which RCI- Vision or NCL- Spirit in the med 2015- help me choose

[fragilek]

I am about to book one of these but can't decide which- we have never been on either RCI or NCL. Both are cruises round the med in Aug. On the cruise will be me DH and 2 DD (18 &22)

 

RCi vision- OV room Barcelona-Cannes, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Piraeus, Kusadasi, Santorini, Naples- barcelon

 

NCL Spirit- inside family room- Barcelona with stops in Toulon, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Naples, Mykonos, Istanbul, Kusadasi, Piraeus, Venice.

 

Food and evening shows are quite important to us. We would avoid ant game/game show stuff- just not our cup of tea!

 

We think the NCL may have the edge on itinerary but are a bit worried about the cabin and food quality (never been but from reading reviews).

 

The RCI one is £900 more

 

Oh and I am celiac (gluten free) - so if anyone can comment on the difference for food on these two line for me that would be great- I hate having to just eat plain stuff and would like a cruise where my dinner looks just a good as the others and still has sauce/ dressing on it.

[deedeetoo]

I like the Spirit itinerary better. A couple years ago we did the same itinerary on Princess. You may want to check them out too.

 

When we decided we ruled out RCI because of the itinerary. We then had to pick between NCL and Princess. When we looked closely at the itinerary we found that Princess was often in port often for an hour or two longer than NCL and that makes a big difference in the Med where many sites are a long way from the ports. Also take a close look at the days of the week that the ship is at each port. Many European museums and tourist sites are closed one day a week. Make sure that the day you are in town is not the day that the site you want to visit is closed.

[fragilek]

I like the Spirit itinerary better. A couple years a. Many European museums and tourist sites are closed one day a week. Make sure that the day you are in town is not the day that the site you want to visit is closed.

 

OH! I didn't even think of that!! - thank you

[starquest]

My family of 6 did the NCL Spirit trip two years ago for nephew's graduation. First time on NCL, usually cruise with Princess or RCL. Spirit was great. Smaller ship, easy to get around. I have food allergies (seafood) and they took all kinds of precautions for me. Also, we were extremely fortunate - huge price drop, but it was after final payment. Our TA worked with NCL and they moved us from three inside cabins to three balcony cabins, with two of the cabins interconnecting. Hope this helped.

[telecruiser]

Everything deedeetoo said is great advice.

 

That being said, and after doing two Med. cruises, I like that Spirit itinerary way better. You will love having Barcelona and Venice at either end. Do extra days in each if possible. Getting all the great Italy highlights plus Athens; wow. Then throw in Istanbul just for fun? I'm in!

 

I've never cruised NCL, but this would be the kind of trip that causes people to try new cruise lines.

[shipfriend_max]

Hi,

 

if I was in your situation, I would book Vision! Why?

As far as I heard, food quality, entertainment and service seems to be better on RCI than NCL, also the Vision has a slightly better passenger space ratio.

Also I have been told that the food quality of NCL has decreased.

When regarding the itinerary, I also would book Vision, because you have Santorin (must see!!), longer port timings in Italy and you have also the Cote d'Azur (Cannes) in France, which is definitely worth a visit!

 

OK, Spirit includes Venice and Istanbul, but the latter one just for one day, which is not enough - also she skips Dubrovnik, Corfu and Split in the Adriatic Sea - although Vision also covers not every port, she has more important ones than Spirit.

On top of that, the reviews of Vision are considerably better then Spirits's and she has been refurbished in 2013!

[ttnc4me]

Add us to the list of those that also picked the Spirit. We did it last summer & it was fantastic. The food is good, the big shows are good (not the magic guy - lol), and the itinerary is fantastic!

 

We took the cruise for the itinerary, and with a lot of planning, did each port in a day just perfectly. I would never be on the Spirit in the Caribbean because the ship itself doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, but it's fine in the Med. because you're so exhausted at the end of each day, it's great to just relax.

[fragilek]

Just to let you all know that I chose the Vision in the end-

 

Main reason was the food, the more recent reviews for the Spirit food were to too poor to ignore and food is important to us. I also looked up some you tube footage of the main meals and they did not look that great for the spirit when compared with the meals I looked for the vision. On top of the the MDR menus are labeled for gluten which will make ordering easier for me. The final decider was the RCI sale as both cruises became almost the same price but if we chose the spirit we would also probably booked the dining pack which would have added to the cost.

 

We will miss Venice and Istanbul - but I have medical issues so to to be honest some extra sea days will probably help me not over do things- We are from the UK so we can do these ports again in another cruise - but unfortunately probably wont get the chance to do them with our girls- This was probably our last big holiday together as it was for my eldest (22) graduation and youngest 18th. So I can imagine that my eldest will probably not want to use up her few weeks holiday once she starts working with us :(

[shipfriend_max]

Congrats, great choice!!! :)

[cruisingsince94]

Just to let you all know that I chose the Vision in the end-

 

Main reason was the food, the more recent reviews for the Spirit food were to too poor to ignore and food is important to us. I also looked up some you tube footage of the main meals and they did not look that great for the spirit when compared with the meals I looked for the vision. On top of the the MDR menus are labeled for gluten which will make ordering easier for me. The final decider was the RCI sale as both cruises became almost the same price but if we chose the spirit we would also probably booked the dining pack which would have added to the cost.

 

We will miss Venice and Istanbul - but I have medical issues so to to be honest some extra sea days will probably help me not over do things- We are from the UK so we can do these ports again in another cruise - but unfortunately probably wont get the chance to do them with our girls- This was probably our last big holiday together as it was for my eldest (22) graduation and youngest 18th. So I can imagine that my eldest will probably not want to use up her few weeks holiday once she starts working with us :(

 

I think you will be very happy with your choice. Enjoy!!