Help Me Choose a Med Cruise: NCL Spirit or RCI Brilliance

[PaulInPGH]

Greetings,

 

My wife and I are strongly considering a Med cruise for our next adventure. Since we’ve never been, I was hoping some folks here could weigh in and help us choose which cruise to take.

 

I’ve narrowed it down to two main options, though I’m sure we’ll still keep an eye out for others that might look appealing. One is a 10-night on the NCL Spirit out of Rome, and the other is a 12-night on RCI’s Brilliance of the Seas out of Barcelona. I’m posting this on both the NCL and RCI boards, to hopefully get some differing opinions, or maybe an opinion from someone who’s done both. We’ve cruised on both lines, so I generally know what to expect from each, but any specific thoughts on these particular ships would be helpful.

 

More helpful, though, would be thoughts on the two itineraries, as we’ve never been to any of these places. Here’s the comparison:

 

Spirit: Rome, Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Cannes, Provence (Marseille), Barcelona, Palma Majorca, Cagliari, Valletta, Messina (Sicily), Naples.

 

Brilliance: Barcelona, Villefranche, Livorno, Rome, Salerno, Venice (two days), Ravenna, Kotor.

 

Cost is pretty equal, though we’ll definitely keep an eye out for promos or price drops, and flying to Rome or Barcelona is roughly the same price from where we live. Any thoughts, suggestions, tips, or whatever would be very much appreciated!

[cloud_nine]

Both itineraries are good but if I were to pick one over the other I'd go for the Brilliance. The only port I'd miss by not doing the Spirit would be Naples because the Amalfi Coast is fantastic but 2 days in Venice, followed by Ravenna and Kotor sounds perfect. Plus I would much prefer sailing out of Barcelona than Rome. Civitavecchia is quite far away from Rome itself, so it's a good hour or more by car or taxi to get to the port.

 

Oh just noticed you also have Salerno on the Brilliance- you wouldn't miss Amalfi Coast at all. In that case definitely go for the Brilliance.

Edited January 2, 2017 by cloud_nine

[vegas7df]

In regards to the ships, I've been on both and would select the Brilliance.

 

I was on NCL Sprit in March 2016, it's an older ship that needs updating. The rooms and common area's were clean but very old. I believe this ship is one of the oldest in their fleet. The food was very good in all restaurants.

 

I was on Brilliance May 2016, Med cruise. This ship is much newer and up to date. Cabins larger and bathrooms seem to be larger. Nice casino and restaurants were good as well.

 

The overnight in Venice is great, it was our favorite port.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Donna

[cruzgryphon]

I'd go with the Brilliance itinerary as well. Villefranche gives you the opportunity to go to Monaco/ Monte Carlo and as previously posted, 2 days in Venice. Also there have been rumours that Venice is considering limiting cruise ship access since you need to take the Grand Canal (a great overview of Venice) in order to get to the Port.

 

Another consideration is that with Mediterranean cruises - the ports are intensive with so much to see and do you're on the go constantly and have very few, if any, sea days between ports to decompress and catch your wind. I find that usually after the 5th day I start to get burned out a little bit. It's not the relaxed and easy going experience that you would find on a Caribbean cruise.

[dani negreanu]

Brilliance for Venice.

 

And ... you get to sail in and sail away from Venice.:)

[sellwingri]

I may be a bit biased, but I recommend Briliance. It's my favorite ship and the one I sailed on for my first Mediterranean cruise.

[sellwingri]

Erasing a dup

Edited January 2, 2017 by sellwingri

[cruisekmc]

We did the most remarkable cruise in June on the Spirit, which we love. It went out of Barcelona, Toulon France, Florence, Civitecchia, Naples. Mykonos, Athens, Kotor, Montenegro, Dubrovnik and ended in Venice. We loved the cruise so much that we keep talking about doing it again. The Spirit is smaller, but such nice outdoor seating in the rear of the ship. I like smaller ships when sailing the Mediterranean. We had two days at sea that we really enjoyed. Another thing we like about NCL, is Free Style Cruising. With the airlines having weight limits on luggage, we do not want to bring formal clothes. Whatever you decide, enjoy it!!!

 

 

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[DisneyDatknee]

I loved loved loved the Radiance of the Seas. Ship was beautiful with those gorgeous glass elevators.

 

Personally, I love Venice very much. Touristy, Yes, but we certainly loved the Venetian charm. I think an overnight stay there would be perfect. We stayed 4 days our own self-guided trip around Italy in this huge apartment. Definitely want to go back again.

 

Also, the Spirit has no sea days, so I don't know, I would like a couple of days of rest if you know what I mean.

 

We are looking at the same sailings for September instead of doing our planned Panama Canal cruise. We are leaning towards a Costa cruise actually, but the Radiance OTS is cheaper with our interline discount.

Edited January 2, 2017 by DisneyDatknee

[PaulInPGH]

Thank you all for your helpful replies.

 

One question: with the overnight in Venice, I'm guessing this allows for some evening activities while there? If you know off-hand, how late are you able to stay off the ship that night?

 

Thanks!

[Aquahound]

I would pick Brilliance over Spirit for 2 main reasons. One, the overnight in Venice. Wandering the Venice alleyways at night and sipping on the house wines is pretty awesome. The sail in and away are just as awesome. Two, because Brilliance is a much nicer ship.

 

One question: with the overnight in Venice, I'm guessing this allows for some evening activities while there? If you know off-hand, how late are you able to stay off the ship that night?

 

You can stay off the ship as long as you want. You only need to be aboard in time for the next day's sailaway.

Edited January 2, 2017 by Aquahound

[dani negreanu]

Thank you all for your helpful replies.

 

One question: with the overnight in Venice, I'm guessing this allows for some evening activities while there? If you know off-hand, how late are you able to stay off the ship that night?

 

Whenever we stayed overnight, there was no limit for staying ashore..

Edited January 2, 2017 by dani negreanu

[PaulInPGH]

I would pick Brilliance over Spirit for 2 main reasons. One, the overnight in Venice. Wandering the Venice alleyways at night and sipping on the house wines is pretty awesome. The sail in and away are just as awesome. Two, because Brilliance is a much nicer ship.

 

 

 

You can stay off the ship as long as you want. You only need to be aboard in time for the next day's sailaway.

 

That does sound pretty excellent. Thanks for the info.

[vacationlover_mn]

Loved our cruise on brilliance, with a similar itinerary. I highly recommend spending at least 2-3 nights in Barcelona, and at least doing a city tour there. If you have an extra day, Mont Serat (so?) is an awesome day trip! We did a tour there, and it was fantastic :). We had a hotel next to the "big pickle" building, and while it was a little far from the port, it was affordable and within walking distance to other stuff...

 

 

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[vacationlover_mn]

And, regardless of the ship, you should try to get a balcony- so worth it!

 

 

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[George C]

Greetings,

 

My wife and I are strongly considering a Med cruise for our next adventure. Since we’ve never been, I was hoping some folks here could weigh in and help us choose which cruise to take.

 

I’ve narrowed it down to two main options, though I’m sure we’ll still keep an eye out for others that might look appealing. One is a 10-night on the NCL Spirit out of Rome, and the other is a 12-night on RCI’s Brilliance of the Seas out of Barcelona. I’m posting this on both the NCL and RCI boards, to hopefully get some differing opinions, or maybe an opinion from someone who’s done both. We’ve cruised on both lines, so I generally know what to expect from each, but any specific thoughts on these particular ships would be helpful.

 

More helpful, though, would be thoughts on the two itineraries, as we’ve never been to any of these places. Here’s the comparison:

 

Spirit: Rome, Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Cannes, Provence (Marseille), Barcelona, Palma Majorca, Cagliari, Valletta, Messina (Sicily), Naples.

 

Brilliance: Barcelona, Villefranche, Livorno, Rome, Salerno, Venice (two days), Ravenna, Kotor.

 

Cost is pretty equal, though we’ll definitely keep an eye out for promos or price drops, and flying to Rome or Barcelona is roughly the same price from where we live. Any thoughts, suggestions, tips, or whatever would be very much appreciated!

 

We did Brilliance 12 day in September, ship was really nice, ports were great, had never heard of Kotor before the cruise and loved the walled city, also Revenna was very interesting

[CruisinMama2003]

I am so glad OP asked this question! We too were trying to decide what ship for our upcoming Med cruise, and ultimately chose Brilliance. I am also glad to see such positive posts about Brilliance! Thanks everyone for your input :)

[PaulInPGH]

And, regardless of the ship, you should try to get a balcony- so worth it!

 

 

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I wish. We just did our first balcony and it was amazing. Unfortunately, at least for these two cruises, balconies are like $1500 more, so I don't think that'll be happening, barring any crazy shifts in price.