RC Jewel VS Princess Grand??

[star944]

Planning a cruise summer '07 and trying to decide between the June 18 RC Jewel and the Aug 9 Grand Princess? Any insights or advice on which one we should choose? We have been on both cruise lines before and have been to Europe before, so just wondering if anyone has tiebreaker advice or examples.

 

Thanks!!

[luvnorway]

Off the top of my head, there are lots of factors that come to mind which may help posters give you advice to assist in your decision:

 

What are the 2 itineraries?

 

Are they similar in length and/or cost?

 

Since you've been on both cruise lines previously and this isn't your first trip to Europe, I'm assuming the ports will have more influence on your choice than the ships themselves.

 

Some considerations are:

 

1) how many of the ports are new to you?

 

2 how long do you have in the ports where there is a lot you want to see/do?

 

3) are ports all large cities (or would you be travelling by shorex, private tour, taxi) into a nearby large city

- (I get "citied out" after spending several days in succession in large, crowded, touristy places and welcome intermittent small ports and sea days)

- European cities (not just in the Med) can be very hot in summer

 

4) how many of the ports are tender ports? -> affects how much time you actually have to sightsee if you have to wait for tender tickets to disembark

 

5) is the cruise round trip from the same port or are the embarkation/disembarkation ports different?

-> this could be significant if

a) you want to include a pre or post cruise land vacation

b) you are planning to use FF points to fly or are looking for cheaper airfare

[wwinfl91]

We were on the Jewel last year for a T/A cruise and she is really a beautiful ship. We had been on the Enchantment a couple of years earlier and were not impressed with RCL but the Jewel cruise changed our minds. We had good food, good service and a really nice ship. We have also been on the Golden, the Grand's sister ship, and enjoyed our time on her.

 

As you should know you will be giving up PC dining which is one big plus IMHO that you get with Princess over RCL.

 

The Jewel is a newer ship but the Grand is going thru a 2 week drydock this fall and should be looking spic and span for cruises next year.

 

I would agree with the above poster that it really depends on the itineraries of the two cruises.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[Kathie44]

JEWEL, JEWEL, JEWEL! This is the same time period we took Jewel to the Brit. Isles/Nor. Fjords, so I'm thinking it's the same cruise. It was super fantastic and I can't say enough about it. The food, service, shows activities and everything else made this our best cruise yet. The ship is spectacular.

The itinerary is port-intensive, but you will get such an overview of the areas. We were wowed by the architecture and history of London (pre-stay), Plymouth, Cork, Dublin, Edinburgh (day-trip from Greenock).

The fjords of Flam, Alesund, Bergen and surrounding areas were so awesome, we all decided they beat Alaska.

We took a day-trip into Paris from Le Havre, which included a wine-filled, 4 course lunch on the Seine, tour of the city and time under the Eiffel Tower. Our last stop was a motorcoach/canal tour of Amsterdam. More amazing architecture and history, previously seen only in books and travelogues.

 

1/02 Explorer E. Carib.

1/03 Explorer W. Carib.

8/03 Summit Alaska cruise/tour

2/04 Adventure S. Carib.

2/05 Galaxy Panama Canal

6/06 Jewel Brit. Isles/Nor. Fjords + 3 days in London

1/07 Mercury Mexican Riviera