I have sailed that itinerary, in reverse order, with SS. It was my favorite cruise. While I enjoyed the Retreat on my recent Beyond voyage, there are other advantages to SS. Since the ship is not as large and the "Retreat type" service is throughout the ship, it doesn't feel as restrictive. The excursions are often more unique and many are small group adventures. Sometimes you will dock in smaller ports which is a different experience than the tourist ports give. SS will dock in both types depending on the itinerary. We love SS and will sail with them again at some point. We are trying Celebrity for a few Florida-based cruises because we can drive to Lauderdale or Miami and park easily. Our recent Beyond voyage was great but we were only sailing to relax and enjoy the ship so I can say that the less populated ships are my favorite for port-intensive voyages. SS ships never feel crowded and the vibe is quieter without the vivacious pool atmosphere we saw on Celebrity so keep that in mind. The shows are mostly musical performances and aren't technical feats like the ones we saw on Beyond but that can be a personal preference also. They have trivia, golf putting, pool volleyball, guest lecturers which usually tie into the location, etc. so we found plenty to do on board. I agree about the points as I have a lot of SS points and now have a separate Captains Club account. I believe SS used to allow them to add up for credit on a cruise but I'm not sure what they are good for now.