The die is cast. The combatants have been chosen. The dates have been more or less chosen. Mano-a-mano…or shipo-a-shipo.
The Norwegian Breakaway vs the Anthem of the Seas.
The Battle of The Apple.
That would be the big one, as in New York. Now that Royal Caribbean has made it official that Anthem of the Seas — a sister to Quantum of the Seas (below) — will be based year-round in New York (okay, across the Hudson in New Jersey), both are proclaiming to be "New York's [fill in the adjective] ship."
Breakaway was first and Norwegian bills it as "the newest and largest ship embarking from NYC."
Anthem will arrive next April and is currently being touted as "the newest, largest and 
most innovative ship ever to homeport in the New York region."
Technically, both are correct enough to maintain the sell lines. Anthem isn't going to sail from NYC, like Breakaway, but from Bayonne, New Jersey. So Breakaway will continue to be the "newest and largest" in NYC while Anthem will be the "newest, largest…" from the New York "region."
A little research followed to compare cruises on the two New York ships. This is often an apples-oranges comparison because ships go to different places, on cruises of different lengths and with different features.
Plunging on, here are some apples and oranges to chew on for price comparison:
Breakaway
• A 7-day Bermuda cruise runs from $64 a night ($449) next month to $165 a night ($1,159) in August.
• A 7-day Bahamas cruise runs from $86 a night ($599) in November to $164 a night ($1,149) over the Christmas holidays.
Anthem of the Seas
• Cruises that are generally longer than a week average between $131 to $140 a night.
The difference between the two is that Anthem will be the "newest…most innovative."
In New York, and everywhere else.
Today at Phil Reimer's portsandbows.com: Carnival's singing "Galveston, oh Galveston…"
Holland America Prinsendam
16 nights
June 7, 2014
Amsterdam (return): Aalborg, Copenhagen, Berlin, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Visby, Ystad, Hamburg
Inside: $1,449
Cost per day: $90
www.hollandamerica.com