Cruises - Which Itinerary in Europe?

I am looking to plan a cruise for a 16 person group. We are relatively seasons and have been on a handful of cruises before (Alaska on Princess, Caribbean on RCCL, and Med on Ocean Village.)

This summer we want to do something in either Northern Europe or Eastern Med (Greece/Turkey.) Budget is flexible but about US $ 1500 a person for balcony cabins. The passengers range in ages from 16 to 72.

Weather is important because the majority of this group comes from hot climates and they don't want to spend the summer continuing to boil. I am having a tough time trying to find an itinerary AND ship that would be to our tastes.

The itinerary I prefer is something which includes the Norwegian Fjords such as this one:

http://www.hollandamerica.com/find-cruise-vacation/CruiseDetails.action?destCode=&portCode=&shipCodeSearch=RY&durationCode=&dateCode=6_2012&flexibleMonths=false&noOfFlexibleMonths=1&pageNumber=1&voyageCode=R240&webItineraryIdForAudit=E07N2S

However, the reviews of the ship are poor and it looks quite old and dated.

I was also looking at this cruise and I like the ship a lot more but the itinerary seems a bit too "major city" heavy for a family reunion in which the group usually prefers scenery / outdoor activities and such.

http://www.princess.com/find/cruiseDetails.page?voyageCode=B224&itinCode=RBS070&tourCode=&trade=&date=0712&noOfPax=2&resType=C&ship=CB&bID=PCDIR&meta=B&ppax=false&itinPort=&tourIds=&duration=&tourdur=&orderBy=&filterBy=&order=

My question is, do you guys think the ship is more important than the itinerary? Or vice versa? Any suggestions on finding a trip with a shiny new (preferably big) ship on an itinerary with more adventure and fewer cities?

Thanks!

I'm going on the NCL Jade

http://www2.ncl.com/vacations?N=4294963179+4294963144&Ne=8050&Ns=p_Itinerary_Featured%7C1%7C%7Cp_Itinerary_Featu red_Weight%7C0%7C%7Cp_Duration%7C0&Nu=p_Key#tab_detail

7 Day Adriatic, Greece and Turkey.... Just food for thought since I don't know your taste - I like this one as I could pick any cruise for 'free' (thanks CAS) and it was the nicest itinerary for me.

16 person
summer
Eastern Med (Greece/Turkey
US$1500 a person

NCL jade >

may 26
haven 2BR suite $3799x2 +4 (6 people)
haven 3BR villa $8499x2 +6 (8 people)

may 19
haven 2BR suite $3099x2 +4 (6 people)

http://thehaven.ncl.com/
jade has 17 haven suites
talk to VIP sales

I'm going on the NCL Jade

http://www2.ncl.com/vacations?N=4294963179+4294963144&Ne=8050&Ns=p_Itinerary_Featured%7C1%7C%7Cp_Itinerary_Featu red_Weight%7C0%7C%7Cp_Duration%7C0&Nu=p_Key#tab_detail

7 Day Adriatic, Greece and Turkey.... Just food for thought since I don't know your taste - I like this one as I could pick any cruise for 'free' (thanks CAS) and it was the nicest itinerary for me.

thats the may 19 i refer to :D
may 26 = 7 day greece only

we have been on a number of lines/ships because we wanted the itin.....2 on holland america, which were fine & had amarican chow.....the only cruise we didn't like was on crystal which had a cpt-lisbon itin....prob 10+ years ago...crystal has changed their act since then....

We did the Baltic, 11 days on Princess out of Copenhagen. Unforgettable.

I think the NCL Family suites fit the OP budget. Not sure when the line is sailing in the Baltics. --The age range is tends to have the group cruising when families all want to go: after school lets out. A guaranteed 8 cabin group helps with the $/bottom line and I would suggest working with a TA to get additional trip enhancements. Contacting the cruiseship direct line offers immediate access to the cabin inventory but they aren't necessarily as motivated to offer ship board credits.

Summer in the Med has been in our experience: hot. We have cruised at different times: June, July, August up to mid-September. Lovely weather late September, October. --Our cruises in the Baltic were all during the summer. Some rainy days, lots of daylight hours, breezy.

Compare and shop carefully. Have you gone to cruise critic for info? Lots of opinion there!

--We have cruised on many different lines and some no longer are in service. Upcoming cruise is with Princess (Hawaiian Islands) then Crystal (UK to DE.)-

first talk to (senior people at) cruiseline to get actual information, offers, possibly negotiating

then talk to TA about further offers/negotiating including with their commission

virtuoso/etc have standard OBC/etc offerings for bookings

edit >

i realize the dates i posted were a little early

also, seabourn (original triplets) starts at not much more per night, but only for more west on the med

Holland America's ms Ryndam is hardly dated or suffering from poor reviews. In general, no one does northern Europe better than Holland America, and they absolutely own the Norwegian fjords for upscale cruising. It sounds like the perfect choice given all the constraints in the OP's description.

My question is, do you guys think the ship is more important than the itinerary? Or vice versa?

I've asked this aboard more than once and the answer varies with the person. I'm more about itinerary but my shipmates often choose by cruise line. FWIW, I'd steer clear of cheapie lines. It's worth the upcharge unless, I suppose, you do this sort of thing monthly. Even then I wonder!

I have narrowed it down to these two:

http://cruise.expedia.com/Itinerary.aspx?item=337276&tpid=1&eapid=0

and

http://cruise.expedia.com/Itinerary.aspx?item=348444&tpid=1&eapid=0

The first one is much more expensive and the ship is older and smaller. But the itinerary looks a bit more interesting to me. I think a big ship is better for a family reunion but the Splendour the Seas has just been refurbished so perhaps it would be a better experience?

We are looking at balcony cabins.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Don't know if you've "locked" in your choice yet, but there is an excellent offer on right now for the Celebrity Constellation (which was "Solsticized" -- Solstice is the newest Celebrity generation of ships -- less than 2 years ago).

It is probably earlier than you are planning to travel, but have a look at the itinerary for the Constellation, leaving Amsterdam on June 13 - June 25. Great northern fjord ports. Balcony cabins are now going for around $1500 p.p. (and there are good OBC offers as well). Senior pricing is at $1149 per person for a balcony cabin (with at least one cruiser of 55+ in each cabin).

I have narrowed it down to these two:

http://cruise.expedia.com/Itinerary.aspx?item=337276&tpid=1&eapid=0

and

http://cruise.expedia.com/Itinerary.aspx?item=348444&tpid=1&eapid=0

The first one is much more expensive and the ship is older and smaller. But the itinerary looks a bit more interesting to me. I think a big ship is better for a family reunion but the Splendour the Seas has just been refurbished so perhaps it would be a better experience?

We are looking at balcony cabins.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

I haven't done RCL myself, so can't speak specifically to the ships, but even the "smaller" ship is a 2000 passenger ship, so it's not exactly small. That said, the other one probably has more to do on the ship, but that tends not to be quite as important for a Med cruise. Looks like the Splendour one sails out of Bari? Not sure how hard that is to get to and from, so that could be an issue. I'd probably say pick whichever one has the ports you'd rather visit on it, the ship is likely to be fine in either case.

Hmm, think my parents are doing that second cruise in a few weeks.