Anthem or Oasis/Allure?

[lmsjt915]

Would love to try Anthem but all of the bad reviews are worrisome! This will be our second cruise (our first was Liberty of the Seas which we loved!).

[Clarea]

If the costs are similar, I'd try Anthem. Reviews are subjective, plus I've read positive reviews too. However, I would not try it over Freedom or Oasis class if I had to fly to NJ in the winter, or if it was much higher priced for a similar itinerary.

[lmsjt915]

We are in MI so would probably drive to NJ but you are right...driving there in Feb does not sound fun! We would save on airfare for sure but meh, I don't know if it would be worth it. We are looking at $2800 w/tax for 2 in a D1 with huge balcony on Anthem which seems pretty reasonable.

[Clarea]

We are in MI so would probably drive to NJ but you are right...driving there in Feb does not sound fun! We would save on airfare for sure but meh, I don't know if it would be worth it. We are looking at $2800 w/tax for 2 in a D1 with huge balcony on Anthem which seems pretty reasonable.

How many days and what is the itinerary?

 

It's hard to beat flying to Florida in the winter and being instantly warm, as opposed to having to cruise a day or two to get to warm weather.

[Rocketlady]

We went in Feb. of this year to NJ out of Detroit. We are from Toledo area.

Every year we worry about just getting out of Detroit with the weather. Well,

getting there was fine but we had awful weather in N.J. on the way home. In

fact they didn't even know if the plane could fly due to all the ice, rain and snow. We left but 4 hours later. And we heard all the other planes were grounded for the rest of the day.

 

We had two awful weather days leaving the port and two awful day coming back. If you are one to enjoy the out doors 100 percent of the time you wouldn't of liked it to lose four days of sunshine. The ship was great.

 

Me, I did it once and we are never leaving out of N.J. again in Feb. It is back to Fla. for us. I want to get out of the cold weather as fast as I can . I hope not

to be stuck in Detroit in the future. At least it is only on one end we have to worry.

 

Just my 2 cents worth.

[Overtyme]

There are positives and negatives to both.

If you have a family of 4, AF to Florida can add $1500 to your vacation, on top of hotel night before your cruise. I suggest flying to warmer weather climates from a cold weather climate the day before, to allow for the possibility that your flight may be delayed or cancelled due to bad weather.

On the other hand, you will get to enjoy warmer weather for the entirety of your cruise out of Florida.

Leaving out of NJ will save you a lot of money in air fare and hotel, but as RocketLady pointed out, you will lose some time outdoors due to colder weather.

We're paying a premium, but will sail on Anthem end of June/Early July.

But we're :45 drive to the pier, and it's warm that time of year.

No AF, hotel or lost days, but $$$.