Celebrity Ascent or Constellation for a Mediterranean cruise?

[TeeRick]

Any cruise with stops in Croatia!  We did this on Constellation a few years ago.  It was memorable!

[Sigyn]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Any cruise with stops in Croatia!  We did this on Constellation a few years ago.  It was memorable!

I do love the idea of Croatia.

[Sigyn]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

$1300 for 3 more days and a better itinerary (to me) would be worth it. But throw in your additional costs and it's a determination only you can make...

 

FWIW, I probably would just skip the Ascent altogether if that itinerary was my only choice. 

It's $2,500 difference for us based on other factors we have to consider. The Ascent is a nice itinerary for us. We did stops in Spain, France and Italy when we went to the Med in 2016 - most ports were different ones than the Ascent - but it was amazing!

 

On that trip we arrived in Barcelona and had time to sightsee all day, spent the night, then toured Montserrat before our cruise the next day. Our ports were Messina (we did the Godfather tour of Sicily), Naples (where we went to the Amalfi coast and Pompeii), Civitavecchia (we toured Rome), Livorno (we toured Florence and Lucca), Marseille (we toured Arles and St. Remy), and Palma De Mallorca (we did a lovely off the beaten track tour of this Spanish island). We spent two more days in Barcelona upon disembarkation and just loved the city. We went back to Italy for two weeks the next year for a land-based vacation with our kids and spent the time touring Rome, Tuscany, Lake Garda and Venice.  

 

And then the pandemic hit and we haven't been back to Europe since 2017. Long past due. 

Edited February 16, 2023 by njsmom

[Ex-Airbalancer]

 the Ascent has two tender ports which is a pain , good enough reason to pick the Conny 

[Sigyn]

7 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

 the Ascent has two tender ports which is a pain , good enough reason to pick the Conny 

True, the Constellation only has one tender port. We had a couple of tender ports on our holiday cruise this past December and the seas were so rough we couldn't disembark at either. So disappointing.

Edited February 16, 2023 by njsmom

[Dreamer68]

On 2/15/2023 at 9:13 AM, Essiesmom said:

If you are going for the ship, do Ascent.  If going for the ports, do Connie.  EM

I'd agree with this in general, yes, indeed! It sounds to me that both itineraries on the Connie and the Ascent are equally interesting to the OP. If this is true, then I would also agree with another commentor who said to save the Ascent for an itinerary with more sea days. There's lots to explore on Edge-class ships.

I've been on the Summit to Bermuda (same class as Connie) and I just got off the Apex to the Caribbean this January (same class as Ascent). I loved the Summit for many reasons (I think I did a review back then on Cruise Critic)...but omg, the Apex (Edge-class ship) is jaw-droppingly gorgeous!!! Art everywhere, contactless sinks and doors in public areas...MDR broken into 4 different restaurants, each with their unique twists while carrying the main Celebrity menus as well) and I gotta say, as a mere mortal with no budget (yet) for anything fancier than oceanview staterooms, that I loved the glass shower doors of Edge class ships a lot more than the shower curtains. ☺️

So, I think you can't go wrong, no matter which option you choose @Sigyn. You will have a wonderful vacation either way. 🙂

PS - I am considering the same options for May 2024 😉along with Virgin's Resilient Lady. Our priority is to see Croatia...so, my group is leaning towards booking the Constellation.