FSU Girl

So we made a decision, I wanted to provide an update. We decided that the land trip is what we want to do, but we found Norwegian has a 3 night cruise that leaves from Barcelona and ends in Rome with a stop in Naples. We are going to spend a few days in Rome and then fly to London. We're going to spend 4 days in London then take the high speed train to Paris, spend 4 days there and then fly home. I'm really excited to spend time in each city and still get a small taste of cruising.

I do agree that cruising is easier than this plan, but we are hopefully going to have a baby shortly after the honeymoon so future trips with a baby will be easier to do on a cruise, so I think we'll do that in the future. 

Thank you everyone for your help deciding!

Cruise next May changed from 8:15 to 7:45. Didn't get any notice about it, just noticed when looking at the online reservation

53 minutes ago, Mary loves to travel said:

I'm just back a few weeks ago from a land trip:  10 days in Paris, then 5 in London.   It was wonderful.    I tend to be a planner, and put in a fair amount of work.   Not so much to regiment us, but to lay things out in a way that made sense, got us to see things that were key (to us), and had plenty of time to stroll through parks, and picnic.     Both have their pros and cons.    With wedding planning in parallel, though, you might want to favor the cruise, and use it as a way to see where you want to come back and spend more time on a future land-based vacation.

 

Either way, you're sure to have a good time!    My advice is pick one option within the next couple of weeks, then stick with it and don't look back (I, too, can tend to 2nd guess myself....so setting a "decision deadline" and then resisting looking back helps me a lot).

 

enjoy,

Mary

Wow that sounds like an amazing trip! Our wedding is actually in November so we have a bit of time between it and the honeymoon so it won't too much all together. So I typed up a comparison for both trips and researched some prices. Originally I thought the Land trip was 3,500 cheaper, but then I realized all the hotels and activities are in Pounds and Euros so with the exchange rate it is probably the same or more. 

That's a good idea about having a deadline. I change my mind a lot and with planning so far in advance it's so easy to change my mind a lot.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions! My paid in full date isn't until the end of February so I have some time to research. I do like all the places the cruise is going to and we wouldn't be able to go to pretty much all of them if we just do a land trip. I think if I could come up with an itinerary that isn't too expensive my Fiance would be okay with it. It'll just take a lot of researching. He is more partial to just doing the cruise.

So I'm starting to doubt my choice in honeymoon again. I know, I know I change my mind too much and worry too much. I was just thinking how 12 nights is a really long time on a cruise. I've done one that long once on Princess when I was 17 and I felt like it was a really long cruise and should have ended a few days sooner. I'm not sure if I'll feel the same way now, but I'm a little worried. I like having constant entertainment and not sure if I'll feel bored on the ship. And the room is small and you don't get to spend too much time in each place. 

So I was thinking of doing a land based tour for the honeymoon instead. Probably a week in Paris, half a week in London and some side excursions to nearby locations by train. I'm a pro at planning cruises and have never planned any sort of European trip on my own so don't really know how to go about that. Is it crazy to think about doing this? 

My Fiance said he likes the cruise and wants to do that, but we could discuss tonight about changing it. 

Growing up I went on multiple Princess cruises and loved them all of them. They were also long cruises usually two weeks or more. I would make friends with kids in the teens club. The only cruise I was bored on was when we went to Alaska and I had turned 18. I wasn’t allowed in the teen center and the 18-20 group was really full with no activities. Up until then I thought princess did a great job. Over Christmas there will be other kids on board

When I first started looking I was going off of the website Kayak, which was only mentioning business class, but when I went to look at the actual websites of the airlines they say first class so I’m not really sure it was a bit confusing. The prices do seem low, but they are saying first class so I think they are? The economy seats on the flights are really cheap too so maybe it’s just off season?

Then you've planned everything perfectly ! Enjoy .

Thank you :)

I strongly disagree with ever flying in the morning of your cruise especially transatlantic and especially for your honeymoon . Why risk missing your cruise ? We flew in 3 days early for both our Med. cruises . By the time we boarded we were fully acclimated and had a great pre cruise visit in a great European city , Rome and Barcelona . Both cities are quite reasonable $ wise .

I am in the fly home business class side. Enjoy the premium experience when you are awake . Plus business class/first class often are granted access to the lounges which you would more likely use on your return trip . If the premium worth it ? Depends on the cost premium .For me the tipping point would be about $400 PP each way .

I didn't notice OP , but is your cabin a balcony or more? If not, spring for the balcony and forget about the business class . So much better value .

Enjoy your honeymoon . :)

We are flying in two days before the cruise to make sure we make it there with plenty of time and sitesee in London a bit. We are flying home the day the cruise docks due to our schedules. We also have a balcony room booked :) I don’t like the location of the mini suites available left on the cruise and the full suite is just too expensive, way more than our flights would cost. I like the location of our room so I’m okay with staying there.

I vote the same way as others, to fly TO London in Business. I totally know what you’re saying about not wanting to “waste” the experience on sleep; I’ve thought the same way, BUT it’s better to be rested for the cruise, AND you’ll surely be awake long enough for dinner and breakfast and the entertainment you’ll be able to enjoy while eating. We flew home from Europe once in American Business pods, and it was just like relaxing in my own living room, legs stretched out, ice cream sundae, drinks galore. They even tucked me in when I fell asleep before take-off. Business is a whole different world from Economy!! Enjoy the splurge!

 

 

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That sounds pretty awesome!

I believe the OP is leaving out of Miami. Virgin Atlantic does fly out of there but flight time is just over 8 hours and departs around 6 PM. It arrives around 8 AM which is 3 AM EST. Those hours of flights make it impossible for many people to get any real sleep and makes some jet lag inevitable.

 

British Airways has a flight leaving MIA at 8:40 PM - which would probably be the best bet if she wants to get some sleep!

 

I've never flown Virgin Atlantic but have always wanted to, I've heard so many good things about it.

Yes we’ll be flying out of Miami :) I had looked at Virgin Atlantic, I really enjoyed flying on them before. But their return flights are only early morning and we wouldn’t be able to make that since we are flying out the day the cruise gets back.

I was looking at the 8:40 flight, that seems late enough that we could get some sleep at a more normal hour. At that late time would we still get served dinner?

Are you allowed to bring water on board too?

Enjoy your honeymoon. Do not understand why others think they should comment on what you do.

 

Spoken as a dad of a Seminole.:)

Thanks :)

I’m another vote for the return trip. I’d be super excited going out (taking into account the wedding and the anticipation of the fab holiday / honeymoon). When you come to the end of your trip (which I’m sure will be fab), it could almost feel like an anti-climax, and you’re having to face the long plane trip home. So if I then had the super duper upgraded seats, I’d be looking forward to the return flight rather than looking at it as something to get through in order to get home.

Hope this makes sense.

 

 

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You do make a good point. The honeymoon is a few months after the wedding though so we'll have some time in between to relax and build up excitement for the trip. Flying home will be sad, no more exciting trips planned.

I am going to give you a different answer than most on here. I really think it depends on you and your soon to be husband and how easily you can fall asleep on a plane. I am one of those that just cannot sleep no matter where I am seated. I fly to Europe approximately once a year and almost always fly economy comfort. I can never sleep on the way over. I also have flown first and business on accumulated points. Still couldn't sleep except for a few "winks" here and there.

 

That being said, service usually shuts down (pretty much) while the plane goes into sleep mode after dinner is served and until breakfast is served. So if you are awake, you won't receive any of the additional benefits of the amazing service that you are paying for by upgrading to business or first. So since I am one of those who can't sleep on the plane I would choose the return trip if I could only do it one way. I definitely recommend, as others have, that whatever you end up choosing it is worth buying economy comfort for the other leg.

I've never been able to sleep on a plane before, so I'm not sure if being in first class will really make a difference or not. I'd like to think it would, but won't really know until I'm there. Do they have movies you can watch in first class? I know when I've flown to Europe there is usually a TV in the back of the seat for people to watch. If I can't sleep I'd probably just watch movies, I wonder how that works with lie flat seats.

According to your cruise history in your signature you were on Caribbean Princess in August, not Crown. The CB does have On Demand--but there have been no confirmed reports from Crown prior to the now-dubious one in this thread.

 

It appears you have given the OP some false hope.

 

(Not to mention called another member's post "weird" quite unjustifiably :rolleyes:)

Oh well that's too bad.

If you can extend it - extend time beforehand to deal with jet lag. You don't want to be exhausted on the first day of the cruise.

We are flying in two days before the cruise to explore London before the cruise. Going to try really hard to power through the first day and not fall asleep.

I think the worst jetlag I had was when I went to Prague for school and we had a three hour class on the history of Prague. I felt so bad since I was in the front row, but I completely passed out for the entire lecture. Glorious three hour power nap though and was good to go from there.

I was on the Crown in August and we had on demand movies and TV. The two movies I watched were Beauty and the Beast and Me Before You. TV shows available were Speechless, Modern Family, Love Boat, etc. There was more of everything but I remember these in particular.

That's awesome to hear thank you!

I know cruises are more than just watching a movie in your cabin, but we really enjoy doing that when we have some down time and want to relax. Sometimes I put the TV on to listen to while sitting on the balcony, idk I just enjoy movies.

Outside of the ships in Asia, only Royal, Regal and Caribbean Princess so far have On Demand. No reports from Crown yet; presumably will not appear until it is Crown's turn to "launch the Medallion".

 

(You are really worried about TV programming on your Honeymoon Cruise? :evilsmile:)

Well that's too bad. Ya, we like to watch movies in the cabin while getting ready or just relaxing

Specifically for the the Crown, are there on demand movies available in the staterooms?

Any tips for flying to Europe with a bum knee.

Make sure to get up a lot and keep moving, drink a lot of water, keep alcohol intake to a minimum. Isle seats are probably preferable since you can stretch out a little more than the middle or window seat.

Everyone is focusing on the benefit, how about the cost? When I priced one leg in business class to Athens, it was about $5,000 more per person. Even at $2000 more per person, that is alot of money that can buy lots of stuff compared to maybe 6 hours of sleep? I agree to use it to pay other costs like hotel and excursions, go one day more day extra if you can (some can't I've been there too). Put it toward any debt/interest you have. Just another opinion.

I'd love to extend our trip, but we have to fly home the day the cruise ends to make it to an event the next day we can't miss. The cost is crazy high, I agree. We've never paid that much for a plane ticket before, but I figure since it's for a honeymoon it would be okay to splurge. We don't have to cut any other activities to fly this way and don't have any debt :) I don't think we'll fly both ways like that though, it really is just way too much and some of the flights in economy are really cheap right now so we will probably do that back.

Or look at Int'l premium economy for the other leg. It's similar to domestic first (little better than that IMHO), and that would be my sweet spot for the cost-benefit ratio on a trans-atlantic.

 

I suggest you look up int'l premium economy for a better idea of what it's like, I may have done it a disservice with my description earlier. It's head and shoulders better than the domestic "premium" economy. Int'l gets real meals with glasses and proper cutlery and flatware, and on both AirFrance and Alitalia came with a dedicated crew member for that cabin of roughly 20 pax.

 

One upside for Biz/First is that you generally get lounge access on that leg of the trip. Airport lounges is another perk that can be really nice when you're flying, esp int'l since you need to be at the airport earlier. We had a long drive, so we ended up with almost 3 hours at the airport - AF lounge had complimentary food and drinks, comfy seats, free wi-fi... sooooo much better than waiting in the standard concourse.

 

If your fiancé has status with an airline though (or certain credit cards) you may have lounge access through that (as well as some other perks), if so it's worth flying that carrier or at least that airline alliance so you can credit the miles to his account and get some benefits.

I know we've been in a lounge before, I want to say it was American Express? Not sure, was the first time for me and was pretty nice. I know he has some deals with some airlines, but not the ones that are flying to London. The one that was flying to Rome he did, but the cost was more than double so wouldn't really be worth it. I'll look into that seat class you mentioned, I definitely think we'll be flying home in something other than first class.

Thank you everyone for your great advice! I'm going to check out Princess's airfare to see if their's will be cheaper. Everyone makes me want to book both legs of the trip as first class, I asked my Fiance if we could, he said maybe :) But I mentioned what everyone said about going there so if we do have to choose it'll be that one.

So I noticed that three airlines are using the same plane for the flight. I went to each of their websites and one is charging $5,000 per person for first class and one is charging $2,000 per person for the same seat. Is that normal?