Jewel or Vision for Mediterranean cruise in 2018

[3redheads]

We've been on Serenade, sister ship of Jewel and loved it. While we love the itinerary of Vision, some of the recent reviews are concerning.

 

12 day Itinerary of Vision:

Barcelona,

Nice,

Livorno

Rome

Amalfi Coast

Venice

Ravenna, Italy

Kotor, Montenegro

3 sea days

Cost is $1000 more than Jewel

 

12 day Jewel itinerary

Rome

Nice

Sete, France

Marseille

Barcelona

Valencia, Spain

Palma de Mallorca

Malta

Mesina (Sicily)

Naples

2 port days

 

Venice is on my bucket list, so if we went with Jewel, we would fly into Venice and spend few days there and travel to Rome for the cruise.

 

Has anyone sailed both ships? Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

Thanks so much!

[Norwich Cruiser]

Sailed both ships twice on Vision in the last two years thought the ship food entertainment and staff were excellent both times.

The itineraries are excellent but with the sail in and out of Kotor the Amalfi Coast and I believe you may overnight in Venice on the Vision cruise and therefore would go for that.

Also Barcelona cruise port is far easier to get to than Citivechhia.

[Clarea]

You can't go wrong with either ship, they are both excellent.

 

I agree about Venice, if you can cruise there, and especially if you overnight there, that would seal the deal for me.

[3redheads]

Thank you both. Yes, Vision stays overnight in Venice.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

I would also lean towards Vision, unless the cost is a problem. I've heard sailing in/out of Venice is a must do for any cruiser, so I'd personably go with that option.

 

I'm doing a solo Med trip in 2018 and was torn between the Rhapsody leaving from Venice and hitting Greece and Croatia or the Symphony leaving from Barcelona. I ultimately chose Rhapsody because of Venice ... Who knows how much longer cruise ships will be allowed to sail there.

[3redheads]

I would also lean towards Vision, unless the cost is a problem. I've heard sailing in/out of Venice is a must do for any cruiser, so I'd personably go with that option.

 

I'm doing a solo Med trip in 2018 and was torn between the Rhapsody leaving from Venice and hitting Greece and Croatia or the Symphony leaving from Barcelona. I ultimately chose Rhapsody because of Venice ... Who knows how much longer cruise ships will be allowed to sail there.

 

Nope, I have 18 months to save! Plus, we have an aft corner JS. Too bad we don't get suite perks. Also, we turn Diamond on the cruise. Too bad we can't take advantage of that until the cruise after this one.

[Bruin Steve]

12 day Itinerary of Vision:

Barcelona,

Nice,

Livorno

Rome

Amalfi Coast

Venice

Ravenna, Italy

Kotor, Montenegro

3 sea days

Cost is $1000 more than Jewel

 

12 day Jewel itinerary

Rome

Nice

Sete, France

Marseille

Barcelona

Valencia, Spain

Palma de Mallorca

Malta

Mesina (Sicily)

Naples

2 port days

I haven't looked at the full itineraries...BUT...

Here's my take of the itineraries by port:

You get Nice and Barcelona either way, but, it sounds like with Vision, you get to start in Barcelona. I LOVE Barcelona as a great place to spend a few relaxing days pre-cruise. Great town and hotels are not overly expensive for a major European city.

OTOH, on the Vision, you get a quick port stop in Rome, whereas, it sounds like, on Jewel, it is your embarkation and disembarkation port. There is a LOT to see in Rome, but it is also an expensive city to visit...and you get to deal with transportation Fiumicino to Rome to Civitavecchia...which adds some hassle and expense. Ending in Venice is, far and away, a great place to start or end a cruise...and it's nice to have a different embarkation and disembarkation port--and spend a few extra nights in each...

 

And, further, the other major trade-off is Valencia, Mallorca, Marseilles, Malta and Sete for the Jewel vs. Kotor, Amalfi and Ravenna for Vision. Fewer ports on Vision, but all three are pretty incredible. Amalfi gives you the chance to go see Pompeii or Herculaneum, Kotor is a gem fewer folks get to see...and Ravenna, for us, meant an unforgettable day in San Marino. On Jewel, Sete and Marseilles give you a chance to visit a lot of Provence, but, taken along with Nice, may be a bit of Southern France overkill. Valencia and Mallorca may be more known as beach towns than anything else. OTOH, Malta is absolutely stunning. So, a lot might really depend on what you really want to do and see. There are trade-offs on both itineraries.

 

Another thing to consider with the fewer ports and additional at sea day is that, when you are doing that much touring, spending long days in port, it is often nice to have those at sea days to relax and recuperate onboard ship.

 

You really can't go wrong with either cruise...But, just pick the one that appeals to you more...and save the other route to do next time.

 

As to the ships, in my book, it is really secondary to the itinerary when cruising Europe...and, from my experience, RCCL does a good job in maintaining their ships...and, by the time you cruise, they've likely done work on either ship...

 

Good luck...

[3redheads]

I haven't looked at the full itineraries...BUT...

Here's my take of the itineraries by port:

You get Nice and Barcelona either way, but, it sounds like with Vision, you get to start in Barcelona. I LOVE Barcelona as a great place to spend a few relaxing days pre-cruise. Great town and hotels are not overly expensive for a major European city.

OTOH, on the Vision, you get a quick port stop in Rome, whereas, it sounds like, on Jewel, it is your embarkation and disembarkation port. There is a LOT to see in Rome, but it is also an expensive city to visit...and you get to deal with transportation Fiumicino to Rome to Civitavecchia...which adds some hassle and expense. Ending in Venice is, far and away, a great place to start or end a cruise...and it's nice to have a different embarkation and disembarkation port--and spend a few extra nights in each...

 

And, further, the other major trade-off is Valencia, Mallorca, Marseilles, Malta and Sete for the Jewel vs. Kotor, Amalfi and Ravenna for Vision. Fewer ports on Vision, but all three are pretty incredible. Amalfi gives you the chance to go see Pompeii or Herculaneum, Kotor is a gem fewer folks get to see...and Ravenna, for us, meant an unforgettable day in San Marino. On Jewel, Sete and Marseilles give you a chance to visit a lot of Provence, but, taken along with Nice, may be a bit of Southern France overkill. Valencia and Mallorca may be more known as beach towns than anything else. OTOH, Malta is absolutely stunning. So, a lot might really depend on what you really want to do and see. There are trade-offs on both itineraries.

 

Another thing to consider with the fewer ports and additional at sea day is that, when you are doing that much touring, spending long days in port, it is often nice to have those at sea days to relax and recuperate onboard ship.

 

You really can't go wrong with either cruise...But, just pick the one that appeals to you more...and save the other route to do next time.

 

As to the ships, in my book, it is really secondary to the itinerary when cruising Europe...and, from my experience, RCCL does a good job in maintaining their ships...and, by the time you cruise, they've likely done work on either ship...

 

Good luck...

 

Thanks so much for your insight. I see you're doing B2B on Jewel. I'm jealous!

 

Barcelona might be my favorite city in Europe. You've certainly given me some things to think about! I really appreciate it!

[shecola]

Thanks for the insight. I'm doing the Vision next year. Longing to see Venice

[mj]

Both ships are great. I did the exact itinerary on the Vision back in 2015 and loved it.The sail in to Venice is one of my highlights and Kotor, your last stop, was a pleasant surprise. Sailing into Kotor was a great memory as well.

 

Pick the itinerary that you like and let that be your deciding factor.

[Hoopster95]

Has anyone sailed both ships? Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks so much!

 

Yep, sailed both ships....don't do either of these itineraries for the ship, the size of ship doesn't matter... do them for the itinerary.

 

The Vision itinerary wins this battle for me, and Vision is updated enough with Specialty restaurants and so forth. The only downsides I see for Vision (vs. a Radiance Class ship) is no helipad access for views and site lines on sail-ins/sail-aways, nor the rear Windjammer outdoor seating if you enjoy buffet breakfast or dinner while in port. There are more differences obviously between the ships that I don't think are overly important for a port heavy Med Cruise (ie. sports court, theatre or MDR size, Viking Crown nightclub size & rotating bar, etc)

 

That Jewel 12-day sailing you quote is a "one of" in late October/early November... I would much rather sail the Med in May or Sept as Vision does.

[3redheads]

Thank you all for giving me something to think about. Itinerary-Vision!

[dani negreanu]

I would also lean towards Vision, unless the cost is a problem. I've heard sailing in/out of Venice is a must do for any cruiser, so I'd personably go with that option.

 

Who knows how much longer cruise ships will be allowed to sail there.

 

I'm adding my 2 cents in red, sorry -- 2 likes... :D

[3redheads]

I'm adding my 2 cents in red, sorry -- 2 likes... :D

 

Love your screen name! I appreciate everyone's advice. Still booked on both, but leaning towards Vision. We sail out of Barcelona, but spend 2 days in Venice. I want to do it all :)

[dani negreanu]

Love your screen name!

 

Thanks, it's actually my maiden name... had no idea at the time of subscribing to CC that there is a famous card player with this name. I assume he is of Roumanian origins like me.:D

I have a great hotel to recommend in Venice - Fontana, 5 min walk from San Marco.

[Mark-Sheffield]

We have booked the 12 night on Vision next May from Barcelona, the ports were the deciding factor, rather than the ship for us.

[maddea66]

Just a heads up...depending on which sailing you have selected for Vision of the Seas, you may be disappointed. I was booked in a grand suite on the 6/7/18 sailing but do an issue on another sailing my TA found out this sailing has been chartered and we will be displaced...SOOOO I spent over an hour on the phone w/my TA and rep from RCCL problem resolution and ended up booking Jewel of the Seas B2B 6/17/18 & 6/24/18.

[3redheads]

I ended up booking with HAL. It's a 12 day cruise and we are visiting new places. Thanks for the responses!

[teddybear231]

We were looking at the same thing! We much rather prefer the itinerary on Vision but would rather travel on the Jewel.

[Clarea]

We were looking at the same thing! We much rather prefer the itinerary on Vision but would rather travel on the Jewel.

We actually like the Solarium on VIsion better than the one on Radiance class ships. I also think that the main pool area on Vision class is larger because a good part of the pool deck on Radiance class is taken up by the kiddie pool area.

[CherylFP]

I'm looking at the same choice Vision or Jewel for July next year. We have four grandchildren aged 11, 13, 13 and 15. Has anyone been in the Vision with families? Is there enough entertainment for teens? We love the Vision itinerary but did a lot of research into the Jewel. Vision cuts down air fares, accommodation and food.

Many thanks.

[7leagueboots]

Sailed both ships twice on Vision in the last two years thought the ship food entertainment and staff were excellent both times.

The itineraries are excellent but with the sail in and out of Kotor the Amalfi Coast and I believe you may overnight in Venice on the Vision cruise and therefore would go for that.

Also Barcelona cruise port is far easier to get to than Citivechhia.

 

Agree with you about being easier to get to the Barcelona port.