HELP! Jewel or Constellation?

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

Hello all . . . I need some advice!! I'm posting this on both the RCI and Celebrity boards so I can hopefully get both points of view.

 

We are about to book a Transatlantic for next April, and there are nearly identical itineraries available on the Jewel of the Seas and Celebrity's Constellation. We have cruised with both lines and thoroughly enjoyed both.

 

We would be in a Sky Suite on the Constellation, or a Grand Suite on the Jewel. The trade-off there is having a butler on X (which absolutely MADE our cruise last week), vs. a significantly larger room with RCI.

 

Other trade-offs from our point of view: better room service menu on X, better buffets on RCI. Going with RCI would get us closer to Diamond in the Crown & Anchor society, but X has longer port stops to visit Paris and Brussels (hugely important for me). X would be slightly cheaper, but not enough to have any real bearing on our decision.

 

SOOOO . . . . any of you who have experience that might help us out, please share!!!

 

Happy sails~

[wrp96]

I think I would take the Constellation to have the longer port times - especially if it is cheaper.

[The Grumpus]

If you like both lines and if the travel getting to and from the ship is equal, I would take the one with the better itinerary. Jewel is very nice; haven't been on Constellation but I loved Galaxy... looks like you have a win win situation.

[SUZCRUZ]

Hello all . . . I need some advice!! I'm posting this on both the RCI and Celebrity boards so I can hopefully get both points of view.

 

We are about to book a Transatlantic for next April' date=' and there are nearly identical itineraries available on the Jewel of the Seas and Celebrity's Constellation. We have cruised with both lines and thoroughly enjoyed both.

 

We would be in a Sky Suite on the Constellation, or a Grand Suite on the Jewel. The trade-off there is having a butler on X (which absolutely MADE our cruise last week), vs. a significantly larger room with RCI.

 

Other trade-offs from our point of view: better room service menu on X, better buffets on RCI. Going with RCI would get us closer to Diamond in the Crown & Anchor society, but X has longer port stops to visit Paris and Brussels (hugely important for me). X would be slightly cheaper, but not enough to have any real bearing on our decision.

 

SOOOO . . . . any of you who have experience that might help us out, please share!!!

 

Happy sails~

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It kind of sounds like after reading this post, you've got more pluses for X.

We've cruised both ships and they're both great.

We did the Constellation on her second sailing in Europe, just after she came out. She is lovely.

We've done the Jewel twice, on the Boston-Ft. Lauderdale repo cruise and have to say, we prefer the Jewel. We have not had a suite on either, so I can't comment on that. We prefer RCCL for the concierge lounge, the welcome back parties in the Safari Lounge, and all the wood and glass on the Radiance Class ships.

Good luck making your decision. Seems like you can't go wrong on either!

[AFT_LOVER]

as X is far more expensive than RCCL. We don't book suites, but were Concierge Class on Constellation, which is no big deal. They had great lecturers to educate folks on vintage cruise lines & what happened to each, so we learned Titanic wasn't they only sinker.

 

But as a Diamond Member on RCCL, I have 24/7 free Seattle's Best coffee, cappuccino, latte, & espresso; free cocktails from 5-9PM and not watered down. A great Concierge that really cares about the new friends he made in his lounge, and the service he extends such as booking Chops for a sold out night for us since we are Diamond we bump folks. Celebrity has -0- for its Elite members.

 

I am in love with RCCL & their honor of Diamond members far more than X with Elite.

[lv2cruisgrl]

all I can say is that we loved the Jewel and I have been on the Millenium but Jewel was much prettier, it is just a beautiful ship, and the service was great, etc.

[Kathie44]

We had our choice of Jewel and Constellation for our upcoming cruise and chose Jewel because my HS friend and cruising companion really wanted to see Amsterdam as opposed to Copenhagen and the cruise was one day more in length.

The ports weren't as important to DH and me or her DH. I was leaning toward the Connie because one of the Activity Staff from last year's Galaxy cruise had been transferred to Con. and I wanted to sail with him again--he is hilarious and should be the CD. (Neil..Harrod?-not sure of his last name, but he's a Brit with an amazingly droll sense of humor and plays the piano like Jerry Lee Lewis)

There are many things driving choice of ships. Next summer we want to cruise the Med. and have chosen Galaxy because of the land tour offered with the 11-night cruise. It is a 5-night in Italy (Florence, Venice and Rome), leaving from Cittevecchia as opposed to RCI with a shorter tour of Spain, leaving from Barcelona. As with this month's cruise, the ship itself doesn't matter. We stick to RCI and Celebrity and feel we can't go wrong with either line. This is our first cruise on Jewel and I'm sure it will be wonderful.

 

 

1/02 Explorer E. Carib.

1/03 Explorer W. Carib.

8/03 Summit Alaska cruise/tour

2/04 Adventure S. Carib.

2/05 Galaxy Panama Canal

6/06 Jewel Brit. Isles/Nor. Fjords + 3 days in London.

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

Thanks everybody for your input. As many of you have pointed out, it's really a no-lose situation.

 

I think we're going to go with the Jewel. Common consensus seems to be that it's the prettier of the two ships, and with seven consecutive sea days, we could definitely use the larger suite.

 

So now the only question is, how am I going to survive the next 11 months?? I know . . . I think I'll book another cruise :D

[wrp96]

I think you need one on the Jewel in February 2007, say the 8-night to the Eastern Caribbean on the 10th. You know, try her out before the TA so you know what you're getting into.;) :D

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

I think you need one on the Jewel in February 2007, say the 8-night to the Eastern Caribbean on the 10th. You know, try her out before the TA so you know what you're getting into.;) :D

BRILLIANT! You've given me the perfect argument to use with DH . . . it's all about quality control! :D