NE/Canada - which would you pick?

[Mewissy]

OK. I have done a TON of researching (including posting a few threads here) and have narrowed down our choices to 3 cruises. I am playing travel agent for my parents as this will be a cruise for their 35th wedding anniversary.

 

They want to sail Sept 2012 in a balcony room.

 

We live in the Philadelphia area and are looking to avoid airfare.

 

Option #1 - 7-night, Jewel of the Seas from Boston

Price: About $2,700, including train rides

Itinerary: Boston, Portland Maine, Bar Harbor Maine, Saint John New Brunswick, Sea Day, Halifax Nova Scotia, Sea Day, Boston (2 Sea Days)

Pros: Heard great things about the ship, aft balconies available

Cons: 5 hour train ride!

 

Option #2 - 8-night, Enchantment of the Seas from Baltimore

Price: $3,400 with parking

Itinerary: Baltimore, Sea Day, Portland Maine, Bar Harbor Maine, Saint John New Brunswick, Halifax Nova Scotia, Sea Day, Sea Day, Baltimore (Same ports as Jewel + One Sea Day = 3 Sea Days)

Pros: Fairly convenient to get to, heard good things about the port

Cons: Price

 

Option #3 - 7-night, Caribbean Princess from NY

Price: $2,600 - $3,000 depending on what type of balcony we choose (don't know enough yet to pick acceptable category like I can with RC)

Itinerary: New York, Sea Day, Halifax Nova Scotia, Saint John New Brunswick, Bar Harbor Maine, Boston Massachusetts, Newport Rhode Island, New York (1 Sea Day)

Pros: Most convenient. Can drive to NJ, have relative drop off at port. Extra stop.

Cons: Don't know Princess and have read mixed reviews on Caribbean Princess with biggest concerns being plumbing and AC.

 

I would welcome any advice. I'm leaning toward recommending Option #3 because of convenience and knowing that Princess overall is highly recommended.

[mcarnett]

OK. I have done a TON of researching (including posting a few threads here) and have narrowed down our choices to 3 cruises. I am playing travel agent for my parents as this will be a cruise for their 35th wedding anniversary.

 

They want to sail Sept 2012 in a balcony room.

 

We live in the Philadelphia area and are looking to avoid airfare.

 

Option #1 - 7-night, Jewel of the Seas from Boston

Price: About $2,700, including train rides

Itinerary: Boston, Portland Maine, Bar Harbor Maine, Saint John New Brunswick, Sea Day, Halifax Nova Scotia, Sea Day, Boston (2 Sea Days)

Pros: Heard great things about the ship, aft balconies available

Cons: 5 hour train ride!

 

Option #2 - 8-night, Enchantment of the Seas from Baltimore

Price: $3,400 with parking

Itinerary: Baltimore, Sea Day, Portland Maine, Bar Harbor Maine, Saint John New Brunswick, Halifax Nova Scotia, Sea Day, Sea Day, Baltimore (Same ports as Jewel + One Sea Day = 3 Sea Days)

Pros: Fairly convenient to get to, heard good things about the port

Cons: Price

 

Option #3 - 7-night, Caribbean Princess from NY

Price: $2,600 - $3,000 depending on what type of balcony we choose (don't know enough yet to pick acceptable category like I can with RC)

Itinerary: New York, Sea Day, Halifax Nova Scotia, Saint John New Brunswick, Bar Harbor Maine, Boston Massachusetts, Newport Rhode Island, New York (1 Sea Day)

Pros: Most convenient. Can drive to NJ, have relative drop off at port. Extra stop.

Cons: Don't know Princess and have read mixed reviews on Caribbean Princess with biggest concerns being plumbing and AC.

 

I would welcome any advice. I'm leaning toward recommending Option #3 because of convenience and knowing that Princess overall is highly recommended.

I like option #1. A 5 hour train ride can be very relaxing and enjoy the views. We also like the aft balconys on any ship. The Jewel is a beautiful ship. We just got back from the Enchantment of the Seas doing the New England/ Canada trip. We loved Bar Harbor!!

[negc]

I am prejudiced in favor of the Jewel which is our favorite ship and one on which we will be sailing at least four times in the next year or so. Also we live near Boston so there is no lengthy commute involved. We did the Jewel NE/Canada cruise last year and loved the ship, its crew and its itinerary. They also served REAL MAINE LOBSTER several times during the cruise.:) Have you checked the low fare airlines like Jet Blue or Southwest as the airfares might not be much higher than the train and the trip would be much quicker. South Station Amtrak station and Logan Airport are pretty similar insofar as their distance from Black Falcon Pier goes.

I also prefer the size of the Jewel over that of the Princess ship, but I do like the fact that Princess includes Newport in its itinerary. That and Bar Harbor are both tender ports, however, so how well your parents can handle tendering might be a factor. I also enjoy sea days so for me, it would be a tradeoff of Newport vs another wonderful day at sea.

Don't think you will be disappointed with whichever cruise you choose.

[pjlee3333]

I love Enchantment - 6 times in 1 year say a lot. Also for me I hate to drive/ride so being closer to the Port of Baltimore (which I agree is great) would be fantastic.

 

Another possible con about Enchantment though is that in 2012 it does not have Boston. Don't know how important that port is to you or your parents. They are now including that port in a Bermuda, Newport, Boston 8 day cruise and not the Canada, New England cruise.

 

Jewel of the Seas would be my second favorite because I'm happy with the Royal Caribbean product and I love the centrum on the Vision/Radience class ships.

[catergirl]

guess i might favor #3, the princess one, course i like princess:o, but i guess i like more ports and less sea days as well as the cruise away from NYC:) hey, and a change is as good as the rest as they say!

[Mewissy]

Oh, I should have probably mentioned my parents are young, in their mid-fifties so no mobility or similar issues.

 

Thanks for all the comments so far.

[DonnaK]

We did this cruise on the Caribbean Princess and LOVED it!!! We returned to the ship for its Caribbean itinerary two years later.

 

We had no problem with the AC, especially on the Canada/NE route. It was explained to us by the passenger services director at our Meet and Greet that they use ocean water in the cooling system, and the cooler the water, the better it works.

 

You can click on the link in my signature to find my review of both of my cruises on the CB.

 

As for choosing a balcony, the side of the ship is graduated, so some balconies are larger, and are more exposed than others. As well, if you are not high enough, you look down on the balcony of the deck under you. We like a covered balcony, so we picked a Riviera deck cabin in the 700s (category BC), which is conveninetly located near the adult only Terrace Pool on the aft of that deck. We also chose a category AD minisuite on the Emerald deck, which are the only minisuites with covered balconies.

 

We love the Royal Caribbean product, but it's nice to mix it up for a change, and Princess provides a nice alternative. Some things RCI does better, and other things we liked better on Princess, but it all balances out to an equivalent cruising experience.

[mjldvlks]

We did this itinerary in Oct 2010 and I would recommend option 1 (Jewel is not my favorite ship by a long shot, but that was based primarily on service and crews rotate). The itineraries are fairly similar, and an extra day is always nice. But the extra day on option 2 is not worth $700 and it skips Boston. I would choose option 1 over 3 based primarily on price. It appears likely that 1 will be cheaper than 2. It also appeals to me that Boston is the port of embarkation/debarkation so you can spend more time there if you like. If you have spent a lot of time in Boston, that may not be such a big deal. So to me it comes down mostly to price. I have to admit that, intuitively, Newport sounds more intriguing than Portland, Maine, but that is not enough for me to pay extra. All things being equal we would probably pick RCI -- but I am not such a cheeleader that I would pick a second choice itinerary just to stay with RCI. I would frankly like to try other lines in the future -- just to see.

[Wormy53]

I am going to do the Jewel trip in October. (Just booked today!:D) I chose it because it left from Boston and I wanted to spend some time there. I usually sail Princess - they are a good fit for us. I looked at their option, but we have sailed out of NY a couple of times and wanted to do something different!

 

I know how you feel - it's hard to pick something new, but it is fun too!!! Princess is a great cruiseline, and if that is closest to you I would go for it.

 

I would have liked that longer cruise from Baltimore too, but the price seemed significantly higher.

 

For a Princess balcony - we always choose Caribe deck - much bigger balconies

[Merion_Mom]

Enchantment.

 

We did this very cruise the summer that Enchantment was homeported in Philadelphia. <sigh>

 

LOVED everything about it: the ship, the ports, everything.

 

Baltimore is SO easy to get to from here, Mewissy. I don't know which side of the city you are on, but the port is a straight shot down I-95. The exit is the first one after the Fort McHenry Tunnel.

[jackretired]

Many people cruising out of Baltimore arrive the day before and stay at a hotel that has a Stay/Breakfast/Park/Cruise package that is cheaper than parking at the port.

[Beach4me]

We chose the Jewel for Sept 2012. Haven't cruised on the Jewel but absolutely love the Radiance (sister ship). In fact, of the 50+ cruises we've done, the Radiance is our favorite ship.

 

I'm not a big fan of Princess so we didn't even consider them for this trip.

 

We've done this cruise a couple times over the years. It is a great cruise.

[OTownNick]

Jewel of the Seas. Perfect sized ship, and very well- suited for the cooler weather cruises, like NE or Alaska. Just my opinion.

[Beach4me]

Jewel of the Seas. Perfect sized ship, and very well- suited for the cooler weather cruises, like NE or Alaska. Just my opinion.

 

Agreed! The Radiance class ships were built for those itineraries with all the glass everywhere - including in the elevators. They were built with the idea of never missing a view of the great outdoors.

[Jimbo]

I would go for option # 1(Jewel of the Seas), much nicer ship then Enchantment. Enchantment seems over crowded since they stretched it to add more cabins, more people but didn't make any of the public areas larger.

 

Price I see for cheapest balcony on Enchantment before parking is $3600.

 

I would take the extra money for paying less for Jewel of the seas and spend aleast 1 day in Boston overnight after the cruise.

Beautiful City, much nicer then Baltimore in the Fall.

 

Enchantment is way over priced in my opinion.

 

Jimbo:)