able to help. Alas, other people will be able to speak to the Breakaway better than I will because we won't be sailing out on her until November.

We thought that the build and plans of the Anthem were fantastic so would recommend one of her sister ships. There are lots of great features like the Solarium, the music hall, TwoSeventy, and the iFly. We actually never felt crowded with was surprising with the amount of people on her.

However, we had MULTIPLE problems with the service on the ship. The worst being that we showed up for our dinner reservation about 8 minutes early, and spoke to the hostess about 3 minutes til. The hostess then proceeded to not say a word to us, while we were standing there, for over 10 minutes. When she finally spoke to us, it was to tell us to go and share a chair over at the side to get us out of the way. No one ever apologized. Of course, my wife was more upset about their laissez-faire attitude to me finding plastic in my food.

I'm afraid we're a little convinced that the ship is cursed. We were on the sailing where they had their second fatal drowning in the course of about a month.

Combining my experiences with the ratings of the two ships on the site (Anthem has 48% who loved it, and Breakaway has 60%) I would think Breakaway would probably be the better option.

Bahamas can be cool - and water pretty cold that time of year. While I would have zero interest in sailing on either line's mega-ships, I believe Royal Caribbean has much more to offer as a line.

I have done both and would pick Anthem again in a heart beat......Loved the solarium and the shows were great. Food was equal between the two

We did both. Last year Thanksgiving week Anthem and year before Thanksgiving week Breakaway. For a winter sailing, there's no contest- Anthem. The indoor pool areas and activities make it a no brainer. Overall, the pool areas on Anthem get an A while BA gets darn near close to an F. As we got closer to travel, prices for Anthem evened out do that it was fairly close to BA.

Food was a bit better on Anthem, entertainment (nighttime) better on BA. Kids clubs better on BA.

I loved the "feel" of BA and the vibe/energy of the ship & people. Anthem didn't have that special "NY vibe".

I like both but definitely would never do BA again in colder weather. I'd always choose Anthem if costs were somewhat equal. But if it's cheap, I wouldn't hesitate to sail BA again, it's a good ship.

Anthem has SIGNIFICANTLY better indoor spaces and that may sway you at this time of year. NCL entertainment was much better. I'm still trying to decide for next February. Leaning towards NCL due to significantly lower price (when I booked). I would do both again in a heartbeat!

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I just got an absolutely amazing deal on Anthem for this Thanksgiving week. $2007 a cabin for balcony guarantee with $100. Check it out.

Anthem for sure would win my vote..(in any type balcony room). If you want to go on Breakaway I suggest only doing it in a Haven area room.

I've never sailed on Anthem before, but I have been on the Breakaway in January and the outside areas are pretty much unusable or closed the first couple days at beginning and the last couple days coming back. I still scratch my head at why they didn't put indoor pool areas (for non-Haven guests anyway) for a ship that is exclusively out of NYC. Also, because of this, the Atrium area is a nightmare due to chair hogs. Such a poor ship design. Great ship in spring, summer, fall, but fails in winter.

We booked Anthem for the holiday sailing, were very excited to try out this ship and be in the caribbean in the Winter. As it was getting closer to final payment we were having second thoughts about spending that much. We had to book two inside cabins because we have a 14 & 15 yr olds and Anthem cabins are poorly designed for families IMO NO pullmans! $>8,000.

We ended up booking the Breakaway last week balcony for 4 beverage pkg for 2 guests 3&4 only pay port fees and taxes, $100 OBC 8 days less then $4000.

We sailed the Breakaway for Christmas 2014 and really enjoyed it, love the sldes and ropes course.

Whatever you decide you will have a wonderful Holiday on board either ship.

Thanks for the posts! When you sailed for Christmas 2014 on the Breakaway, how was the weather. Our main concern is the lack of indoor space as many have mentioned. If 4/7 or 4/8 days are not warm for being outside, what did you do on those days for more than half the cruise without an indoor pool? How was the weather in the bahamas?

The weather was nice. By noon the 2nd day we were on deck. All ports the weather was sunny and warm, not blistering hot, which Was fine with us.

You need to choose the ship and destinations that suit your family and budget.