Anthem of the Seas or Carnival Sunshine?

[dlemond]

Summer of 2016 - from NYC area. Family vacation. Parents, kids (6-13) and grandparents

Looking for some input.

 

From what I have read -Each ship has advantages and disadvantages

 

Anthem is new and full of technological offering.

Sunshine has a lot fun dining and drinking spots

plus slides

 

Sunshine has a small Lido deck.

Anthem Dynamic dining looks to be a hassle.

 

Anthem looks to be a bit cold/impersonal - maybe lacking the traditional cruise vacation "feeling",

Sunshine is small and possibly overcrowded.

 

Neither ship has traditional nightclub.

Sunshine cabins lack minifridge unless requested (?)

 

I could go on but this is all from what I read.

 

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks!

Edited September 7, 2015 by dlemond

[LMaxwell]

What's the price difference

[dlemond]

What's the price difference

 

The Anthem is significantly more.

But is also 9 nights vs. 8 nights.

 

But I am looking beyond price and ports and concentrating on the ships.

[mafig]

If you are just concentrating on the ships pick Anthem.

 

You do know, don't you, that Sunshine is not a new ship. In fact, it's quite old. It used to be called Destiny and after it was refurbished her name was changed to Sunshine. If you read reviews here on CC you'll see that her bones are still old, small staterooms, small hallways, hallways that lead nowhere. Also too many people for the size of the ship.

 

Anthem will give you a *nicer* cruise.:)

[montekat]

Given the choice between the two, I would definitely take Anthem. We did the Quantum when it first came out and I would not characterize it as cold. It has so many different things, esp. for kids. Bumper cars, roller skating rink, IFly, North Star, the arcade, etc. Dynamic dining is a new concept, but not that bad, once you get the hang of it.

 

Another thing to take into consideration is that the Anthem sails out of Bayonne, NJ instead of NY. Less hassle for us to drive to, as well as the parking is cheaper.

[Aquahound]

This one isn't even close in my mind. I would never consider the Carnival Destiny...err, I mean Sunshine, over the Anthem of the Seas.

[dlemond]

Thank you all for your input.

 

I had actually been on the Destiny in 1996.

 

I think if this had been the Carnival Breeze I think I may have had a harder

choice. (They really should bring up the Breeze.)

[Guest maddycat]

We were on the Quantum of the Seas (Anthem of the Seas' sister ship) in April for a 12 night southern Caribbean cruise. It was one of the best cruises that we have ever been on and we've been on 31 cruises. The ship was spectacular, beautiful, innovative. The entertainment was exceptional. The ship was not cold and sterile. There were many cozy, inviting areas to hang out in. The crew was a typical RCI crew......very friendly and accommodating.

 

Dynamic Dining was a bit of a hassle to set up before the cruise. Once onboard it was easy to change reservations. We're booked on the Anthem for this April and are looking forward to another great experience. Setting up our dynamic dining reservations for the Anthem was very easy since we are now familiar with the procedure. If you have trouble with RCI's website (it's really poor) call and have one of their customer service reps. do the reservations for you.

[obnurse]

Anthem without hesitation