Torn between two cruises.....

[JLBellaCC]

Thinking it might be the year to enjoy a Canada/New England cruise. Should we go with Serenade of the Seas or Anthem of the Seas? One is soooo big and the other rather small...... The reviews for Anthem are pretty grim, but I am curious to give her a try. On the other hand, Serenade, which would be the smallest ship we have ever sailed- is she is good shape? Since this cruise will be cooler, the Solarium will be important to me, does the Serenade have a covered Solarium with a real pool- it looks like it in the videos I watched. The Solarium on Anthem looks beautiful, but have heard things are very crowded on the ship. Both itineraries look good to us, so I can't use that to make the final decision. We are in our early 50s, active- but traveling without kids, so some of the bells and whistles on Anthem are not of importance to us.

 

Any tipping points you may provide would be welcome! Thank you!

[deliver42]

I haven't been on the Anthem, but the Serenade does have a real pool in the solarium, and the ship is in excellent shape.

[M&M Hayden]

Back in the day that ship was one of the "big ones". It is an excellent size!

[DonnaK]

Anthem has improved greatly since it first started sailing from Bayonne. We had a fabulous time on the ship, enjoyed the food and activities, didn't find the ship any more crowded than any other RCI ship, etc. Take those "grim" reviews with a grain of salt. People love to complain about anything and everything, and those who have nothing to complain about rarely write reviews. (I didn't write one).

 

Don't be afraid of Anthem. It's not a traditional cruising experience, but it is awesome in its own right!

 

We are also in our mid-50s and traveled without kids. Still, we loved the shows, most of the activities, etc. We didn't do iFly or bumper cars or FlowRider, but it was fun to watch people on them.

Edited June 29, 2016 by DonnaK

[Jim40]

DW and I are mid 50s and doing New England/Canada in Oct on Serenade, we love radiance class ships .

[papaflamingo]

I've done Quantum and Serenade. It's worth doing Anthem to see her. BUT, if you are going on a port intensive cruise then you won't be spending much time on the ship, I'd go with cheapest and best itinerary.

I loved our Serenade cruise. I'm not all that fond of Quantum class as I see it too much like Celebrity and not enough like Royal Caribbean. But like IFly and North Star. Also loved Two70. Neat place especially if in colder weather.

Anyway, probably can't go wrong either way.

[hansolosmom]

If seeing the Anthem isn't that big a deal, then I would go by price and I am betting Serenade is probably cheaper. So I would go that route

[printingchick]

Serenade is one of my FAVORITE ships! And, as someone else mentioned, having an indoor pool might be nice in cooler climates.

Edited June 29, 2016 by printingchick

[JLBellaCC]

Thank you for all your insightful answers- I appreciate the info! For our interests, I think the Serenade is going to fit the bill. An important factor to me- is the POOL, and while not quite as pretty to the eye- the Solarium in the Serenade will fit us very well.

 

I do wish Royal Canada/New England cruises stopped at Prince Edward Island.... :D

 

Perhaps a Quantum class will be our ship for our Carib cruise this winter! :)

 

Thanks to all....let another countdown begin..... 89 days

 

Thanks!

[BillOh]

Torn between two cruises.....

...feeling like a fool! (You may not be old enough for that reference.)

 

 

I'd choose anthem as that is the only way I would get to see that class of ship in the next year or three and I've been wanting to try I-fly. How much is the price difference?

Edited June 29, 2016 by BillOh

[Desert Cruizers]

Last Oct, we sailed on the Serenade out of Quebec back to FT Lauderdale and had a wonderful cruise. If the itineraries are similar, then I guess you will need to see which ship offers more. The Serenade although much smaller then the Anthem is really not that small.

[Cel_cruise]

My parents and aunt/uncle are taking the serenade out of Boston on 10/2. They are 68-70 years old.

 

They opted for the serenade for its great price and intimate size for a New England cruise. It has a great solarium as well as its a well features boat with restaurants and such. It will be okay that there are not water toys and such to play with because it could very well be snowing and too cold to go in there anyway!!

[Hoopster95]

I haven't been on the Anthem, but the Serenade does have a real pool in the solarium, and the ship is in excellent shape.

 

Serenade is one of my FAVORITE ships! And, as someone else mentioned, having an indoor pool might be nice in cooler climates.

 

Anthem has a full size indoor pool PLUS massive Solarium.

Serenade Solarium pool is small

 

The Anthem Solarium has the very best view of any Solarium in the entire RCL fleet and is ultra gorgeous... you cannot see any view from the Solarium pool or hot tubs on Serenade.

[welshrich]

I have been luckily enough to sail both classes, when we did this Itinerary it was on the Explorer. I would lean towards Anthem, depending on the price though. The only other advice I can offer is I remember it being quite busy and long days off the ship so not a lot of time spent onboard so you may prefer the Serenade (and there is much more glass so more opportunity to see the scenery).

[JLBellaCC]

Anthem has a full size indoor pool PLUS massive Solarium.

Serenade Solarium pool is small

 

The Anthem Solarium has the very best view of any Solarium in the entire RCL fleet and is ultra gorgeous... you cannot see any view from the Solarium pool or hot tubs on Serenade.

 

Hi Hoopster,

I thought heard the pools in the Anthem Solarium were very small- more like wading pools- thought I read they were like a foot or so deep and in a series of small areas?

 

Pools are a high on the cruise checklist for me- and since this is our first cool weather cruise, I would like to try and select a ship with a good solarium.

 

Thanks for your info!

[JLBellaCC]

I have been luckily enough to sail both classes, when we did this Itinerary it was on the Explorer. I would lean towards Anthem, depending on the price though. The only other advice I can offer is I remember it being quite busy and long days off the ship so not a lot of time spent onboard so you may prefer the Serenade (and there is much more glass so more opportunity to see the scenery).

 

So you are saying there is more glass on the Serenade- right? I get that feeling of not being able to see the gorgeous views- Oasis was a bit like that- and to us, this was a minus on an otherwise very nice ship.

 

Also, very true about this being a port focused cruise- and someone else mentioned the fact that is will be cooler and perhaps some of the bells and whistles on the Anthem will not be as much of a draw on this type of cruise.

 

Ahhhh- I love to hear all the feedback and different ideas, is there anything better than picking out your next cruise? Someone asked about the price difference- it is $401.84 difference- both midship - Serenade was on the hump, but my hold expires in a few hours on that one.

[Alter Ego]

Serenade is one of my FAVORITE ships! And, as someone else mentioned, having an indoor pool might be nice in cooler climates.

 

Anthem has two indoor pools - one for families, and cascading pools in the Solarium (adult only). The Solarium on Anthem is gorgeous.

[Turtles06]

Hi Hoopster,

I thought heard the pools in the Anthem Solarium were very small- more like wading pools- thought I read they were like a foot or so deep and in a series of small areas?

 

Pools are a high on the cruise checklist for me- and since this is our first cool weather cruise, I would like to try and select a ship with a good solarium.

 

Thanks for your info!

 

I'm not Hoopster, but I've also sailed on Anthem. There are three sets of pools -- the outdoor pool, the indoor pool (deep, you can swim), and the adults-only Solarium, which is in fact a series of shallow areas. But for real swimming, you have the other pools.

 

The Solarium on Anthem is a truly beautiful space. In fact, the whole ship is stunning. I have a detailed review with lots of photos (including of the pools) here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2277588

 

I've never been on any other RCI ship, so I can't make comparisons, but Anthem would be great for a cold or cool weather itinerary. (In fact, we were on her TA last fall, the northern route across the Atlantic. Often chilly, high winds, rough seas. Plenty of great indoor spaces to enjoy on Anthem, including Two70, which is the most amazing public space we've ever seen on any ship.)

 

I do agree with others, though, that on a port-intensive itinerary, you probably wouldn't get to enjoy that much of the ship.

[billsgal]

Have cruised both Anthem and Serenade, and have future cruises on both, so understand your dilemma.

 

Serenade is a more intimate ship, with glass viewing areas great for viewing the scenery. Anthem is larger, with more of a "mall" feeling, large promenade area with high end shops and restaurants. Anthem felt more like Oasis class, drawing you more to the inside.

 

Both ships have indoor solariums, but Serenades is much smaller and Anthems does have great views.

 

Since you are doing a port intensive cruise and say you are not needing the bells and whistles of the Anthem, figure the per diem for each ship and that might help your decision.

 

I would have a hard time deciding between the two, but we live in the Boston area so that would be the deciding factor for us.

[Alter Ego]

Anthem's Solarium pools are not merely wading pools. Think similar to a large hot tub, but without jets and cool water. Maybe waist high when standing, but everyone sits. So beautiful.

 

 

 

I haven't been on the other ship, so I can't tell you which is better for your purpose. I just wanted to correct some misunderstandings of Anthem.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited June 30, 2016 by Alter Ego

[Hoopster95]

Hi Hoopster,

I thought heard the pools in the Anthem Solarium were very small- more like wading pools- thought I read they were like a foot or so deep and in a series of small areas?

 

Pools are a high on the cruise checklist for me- and since this is our first cool weather cruise, I would like to try and select a ship with a good solarium.

 

Thanks for your info!

 

Quantum Class has more and easier outward views than Serenade in my humble and personal opinion.

 

You haven't looked for the thousands of pictures available to you? Many photos and reviews for you to easily and clearly see the differences here on Cruise Critic. One of the very best reviews in the history of Anthem was just completed here:

Indoor pool.. scroll down to post #165

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2367837&page=9

Solarium... scroll down to post #9

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2367837

 

My own pictures of Serenade Solarium are on post #23 and #25 here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=44301919&highlight=solarium#post44301919

 

 

Regarding outward focus and Serenade having more glass... I challenge everyone to go through Mike's Anthem review above compared to Serenade and tell me how Anthem's Two70, Solarium, Seaplex has less glass than Serenade Centrum, Safari lounge, and Solarium? Albeit Serenade has the Viklng Crown which Anthem replaces with Two70... Anthem is Radiance Class on steroids, PLUS it adds many Celebrity Soltice Class features & design, the perfect mix of both an outward and inward focus ship.

 

I will say that every other venue on Serenade other than Viking Crown has ZERO view (can you call the elevators a venue? I feel some people here on CC feel that it is :rolleyes:). You cannot stand in the back Safari Lounge almost anywhere and see outside, you cannot stand in the Solarium and see outside, you cannot stand in the Centrum and see outside... unless in each venue you are forced to get up closer and stay closer to "all that glass". On Quantum Class you can see outside from everywhere in all of those venues mentioned in almost all areas and at every angle.

[Rocketlady]

I was on the Anthem and love it. The adult pools were not crowded at all.

The others had a lot of families so they were packed each day and no way could you swim back and forth. Most ships I have been in when families are allowed in at all ages was crowded.

[Paul65]

Torn between two cruises, feelin' like a fool

Lovin' both of you is breakin' all the rules....

[JLBellaCC]

Paul- Thanks for the laugh..... :)

 

I am old enough to remember the song that inspired that :)

 

Great idea, I am going to look at all the reviews posted here tonight..... wish I could leave work now to get started!! I did look at a few pics and a short video before, but yes- the actual reviews are the way to go! I am ashamed I didn't start doing that on my own....... I am slipping! :)

 

Thank you!!