Roundtrip Venice- which ship?

[rebeccalouise]

I am trying to decide between the Splendor of the Seas (8 night cruise rt Venice) or Holland America Zuiderdam (12 night rt Venice).

 

The Zuiderdam itinerary is better but I think the youth program might be better on Splendor (I will be traveling with a 7 year old).

 

I am leaning toward Zuiderdam but wanted to get some input from those that are familiar with both ships.

 

My criteria for chosing these ships are... I want to sail in and out of Venice (best airport in Italy IMO). I don't like megaships. I want to do Turkey and Greece. The kids program is important.

[born2travl]

Just go back from Splendour but we weren't on the Turkey itinerary, just Venice, Mykonos, Athens, Corfu, Olympia & Split. Anyway I travelled with two children 9 & 13. Neither one of them were interested in the kids program. There were only a couple of other kids there so there wasn't much going on. The kids staff was extremely friendly. We had lost our luggage and the staff offered to loan us some formal wear for formal night. We declined, but it was very thoughtful of them. They even called our room to double check. It was cold so my kids used the solarium pool, but children under the age of 16 are only allowed to use it between the hours of 11-4.

[rebeccalouise]

Born2travel

 

Did you enjoy the cruise? I assume there weren't many kids due to school being in session.

 

I am a bit reluctant to sail RCL. I did the Sovereign in 1997 and it wasn't anything special. Then I did Radiance of the Seas in April 2006 and I just wasn't wowed by anything. It was perfectly nice but nothing special. My son loved the kids program but he got sick onboard- so am reluctant to travel on a ship with so many kids again. My overall impression of Royal Caribbean is that it is very generic. No crew members stood out but they were friendly enough.

 

I guess I want a more traditional, oceanliner feel- with more polished staff.

[kdowneymd]

Another thing to consider is that the 8 night itinerary is also more exhausting. Not enough sea days to relax. We have been on Splendour, Legend and Brilliance, all in the Med with anywhere from 4 to 2 children. Splendour was the shortest and definitely more tiring. During the summer there are lots of kids on board, I can't say about HAL in the Med but I would assume there will be ample numbers for the rt Venice itinerary. We are going on the july 7 sailing because the itinerary is so great and I also love sailing from Venice. I looked at the Celebrity cruise out of Rome similar itinerary but we left from Rome left summer on Legend (absolutely great trip) and wanted something different. This year we will have no children with us, so can't help out.