Silhouette Southern Carib or Solstice T/A

[John73]

Hi All,

I'm stuck in a decision and looking for some advice.

 

My first choice is to have a Venice cruise come up on a Tuesday special either in July or August. But, I'm also making plans in case that doesn't happen.

 

I currently have a reservation for the Solstice Transatlantic on Nov 28th, 2011. But, I've recently become aware of a 12 night Silhouette cruise from New Jersey to Southern Caribbean from Nov 30th. The pricing, after including airfare, comes out pretty much the same for the T/A vs the Southern Caribbean cruise. Pretty much same duration for each cruise too. Main difference is that the Silhouette is newer than the Solstice.

 

The nice thing about the Solstice T/A is that it has 7 days of uninterrupted sea days after some days in European ports. But the S. Carib cruise has 3 sea days, followed by 5 ports where i could alternate scuba diving and general excursions (3 total days of diving), and then another 3 sea days. I'm a bit torn here. I like the idea of a T/A, but I also like the idea of escaping the Seattle cold winter and getting in 5 Caribbean ports with 3 days of scuba diving (no diving options on the T/A cruise).

 

Any advice/suggestions?

[Xcruiser]

Personally, I'd pick the Solstice TA over the Silly S. Caribbean...but personally I did pick the Solstice TA Nov. 28th.:D

 

Barcelona is a great port to sail out of and with stops in Malaga, Seville, Lisbon & Ponta Delgada along with 8 total sea days that's hard to beat.

 

I guess you have to weigh how much value the diving and a new ship add to your vacation but a TA takes things to all new levels in terms of the experience onboard and in port.

 

If you decide on the TA, join the roll call and a great group of cruisers taking this journey:

 

Solstice 11-28-11 Roll Call

 

Joel

[dmk]

If you love sea days nothing beats the wonderful "crossing" of all those days in a row. Plus 5 of them are 25 hour days.

I am from Montreal so I can understand cold winters, also! The Nov28th TA will be our 3rd TA. We've been lucky that all had lovely weather...I mean sitting by the pool weather:)

[cruise kitty]

I'd pick the TA, hands down! Barcelona is beautiful, & a very easy port to sail out of, you could literally walk to the ship from town...(we did, but with luggage, I'd take a cab!) The week of sea days is just wonderful, plus they throw in an extra hour each day, we'll definitely be planning another TA for 2012.

[Essiesmom]

I like TA's too, but take into consideration the time and expense of flying to Barcelona as opposed to the costs of the flights for Silhouette cruise. EM

[SusieV]

If price weren't an issue vis-a-vis airfare, I'd definitely take the transatlantic. We love sea days and it would be so relaxing. We're still waiting to be able to take one but my husband usually has his major conferences around the times X repositions so we've been unable to go so far.

 

The Caribbean is pretty much same old same old. We go to get away and have a nice warm vacation in the winter and enjoy the ship amenities, but we don't even look at the itinerary any more since it doesn't really interest us (although I admit we are looking forward to a beach day at Labadee since it gets good reviews).

 

We're doing Silhouette in January but I'd trade it for a transatlantic if I could!

[dmk]

I like TA's too, but take into consideration the time and expense of flying to Barcelona as opposed to the costs of the flights for Silhouette cruise. EM

 

Oh! But it's so worth it:D

[John73]

Well, surprise, surprise. Today Celebrity released the info on next Tuesday's specials and my ideal Solstice Venice cruise is on there. So, looks like I won't have to make this decision. I'm going to do the Solstice Venice cruise in July and if I have a great time I'll check with my boss about taking the time off in December as well to do the T/A crossing. I'm doing a Western Caribbean 7 day cruise on Solstice in January anyways so I can get in my diving during that time. I kinda like the idea of 7 sea days straight on the T/A to just de-couple and relax. Now just wondering if I have enough vacation saved up to make it a reality :) I had already booked airfare for the T/A and used a pasasages booking for the T/A cruise deposit, thankfully with travel insurance with cancel for any reason, so it looks like I'm OK either way.