Jump to content

Anthem or Allure


Recommended Posts

We are planning a family cruise for july of 2016.

 

We will be coming from Boston, CT and NJ with kids ranging from 3 to 10 years old. We traveled a few times before on the Voyager, Freedom and Allure and loved every second of our vacations.

 

Trying to determine if the Anthem will have just as much of the entertainment/Activities as the Allure of the seas.

 

My kids loved the boardwalk, candy shop etc on the Allure. As well as the DreamWorks shows.

 

Should we do the Allure for a second time or try the new Anthem?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would go with the known of Allure this time; then the unknown of Anthem, and Anthem may still be working kinks out! I would assume with young kids it is good to go with what is working and established to have everything run flawlessly for the best vacation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are planning a family cruise for july of 2016.

 

We will be coming from Boston, CT and NJ with kids ranging from 3 to 10 years old. We traveled a few times before on the Voyager, Freedom and Allure and loved every second of our vacations.

 

Trying to determine if the Anthem will have just as much of the entertainment/Activities as the Allure of the seas.

 

My kids loved the boardwalk, candy shop etc on the Allure. As well as the DreamWorks shows.

 

Should we do the Allure for a second time or try the new Anthem?

 

I would book the Allure. We were on the Anthem recently and were very dissappointed. Very crowded! You have to wait 1 1/2 hours for most attractions. Kids will truly get bored. Eating in the restaurants also a big ordeal. The boardwalk is missing and the entire ship has a very poor flow. Even the promenade is too small for the parades and other function. Many staff members sour. We were not happy on the ship.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would book the Allure. We were on the Anthem recently and were very dissappointed. Very crowded! You have to wait 1 1/2 hours for most attractions. Kids will truly get bored. Eating in the restaurants also a big ordeal. The boardwalk is missing and the entire ship has a very poor flow. Even the promenade is too small for the parades and other function. Many staff members sour. We were not happy on the ship.

 

Wow, you've been on a ship and experienced queues before it's even been put into service. Impressive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, you've been on a ship and experienced queues before it's even been put into service. Impressive.

 

Dah--- Sorry we were on it's twin the Quantum- and as a result of the negative experience cancelled our Anthem reservation and we were in a suite.

 

We were told that the ships are the same and since the design is so flawed, I think people will have the same experience with crowds and layout of the ship.

Edited by Cruise a holic
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dah--- Sorry we were on it's twin the Quantum- and as a result of the negative experience cancelled our Anthem reservation and we were in a suite.

 

We were told that the ships are the same and since the design is so flawed, I think people will have the same experience with crowds and layout of the ship.

 

You think extremely wrong

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2137643

 

 

I have many responders to my review, as well as many other reviews by a number of cruisers that had a superb cruise on Quantum. And then there are a ton of other negative reviews also. Just because you personally didn't have a good cruise, you shouldn't be forcing your personal opinion on someone else. Let them decide. It is my opinion that you fit in exactly to the reason why I believe you did not enjoy Quantum, and hopefully this overall impression of what to expect will help the OP make his/her own decision:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45141335&highlight=final#post45141335

 

I would cancel all my Allure and other older ships to sail Quantum and Anthem all the time if the prices weren't double/triple. Quantum all around was phenomenal. So there you go OP, two polar opposite opinions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with others that going with Allure would be better. I also agree with Cruise a holic with respect to the issues identified on Quantum. I have been on Allure and Quantum, and in my view, Allure would be the better family choice where kids are involved. The wait time for things on Quantum like bumper cars, roller skating, north star, flow rider etc were indeed quite long. Since things like the bumper cars and roller skating are done on the sports court, they share time with basketball, soccer etc, so some of the new things RCI are trying aren't really open all that often. I was with a group of 4 on Quantum, and the new dynamic dining was not as enjoyable for us. If your family is large, you may have a difficult time with the new dining areas, and some of the new menus may not suit young kids unless they are adventurous eaters. You might end up in the windjammer for dinner after a couple days like we did.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You think extremely wrong

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2137643

 

 

I have many responders to my review, as well as many other reviews by a number of cruisers that had a superb cruise on Quantum. And then there are a ton of other negative reviews also. Just because you personally didn't have a good cruise, you shouldn't be forcing your personal opinion on someone else. Let them decide. It is my opinion that you fit in exactly to the reason why I believe you did not enjoy Quantum, and hopefully this overall impression of what to expect will help the OP make his/her own decision:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45141335&highlight=final#post45141335

 

I would cancel all my Allure and other older ships to sail Quantum and Anthem all the time if the prices weren't double/triple. Quantum all around was phenomenal. So there you go OP, two polar opposite opinions.[/quote

 

I was with a group of people and have sailed on over 35 cruises. Read the overall member reviews. My opinion is also based on actual experience Some aspects of the ship are great the wifi, the suite, the suite restaurant and lounge etc. However some poor. I didn't believe the 40 plus % positive ratings and thought these people must be wrong . Just as you have your opinion i also came to my own opinion about the quantum. We can agree to disagree

Edited by Cruise a holic
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My vote ....for a family with children that age range....would be the Allure. While I have not sailed on an Oasis class ship, we did sail on the Quantum and were not all that impressed with the options afforded the children on this ship.

 

When a new ship was slated to sale from Bayonne, our extended family planned our summer 2016 around a cruise. When we found out the Quantum was going to China and Liberty was replacing the Quantum for that summer, I was disappointed but...after sailing the Quantum...I know my grandchildren (ages 3 to 10) will have a better time on the Freedom class ship than the Quantum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

since the question posed by OP asked about opinions for a family vacation that included children in the 3 to 10 range, I think it is important for responses to keep that in mind. As I stated above, my opinion is that Allure would be the better choice. Unless Anthem has a radically different deck plan than Quantum (which I doubt), there are a few other differences that may directly affect the kids enjoyment factor Of course, that is dependent on what the kids like and only OP will know that. For example, there is no skating rink on Quantum, nor is there a mini golf. I know my kids really enjoyed the mini golf on other ships. By comparison, Allure has two flowriders, and two rock climbing walls, compared to one of each on Quantum. While Quantum offers new experiences such as the North Star, Rip n fly and a flying trapeze/circus school, I'm not sure those will be as enjoyable to the age group 3 to 10, and certainly not so much if they have to stand in line as much as occurred on my sailing of Quantum

Edited by Slopoke15
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...