CCJack

Indeed. We found Venice (and St. Marks) so much more enjoyable after 5 pm (as well as early morning.) We successfully stayed away from the $10 coffee at St. Marks square , but fell for the $30 ice cream sundae... The fact that I remember it 5 years later indicates it was probably $30 well spent !

100% Agree..... Once in Venice (I can't comment on getting there as we docked in the city), pick out 2 or 3 "destinations" (restaurants, museums, etc.) then just walk and wander to find them. If you don't get to them all no worries. I would not concentrate on St. Mark or a Gondola ride. Both are good if have time, but I wouldn't hang out at St. Marks long, too crowded... if you are in Venice for only one afternoon, I would not go to Morano or Burano, it would take most of an afternoon..

We went with Captain Duane and Icy Strait Whale Adventures about 5 years ago. Had a blast, can highly recommend. At the time his nearly new boat held about 14, perhaps they have upgraded to a boat that can hold your group. We ran across a group of transient Orcas that were feeding on a seal. Some rammed our boat, I could have easily reached over the railing and touched them (but did not !). Some on our boat were scared with the whales contacting the boat, but I looked to Duane and he seemed cool and calm, so I figured it was cool ! He did say it was highly unusual..... Have fun...

We went on the Celebrity Apex to Iceland / Ireland out of Amsterdam this summer (2022). The Apex was our favorite and most beautiful ship of our 20 or so cruises. The trip was great. We had previously done a Norway only cruise (Cunard) - so we didn't plan to add Norway to Iceland. However, I can say Norway is a more beautiful cruising destination than Iceland. Iceland is more interesting from a volcano / geology standpoint once on land. If you have never cruised to Norway, I would consider a Norway / Iceland trip. May be doable in 12 days. Try to get a deep fjord port in Norway. I prefer Amsterdam vs. Southampton for departure.....

We have not stayed at these two but the location of Damaso looks better. Easy walk to Pantheon and P. Navona. Medium walk to vatican. We stayed at Albergo Abruzzi and loved our view of the Pantheon from our room.....

We took the train up (booking on our own) and biked down. It was a great day. Very beautiful bike ride. As others have said train boards very close to the ship. However, note that we were late getting off of the ship. Our ship docked and only let passengers on a cruise excursion off, then it backed out and everyone else tendered. Another ship took the dock. I still don't know why they did this, but we were a little later and expected off of the ship.

I agree, this new plan sounds great.. you have added some hassle with hotels / luggage, etc in Barcelona and Rome, but I think well worth it. Rome, especially, takes some pre planning as it will be crowded. If your budget allows consider a private local tour guide to take you through the Vatican Museum. Perfect time of the year to go to Norway, those northern stops will have near 24 hour daylight in June and I think that is fun in itself. Small suggestion if possible.... I would prefer to do Med first. Med cruise is all about the cities and it can be more "work" with the big cities, crowds, traffic, etc. whereas Norway is very beautiful from the ship and most ports are small (maybe very small) cities. For us it was just a much more relaxing cruise, and would be good to do the relaxing portion last, IMO. Not a deal breaker though. Have fun planning.

Nothing wrong with either of the proposed 2 cruise trips above, they all sound fun. We were on a Norway cruise with the exact same ports and it was a great cruise. Flam is in a deep Fjord.. However, - If I were planning a 23 day trip and only allowed 7 hours in Rome (considering drive time from port) , I think that misses the mark. I do like sea days to unwind but I would trade a couple of those sea days for 2 hotel nights in Rome - too many historical bucket list sites in Rome to do in an afternoon. I would begin or end the Med cruise in Rome, even if it means shortening the med cruise by a couple days. Then take a Rome to Amsterdam flight for the Norway departure. Amsterdam airport is a very easy and short trip to downtown where the ships dock (Southampton is a bit of an effort from Heathrow). Plus Amsterdam is more interesting than Southampton. Adding a flight is a hassle, but in this case, I think it is well worth it.

great trip for a teen... he is a lucky kid ! I second the vote for Glacier Point Wilderness Safari , I think a teen would really like that.

A couple of other thoughts on this topic.... As mentioned, I agree that the cost benefit of doing Independent is not what it used to be. I have noticed independent excursions starting to go up through the years, approaching cruise line prices. Likely independent excursions may still have advantage of smaller group size, but check in advance and ask about group size. It is possible that may not be necessarily true. On our Glacier Wilderness safari tour out of Skagway, we booked independent. It turned out it was the exact same boat as the cruise line excursion, we were all together. In that case it would be best to go independent booking as it was a little cheaper, but I am not sure how a person would know in advance that they put everyone together. Although not in Alaska we have had 3 separate times recently (different cruises) where the port debarkation was significantly delayed and the cruiseline allowed cruise excursions off first (but late), before they opened up general debarkation (very late.) 1) In Reykjavik, the ground crew somehow screwed up the gangway trying to attach it to the ship, and they had to retrieve a backup gangway - about 1.5 hour late debarkation with cruise excursions going first. 2) In Waterford, Ireland we tendered. One of the tender boat's engine broke with passengers in it halfway to shore. They had to take another tender boat to get those people off the stranded boat leaving only 1 of 3 boats to do the normal debarkation. Significant delay with cruise excursion passengers allowed to go first. 3) Lastly in Flam, Norway there were two big ships in Flam which is a very small town with space for only one ship to dock. For some reason we docked first and allowed only cruise excursion passengers to walk off, then the ship backed out of the dock and everyone else had to tender as the other ship took the dock. I am not sure why this was done, but the tendering was slow, they just didn't have the capacity and everyone who did general debarkation was late. I think there are pros to independent excursions, but I do think there are pros to cruiseline excursions as well.

We took the Glacier Point Safari and really enjoyed it. One of our favorites, I can recommend....... A great up close glacier experience and it was fun hiking, canoeing, etc. up to the glacier.... We have not been on the White Pass however...

Agree on Vancouver... A great city to catch a cruise. Stay downtown for a night or two then walk to your ship. Beautiful views of the harbor from downtown.

A couple thoughts.... In juneau we took the Mt. Roberts tram up and hiked the trails at the top of the tram. It was beautiful up there, not a lot of trees, but views down over the city where spectacular. I would only do this in good weather though. You can spend as little or as much time hiking as you want. We did a ship's excursion to the Davidson Glacier near Haines. It was a much better experience than Mendenhall glacier. However, it is also more work to get there.... some short hiking and short boat ride. The ship may not offer this since you are there only in the evening, but you will have a lot of daylight and I would think it could be done in 4 hours. I remember our excursion being a half day or so. Not sure this is a good DYI however. In any event, if you are seeing a glacier elsewhere I would skip Mendenhall. As for whale watching, I am not an expert. However, we have been on two ...one in Iceland (not fun, very few whales) and one out of ISP in Alaska which was wonderful. We really got lucky, we ran across a group of Orcas and they circled and toyed with our boat for about 40 minutes. They were no more than 4 feet from my camera ! I could have easily reached over the railing and touched them but I did not. One of our best experiences ever... However as I said, we may have just been lucky.... Have fun planning.....

I think this would depend on what your plans are before and after the cruise, not really the cruise itself. We stayed in Vancouver for 2 days pre cruise (Northbound) , it is a beautiful city and easy to get to ship from downtown. I think Vancouver is better for a big city stay pre cruise than Anchorage. However, Anchorage would be better if you are planning on "Alaska type"excursions away from the city. You could do both as well. I just would not fly in the day of a cruise or even late the night before, too many things can go wrong these days with airlines and luggage, etc.....

i think 75 minutes would be fine including a walk to nugget falls. Are you going to a glacier elsewhere on your cruise? If so consider skipping Mendenhall, if time in juneau is limited. At Mount Roberts, we took the tram up and then hiked for a couple hours. However you can spend a much or as little time up there as you want. Some people just take the tram up and then down right away. We had nice weather and the hiking up there was beautiful.

Yikes ! Asking us to choose between Norway and Iceland is like asking to name your favorite child ! We have been on one Norwegian Fjord Cruise, one Iceland cruise (with stops in Ireland), and one Alaska cruise, along with several Mediterranean and Caribbean cruises. After much thought, I would say the name of my favorite child is...... Norway. When God designed Norway, he had cruising in mind. The sail into the Fjords is really spectacular and the coastal cities also are nice views from the ship. Norway has pristine towns, friendly people and beautiful natural sights. You are going to want to plan excursions however, not a lot of strolling though towns on your own, expect for maybe Bergen. Our favorite excursion was at Flam. We took the train up the mountain and biked down. Very fun. Iceland is very interesting and unique in it own right. Hallasm is correct in that it could be a land vacation rather than a cruise as most sights are inland. However nothing wrong with choosing a hotel that floats and moves.....just for the convenience. You just won't see sights from your ship like in Norway. Iceland is all about the geology, volcanoes, hot springs, guysers, lava fields, fissures, etc. It is vast and you can see forever. There are few trees and virtually no native mammals. (you will not see the wildlife that you likely saw in Alaska.) One advantage to Iceland it is remote from Europe and thus has a unique culture and population, there is something to be said about traveling off the beaten path. We enjoyed our trip to Iceland very much. If you have not been to Europe much, then your Embarkation port is important, as bearette says. You get another mini vacation for 3 or 4 days for not much more effort. Amsterdam is one of Europe's most interesting cities (although it is crowded). Very convenient as the ships leave from the city center and if you choose the right hotel you can walk to your ship and also to the interesting sights in the city. Short 20 min train from airport. Southampton is less interesting, but you could stay in London with all that London has to offer. A bit more of an effort to get from London to the ship in Southampton than walking to your ship in Amsterdam, however. Have fun planning.

For sure...... River cruising especially since the boats are small and and a medium sized group can overrun the boat. When my wife and I booked a Viking River Cruise, we booked well in advance. A few weeks later our TA called and said that Viking informed our TA that we were the first cabin booked, and they then booked every other cabin on the boat to a single group. So we would be the only ones not part of the group. We cancelled and moved to a less desirable date for us. I have mixed feelings about how Viking handled this. I am very glad they told us, that is for sure. However, I think if a group wants a whole river boat, than Viking should only offer a boat that has no reservations yet, or keep some trips unpublished, only for groups. I do not know what the group was but it would not have been fun for us. Viking offered us nothing in terms of OBC or upgrade or anything like that.

Steelers0854.... we went on a very similar Viking trip a couple years ago. 3 nights in Prague, then cruise from Nuremburg to Budapest. We did stop at Passau however. It was a great trip. Prague was a great pre cruise stay, we stayed at the Hilton which was the Viking hotel, I am not sure if it still is. Budapest is really beautiful from the river at night with all the buildings lit up. There were 20 some locks along the Danube we had to go through,, some people are bored with those things, but I found them really interesting. (a few of those may have been between Nuremberg and Passau however.) Our evening entertainment (along with everyone else) was sitting on the top deck after dinner watching the river bank pass by. However, you will have darkness after dinner (we went in July), so likely you will be in the lounge after dinner, and maybe they will have some entertainment. Have a great trip....

Agree..... A hotel room booked for the night before might be good to get cleaned up, change clothes etc. but do not sleep in the morning. Get going as Bruce suggests. Stay up as long as you can. Even sleeping at 6 pm is much better than sleeping at 10 am right after you get off the plane...

Staying in Venice for a couple days post cruise is a great decision. If you only see Venice as part of the cruise stop you will see massive crowds between noon and 5 pm, and will miss the best part of the days, IMO, which is early morning and evening. You can stroll through the city without fighting the afternoon crowds. For the same reason, I would not lock on staying in St. Marks, although 2 min walk away may be fine, I would not want to be any closer. Of course you want to see St. Marks while you are in Venice, as it is the main pedestrian square. However, we did not spend much time there and our hotel was a ways away, which was good. Other areas of Venice is where we enjoyed walking....The entire city is walking distance to anywhere in the city. Have fun, it is one of the world's most beautiful places.

We took the 12 day (7 day cruise plus 5 day land) The land stops were Aleyska, Denali, Talkeetna, Anchorage. We enjoyed Aleyska resort as a stopover on the way to Denali. It is a ski resort, but during the summer you can still take the tram up the mountain, and they have hiking trails around the property. It is a very nice hotel, which is hard to find in Alaska. Our Denali lodging was less plush but fine none the less. I think Princess likely has the edge over RCCL for their Denali lodging. However when we went (a couple years ago) RCCL had much nicer motor coaches than Princess. This may have changed if Princess upgraded their coaches since then. Talkeetna is an odd town. Maybe it is an acquired taste, but that stop did not appeal so much to us. Overall we were very pleased with RCCL land tour.

We have not done the specific tour through Viator, but I think it sounds like a good combo. I would definitely do whale first. In that way you are not far from the ship (Mendenhall is not far from Juneau) late in the afternoon. So if there were ever a problem with a vehicle or something, they (or you) could arrange another ride back. Out at sea and a problem with the whale boat 1.5 hours before the ship leaves is a different story and would make me nervous. Other replies are correct, you don't need a lot of time for Mendenhall.

We hired a local guide to go with us to portofino in the am and then provided a walking tour of genoa highlights in the afternoon. It was a great day, probably our favorite port of our med cruise. Pleasantly surprised with Genoa. Enjoy!

I agree with all the replies. We normally book on our own. However our last trip Airfare was coming up way cheaper through cuiseline. We booked that, and the trip went fine. Correct in that we could not choose seats until the ticket was actually ticketed, however the cuiseline ticketed them maybe a month before the trip or so and we got adequate seats no issues. Have fun.....

We had just an awesome whale watching experience at ISP. Juneau is not that far away, i understand whale watching is very good there too, as it is similar waters. However Juneau has more selection for other things to do than ISP, so ISP worked well to go whale watching. We did independent. Most of the boats from different companies end up close to each other anyway as the captains talk with each other to help locate whales. Difference is boat size and number of passengers.