Either or is fine. I prefer Celebrity but would cruise with Princess if the price and the actual itinerary was favourable. Others are much more adventurous then me and will try many different Cruise Companies.
I tend just to look at Celebrity and Cunard and I have taken only 2 Princess Cruises the last being about 5-6 years ago.

Sue

Need more info,

both are good but they are different.

Have you narrowed it down to ships, date, itinerary yet?
The cabins vary also any ideas on those yet.

Any idea on Budget,

Hi,

Sorry for the delay in answering, have just come back from a lovely, sunny Easter break

Re itinery - we are looking at a cruise that touches on the western and eastern med - italy and greece-
say a 10 - 12 day cruise that stops at places such as Rome / Venice, Scicily (if possible that would be great) and visits Pisa.

Re the Greek end ---- Santorini would be good --- any Greek islands I suppose, but we'd love to see Rhodes again if possible.
We have been to Athens a few times, and seen Olympia but wouldn't complain about another visit !

We don't to spend too much time at sea, so a fly / cruise would be best.

We had hoped to be able to go on one of the Solstice Class ships if possible if we use Celebrity - not really as sure about Princess cruise ships.

We'd have to travel in August and are thinking that a budget of about £4,500 - £4,800 max inc air fares and tips etc (doesn't sound much when you type it fast!). We'd definitely want a balcony cabin of some description

Hope this covers everything -- any opinions appreciated

Looking at August 2011.

Flying
Low number of sea days
For Pisa you need Livorno/Florence/Pisa on the itinerary.
Santorini
Rome
Venice
that thows up.

Star Princess 12n 10Aug Rome->Venice
http://www.vacationstogo.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=23981

Holland America also can also fit in those ports and fit in Sicily Aug 9th 12n and only 1 sea day
http://www.vacationstogo.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=17630

Ruby Princess 12n 8Aug 20Aug but not a close match on ports, barcelona<-->venice

Celebrity is not as good a match on ports
Equinox 11n 8Aug 29thAug 19Aug(10n)

other options that match the itinerary less well
More princess ships
RCI Brilliance ex Barcelona
Loads of others.

HAL has the best fit on ports/date.

Carnival has something a bit different and if price move might get a suite
http://www.vacationstogo.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=11392&cc=gb

Budget should be OK.

But celebrity is not going to give you the itinerary so it is down to your priorities.

Many thanks for those - it looks like our day is sorted as we plough through to compare!

There are 2 very similar cruises - one on Celebrity and one on Princess - as a couple in our 40s (well
I'll still be in mine when we cruise ) we are just wondering which cruise line people would recommend
mid August. We thought we'd settled on celebrity because their ships etc seem fabulous, but having seen
the itineries the Princess one may be better ...... decisions, decisions, decisions ......

Were it me and you can afford it I would without question choose the Equinox. I was on the Solstice last October and loved it. I am doing a T/A on the Equinox leaving this weekend. Cruise leaving out of Fort Lauderdale and ending in Rome on the 3rd May. I have booked a 2B balcony and would advise this or higher. 2C balconies are cheaper but have obstructed views.
Really the difference in other balconies is the position on the Ship. Higher deck more Midship and some of the balconies have much bigger balconies. Look at them near to the mid position and see the angled balcony. Also some in the forward position. People speak about these being HUMP rooms.
CC class in my mind is not particularly good value as well as Aqua class but you may think differently. Rooms are the same size and specification with a few added extras.
Sparkling wine on boarding flowers daily canapes pillow menu etc etc. Tips are about 50c a day more.
Aqua class has their own dining room and menu but for me I just would not pay the extra.
I am an Elite CC member and have many perks for that such private function as they call it. Drinks and cocktails 4-6pm Breakfast also until with speciality coffee's champagne blood Mary etc.
90 mins free internet use as well as dry cleaning, pressing , washing complimentary. as well as extra cocktail parties. Other offers which you will see on their web site. 10 points needed to reach this level.
You get one point for a c ruise up to 12 nights and 2 points for over this. 1 extra point for CC or Suite category but you can't get more than 3 points on any cruise.

Any other questions I would be happy to answer.

Sue

Thanks Sue - that is a great help.

I must admit we seem to have been going round in circles for ages with cruise lines , which boat, what destination, smoking or none smoking, child friendly or adult friendly, freedom dining or traditional etc etc etc etc etc and keep coming back to Celebrity.

I must admit the only thing making us hesitate is the good itineries on Princess and our concerns about the fly cruises with Celebrity. Any idea who they use to fly and if you can go direct or end up doing change overs at Heathrow or even in other countries. Read a review from someone who had had a terrible time having to change somewhere and would prefer direct flights from Manchester --- at Celebrity prices I wouldn't be too keen to have to change in London.

Many thanks for your help

I think you need to decide if itinerary is more important than the ship.
We don't have date pressure(same year is good enough) so can be a bit more flexable.

Could go twice once for the ship once for the itinerary.

With any Med trip you can cruise only and organise your own flights pre/post cruise often a lot cheaper

Some agents package their own flights not the cruise lines.

For Barcelona we like the early BA heathrow flights no pre cruise night needed and on the ship for lunch.

Other med ports often need the pre cruise night.

If the plan is to cruise more often then trying to make this one perfect is potentialy a mistake.

Sooner or later one of the future ones, that was going to be just another cruise, will be better anyway.

So I would focus on one aspect that will make it special.

The Equinox is probably the best choice of ship, HAL the best itinerary.

It's going to be hot in August so a few ship days might be a change from being a tourist in the heat.

When I book a ship in the Med almost always I do my own flights. I can fly with Jet2 from Leeds out to Barcelona, Venice etc. This is much less expensive! X flights are always expensive and I don't want to have to change flights when it is a Med destination. I normally travel and stay over in Hotel but arrange my flights home on the day of disembarkation.
W/Jammer is correct. The best option for you is to probably chose the itinerary that suits best and I am sure that Princess may have some deals.
If you book with X you can watch their web site and see what is happening with the prices. If you see an offer and don't just look at the grade you have booked but check all balconies. If there is a price drop you need to get your TA to call them and they will get this price drop for you.
Also there will probably be £200 off for early bookings but this is not just for next year to book now. There are still some offers for this year around. I got the £200 off my booking. Not sure if it was just £200 per room or if it was person.
X now allow the first change free of charge but will charge an admin fee of £35 for subsequent changes. Not a problem as it you are getting for example £150 price even with the charge you are still in pocket.
For me personally the Ship can be the destination. I have been to a lot of European destinations many times.
ALL I WILL SAY is be WARNED! Cruising is addictive but what an addiction . It is one I never really want to be free from.

Good luck!

Sue

Hi Sue,

Know what you mean about being addicted ------ I get the feeling that we're already hooked!
Like you we have done many of the med destinations so for a lot of them it will be our 2nd visit -- or for some
places like Italy 4th or 5th ! We are more than happy to revisit places we've seen before but do a different activity from the ship and just a few places that we haven't seen yet just as a taster - e.g. Malta, Sicily, Pisa or Venice at night.

I get the feeling that for us the ship is as important as the places we'll visit ------ooooohhh, this is one of my favourite parts
of a holiday - the researching and getting excited bit !

Thanks for the info re Jet2 ----- must admit, we had looked at the prices for Celebrity for a flight and were amazed - especially when we've been told that it may not be a direct flight !!!!!

Am sure we'll be back in touch

Can you be more flexable on date or itinerary, sound like the med is just the med.

what about this one

http://www.vacationstogo.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=16689

Hi Windjammer,

Still want to do Italy and / or parts of Greece including a mix of places we have seen and some we haven't. i.e. we haven't seen {isa yet and though we have been on a day trip to Venice would very much love to spend more time in the City over night.

Keep finding great itineries that suit but the dates don't --- grrrrr ------

We are still torn between Princess and Celebrity. I think we want to get a good balance --- a ship we are happy with and an itinery that is good. I think you are right, we wont get that perfect cruise, but we'll try our best! Must admit, we went on the OV2 last year and covered the eastern med ---- one stop was Mytalinae (sp?) and we were not looking forward to that stop. It was one of the most perfect days we had and the memory of sitting on the balcony looking over such a beautiful island was one of the highlights of the cruise. I suppose you can't plan for days like that !

Ideally we want to see Israel but that really will have to be another cruise as they just don't do that in August

Oh well, off to browse again !!!!

Ideally we want to see Israel but that really will have to be another cruise as they just don't do that in August

I saw at least one option that did that I can't re look now it's late.

Morning !

I didn't see that ?! I know that Royal Caribbean were supposed to be doing it but they've changed it - typical.

http://www.vacationstogo.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=23869

Thanks - have been looking at that one. I think they do one late July as well. The one in August comes back a bit late and I need to check if we are back at work or not ! Wouldn't be too popular on a ship when everyone else is back to it !

The price seems a bit over what we could afford at the minute - when you add on the optional excursions and flights --- and tips --- it adds up to quite a high price.

Thanks for the info from the site - have been looking at it a lot today and will keep checking it.

The more checking we do the more confused we become ! Like kids in a sweet shop faced with lots of jars of goodies !!

Israel is probably quite popular with US pax keeping prices up.

A lot can change by 2011.

A lot can change by 2011

Made me smile ------- we've only booked a mini cruise twice to go to Israel from Cyprus and each time there has been some sort of 'disturbance' that has meant that Israel has been 'out of bounds' ! We're probably better staying away !

Sorry, I know that I posted last but am soooooo pleased with the new itinery for the new Celebrity cruise ship Silhouette !
Aug 2011 -

Rome
Ashdod for Israel x 2 days
Alexandria for Egypt x 2 days
Santorini
Naples
Athens

WOW !!!!!!!

Like you said Windjammer. "A lot can change" and on the new Celebrity Silhouette this IS our dream cruise ! We get the ship type we want AND the perfect itinery . Quite a lot of people ave told us to give up trying to have our perfect ship and itinery ----- this shows that it is always good to do your research and keep looking