Help please!! Emerald Princess or Celebrity Silhouette??

[dimiegirl]

Hello everyone,

I have a deposit on 2 cruises, both of which final payment is due within the week.. One is the emerald princess 14 day Baltic cruise.. The other is the 7 day greek island cruise on celebrity silhouette.. both cruises are within 100 dollars of each other.. we are going in july... the celebrity greek island is a balcony and the emerald is an inside... we know it gets hot in the mediteranean in the summer which was a concern of ours ..it goes round trip venice and stops in kotor, athens, santorini, olympia...

The celebrity baltic goes round trip london and goes to st petersburg, estonia, gothernburg sweeden, stockholm sweeden, helsinki, oslo,norway, Copenhagen..

 

We have been on both celebrity and princess..we prefer celebrity but like princess as well..Any input and advice from those experienced cruisers would be greatly appreciated since we have to make a final decision within the week:confused::confused: Thanks so much!!!:)

[chrysalis]

14 days for about the same price as a 7 day.....no contest for my brain.

[bcnvcanada]

If you are worried about the heat go with the 14 days.

It should be much cooler in the Baltic. Also the days

are much longer as your are so far North. Whatever,

you do have a great cruise.

[Happy2cruise]

For the money, sounds like the 14 day is the better deal. Whatever one you decide on, enjoy:D

[Bruin Steve]

Hello everyone,

I have a deposit on 2 cruises, both of which final payment is due within the week.. One is the emerald princess 14 day Baltic cruise.. The other is the 7 day greek island cruise on celebrity silhouette.. both cruises are within 100 dollars of each other.. we are going in july... the celebrity greek island is a balcony and the emerald is an inside... we know it gets hot in the mediteranean in the summer which was a concern of ours ..it goes round trip venice and stops in kotor, athens, santorini, olympia...

The celebrity baltic goes round trip london and goes to st petersburg, estonia, gothernburg sweeden, stockholm sweeden, helsinki, oslo,norway, Copenhagen..

 

We have been on both celebrity and princess..we prefer celebrity but like princess as well..Any input and advice from those experienced cruisers would be greatly appreciated since we have to make a final decision within the week:confused::confused: Thanks so much!!!:)

 

Classic "apples and oranges"...

Both are great cruises...

BUT...what you've outlined are two totally different trips...two different areas, two different experiences...two different categories of cabin...two different cruise lengths...

 

It would be far easier to give you a rational opinion if, say, you were comparing two 14 night cruises both in balcony cabins...

 

I never base these things on prices...

My first thing I look at is the itinerary...

I much prefer the Mediterranean to the Baltic...But the Baltic makes for a great cruise as well. Both are worth visiting at least once. I've done three Baltic cruises (one on Princess, two on Celebrity)...and I've also done a couple of other Northern Europe cruises...and five in the Mediterranean (three on Oceania, two on Celebrity)...

 

What I love about the Med is the history, culture, food, art, archaeology and architecture...there's still some of all that, but a little less in the Baltic...Also, I've been slightly disappointed with SOME Baltic ports, but hardly ever in the Med...

 

OTOH...I find any 7 night cruise in Europe to be way too short...14 nights is a perfect length...

 

But, I also prefer a balcony cabin to an inside...BUT, if you are willing to take an inside to save money and afford 14 days, why not do the same on EITHER line? Celebrity has some great 14. Night itineraries as well...or the ability to do two different sevens back to back...

 

My personal opinion is....flip a coin...do one this year and book the other for next year...

 

Ps.: with my wife being a public school employee, we've done the Med in July/August most of the time...the heat is really not that bad...humidity is relatively low and you can dress for it. I LOVE Venice as an embarkation city...and here is what I would recommend if you do that one...Extend your trip before the cruise, after the cruise or both...We did that this past summer. We had a 13 night cruise on Silhouette (Venice - Koper - Ravenna - Split - Kotor - Dubrovnik - Bari - Corfu - Malta - Catania - Sorrento - Rome...one of my favorite itineraries ever). We booked our air into Milan several days before embarkation...drove through the Alps via Lake Como and St. Moritz and visited Merano, Verona, Padua before the cruise...and went to Florence and spent time in Rome after the cruise. It is easy from Venice, to visit some other cool places to give you an enhanced vacation experience.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Bruin Steve

[OCruisers]

Classic "apples and oranges"...

Both are great cruises...

BUT...what you've outlined are two totally different trips...two different areas, two different experiences...two different categories of cabin...two different cruise lengths...

 

It would be far easier to give you a rational opinion if, say, you were comparing two 14 night cruises both in balcony cabins...

.

 

It's hard to give an opinion when you're comparing "apples to oranges" rather than "apples to apples". :rolleyes:

LuLu

[dimiegirl]

Classic "apples and oranges"...

Both are great cruises...

BUT...what you've outlined are two totally different trips...two different areas, two different experiences...two different categories of cabin...two different cruise lengths...

 

It would be far easier to give you a rational opinion if, say, you were comparing two 14 night cruises both in balcony cabins...

 

I never base these things on prices...

My first thing I look at is the itinerary...

I much prefer the Mediterranean to the Baltic...But the Baltic makes for a great cruise as well. Both are worth visiting at least once. I've done three Baltic cruises (one on Princess, two on Celebrity)...and I've also done a couple of other Northern Europe cruises...and five in the Mediterranean (three on Oceania, two on Celebrity)...

 

What I love about the Med is the history, culture, food, art, archaeology and architecture...there's still some of all that, but a little less in the Baltic...Also, I've been slightly disappointed with SOME Baltic ports, but hardly ever in the Med...

 

OTOH...I find any 7 night cruise in Europe to be way too short...14 nights is a perfect length...

 

But, I also prefer a balcony cabin to an inside...BUT, if you are willing to take an inside to save money and afford 14 days, why not do the same on EITHER line? Celebrity has some great 14. Night itineraries as well...or the ability to do two different sevens back to back...

 

My personal opinion is....flip a coin...do one this year and book the other for next year...

 

Ps.: with my wife being a public school employee, we've done the Med in July/August most of the time...the heat is really not that bad...humidity is relatively low and you can dress for it. I LOVE Venice as an embarkation city...and here is what I would recommend if you do that one...Extend your trip before the cruise, after the cruise or both...We did that this past summer. We had a 13 night cruise on Silhouette (Venice - Koper - Ravenna - Split - Kotor - Dubrovnik - Bari - Corfu - Malta - Catania - Sorrento - Rome...one of my favorite itineraries ever). We booked our air into Milan several days before embarkation...drove through the Alps via Lake Como and St. Moritz and visited Merano, Verona, Padua before the cruise...and went to Florence and spent time in Rome after the cruise. It is easy from Venice, to visit some other cool places to give you an enhanced vacation experience.

 

Thank you very much for the information and for your experienced opinion. I think i would prefer the itinerary of the 7 day cruise as well..your comment about the heat puts my concerns at ease. I think maybe we will go for that one and spend a couple of extra days in venice. Thanks again for taking the time to share your experience:)

[brian1]

hi,we now live in calabria southern italy and 40c is the norm for july,cheers brian.

[PrincessVIP]

Emerald Princess 14 Day.

[goody1]

I agree with brian1. My wife and I were on the Silhouette last year on a 12 night cruise ex. Venice in July. It was a great cruise however temps were 37-39C every day. Our tour guides in Kotor and Koper were even complaining about the heat. We have also done 3 Baltic Cruises with Celebrity, HAL and NCL. In July you will get good weather in the Baltic Region, with temps between mid to late 20s. It's your choice obviously, but personally speaking I would choose the 14 nights.

Edited May 19, 2014 by goody1

[brian1]

hi again,we are driving back to uk in june to see family via lido di jesolo for 3 nights and doing venice the cheap way with water buses and packed lunch.we are staying over in uk longer to do the baltic heritage on july 26th.we were going to do this cruise in august 2015 for my oh 60th but found it was 2000GBP dearer and doesnt include oslo so we decided this year while in uk and thinking of something else for next year,that was the decider for us,cheers brian.

[capriccio]

I lived in Italy for 5 years and Greece for 3 -- I wouldn't visit major cities in either country in July or August. It's just too hot and the major cities are way too crowded with tourists. On the other hand, I also lived in Belgium for 3.5 years and Germany for 2 and July and August is usually the only time we could count on sunshine (especially in Belgium). Scandinavia at that time of year is lovely too - sunshine and long days.

[insidecabin]

Theer are a few deals going have you looked at other allternative you still have the choice to cancel both of these and take something else.

 

 

I think the Med would be too hot and busy for us to consider that option and 7n is too short and we only have a short flight from the UK.

 

Baltic, or switch to the Ruby round britain at £599

[MVPinBoynton]

Pricing is very good this year for the Baltic due to political reasons. We have been on a couple Baltic cruises and three Med cruises. I do prefer a Med cruise; but Baltic cruises are also very good. If money was no object I would do exactly what Steve recommended, since we did something similar last a couple years ago. However, money normally does affect cruise decisions; so I would take advantage of the great Baltic pricing this year. The Baltic cruises are normally quite expensive, so if you have a deal, take advantage of it. Of course, we don't know if the political situation could affect your ability to see St. Petersburg; which is the main reason for a Baltic cruise.

 

If you do end up with the one week cruise, try to spend the other 7 days on your own taking in the beauty and pleasures of the Med.

[hubofhockey]

If you haven't done a Med cruise yet, I wouldn't do the Celebrity itinerary. It seems a bit limiting. I still think the best Med itinerary out there is the Venice to Barcelona (or reversed) Princess itinerary. It looks like the Island Princess is doing that itinerary next year and I would look into that one. It gives you so many amazing ports to see Rome, Venice, Florence, Capri, Amalfi Coast, Barcelona, Istanbul, Ephesus, Athens, Barcelona, and Provence. Prices for this 12-day itinerary are probably similar to the 14-day you looked at for the Baltic itinerary. It's my favorite itinerary of all we have done. You may want to consider it.

 

I also agree with the post above about Baltic pricing. We're paying much less for the same cruise this summer that I balked at, given 2013 prices. For some reason, I do love the opportunity to see these ports, especially the two days in St Petersburg. I can't comment yet, but I think this itinerary compares well against any out there (we're doing the 11-day Copenhagen to Copenhagen and not the 14-day Southampton one).

Edited May 19, 2014 by hubofhockey

[dimiegirl]

Thank you everyone for the advice and input. We have decided based strongly on the feedback to go for the baltic cruise. thanks again!:)

[RHayes8793]

We have been on both ships in the past 6 months. Just got back from the Emerald two weeks ago. If you're just looking at just the ships, the Silhouette is one of the nicest we have been on.

[dimiegirl]

We have been on both ships in the past 6 months. Just got back from the Emerald two weeks ago. If you're just looking at just the ships, the Silhouette is one of the nicest we have been on.

 

Thank you for your reply.. Was there something you did not like about the emerald princess? I had been on the diamond princess and the island princess. I liked the diamond princess but did not care at all for the island princess..