Eastern Mediterranean RCCL Legend in mid Oct vs NCL Jade in early Sept

[luvtocruise52]

We are looking at a 9 day RCCL Legend on Aug 31 from Citavecchia to Naples (Capri), Catania (Sicily), Valetta (Malta), Corfu (Greece), Kotor (Montenegro), Split (Croatia), Kopor (Slovenia), to Venice vs. a 7 day NCL Jade from Venice to Kopor (Slovenia), Split (Croatia), Dubrovnik (Croatia), Messina (Sicily), Naples, to Citavecchia. We plan to spend several days in Rome on one end and the northern Italian Lakes and Venice on the other. We have cruised the RCCL Rhapsody in the western Caribbean and loved the ship. We have also cruised NCL and enjoyed it but the photos of the Jade look garish to me and I am unsure about the freestyle dining but have read lots of positive comments about the ship.

 

I would appreciate comments on the two ships and itineraries as I am not familiar with some of the ports and have not had time to research them all as yet. Also, will early September be significantly hotter vs mid-late October? We live in a hot, humid climate and enjoy getting away from the heat.

 

Thanks!