which Mediterranean cruise?

[stjohnrocks]

We are planning to cruise the Mediterranean next May. I have narrowed it down to Celebrity, Summit or Quest. Help me decide!

 

Summit itinerary is: 12 days

Venice embarkation and part of the next day

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Sea

Santorini

Athens

Sea

Naples

Rome

Florence

Nice

Sea

Barcelona

 

Quest: 14 days

Rome embarkation

Sorrento

Sea

Valletta, Malta

Tunis, Tunisia

Sea

Barcelona (2 days)

Carcassonne (Sete) France

Marseille

Monte Carlo

Portofino Italy

Florence (2 days)

Rome

 

If we do the Summit we would arrive 1 day ahead in Venice and stay 1 or 2 days after in Barcelona. On the Quest we would arrive 1 day early Rome and stay a day or so after. I'm leaning toward the Quest because of extra time in Rome but on the other hand I hate to miss Venice! We have never been to Europe. Quest is a smaller ship, we've always cruised on large ships (RCCL). We do want an upscale cruise experience. This will be for our 30th anniversary. We are a couple in our late 40's early 50's.

Help me decide!! Thanks

[Bruin Steve]

I've taken both ships in the Med...sort of...

We did the Venice to Barcelona on the Millennium in 2003--sister ship to the Summit...

And we did Istanbul to Venice on the Oceania Nautica this past July--sister ship to the Quest...

 

We're also right in your same age group...

 

Personally, I prefer the bigger ship (and the prices are lower as well)...but the smaller ship has its strong points too...

 

Here are the big differences for me (I assume Celebrity's operation of the Quest will be similar to Oceania's due to the constraints of the ship itself)...I'll get to the itineraries later...

 

Both ships have very sinmilar passenger-to-space ratios--both fairly roomy...

On the smaller ship, we found very little in the way of non-mealtime food other than room service--not sure if this would change much with Celebrity running the operation, but I think its a matter of scale--doesn't make as much sense to serve 24 hour pizza, for example, with only 680 passengers...

 

Entertainment was lesser as the smaller ship just doesn't have the theater/stage facilities--the showroom is really just a lounge...

 

There's just more to do on the bigger ship...

 

One good thing about the small ship was that it was open seating for dinner (which I've heard Celebrity will do as well)--easier to work your port days around this, though service suffers a little since your waiters don't know you...

 

All in all, though, both ships provide a great, though slightly different, experience...

 

As to the itineraries...I love starting and ending in two different ports--more opportunity...And, if you wanted more time in Rome, Venice is only a short train ride away--you could extend your pre-cruise a few days and fly in to Rome, then head to Venice...But Venice really should not be missed--especially for an Anniversary special trip...

 

For a first timer, I'd also prefer going to Santorini, Athens and Dubrovnik...Malta and Tunis are pretty exotic though...but, maybe you save that for another time...Carcassonne is cool, but a bus ride from Sete...

 

Actually, heck, BOTH itineraries are outstanding...Take one and come back next time and do the other...

[stjohnrocks]

Thanks for your reply. To complicate the decision further maybe I will consider Emerald Princess. The itinerary is similiar to the Summit but it starts in Rome ends in Venice which would be great. It only has one sea day. The only thing on that one is it starts June 17 which is a little later than I wanted to go. Of course it is a brand new ship which would be nice. I put a deposit on the Quest but now I'm worrying about how we would like a small ship with less entertainment/restaurant etc.

Emerald 6/17/08 itinerary

Rome-embarkation

Monte Carlo

Florence

Naples

Sea

Santorini

Ephesus

Mykonos

Athens

Olympia

Corfu

Venice

Price is between the Summit and the Quest