Rccl Brilliance Vs X Millenium To Med?

[scorben]

Can someone please tell me the difference between these 2 cruises? They are both 12-14 days, go to similar ports along the Med. but the RCCL Brilliance is $300 PP less than Millenium. although the Millenium is 2 days longer.

 

Either way...we cant decide, and any advice would be great. Both ships leave in July within 1 week of each other.

 

This is also our honeymoon trip and my 2nd cruise, but my husbands 1st.

 

Thanks so much!

 

Susan

[LVTOCRUZ]

Susan,

We have been on both the lines & Celebrity is a much better than RCCL in most aspects. We were on the Millie a couple of years ago in the Med & enjoyed every minute of it. The service was exceptional. Being your honeymoon cruise, I think you will like the Millie. The 'M class ships are great.

Bot the lines are good but the Celebrity is great for the European ports. I still enjoy RCCL & would continue to sail with them. You would find a lot more families with kids on RCCL than on Celebrity.

[scorben]

Thats good to hear. Do you think Early July will be super crowded on the med?

[Leejnd4]

Well, I can tell you a couple of key differences right off the bat. First, there are differences between the two cruise lines. Even though Celebrity is owned by Royal Caribbean, it is positioned as a higher-end line -- Celebrity is considered a "premium" line, whereas RCI is considered "mass-market". You will find most who've cruised both lines (including myself) will say that the food, service, decor, etc. on Celebrity is at least a cut above RCI. Of course, opinions vary, and you will also find fans of RCI who would disagree, but I believe you will find more people who agree than don't.

 

Second, the itineraries -- the Millenium does a one-way itinerary, Venice to Barcelona (or vice versa), whereas the Brilliance is round-trip, Barcelona to Barcelona. Many prefer a one-way, as it usually means either seeing more ports or spending more time in ports, since you don't have to waste time returning to your departure point. (This perspective is lifted almost verbatim from Bruin Steve's always educational posts about this same topic -- thanks, Steve!) The other advantage is that you get to do a pre- and post-cruise in two different places, and both Venice and Barcelona are cities that deserve more than just a port stop! Some worry that the airfare will be more, but that's not always the case -- it is possible to get good deals on multi-city fares. My Med cruise leaves in two weeks, and my airfare was actually LESS than it would have been if I had to fly round-trip to either my departure or arrival city! (Not sure why, just worked out that way.)

 

I haven't cruised those two ships, so others will have to describe the differences between them. But I have cruised both lines, and for my money, I'd choose Celebrity over RCI in a heartbeat! I've also heard such fantastic things about that specific itinerary on Millenium. Besides that, I sure would pick the extra two days!

 

I don't think you can go wrong on either choice, but if it were up to me, Millie would win out.

 

LeeAnne

[swelch]

I did the med cruise in '01 on Mille, and I'm doing it again with 4 other couples in September. Generally I prefer RCCL, particularly in the carribean. I find RCCL to be friendlier, more fun. HOWEVER there isn't much time for fun in the med!! (Just kidding, kind of.) I think you will appreciate the quieter atmosphere on Celebrity, particularly on your Honeymoon. (I was on my honeymoon in '01 on Mille) Another huge plus (I hope they still do this) you could have the ENTIRE meal from the main dining room delivered to your room. I mean, all the courses and eat right on your balcony in the moonlight, watching jumping dolphins. (This happened to me!!!) We ended up eating on our balcony three nights AND we could see ahead of time what was on the menu for the upcoming nights. I think you will also enjoy the adult pool section, the "spa pool" REALLY nice, and a great cafe to pick up "light fare." Great way to start the day!! I have been on the sister ship to Brilliance -- Radiance. It, too, is an absolutely beautiful ship. Oh, one other thing, the Mille has overnights in ports and really long hours in ports. I don't know if RCCL does. That was important to me so I could experience at least some European night life. Either way, you'll have a blast!!!

[Bruin Steve]

LVTOCRUZ, LeeAnne and swelch have really covered it here, but I figured I'd add my two cents in as well...

 

Both lines are good overall...though, as others have mentioned, I too have a preference for Celebrity due to the food, service and the little extras...But you can't go too far wrong with Royal Caribbean...Yes, in the Caribbean where you might be cruising for the amenities on those "at-sea"days, if you are younger and sports-oriented, the RCCL ships have all those great attraction like the rock climbing, ice skating, roller blading etc...And, because of those, they do attract a little younger crowd and more families with kids...But, the attractions on a Med cruise are in the ports themselves, not on the ship...You really need the few "at sea" days, to relax and recoup from the long days touring in port...so, the style of the Celebrity ships, with the large comfortable lounges and great service are really aoppreciated...

 

And, one of the major advantages to Celebrity is that one-way itinerary...port hours are longer and the opportunity to spend extra days in BOTH Barcelona AND Venice is REALLY great...We spent two extra nights in each on either end of a 13-night cruise, making for an outstanding 17 night cruise/land vacation and, as LeeAnne said, BOTH of these cities reallymerit the extra stay...

 

BTW, anyone else notice a curious theme on this thread so far? Los Angeles...Thousand Oaks...Vacaville...Thousand Oaks...Calabasas? Anyone outside of California interested in cruising Europe? We could almost all just get together locally and talk about it (okay, a little bit of a schlepp from Vacaville, but do-able...We have a daughter at Davis, so we make that reverse trip quite a lot!)

[Leejnd4]

Hey, I just noticed Lvtocruz is from Thousand Oaks as well! We're neighbors! :)

 

LeeAnne

[John&Betty]

We did the Med in 03 on the Millennium and it was great. Here's some info on the ports. http://home.mchsi.com/~jbglenn3/cruz.html

 

John

[scorben]

Ok. I think we are going to do the Millie. I just read all your posts with my husband because he is bugging me to make a decision so he can clear his calendar. I guess the only main issue is in the timing.

 

We will both have to take 12 business days off to do the Millie vs. 11 to do the RCCL. I know that seems silly, but I really dont want to feel guilty for being away from the office for so long...although I really shouldnt care because everyone else takes long trips at my office.

 

I also dont want to feel compelled to check my email from the ship or call into the office every other day...maybe just 1X per week. My assistant will have to clear the spam out of my inbox anyway or I will have full inbox with bouncebacks after the 1st week.

 

Does anyone know if GPS cellphones work on a ship in Europe?

 

OH BTW WE ALSO LIVE IN LA...MARINA DEL REY. :) :) :) :)

[Bruin Steve]

I understand the "guilt" thing...

I have learned to cope with it...

I am a transactional Real Estate Lawyer working in-house for a $28 billion company that owns or leases over $6 billion in property nationwide...

I am in a department with 80 attorneys, but I am the ONLY full time transactional real estate attorney...

No one does my job when I am gone...

 

And, whenever I vacation, no matter how long, one of my clients will complain that I left at the"worst possible time"...

 

Well, I finally figured out that WHATEVER time I take my vacation will be "the worst possible time"...because there is ALWAYS something important happening, I'm just usually there to take care of it, so no one notices...

 

But, I have decided that I am entitled to a vacation like everyone else...

...and that nothing that crucial will happen on the extra day or two days or week that I tack on to make my vacation more enjoyable...

 

Things have a habit of taking care of themselves...

 

Here's what I do:

First, I schedule whatever time is most workable for ME and MY vacation...In the long run, I'm in the office 200 other days a year and I can take care of things during THOSE days...

 

Second, I plan in advance, work those things I can into a schedule that works around my vacation dates...There are things I can control...Closings, appointments, etc.

 

Third, I find a colleague who can at least triage matters and determine what really is an emergency...and I line up outside counsel, on standby, who can jump in and deal with things when my colleague determines they can't wait...

 

Then, when I leave on vacation, I leave my assitant and my colleague and my important clients with detailed status reports, phone numbers and instructions on what might happen and what to do...

 

I have found, over the years, that very seldom does anyone really have to jump in...Most of the time, people tend to be patient and will wait for my return, whenever that is...

 

In the end, it really matters little whether I'm gone for two weeks or three weeks...Everyone seems to forget after it's all over anyway...In fact, no one is counting my off days but me...

 

I leave on vacation to clear my mind...I DO NOT bring a cell phone and DO NOT check my E-mail for the most part (I will tell my assistant and my colleague that, if necessary, please include some code in an E-Mail to note that it REALLY is an emergency...and then, I'll check it...otherwise, I ignore work-related E-Mails)...

 

Since adopting this philosophy, I have found that I virtually never feel guilty about leaving for whatever amount of time...And I feel much more relaxed and ready to work upon my eventual return...

 

So, my advice is to SCHEDULE the days necessary to make your cruise optimal...and don't worry about the rest...

 

Have fun...

 

BTW, we absolutely LOVED the Millennium...I am sure you will as well...

[mlbcruiser]

Although my DH and I plan to go on the Grand Princess next summer and our itinerary will be a bit different (yet similar) from RCCL and Celebrity's, I enjoyed reading all of your posts - and esp. seeing your photos, John & Betty. Really liked seeing the town you stayed in N. of Barcelona. We struggled w/a trip to Spain only, or this cruise. We have been to Barcelona - once YEARS ago for 3 days, and again on a med. cruise about 4 yrs. ago. For that cruise we departed from Civitaveccia, so we used up 4 days before and 4 after driving around Italy. (Spent one nt. in Como, two in Venice, one in Sienna. After the cruise we went to Pompeii, then stayed 2 nts. in Positano, one in Portofino and one in Milan.) . . . I was very interested in the open jaw ticket being cheaper that the round trip, Leejnd4. Did you book that privately or through the cruiseline? We will probably pick one airport - maybe Barcelona but not sure since that will be our disembarkation port - and toodle around by car to a couple of places in Spain on both ends of our cruise. My DH cannot be gone the extra few days I REALLY think we will need to do half of what we had hoped, but we'll do our best!

[Leejnd4]

My cruise (that leaves in less than two weeks!!!) is from Funchal, Madeira to Civitavecchia. I purchased my ticket online, and yes, it was actually a little less expensive than a round-trip to Rome, and a LOT less expensive than a round-trip to Funchal. It was only about $25 less than the Rome fare, but for some unknown reason it was less than half the price of the round-trip Funchal fare. Strange, huh? Airfares are such a huge mystery to me. Also, the price for the open-jawed ticket varied wildly among different websites, by as much as $1000! So shopping around is definitely key here.

 

LeeAnne

[cathi]

Here's my 2 cents worth. I have sailed both RCCL & Celeb and we have chosen Celeb for the Med. Mainly on the itin which has to be one of the best for the Med. A little more port intensive than most but what ports!!! We have tacked on 4 days pre and 2 days post. And yes Steve there are people outside of Calif. that are cruising the Med.

As to the work thing, I, too, have no one to do my job when I book off. Just have to make it all up on the return. Has never stopped me from going!!! and I never feel guilty about it!!! I am a bookkeeper so can never leave over a month end and have to get everything done before I leave! Makes for a lot of work on the return but that's life!!

And airfare ---if anybody ever figures out how the airlines price tickets, tell me the secret!!! I booked our air for June in March and 2 weeks later they put a seat sale on!!! I paid $300 a ticket more than I needed to if only I had waited!!! Oh well that's life!!

Scorbin - have a ball on your honeymoon!! You've picked a doozy of an itin!!!

[mlbcruiser]

Cathi, just thought I'd mention that even when I have sometimes booked my fares online and they are non-refundable, when the price has later dropped due to a sale, I generally call up the carrier and get the difference back in a voucher for the difference good towards a future flight. At least this has worked on major American carriers. And I don't mean just SWA. It's always worth a try w/any airline.

 

And Leejnd4, I've never tried to book an open jaw on any of the net sites. But I do usually search a LOT of them. Will have to do my homework when the time is right. Thanks!

[Christine Cruisin]

I am one of those confused on how to get a good air fare from multiple cities. We are planning on the June 15, 2006 Princess Greek Isles (Dubrovnik and Rhodes appeal to me!). Leaves from Venice and departs from Rome. My on-line searches don't give me the option of multiple city fares (that I can find). Any clues on the best airline (we live in the Southeast). I am also trying my hardest (without breaking the bank) to fly first class for this looong flight.

[Bruin Steve]

I am one of those confused on how to get a good air fare from multiple cities. We are planning on the June 15, 2006 Princess Greek Isles (Dubrovnik and Rhodes appeal to me!). Leaves from Venice and departs from Rome. My on-line searches don't give me the option of multiple city fares (that I can find). Any clues on the best airline (we live in the Southeast). I am also trying my hardest (without breaking the bank) to fly first class for this looong flight.

There is an irony to the juxtposition of "good fare" and "first class"...

 

When we did the Med on the Millie in 2003, we did our air (into Venice, out of Barcelona to LAX) through Celebrity. The charge for the air ad-on was incredibly low at that time ...I just looked it up - I save my old bills and invoices - When we first booked it, it was $650 per person...but later, our cruise price went WAY down and in order to avail ourselves of the price drop, we had to rebook the air as well...and the final air price was $1050 per person (We saved way more than the difference though)...Even at $1050 each, that's a pretty good deal LAX to Venice, Barcelona to LAX including TRANSFERS!!! The flights were on Delta with a short stop at JFK on the way there and a short stop in Atlanta on the way home...all at excellent times.

 

Once we did LAX to Tel Aviv and Frankfurt to LAX on TWA...and what they did was called "splitting the ticket"...They basically charged us the price for one round trip LAX-Tel Aviv and one round trip LAX-Frankfurt (this was many years ago, not sure if anyone will do this now...but it's worth asking.

 

We've also done our own air with American Airlines Frequent Flyer miles. AA will allow you to book a "triangle" flight for the same cost (at least in terms of FF miles, not sure how they work this with $$) as a round trip. That's how we're doing our upcoming LAX to Madrid to London to LAX for our Northern Europe cruise. One could always do a trip like this and just miss the middle flight.

 

The American Airlines site (http://www.aa.com), when you log onto the reservations page, has a check box for "multi city"...

http://www.aa.com/apps/reservations/FlightSearchResults.jhtml?_DARGS=/apps/modules/makeReservation.jhtml.8

 

So does Delta:

http://www.delta.com/travel/reservations/index.jsp

 

Or you could just call the airlines individually...

 

With Rome and Venice as your start and end, if you can't find a reasonable multi-city fare, I'd consider getting a round trip to Rome and just taking the Train from Rome to Venice when you arrive...It's not far from one to the other and the train, unlike the airport, will take you right into Venice proper. I'd fly in a couple of days early and book a Venice hotel near the RR station (ie. the Carlton, Capri or Sofitel)...You can easily walk to these from the station (the Carlton is literally right across the Grand Canal...up the bridge, down the bridge, 3 minute walk, even with luggage!).

 

Good luck...

[Christine Cruisin]

Thanx Steve! What I was looking for. I am concerned about the train for several reasons, maybe you can advise. 1) I have given up ever packing lightly and we will have 4 pieces of luggage with a carry on; 2) We are in our 60's and while my husband is strong as an ox, I have had ankle surgery and am not much help with carrying luggage; 3) I have had BAD experiences with theft in Italy and am worried about making it with all my bags for the trip if we take the train. Do you still think the train is a viable option? I like the train as a travel option, besides my concerns above. We always arrive a couple of days early to see the sites, make sure we're there on time and unwind. Again, thank you.

[Leejnd4]

Christine, I have traveled all over Italy by train, and have never had a problem. I worry more about pickpockets than I do about out-and-out luggage theft, as it's pretty hard to steal a suitcase right from under your nose, as long as you keep them with you and keep your eyes on them. And for pickpockets, as long as you take the basic precautions (all money, credit cards, etc. in under-the-clothes money belts or neck wallets), then they can't bother you.

 

The real question has to do with whether or not you can manage your luggage. If your luggage is on wheels and between the two of you, you are capable of moving it, then you should have no problems. There are elevators in the major train stations if you need to go up or down floors. And there are train attendants who can help you lift the luggage onto the train. This is not an uncommon sight -- lots of people travel with luggage, especially between major cities. If you are on a route that takes reservations, reserve yourself a first-class compartment and your luggage will be right in there with you, behind closed compartment door.

 

I would re-visit the concept of packing lightly, though. No matter how you travel, having too much luggage is a pain. I always lay out everything I'm planning on bringing, and then remove the clothes that I like the least. That's because I've found that I've often bring clothes that I just like "okay", but then I ended up not wearing them, choosing to wear the clothes that I like best instead, even if I wear them more than once. And then I get mad at myself for hauling stuff all over Europe that I never wore! Just some food for thought. :)

 

LeeAnne

[Desertbelle]

We are booked on the Millennium in June '05. The airfare through Celebrity was $1289 pp for the Las Vegas-Venice/Barcelona-Las Vegas tickets. I booked the air fare through them at first hoping to find better rates when the cruise got closer (we booked 14 months out.)

 

When I first started checking on airfares the rates were MORE than what Celebrity charged. But as we got closer the rates went down. I saw it at one time at $959 pp. We ended up locking in a $1062 pp. This was a savings of $227 each, times 4 people for a total savings of $908. Plus if we had wanted to stay extra days we would have had to pay a deviation fee of $75 each plus any increases in the air fare rates, OR book the hotel through the cruise line which at the time was very expensive. So that's another $300 plus saved. All in all, much cheaper AND we got to have control of when we left, what airline to use and what flights to take. That $1300+ will come in handy with the Euro killing the US dollar at the present. :)

 

As far as the cost of flights, multi-city vs. round-trip, there was NEVER a difference of more than $100 one over the other. In fact on several occasions round trip Las Vegas to Venice was more than the multi-city rates. I have no idea why this is, but it's true.

 

For months I checked every possibility for savings and every possible means of transportation.....planes, trains and automobiles. The cheapest, most direct route was to get a multi-city air flight. Plus, by booking on one airline all the way through, we are saved handling luggage once we checked-in for the first flight. I used online travel sites, travel agents and travel discounters.....they pretty much all had the same prices and flights available.

 

One of the suggestions I got was to fly to London and take one of the small commuter airlines to Venice and back from Barcelona. This was a fairly inexpensive way to go, on paper, but we would have had to change airports in London and the small airline had luggage restrictions that were very strict. We would have had to collect our luggage, get a cab to the other airport, pay for extra weight or extra luggage, etc......came out to be just as costly and with major headache potential. :(

 

An added problem we had to deal with was that one of the leading carriers to Europe (US AIR) was about to go out of business. Their prices, for months, were the least expensive of all the airlines, but I was very nervous about booking them. At one point the prediction was that they would ceased operations on July 1, 2005.....two days before our return from Barcelona. Ugh, didn't want to deal with trying to get back from Europe if that happened. So I waited for the prices of other carriers to come down some before booking.

 

I finally booked, at what I thought was a fair price, directly with American Airlines, using their website. Now if they can keep their heads above water, we'll be good!

 

This European cruise is teaching me a lot about planning a huge vacation.....between choosing the cruise, the airfare, the pre and post stay hotels, the private tours, etc, I feel like I could write the thesis for a Masters of Travel degree!! :D

[scorben]

Note to Bruin Steve: My husband is also an attorney and had to change his calendar a bit for the trip, but nothing too bad. I did plan this trip around my work schedule...However...I just locked in my airfare, and found out a NY press tour I have to do is 2 days after I get home. My flight has a layover in NYC on sat, July 16...and the press event is tues, july 19. I am going to dread flying home for 1 day to turn around and fly back the next day. I'm thinking I should just stay in NYC and book in-office press meetings on monday, and have my team fly into Manhattan on sunday to meet me. Maybe I can also convince my husband to sleep over in NYC with me on sat night and fly back to LA on sunday. :-) That would be fun!

 

I need to find out if my airline will allow postponing the flight from NYC to LA for a few days.

 

I am buying the airfare through the cruise and paid the extra $75 to choose my own flights.

 

I ended up with a $1364 ticket...all other multi city flights were like $1800 from LAX online...ugh! I cannot believe how expensive air is to europe this summer.

[mlbcruiser]

Desertbelle, I enjoyed your post. It was very informative. You are so right about the budget carriers in Europe. Many come and go quickly. There was just an article in Frommer's Budget Travel Magazine about that and the risks were as you stated. About 4 years ago my husband and I did a 7 nt. med. cruise that departed and returned from Civitaveccia. However, we flew into Malpensa (just outside of Milan and not far from Lake Como. We stayed in Como our first nt.) and did 4 days touring around in a car and planned our trip so that we also did 4 days after our cruise the same way, ending up in Milan the night before our flights. That night we stayed at a hotel very near the train station and it was a pc. of cake to get to Malpensa the next morning. My point is, for those of you who do not mind driving, we found that to be the cheapest way to go. I checked Eurail passes and flights. We were able to get a VERY good deal from AutoEurope that included just everything - w/no dropoff surcharge (as we dropped the car off in Civitaveccia, then picked a different one up after the cruise & dropped it off at Malpensa). Of course, except for getting to our final hotel in Milan (THAT was tough as we had no directions. Just an address and I knew it was near a train station!), we didn't DRIVE in Venice, of course. (We just parked at a large parking facility near a vaporetto stop in Venice the 2 nts. we stayed there). The other cities we visited (Como, Siena, Positano and Portofino were all smaller places and we were able to park at our hotels). We even had a "mishap" when the young man parking our car in one hotel's very tiny garage damaged a car side mirror severely. But no problem! The insurance came w/our rental car and they didn't make us pay one extra cent. In June of 2006 we are probably going to do something similar, though our cruise departs from Venice and returns to Barcelona. You have to not mind doing your "homework" but it turned out to be an EXCELLENT way to go for us! For those of you from L.A., you are no doubt used to lots of traffic. And if you venture outside of the city, lots of winding roads and hills. We live in Missouri and have many winding roads and hilly, 2-lane country roads out near where we live in a west suburb of St. Louis. We drive our own city traffic, have driven in NYC, the Rocky Mts., L.A., Chicago, and D.C., Houston, Atlanta and all of the other places you can think of w/traffic worse than we have here in STL. That type of driving definitely prepares you for Italy! :D