Help deciding, please - Anthem or Celebrity Eclipse?

Thinking of booking a late fall cruise. Considering Eclipse 14-night Caribbean or Anthem of the Seas 12-night Caribbean - admittedly, two entirely different cruise experiences. The advantage of Anthem is the convenience of leaving from Cape Liberty and avoiding the hassle of flying. The advantage of Eclipse is 14 vs. 12 nights, Celebrity is our favorite cruise line and we love the S-class ships. Comparing apples to apples and factoring in OBC, tips and all other expenses including airfare, hotel, and purchasing a 5-night specialty restaurant package on either ship, 14 nights on Eclipse in an ocean view cabin comes in about $1600 more than 12 nights on Anthem in a balcony guarantee cabin. This will be our 53 cruise, 37 on Celebrity, 5 on RCCL. Most of our RCCL cruises were many years ago but we sailed on Allure of the Seas when it first came out and enjoyed more than we had anticipated. It was, however, was very different from X - not better or worse, just different which is fine. Other than the specialty dining package we bought (restaurants were excellent), we found food in the main dining room to be fair at best and food in the Windjammer to be nondescript. We were leaning toward booking on Anthem but some serious negative reviews and posts leave us skittish - and that's taking into consideration being a Cruise Critic member for more years than I care to count and knowing to discount both the best and the worst of posts about any cruise. Any advice you can offer will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Money aside, I think you have already made up your own mind. How could I provide help? Okay, I will; flip a coin!

Also, did you post this query at the Celebrity forum?

I think it boils down to two things:

1. Money. Is $1600 in savings a lot to you?

2. Itinerary. Do you prefer the more exotic 14-night Southern Caribbean itinerary (Eclipse) or the more standard 12-night Eastern Caribbean itinerary (Anthem) with one or more days where there potentially are high seas and significantly cooler weather given the late fall date.

I'm a RCL loyalist but I think I'd choose the Eclipse if the choice were mine as it'd mean a longer cruise, a more exotic itinerary, better weather, fairer seas and familiar environs. I'd also keep watching for price drops and/or upgrade opportunities.

Southern Caribbean and longer cruise for me.

Southern Caribbean and longer cruise for me.

Agree, plus warm weather all the way and Anthem hasn't gotten rave reviews.

Plus an overnight in Aruba.

Celebrity for me hands down.

Agree, plus warm weather all the way and Anthem hasn't gotten rave reviews.

Plus an overnight in Aruba.

I didn't notice the overnight in Aruba. Big bonus.:)

Well with 50 plus RCi cruises and 4 Celebrity (we discovered celebrity late) I would go for Celebrity without a doubt.:) And get the 5 night dining package!!!!

Celebrity for sure

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

I hate to be the person going against everyone else: but I'd say Anthem. But I also don't have tons of money, and by all means if you can take the $1,600 difference, go with Celebrity.

Yes, Celebrity looks wonderful and the S class ships would be much more relaxing than Anthem, but $1600! Personally, I love balconies. Essentially, you're paying $1,600 for two extra nights in a worse room, with the *pleasure* of flying to your port. While the Southern itinerary of X is interesting, I'd take the money saved and use it on more specialty dining, spa visits, excursions, etc. In my opinion, ports are what you make of them. It seems you can find a really interesting experience in almost any port (maybe not Nassau ;)

I dont think I could spend 14 nights without a balcony. Plus $1600 is a lot to spend on excursions etc....

I could not spend 14 nights without a balcony. Heck, even my 3 night to the Bahamas is on a balcony. I haven't been on either ship, but I would take the Anthem and have $1600.00 to spend as I wish. Hello specialty restaurants and excursions.

Celebrity over RCI any day.

Thinking of booking a late fall cruise. Considering Eclipse 14-night Caribbean or Anthem of the Seas 12-night Caribbean - admittedly, two entirely different cruise experiences. The advantage of Anthem is the convenience of leaving from Cape Liberty and avoiding the hassle of flying. The advantage of Eclipse is 14 vs. 12 nights, Celebrity is our favorite cruise line and we love the S-class ships. Comparing apples to apples and factoring in OBC, tips and all other expenses including airfare, hotel, and purchasing a 5-night specialty restaurant package on either ship, 14 nights on Eclipse in an ocean view cabin comes in about $1600 more than 12 nights on Anthem in a balcony guarantee cabin. This will be our 53 cruise, 37 on Celebrity, 5 on RCCL. Most of our RCCL cruises were many years ago but we sailed on Allure of the Seas when it first came out and enjoyed more than we had anticipated. It was, however, was very different from X - not better or worse, just different which is fine. Other than the specialty dining package we bought (restaurants were excellent), we found food in the main dining room to be fair at best and food in the Windjammer to be nondescript. We were leaning toward booking on Anthem but some serious negative reviews and posts leave us skittish - and that's taking into consideration being a Cruise Critic member for more years than I care to count and knowing to discount both the best and the worst of posts about any cruise. Any advice you can offer will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Anthem just for not having to fly.

We also love Celebrity Cruise Lines and their S class ships.

Having sailed on the Quantum out of Cape Liberty last year, I would suggest you avoid the Anthem. We sail frequently and enjoy RC. However the Quantum was a real disappointment. Read the reviews. On the other hand, the Eclipse is one of our favorite ships. Service excellent and the food was very good. The Quantum was a horrible. Food bad, service poor and crowds, crowds, crowds. The design of the ship has a poor flow- not like the Oasis or Freedom class ships.

We also enjoy sailing from Bayonne, but will only sail on the Summit in the summer to Bermuda- I would highly recommend the Eclipse.

Enjoy your cruise.

Leaving from NY = cold and possibly high seas. I like to start my cruises warm, and in Florida!

Another vote for Celebrity- better itinerary, quieter/more relaxing ship, and you KNOW you like it and aren't rolling the dice on a ship with questionable reviews.

Celebrity's Go Best package is an awesome deal. Had it on my last cruise and my final bill was $0.96. Also, if you are a Captain's Club member give them a call as they also offer additional non-advertised perks. Been tempted to try Anthem but feel that ship has a dark cloud over it. If RCCL brings a different ship to Cape Liberty I may give it a try.

OP...I'd book the Eclipse. We Cruised on her this April. Beautiful ship. But the selling point for us would be a longer Cruise, starting out in warmer weather and better itinerary. We sailed on the Explorer out of Bayonne in March of 2009 and it was two cool and windy days down and back. Just figure the air fare cost and the pre night hotel stay cost as part of the Cruise. That's what all of us landlocked Cruisers have to do.

We've stayed in a balcony cabin and an inside cabin twice on Celebrity S class ships.

If you get over the inferiority complex that other cruisers will try to impose on you, you will realize that an inside cabin on the Eclipse is the same interior size as a balcony and O/V room. It is very very nice and you will save almost $500

p/p over an O/V and over $1000 p/p over a balcony. The trick is to get an inside cabin on a higher deck in the cabins which are on an inside passageway.

We always stay on the 9th deck (panorama deck) which gives you direct access to the Solarium and the pool deck and is by the front elevators which is a stable part of the ship. Not that RCI doesn't have a good product but Celebrity is much nicer on a more cozy ship.

As far as airfare goes DW always gets us on a 6 AM flight to FLL which saves us $100 p/p on Jet Blue. The planes are almost brand new and roomy and I've never had a hassle flying this flight. It's 2 hours 59 minutes. Don't know whether Eclipse leaves from Miami or FLL but if it does leave from Miami stay in FLL because the hotels are cheaper. You can set up a transfer thru SAS shuttle service from FLL to Miami which takes 35 minutes tops and costs $15 p/p. When you do the math it works out $100's less than flying and staying in Miami.

The advantage of cruising from Florida are clearly obvious when approach the vacation this way.

Have a great cruise.

On the Anthem now. My 2 cents:

Itinerary: Eclipse

More nights: Eclipse

More nights from Florida vs lost cold/rocky nights from NJ: Eclipse

Price/Cabin: Anthem

I wanted to book the Eclipse for January, but I am not willing to do a 14 night without a balcony. It is too expensive for me. I ended up booking 2 different cruises 2 get my 2 weeks in.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Anthem of the Seas 12-night Caribbean - due to convenience of leaving from Cape Liberty and avoiding the hassle of flying. Also the $1600 will go a long way.

I sailed the Eclipse in January and it is a beautiful new ship. The service was excellent and the food pretty good. We had a balcony cabin and a drink package which was the saving factor because truly I was bored on the Eclipse.. There just wasn't enough to do and I didn't care for the entertainment. I love to sit and read and don't need to be entertained every minute, I just prefer other ships for the "fun factor".

Eclipse. I'm not a mega ship person and I love Celebrity for a relaxing cruise. I do not need a roller coaster experience!

I like a really huge variety of dining choices more and more as I cruise. There are many ships that we have sailed and have had really super times on, but we really like the expanded dining options on other ships and lines.

Its bittersweet.