My cruise on Beyond next summer was canceled. I've never been on a cruise so I'm not sure how common that is. I booked three IV rooms (grandparents, teens, and my husband and I). I was given $100 per room credit. I'd like to book to get this 4th of July sale, but who knows...maybe that's just another gimmick.
Option #1: Celebrity Ascent with a similar itinerary to the Beyond, except one less night I think. The main issue is that the 3 IV rooms are each nearly $2k more expensive (for a total of $6k more) than my original booking on the Beyond. It just seems like soooo much more considering I had booked at a price I was happy with. Is it worth it to have this brand new boat? I could reduce rooms down to 2 and put one kid in with grandparents and one in with us, or try to book an interior room for the kids, but in any scenario it's way more expensive. Another issue is this cruise ends in Barcelona instead of Rome so I have to fly everyone back to Italy to continue our land based travel in Florence. I'd love this ship but I feel like the added expense may annoy me too much.
Option #2: Celebrity Equinox with a similar itinerary to the Ascent. I was resistant to this older ship because I had done a lot of research and was sooo looking forward to the Beyond. Now that I've had a chance to get over my disappointment, it seems like the Equinox could be a good fit for us. There are only two sea days but my boys would love the basketball court as they are super active. And the cost for 3 extended balcony rooms is less even than the Beyond. I like that there is a functional balcony as my husband wakes by 530 every day. I'm just worried it looks a little tired? Even the PR pics on the website of the cabins look a little outdated.
What do all you experienced cruisers think? We are only doing a cruise in order to accomodate elderly grandparents and I'm not sure we would do another one if that makes a difference. Thanks for your help!