New England..Grandeur or Anthem

[mek]

September may be too early for the fall color. We've cruised in late September, Mid-October and Late-October to November, and the best we saw was the late-October sailing.

 

Agree, we did a NE cruise several years ago on Princess the last week of September and it was still very green in all of the ports. It was cold and windy out at Peggy's Cove, but everywhere else the weather was warm and pleasant.

[Clarea]

First time on a RCCL ship what are the best balcony or junior suite cabins to book. We are looking at the New England cruise for September 2016.

The aft staterooms have the largest balconies. We don't care for aft staterooms, so would try to book a JS on the starboard side at least 4 staterooms aft of the centrum, to minimize the music sound from the centrum.

[Janet524]

Looking at 9 day New England cruise in Sept. Grandeur from Baltimore or Anthem from Bayonne. Love the convenience of Baltimore and it is a great port to sail from. Sailed to Bermuda a couple of years ago and can't say enough nice things about that port. The ship is smaller and starting to show its age, but we have no complaints from our Bermuda trip.

Anthem looks like an amazing ship, but there have been some not so nice reviews of the ship and its service and I'm not talking about the big Atlantic storm it went thru.

Is Anthem worth the extra $700 or so it will cost us plus an extra 5-6 hours of car time?

Also, the virtual balcony...is it as good as I've been reading about?

 

Anthem would have to pay me $700 to drive to Bayonne and even that wouldn't be enough to compensate for the extra miles and hassle of I-95! I guess I'm in the minority, but I have no interest in Anthem based on feedback I've gotten from a number of friends who have sailed on her.

 

I love Grandeur, and rather than thinking about her showing her age, I think of her as having character!

[JHU]

For a number of reasons, we probably won't book the cruise until June, but I think we are leaning towards the Grandeur even though the glitz and glitter of the Anthem is very appealing. Maybe some day....

 

While this is an RCCL site, I will add that the Celebrity Summit does three Fall NE/Canada fourteen-night cruises. I've done three and really like the itineraries. One of the 2017 cruises offers three days in Quebec City versus the normal two.

 

By the way, I'm a Baltimore native. Sailing from Baltimore is so easy (have done it many times on the old Celebrity Mercury, RCCL Enchantment and Grandeur). The benefit of smaller ships is getting to know our fellow passengers, appreciating the crew (and the hard work they perform for us) and not being herded with 4,000 other passengers on disembarkation day.

 

In addition to all the Inner Harbor activities, don't forget the B&O Train Museum and Fort McHenry, home of the Star Spangled Banner.

 

Hope you come visit us!

[cruisewiththekids]

We are also comparing Grandeur and Anthem for a 5nt Bermuda. I'm not a big fan of mega ships. The only thing that's making me consider Anthem is it arrives in Bermuda at 9am and leaves the next day at 5. The Grandeur arrives at 1:00 and leaves following day at 2:30.

 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[cwms]

Guys, we're still sitting on the fence on this. Any additional pros and cons of one over the other?

I'd like to hear some comments on the virtual balcony that Anthem offers for interior rooms. I've read quite a few very positive comments about it. An interior room on Anthem might not be that much difference in cost form an ocean view on the Grandeur.

[138east]

Guys, we're still sitting on the fence on this. Any additional pros and cons of one over the other?

I'd like to hear some comments on the virtual balcony that Anthem offers for interior rooms. I've read quite a few very positive comments about it. An interior room on Anthem might not be that much difference in cost form an ocean view on the Grandeur.

 

I'm normally and inside cabin person, but I've been lucky to get good deals on balconies on Quantum and Anthem. However, I've done cabin crawls on both and paid particular attention to the inside cabins, which I found very different depending on category. I found the large interior staterooms cat L to be the most appealing. On the deck plans these are the ones in the center area that are not in the far aft. They are more boxy than long and narrow with a center side entrance instead of a end entrance. I haven't booked one yet, but they would definitely be on my list to consider.

[Morris4me]

We have sailed Grandeur from Baltimore several times including the New England itinerary. She is a lovely ship with the best crew afloat. That said, we just returned from 9 nights on Anthem. She is spectacular with so many wonderful, unique seating areas to relax, read, have a cocktail, or just sit and chat with friends. This, along with 270 and the Solarium, are key for longer sailings or when inclement weather comes along. We rarely ever felt crowded on the ship. 270 is a large lounge with great views of the sea where we always felt like we were in giant, very comfortable living room. I highly recommend ignoring the negative reviews and try Anthem at least once.

[Merion_Mom]

Guys, we're still sitting on the fence on this. Any additional pros and cons of one over the other?

I'd like to hear some comments on the virtual balcony that Anthem offers for interior rooms. I've read quite a few very positive comments about it. An interior room on Anthem might not be that much difference in cost form an ocean view on the Grandeur.

 

I am taking Grandeur this year to New England and Canada. Have done it on Voyager and Enchantment and Serenade. Will do it on Rhapsody next year.

 

And yes, I have spent many nights on the Quantum and many nights on the Anthem, and love them both.

 

Does that help? :)

[cruise47]

What can one expect in turns of weather/temperature in the the New England states and Canada in September ?

[cwms]

Guys, we're still sitting on the fence on this. Any additional pros and cons of one over the other?

I'd like to hear some comments on the virtual balcony that Anthem offers for interior rooms. I've read quite a few very positive comments about it. An interior room on Anthem might not be that much difference in cost form an ocean view on the Grandeur.

 

Looks like we will have to postpone this trip to 2017. My boss nixed the idea of a Sept. vacation (very busy month) and my wife and I have too much on our plate in July and August to go.

I appreciate all the comments. When the time comes, we will probably do Grandeur, but someday, we will try out Anthem. It looks like an amazing ship.

[cwms]

OK, this is an old thread.

We were booked for GOS back in Oct. to New England but had to cancel due to my mom's failing health.

Anyway, we're looking ahead to maybe Sept.

In the past, there was a big price difference between Anthem and Grandeur. Looking at prices for this summer and early fall, prices are very close. Seems that Anthem's prices are down quite a bit from last summer.

 

Anyone have any ideas why Anthem's prices have fallen so much?

[slyster]

Perhaps because she isn't as new as she was? She will be 3 years old this Fall I believe. Or they have not sold as many cabins as they had hoped so brought prices down.

[amarantha7]

What can one expect in turns of weather/temperature in the the New England states and Canada in September ?

 

September can be a bit of a crap shoot, especially in temperature. Often it is an extension of summer, with hot, humid days. Layer are your friend! You may want a sweatshirt or sweater at night, but often you won't need it! Check the weather trends before you go. It can be as high as 90's and as low as 50's.

 

Amy

[SbbquilterUT]

Love the Granduer - I enjoy the feel of being on a ship, the wood and the water views from multiple spots on the ship. The shorter Bermuda time is definitely a consideration. While the Anthem was fun once, we did not like the dining rooms at all-smaller with low ceilings, could be any restaurant on land.

[PigsCanFly]

We cruised on the Grandeur in 2016 and last fall on the Anthem. Both were great. We just went back on the Grandeur this month and are cruising on the Anthem to Canada/New England in August. The food on both are awesome (to us), the shows were different on each ship. We enjoyed them all, especially WWRY. The crew on every ship we have traveled on (RCI and others) were extremely friendly and courteous. Look at the features of each ship and pick the one you want. Either will be enjoyable.

[SRF]

Do you want the extra activities that Anthem has?

 

I have little to no interest in them, so am a huge Grandeur fan.

 

Also, not having to make all dinner reservations well before sailing, always seats for the entertainment, and of course, the CREW.