Help me decide what cruise next year :) (Europe)

[Verfai]

Hello all,

Since we are in the cold months and winter is on the doorstep, it’s becoming that time of the year to plan the next cruise :).

 

Last year in June we enjoyed Liberty sooooooooo much, that we went back to her in September, so we are very familiar with all the venues of the Freedom class ships and really loved it.

 

June Liberty was so much fun mainly due to making some great friends via these boards which created a extremely good atmosphere, we got off the ship more tired than we got on…It might not sound like it, but that was a good thing :D!

 

September Liberty was good to, but was defiantly different…It was a way different passenger manifest that created a more dull atmosphere onboard. Luckily we met some interesting people on the meet and mingle and we had great table mates. But we were missing something from June…

Luckily Liberty has soooooo many venues, like the promenade and the many bars onboard, even with a less party atmosphere it is basically impossible to get board or not have a good time…

 

So that’s why I ask here for next year, because I have my doubts on some things.

 

At this time I’ve narrowed it down to

-Navigator June 17 or June 24 (Rome, Sicily, Kusadasi, Athens, Chania, Rome)

-Splendour June 16 (Venice, Bari, Corfu, Mykanos, Athens, Dubrovnik, venice)

-Splendour June 23 (Venice, Bari, Corfu, Santorini, Kusadasi, Katekalon, venice)

All of them have nice itinerary’s.

 

Navigator has nearly all the venues of a Freedom class ship, so no brainer there.

 

And here comes the problem :),

 

However the Splendour itinerary sounds more appealing to us, but this is a Vision class, so a lot less venues, I fear that ship being nothing for us like for example no disco onboard to go to at night, no promenade to hang out…However the refurbishment Splendour is going through now might change our minds, or not?

 

If any of you want to share thoughts on this on the differences on both ships, please do so :)

 

BTW, I also see that prices are way more expensive than last year, due to time of year, econimic crisis?

 

Gr

[woodlands]

Hi Verfai,

have to say first of all that Navigator was my first RCI ship and undoubtedly is my favourite. I sailed on Vision out of Stockholm a couple of years ago, there was a nightly disco, held in the Viking Crown Lounge. I found the pace of life on that ship more relaxing too. I was late 20s at the time and found Vision a great ship. There was no pressure to go to the ice show or climb the wall that I feel when I'm on a ship with all those facilities. There were plenty of bars, I especially liked the large Schooner bar.

I personally would go on the itinerary rather than the ship, and my preference would be the 16th June on Splendour.

 

Have a great cruise whichever you choose!

Berni

[Verfai]

Hi Verfai,

have to say first of all that Navigator was my first RCI ship and undoubtedly is my favourite. I sailed on Vision out of Stockholm a couple of years ago, there was a nightly disco, held in the Viking Crown Lounge. I found the pace of life on that ship more relaxing too. I was late 20s at the time and found Vision a great ship. There was no pressure to go to the ice show or climb the wall that I feel when I'm on a ship with all those facilities. There were plenty of bars, I especially liked the large Schooner bar.

I personally would go on the itinerary rather than the ship, and my preference would be the 16th June on Splendour.

 

Have a great cruise whichever you choose!

Berni

 

Hello Berni,

Thanks for your insight! I didn’t know they did a disco in the Viking crown, from what I read and hear from the refurb of Splendour, they were planning to make a launch club in the Viking crown for dancing…

Anyway, she is done from her dry-dock at the end of this month, so I hope to read some new reviews that will give more info.

 

We to love a slower pace as we are on vacation and we feel in no way rushed to try action packed venues onboard, we love to look at it doh :D, for us it’s important to have fun. Itinerary is import for in the day, but I find the venues of the ship just as important :), though customer I guess :), but probably why we liked Liberty so much :D.

 

I also found out that all four roll calls are dead on CC ;) I’m guessing everybody is preparing for winter hibernation :D lol.

 

The 16th does look good, more attracted to Greece than to Turkey personally.

[MavisMarie]

I would vote for any cruise porting at Kusadasi. Why? Because Ephesus (20 minutes away) is one of most fascinating places to visit. The beautiful ruins of Ephesus, The House of Mary, St. John's Basilica, ruins of Artemis.... all are great sights and make for a most memorable day. The locals in Kusadasi are also awesome -- very, very friendly and welcoming.

We just returned from Turkey and Greece and I have to say, Turkey is such a wonderful country. The people are friendly, the food is terrific, and the sights are amazing. I know Istanbul is not on your itinerary, but if you get the chance, go there -- 15million people in Istanbul and not a gum wrapper on the sidewalks. I think they sweep the leaves up as they are falling from the trees.

Whatever you decide, I know you'll have a great time.

[PCWalton1]

Hello Berni,

Thanks for your insight! I didn’t know they did a disco in the Viking crown, from what I read and hear from the refurb of Splendour, they were planning to make a launch club in the Viking crown for dancing…

Anyway, she is done from her dry-dock at the end of this month, so I hope to read some new reviews that will give more info.

 

We to love a slower pace as we are on vacation and we feel in no way rushed to try action packed venues onboard, we love to look at it doh :D, for us it’s important to have fun. Itinerary is import for in the day, but I find the venues of the ship just as important :), though customer I guess :), but probably why we liked Liberty so much :D.

 

I also found out that all four roll calls are dead on CC ;) I’m guessing everybody is preparing for winter hibernation :D lol.

 

The 16th does look good, more attracted to Greece than to Turkey personally.

 

We are going on Splendour this coming May and have found the ship is getting some changes in the current drydock. Here are some links to the changes.

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/contentSiteletSub.do?pagename=sub_royal_advantage_SP&pagenameMain=royal_advantage_main&discriminators=0

 

http://www.cruise-community.com/News/News-Headlines/Royals-reinvented-Vision-class-Centrums-to-host-aerial-spectacles.html

 

Bill

[wantocruisemore]

We did the Navigator Eastern Med this past summer, same itinerary. We LOVED it! So much so that we've booked the sister ship Mariner out of Rome this coming summer, this time for Western Med.

 

The Navigator had something for everyone in our family, all ages 14 to 78 yoa. We actually thought about booking Splendor for this coming summer since we would like sailing out of Venice, but the smaller ship was actually a factor. However, if a summer itinerary had included Istanbul then we would be doing that instead.

 

No one in my group thought they would like Turkey. It turned out to be one of their favorite stops. The ruins and sites around Kusadasi are not found anywhere else, and this is coming from someone who had a week in Rome pre-cruise.

 

Another thing to consider is where you would like to spend more time pre or post cruise. For us we wanted more time in Rome. If you are more into smaller scenic places and do not care anything about history and archaeological ruins, then choose the Splendor.

 

I had to choose the cruise for our group last summer. Everyone was extremely glad I picked time in Rome and the Eastern Med's Navigator.

 

But honestly, I'm partial to the Eastern Med so you can't go wrong. Do some searches on the port stops for each cruise. Is there something on someone's bucket list, ie the Acropolis? Go from there and happy planning!

[Verfai]

Thank you all for the info and the insights :D appreciate it…And yes I do have a lot of planning to go :D.

It’s just the vision class ship that worries me, we are in our early 30s and love some night action on vacation, on the other side we do love a slow pace on vacation :D more in the day that is...lol.

 

Greets

[akcruz]

Thank you all for the info and the insights :D appreciate it…And yes I do have a lot of planning to go :D.

It’s just the vision class ship that worries me, we are in our early 30s and love some night action on vacation, on the other side we do love a slow pace on vacation :D more in the day that is...lol.

 

Greets

 

Another thing to consider is with many of these European cruises you really are not on board the ship a lot with so many long port days.

[villauk]

Hello Berni,

Thanks for your insight! I didn’t know they did a disco in the Viking crown, from what I read and hear from the refurb of Splendour, they were planning to make a launch club in the Viking crown for dancing…

Anyway, she is done from her dry-dock at the end of this month, so I hope to read some new reviews that will give more info.

 

We to love a slower pace as we are on vacation and we feel in no way rushed to try action packed venues onboard, we love to look at it doh :D, for us it’s important to have fun. Itinerary is import for in the day, but I find the venues of the ship just as important :), though customer I guess :), but probably why we liked Liberty so much :D.

 

I also found out that all four roll calls are dead on CC ;) I’m guessing everybody is preparing for winter hibernation :D lol.

 

The 16th does look good, more attracted to Greece than to Turkey personally.

We sailed on Navigator last month and before the cruise would have probably made the exact same comment about Turkey, how wrong we were! Kusadasi was actually our favourite port. We had a fantastic private tour to Ephesus and even the 'rug experience' was interesting - no pressure to buy. We all thoroughly enjoyed our eastern Med cruise and the ship was as good as ever. After cruising on Liberty at Easter, we couldn't really see that much difference apart from the Flowrider. We have previously sailed on Splendour, obviously before to refit, but we did feel she was just too small for us as a family i.e. less for the kids to experience. We don't have to sail on the large ships to have a good time, as Brilliance is one of our favourite ships, we just found that Splendour wasn't for us - others may disagree, especially as she'll be updated by the time your thinking of sailing on her.

[CRUIS4ME]

Can't speak about one ship vs the other; however, we took B2B out of Venice this past June because of the fabulous itineraries. My vote would be to go out of Venice. The ship departs out of one of the large canals and we had a million dollar view departing from Venice right down the large canal and our cabin overlooked the sights (St Marks Square, Dogi Palace, etc.) (Cabin was on left side of ship). The second itinerary gives you Italy (Venice), Greece (Mykonos and Athens - DIY to the acropolis and then walk to other ruins and lunch on pedestrian area - fantastic day - low cost) and Dubrovnik (Croatia) and that port was fabulous - another DIY fun day. The first itinerary gives you Kusadisi and Ephesus was a "must" for us which we felt was amazing. Good luck planning!

[Sharon Sails]

You folks are doing cruises I could only dream about! If I had the $$, I'd do a Med. cruise in a heartbeat. Count yourselves lucky :D

[Marysunshine]

I had some concerns after I booked the Navigator for June, 2012, but you have all reassured me and I am joyful.

[Verfai]

Another thing to consider is with many of these European cruises you really are not on board the ship a lot with so many long port days.

 

I know, but we are a little different :D, we do get off the ship, but we only take excursions that don’t take longer than max 5-6 hours...So that we also have plenty of time to enjoy the ship.

Plus we stay awake and enjoy nightlife onboard...Sometimes even overdoing it :D

 

 

We sailed on Navigator last month and before the cruise would have probably made the exact same comment about Turkey, how wrong we were! Kusadasi was actually our favourite port. We had a fantastic private tour to Ephesus and even the 'rug experience' was interesting - no pressure to buy. We all thoroughly enjoyed our eastern Med cruise and the ship was as good as ever. After cruising on Liberty at Easter, we couldn't really see that much difference apart from the Flowrider. We have previously sailed on Splendour, obviously before to refit, but we did feel she was just too small for us as a family i.e. less for the kids to experience. We don't have to sail on the large ships to have a good time, as Brilliance is one of our favourite ships, we just found that Splendour wasn't for us - others may disagree, especially as she'll be updated by the time your thinking of sailing on her.

 

You explained my fear :), Vision is 3 classes down from a Freedom, en we enjoyed Liberty a lot...I would be a less worried should we be able to do a Brilliance cruise.

 

Can't speak about one ship vs the other; however, we took B2B out of Venice this past June because of the fabulous itineraries. My vote would be to go out of Venice. The ship departs out of one of the large canals and we had a million dollar view departing from Venice right down the large canal and our cabin overlooked the sights (St Marks Square, Dogi Palace, etc.) (Cabin was on left side of ship). The second itinerary gives you Italy (Venice), Greece (Mykonos and Athens - DIY to the acropolis and then walk to other ruins and lunch on pedestrian area - fantastic day - low cost) and Dubrovnik (Croatia) and that port was fabulous - another DIY fun day. The first itinerary gives you Kusadisi and Ephesus was a "must" for us which we felt was amazing. Good luck planning!

 

And you explained the other thing :D, I would love to sail out of Venice, it’s just that Vision class ship that bothers me.

Last year there was a Voyager class that sailed out of Venice, then this wouldn’t have been a problem, however RCI shuffling its cards is forcing me to take a different approach.

[Verfai]

You folks are doing cruises I could only dream about! If I had the $$, I'd do a Med. cruise in a heartbeat. Count yourselves lucky :D

 

Your cruise history looks nice doh :D.

Have you seen where we are from? The flight for us to Venice is only 200 Euros for both of us :).

 

But yes we are lucky, but be sure that we work hard for what we can do on vacation. For example I work in shifts regiment and have plenty exposure to dangerous materials. My girl is HR manager and is basically never home when most people are home.

 

 

I had some concerns after I booked the Navigator for June, 2012, but you have all reassured me and I am joyful.

 

:D May I ask what concerns these where?

[lara_lox]

'September Liberty was good to, but was defiantly different…It was a way different passenger manifest that created a more dull atmosphere onboard. Luckily we met some interesting people on the meet and mingle and we had great table mates. But we were missing something from June…' - Meeeeeeeee!

 

Fancy seeing you here :D Everyone's been so helpful to you, that's hopefully given you plenty to think about.... Roll on Summer 2012, let's just hope our plans work and we can have a RC reunion! :)

[Verfai]

'September Liberty was good to, but was defiantly different…It was a way different passenger manifest that created a more dull atmosphere onboard. Luckily we met some interesting people on the meet and mingle and we had great table mates. But we were missing something from June…' - Meeeeeeeee!

 

Fancy seeing you here :D Everyone's been so helpful to you, that's hopefully given you plenty to think about.... Roll on Summer 2012, let's just hope our plans work and we can have a RC reunion! :)

 

Yes you :p LOL!

I have too much to think about :D and we must make our plans work! ;) And errrrr, I hope don’t have to wait till June next year to see you again!? :p

[Marysunshine]

Your cruise history looks nice doh :D.

Have you seen where we are from? The flight for us to Venice is only 200 Euros for both of us :).

 

But yes we are lucky, but be sure that we work hard for what we can do on vacation. For example I work in shifts regiment and have plenty exposure to dangerous materials. My girl is HR manager and is basically never home when most people are home.

 

 

 

 

:D May I ask what concerns these where?

 

Yes, for a while there were very mediocre reviews of NOS. I had read it needed new carpet, very worn ship. I also read so many europeans overwhelmed US residents, all kinds of things. I decided to take it all with a grain of salt and booked for 6/3/2012. Got a nice price which has gone up since then and I am happy to see new reviews that are positive.

When I have to spend a large chunk of money, i.e., airfare, three nights in Rome hotel prior, food, etc, I appreciate feeling confident that it's all worth it, and now I do! :)

[Verfai]

Yes, for a while there were very mediocre reviews of NOS. I had read it needed new carpet, very worn ship. I also read so many europeans overwhelmed US residents, all kinds of things. I decided to take it all with a grain of salt and booked for 6/3/2012. Got a nice price which has gone up since then and I am happy to see new reviews that are positive.

When I have to spend a large chunk of money, i.e., airfare, three nights in Rome hotel prior, food, etc, I appreciate feeling confident that it's all worth it, and now I do! :)

 

I always take every review whit a large chunk of salt :D.

Even saying something good can turn out being something bad in somebody else’s opinion…

 

However, when they are all bad, than I wouldn’t book the ship.

This is the reason we got into cruising, we were ripped off plenty of times on land based vacations by travel agent that we wanted to try something new…BINGO!

 

I do have to comment, how to many Europeans can overwhel an American when you’re going on a Mediterranean cruise!? That’s just strange when somebody puts this in a review, and then there where people that called me racist in my last review :D (feel free to look up the thread...Wouldent advise it doh ;)lol).

[villauk]

I know, but we are a little different :D, we do get off the ship, but we only take excursions that don’t take longer than max 5-6 hours...So that we also have plenty of time to enjoy the ship.

Plus we stay awake and enjoy nightlife onboard...Sometimes even overdoing it :D

 

 

 

 

You explained my fear :), Vision is 3 classes down from a Freedom, en we enjoyed Liberty a lot...I would be a less worried should we be able to do a Brilliance cruise.

 

 

And you explained the other thing :D, I would love to sail out of Venice, it’s just that Vision class ship that bothers me.

Last year there was a Voyager class that sailed out of Venice, then this wouldn’t have been a problem, however RCI shuffling its cards is forcing me to take a different approach.

Verfai, We've actually sailed into Venice on Splendour and both in and out on Brilliance, but if you asked me would I rather wait until I could experience it on another class of ship other than Vision, then the answer would be 'yes'. Only my personal opinion, but you obviously enjoy spending lots of time on the ship, so I'd definitely give it great consideration. I think the smaller ship concentrates more on the relaxation time i.e. finding a quiet place to read whilst watching the ocean pass by or enjoying the spa facilities; generally a more subdued experience where more concentration is given to enjoying the long port days. Whereas the larger ships invite more entertainment and activities to enjoy on sea days and nights etc.; only you know which you'd prefer. The larger ships do tend to have more children onboard, however, this obviously varies due to school holiday periods.

Btw, Dubrovnik is another beautiful port, somewhere we'd return to quite easily. How about Serenade for 12 nights, the itinerary incorporates Venice on 10th June?

[Verfai]

Verfai, We've actually sailed into Venice on Splendour and both in and out on Brilliance, but if you asked me would I rather wait until I could experience it on another class of ship other than Vision, then the answer would be 'yes'. Only my personal opinion, but you obviously enjoy spending lots of time on the ship, so I'd definitely give it great consideration. I think the smaller ship concentrates more on the relaxation time i.e. finding a quiet place to read whilst watching the ocean pass by or enjoying the spa facilities; generally a more subdued experience where more concentration is given to enjoying the long port days. Whereas the larger ships invite more entertainment and activities to enjoy on sea days and nights etc.; only you know which you'd prefer. The larger ships do tend to have more children onboard, however, this obviously varies due to school holiday periods.

Btw, Dubrovnik is another beautiful port, somewhere we'd return to quite easily. How about Serenade for 12 nights, the itinerary incorporates Venice on 10th June?

 

Hey, thanks for the info! I do think we will go for the Voyager class to be on the safe side (and this not a final decision :D lol), but I can’t see myself on a smaller Vision class unless in good company (Lara_lox??? :p).

 

The other thing about cruising that we absolutely love is the bumping into new people, doesn’t have to be personal just the “hey, I saw you in the same bar yesterday” small talk :D...

We looked at Seranade, but the sailing is a lot more expensive and most balcony rooms are sold out already...After going from a D2 balcony in June to a promenade in September we will defiantly book a balcony again in the future.

[Ebbwboy]

we're on the Serenade on 10th June sailing, we were attracted to the overnight stay in Venice.

I think most of the D2s are sold out but still plenty of availability in D1s and E1/2/3 when I last looked.

[Verfai]

we're on the Serenade on 10th June sailing, we were attracted to the overnight stay in Venice.

I think most of the D2s are sold out but still plenty of availability in D1s and E1/2/3 when I last looked.

 

Yes I know, and that was a nice trip this year :). The price is more of coarse due to that it is a 12 nighter...Is expensive enough for 7 nights.

[swcruise]

Hi there,

 

I have done both so will share our experiences which may help you. We sailed out of Rome in Aug '08, I was marking a special birthday. We had a day and 1/2 in Rome pre-cruise and got to take in the sights. We really enjoyed Taromina and Kusadasi and Ephesus and The House of the Vrigin Mary is something to experience at least once in your life. We did a 1/2 day trip in Athens, saw the Olympic grounds, the Plaka, Acropolis etc ( not my favourite cruise port in the world, but we did enjoy...) We had a 1/2 day DIY in Crete and that was fun. We enjoyed the ship and particularily love the ice-shows on the Voyager class ships and Cafe Promenade. Our passenger mix that year was 80-90% italians, these seemed to be causing the crew some problems as I understand that the may not be the best for tipping... The staff were surly at times and this has been my only experience of this in 6 cruises. We also ate two nights in Portofino's which was delicious.

 

Last year we sailed Splendour out of Venice to mark another family member's birthday. We had a fab time there staying two nights in Venice pre-cruise and also visiting Padua..

Like you I had concerns on going back to an older ship without some of the bells and whistles, but need not have worried.. She was in great shape, maybe a little dated ,but I am sure the re-fit will have taken care of that. Ther was more of a passenger mix on this cruise Americans, British, Italians, Canadians etc and this provided a good balance. The staff were great and beacuse it is smaller the service felt more intimate and personal.. After having been on a larger ship you will find you way esaily around Splendour. In the evenings, they have 2 shows in the theatre and there is music and dancing in the bars.. The sailway and sail into Venice is amazing, I can still remember watching sail in ato about 6.30 pm, it was so serene.. We also covered Dubrovnik on that itinerary, it is a lovely city for a visit.

As another poster has said the itinerary is important on a European cruise as they can be port intensive.

Not sure if any of this helps, I am sure you will have a blast no matter which you take. Happy decision making...

[Verfai]

Hi there,

 

I have done both so will share our experiences which may help you. We sailed out of Rome in Aug '08, I was marking a special birthday. We had a day and 1/2 in Rome pre-cruise and got to take in the sights. We really enjoyed Taromina and Kusadasi and Ephesus and The House of the Vrigin Mary is something to experience at least once in your life. We did a 1/2 day trip in Athens, saw the Olympic grounds, the Plaka, Acropolis etc ( not my favourite cruise port in the world, but we did enjoy...) We had a 1/2 day DIY in Crete and that was fun. We enjoyed the ship and particularily love the ice-shows on the Voyager class ships and Cafe Promenade. Our passenger mix that year was 80-90% italians, these seemed to be causing the crew some problems as I understand that the may not be the best for tipping... The staff were surly at times and this has been my only experience of this in 6 cruises. We also ate two nights in Portofino's which was delicious.

 

Last year we sailed Splendour out of Venice to mark another family member's birthday. We had a fab time there staying two nights in Venice pre-cruise and also visiting Padua..

Like you I had concerns on going back to an older ship without some of the bells and whistles, but need not have worried.. She was in great shape, maybe a little dated ,but I am sure the re-fit will have taken care of that. Ther was more of a passenger mix on this cruise Americans, British, Italians, Canadians etc and this provided a good balance. The staff were great and beacuse it is smaller the service felt more intimate and personal.. After having been on a larger ship you will find you way esaily around Splendour. In the evenings, they have 2 shows in the theatre and there is music and dancing in the bars.. The sailway and sail into Venice is amazing, I can still remember watching sail in ato about 6.30 pm, it was so serene.. We also covered Dubrovnik on that itinerary, it is a lovely city for a visit.

As another poster has said the itinerary is important on a European cruise as they can be port intensive.

Not sure if any of this helps, I am sure you will have a blast no matter which you take. Happy decision making...

 

Thanks for the info!

We are still undecided :D, The First review/pictures of the refurb Splendour might do the trick. Also the prices they are asking for summer 2012 at this moment for whatever cruise looks more expensive than this year :S.

 

The dancing in the bars on Splendour, is it more, and excuse me using these terms :D, “older music”? We do like a bit more modern music :).

[PCWalton1]

Thanks for the info!

We are still undecided :D, The First review/pictures of the refurb Splendour might do the trick. Also the prices they are asking for summer 2012 at this moment for whatever cruise looks more expensive than this year :S.

 

The dancing in the bars on Splendour, is it more, and excuse me using these terms :D, “older music”? We do like a bit more modern music :).

 

I would not wait too long to decide, we are booked on Splendour for this coming May and our inside cabin has already gone up $300 per person since we book. Guess it is easier to fill the smaller ships.