I brought my Minolta DiMage on board. Fantastic photos...I love it. One of the main reasons I bought this camera was the extensive optical zoom (great for pictures from the ship of sunsets, islands, etc.) I know the 707 has a great optical zoom (5x) as well. I think the Canon you mentioned is more limited (3x). Also, the Sony is a 5 mega-pixel vs. a 4 for the Canon. Sounds great but keep in mind the storage that higher mega-pixel cameras will take vs. the benefit (able to print larger photos). Just a little of what helped make my decision.
Sorry...can't give you specifics about using either but the Sony would probably be my choice of those 2.