Celebrity Summit vs. RC Jewel of the Seas 4/5/2014

[MJBrowny21]

Hey Everybody,

Looking to book my first cruise and I'm looking at these 2 cruises, I know its very last minute. We are a young married couple. From what I read it seems like Celebrity might be a little more high end and food possibly better. I'm keeping Royal Carribean in the running as they have a great price on a balcony right now for the same price as an inside on Celebrity, not sure how important a balcony is on a cruise. Any input from anybody would be amazing.

 

RC - Departs From San Juan, Puerto Rico visiting Tortola, British Virgin Islands >> Philipsburg, St. Maarten >> Basseterre, St. Kitts >> Roseau, Dominica >> Bridgetown, Barbados

 

Celebrity - Departs From San Juan, Puerto Rico visiting Bridgetown, Barbados >> Castries, St. Lucia >> St. John's, Antigua >> Philipsburg, St. Maarten >> Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.

 

Thanks,

Mike

[Beachdude]

RCI services and food are not as good as Celebrity, but I would take the balcony.

 

Burt

[Aquahound]

I'm a big fan of both cruise lines so I say this without any negativity toward Celebrity. Between those 2, I would pick JOS. I like the itinerary much better and Tortola and Dominica are 2 of my favorite islands in all the Caribbean.

 

Plus, I like RCI's Radiance Class ships a little better than Celebrity's Millennium Class. Both are beautiful, but I think the Jewel offers more in the way of entertainment and activites than Summit.

 

Ref service and food, you can see in my signature how many cruises I have on each line and to tell you the truth, I really think they're very close....slight service edge to RCI and slight food edge to Celebrity...in my experience.

 

Balcony vs. Inside just seals it for me.

Edited March 25, 2014 by Aquahound

[Roll of the Sea]

I think there are laurels and darts for both cruises. Just came back from the JOS cruise that you're interested in doing. It was amazing even though food was a hit and miss. Sometimes it was wonderful sometimes meh. Most of the times for me it was SALTY. Off shore excursions were fun. Most of them you can do on your own without having to do it through the cruise. BVI was beautiful. We went to the Baths and hiked over to Devil's Bay which offers a less crowded beach experience. If you're shopping St. Maarten is the cheapest and has most shops in one place. Just take the water taxi over. I had three young kids with me so it probably will be a different experience for you. That being said...Young married couple, no kids...Balcony sounds romantic and it's a nice escape from being stuck inside an inside room with no windows. But there's always the deck for that. :O) Good luck in choosing and hope you find a great deal.