ontheweb

😉, I can totally understand that.

We were lucky in 2014 that we had an overnight, actually in Rosyth. We spent the day in Edinburgh and then went to the Tattoo. We had bought round trip train tickets, but unfortunately the last train back had already departed when we got there. We ended up taking a cab back.

Another way you can reward exceptional service is to write up the employee as someone who made your cruise special. These commendations can lead to promotions.

The only question is why did you not do that in the first place?

The same happened to us years ago. When I posted about it, I was told I should have tried again. A different agent might have allowed it, but it was only a small amount ($35 IIRC), and I figured it would just be there to spend when we got onboard.

For the last 31 years she taught art at a school so small she was the only art teacher for grades pre-k through 6. Not really worried about rowdy elementary school age children, but more about college age students.

Sounds like the type of problem that you should have a TA to call, and let him or her spend the time on hold.

it actually does make sense that a disembarking TOUR to an airport would qualify while a mere transfer to an airport would not. One of our best ever cruise line excursions happened to be a disembarking tour. It was through Princess from Dover to Heathrow airport and included a walk in Dover and then Canterbury.

DW's career as an art teacher started well before our first cruise in 2002, but now she has retired from that job. We in the past never worried about Spring Break as all our cruises were during the summer. So now I ask, when exactly is the Spring Break time to avoid?

Not really totally relevant as it was in a different city and pre-Covid, but we once had a great airline roundtrip offer available between Newark and Copenhagen. The return flight was scheduled at 9 AM. Both the cruise line (Princess) and our TA told us this was too early. We took the deal, but flew out the following morning heeding their advice. When the questionnaire for luggage tags was handed out, DW noticed that there was a tag for Continental flights at 9 AM. I then looked, and not only was she correct, but there was one for flights before 9 AM.

But when one of those high volume cruise agencies intercede for you aren't you worried that you "lost control of your booking"? 🤣🤣🤣

Call TA. Tell him (or her) what you are looking for. Get a quote. If it is satisfactory, say book it. Does not sound so complicated.

We are probably also in that category. We do also have the problem that we approach dancing totally differently. DW wants to get the steps perfect; I just want the music to move my body. It gets interesting as she tries to lead although one of the basic rules of ballroom dancing is he leads, she follows. 😉

Right, absolutely dead on. NY City is more than Manhattan. And New Jersey is not New York City. I do not know why there is any confusion about that.

One of the nice things about Dover was our trip back to Heathrow. We took a Princess excursion that had us explore Dover and then go to Canterbury. On our cancelled Norwegian fjords cruise out of Southampton, we were going to also take the Princess excursion back to Heathrow. This one went to Stonehenge, and DW said she was looking forward to this even more than the cruise itself.

I know London is listed as a departure port, sometimes as London (Dover) which we have done and sometimes as London (Southampton) which we had cancelled by Covid and now have booked for next summer.

I had no passion for art, but now that I am married for 45 years to an art teacher (just retired), things have changed.

I did not realize there was one in Nice. We have been to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

But this is not nearly the same situation as Florence, Rome, Athens, London, or Paris. Even if only Manhattan is what you intend to see it is merely a cab, bus, or subway ride away.

That first port stop where we went to Nice is still one of our best, if not best, do it yourself excursions. In addition to that beach part, the 2 museums we went to were Matisse and Chagall. DW was (now retired) an art teacher. The only negative was DW said the place where she changed into her swimsuit (not topless) was the most vile place she was ever in. I believe it was a bathroom that was basically a hole in the ground. 😒

Brooklyn is actually part of New York City. 🤦‍♂️

For us it is easy; DW is a swimmer while I am not. She swims, I watch our stuff. Actually, on our very first port on our very first cruise, I do not remember the port name, but we went to Nice. (You could also go to Cannes or Monaco.) After visiting museums, she went for a swim in the Mediterranean. She plopped our stuff down near some topless French (at least I assume they were French) women. I admit to having been distracted! 😊 And if this makes me a dirty old man, what can I say. I am an American. 🤣

Our cruise was well before Covid (2012), and we made all of our ports. But maybe people were not as interested in ports. One of the things we were really interested in (and paid for in advance) was an excursion from Marseilles to Arles. (Arles is where Van Gogh did most of his paintings) We were warned by the excursion people that it was not selling enough. I was also told by one of them that it was a great excursion and that he would push it. Then it was cancelled for not enough excursion tickets sold. How can you not get 10 or whatever low number you need not sold on a ship so large? And it was not like Marseilles was a port with a lot of DIY options.

It is possible that it was just that cruise. I thought it was because the ship was so BIG. DW thought it was because we were in Europe, but as I wrote previously about half our cruises were in Europe, actually with one 10 years earlier with almost the same itinerary.

Not in the Haven, but I guess your information might be useful to some others.