Transatlantic Dilemma - which one to take?

[Native Floridian 26]

I’m going to post this in Holland and RCCL forums.  We have sailed on 3 Transatlantics previously on Princess and NCL and love the relaxing sea days combined with appealing ports. We are booked on the Nieuw Statendam 14 night Transatlantic  on April 8 with only $1 deposit.  Final payment due in January.  The fare is about half of what is it selling for today for the Inside cabin.  Airfare through FlightEase also booked with decent $300ish one way fare back from Spain.  We’ve only sailed HA once many years ago. We are Carnival shareholders, so get the $250 OBC shareholder benefit and some OBC from travel agent and those are pretty much exhausted with crew appreciation charges.  We are 60 and 62.  We like the itinerary with Ponte Delgada, Azores, Gibraltar and 3 stops in Spain (Cadiz, Malaga and Alicante) before ending in Barcelona.  We will take a train to Madrid for 2 nights and return to Florida from there.  We love Spain and have not been to Gibraltar, Cadiz or Alicante.  We’re also excited that the ship is newer.

The dilemma comes in because we have a $500 Future Cruise Credit with RCCL with no expiration.  They have a 12 nt TA from Canaveral on the Jewel oTS with port stops in Ponte Delgada, Cherbourg Fr, Dover UK and end in Amsterdam.  Other than ending in Amsterdam I am not excited about the itinerary.  We also have not sailed RCCL for many years either.  The price of this cruise is much less than our HAL cruise, but we have no shareholder or onboard credit.  Our OBC covers ¾ of the cruise price before tips. However, initial fare savings are partially offset with higher airfares coming back from Amsterdam or Brussels if we go there after the cruise.

Considering price, itinerary and features of the ships and our ages, what would you do?  Like I said we haven’t sailed either cruise line for over 20 years so don’t know the awesome features each has to offer.  Tell me some things I may not know when comparing the onboard experience.

[St Pete Cruiser]

Stay with the N Statendam!  Great ship.

[L454S]

We haven't sailed with HAL since 2005 and are D+ with Royal Caribbean, and are on this sailing. Also have a west bound T/A on Enchanted princess for next Nov.

 

Looking forward to something different with HAL and the HIA inclusive pkg. Hopefully we will enjoy this new scenery very much.

 

RCI is starting to become stale with the non existent shows and menus that are boring to us.

 

 

Edited November 29, 2022 by L454S

[Native Floridian 26]

Edit:  Our FCC (not OBC) covers 3/4  of the cruise price before tips.

[VMax1700]

1 hour ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

Other than ending in Amsterdam I am not excited about the itinerary

If Amsterdam Schiphol airport is anything close to the same staffing situation as it is this year, then I would not be excited, but terrified! 🤫

[Native Floridian 26]

1 hour ago, VMax1700 said:

If Amsterdam Schiphol airport is anything close to the same staffing situation as it is this year, then I would not be excited, but terrified! 🤫

Yes, exactly why we would travel to Brussels for flight home.