NYcruisefan08 Posted January 25, 2013 #1 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Hello! We are debating between the Royal Princess or Celebrity Reflection for an August Med. cruise. We are a couple in our mid to late 30's, no kids, don't drink or party that much. Like to have a nice dinner in the evening, not a huge fan of shows. We do like MUTS on Princess quite a bit. Does anyone know which way to go in that scenario? We won't really be focusing as much on the ship entertainement (I don't think) - I imagine we will more likely be utilizing the ship as a floating hotel that takes us between ports. Although we will have 2 sea days. The ports are good on both ships - mostly Greek Islands, Turkey and Italy. During sea days we like to lay out in the sun and read. The deals on Celebrity are amazing right now. We sailed Ruby Princess in 2011 in the Caribbean and liked it. Bonus to Celebrity are the dates - we'd only need to take off 2 weeks from work for the trip vs. almost 3 for Princess (due to the departure dates). If the ship leaves on a Monday from Rome, can we fly from the US on Sunday? We'd get there Monday morning, yes? Then we'd stay in Rome for a night post-cruise to see Vatican City before heading back to the States. Help please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebeccalouiseagain Posted January 25, 2013 #2 Share Posted January 25, 2013 I am a huge Celebrity fan but I looked at the itineraries for both ships and I would do the Royal Princess cruise that takes you from Barcelona- Istanbul- Venice. The two greatest cruise ports IMO are Venice and Istanbul. Both sail-ins are something to behold. The Princess cruise offers both and that would be the deciding factor for me. I have enjoyed Princess in Europe as well as Celebrity. The difference are fairly minimal and a European cruise is itinerary driven. You'll have a good time on either. I do love MUTS at night and did watch movies every night on my last two Princess cruises. Barcelona airport isn't a long drive from the port and the same holds true for the Venice port. So you do not have to stay over at either end unless you want to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYcruisefan08 Posted January 25, 2013 Author #3 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Thanks! I know - I really want to see Istanbul. If we depart on the Royal cruise on August 22, when would we need to leave NYC? If we come back in on Sept. 3rd, and fly out that night, we'd get back on the 4th? I'm worried I'd miss work the week of the 19th to get there and then not be back at work until the week of 9/9 - which might be an issue. I'm really torn between the two... Does the Celebrity ship have anything like MUTS? I think, after a long day sightseeing, it would be nice to curl up on a lounger and relax watching a movie. We also want spa time on our sea days - but it seems to me both ship's spas are comparable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebeccalouiseagain Posted January 25, 2013 #4 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Both ships spas are comparable- except Princess has a private pool for spa users I think. I'm not sure where you are flying from. I looked at your intinerary and you can fly to Venice and board your cruise on the first day. So you don't need to fly in early since you have an overnight there. So you won't miss the ship. On the way back- you will probably have to fly home no later than 3PM- there generally aren't late night flights out of Barcelona. If you do an afternoon flight- I highly recommend a ship tour of the city that day because they will show you the sites of the city, with your luggage stored underneath and then then drop you off at the airport. This excursion isn't expensive (we did one to Montserrat that took us through Barcelona and we did see some of the Gaudi buildings and such with an airport drop-off at 12:30PM) and it makes life easy. So the answer is- you don't have to spend the night in Barcelona- you can fly back the same day. If you leave at 3PM it takes about 8-11 hours depending if it's a nonstop or a connection. That means you touch down in the US sometime between 5-7PM US time the same day. The advantage to the Celebrity Reflection August 19th cruise means you can depart the US on Saturday, arrive Sunday in Rome, have an overnight in Rome and then board the ship on Monday. Coming back you can do another overnight because you disembark on a Friday. So assuming you don't work weekends, then you are right about missing less time from work. You will also get to see more of Rome obviously but will sacrifice Venice. Decisions decisions! If it makes you feel better- I thought my first trip to Italy would be my last but I've been back four times since then! So you don't have to see everything the first time you go. Do the one that is the most relaxing and cost effective for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYcruisefan08 Posted January 26, 2013 Author #5 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Thanks - this is really helpful. If I take the Celebrity cruise, and fly out from the US on Sunday, arriving Monday, that's probably bad. Yes? Can I go wrong with either itinerary? Is one day in Istanbul enough? One day in Rome vs. 2? If you had to pick between Rome and Venice, is there a better choice? Or - if I'm taking that week off anyway - could I fly into Rome on Monday and stay there for a few days and then head to Venice on Thursday morning via train? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisetrail Posted January 26, 2013 #6 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Does the Celebrity ship have anything like MUTS? I think, after a long day sightseeing, it would be nice to curl up on a lounger and relax watching a movie. We also want spa time on our sea days - but it seems to me both ship's spas are comparable. I was going to say "it does not matter if you want just a floating hotel". But as you go into details... No, Celebrity does not have MUTS. No, ship's spas are not comparable. This is one of inexplicable design flaws of Celebrity ships. Their spas lack the core feature - hydropool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebeccalouiseagain Posted January 26, 2013 #7 Share Posted January 26, 2013 You can of course fly out on a Sunday, arriving Monday and then go to the ship. The airport is about 1.5 hours from the port. The cruise lines offer a shuttle to the tune of about $85 pp. No you can not go wrong with either itinerary. An overnight there would be nice but you can see the main sites all in one day. They are the Cisterns, the Topkapi Palace, the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar. All of them are in the same area of the city and all of them are easily accessible from the ship. Rome has more art and ruins, Venice is unique in that there are no cars and you really feel like you are stepping back in time. Flying in a few days early to Rome and then doing the train to Venice sounds great. The train takes approximately 4 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYcruisefan08 Posted January 26, 2013 Author #8 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Thanks again - this is so helpful! Off to do more reading on each and see what I can figure out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYcruisefan08 Posted January 29, 2013 Author #9 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Hi - So we have decided on the Celebrity Reflection! The itinerary is great and the timing is just perfect for us - we can fly on the weekends which makes it so much easier to manage from a work / vacation perspective. Plus, I think we got a really good price (which makes it even better!) So now to pick a cabin! I can get a bit sea sick from heavy motion. We are looking at a category 2B balcony cabin. Probably on deck 7. Our options are forward or aft - nothing really mid ship. Which would be the better option? Thanks!:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebeccalouiseagain Posted January 29, 2013 #10 Share Posted January 29, 2013 We just did the Med on a ship and were close to the bow. I felt lots of motion so given the two options- I'd go with aft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYcruisefan08 Posted January 29, 2013 Author #11 Share Posted January 29, 2013 We just did the Med on a ship and were close to the bow. I felt lots of motion so given the two options- I'd go with aft. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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