rodndonna

By only a small margin based on personal port preference, I would vote for the first one (from Barcelona) assuming there is not a ship preference. Both look great though. Is your group accepting applications for new members? LOL 😃

I would vote for your 3rd option - the 11 day option (Barcelona - Venice) as I think it has more variety in ports, with good European flights in and out (Barcelona and Venice) My second place would be the return trip Barcelona - it is similar to our first ever cruise (many years ago, and happens to be our only NCL to date). Can't go wrong itinerary and flight options should be good. I would place the Venice to Athens one last, although oddly we just did that a similar one on HAL and loved it. I placed it last, as the ports in the other itineraries are generally more "bucket-list-y" if there are any first timers in the group, and flying back from Athens a bit more of a pain. Good luck in your planning!

I've booked many Marella cruises, no problem. It will be charged to your credit card as GPB and your credit card will charge you the conversion to US$ in that transaction the same as it would using ithe card making a purchase in the UK.

As a Canadian, when I am booking, I can just tell the TA (or PCC) if I want the transaction in Canadian or US dollars and that is how they charge the card.

hhhhmmmm???

I see it on a couple of Canadian sites also, but not all. It seems very odd..maybe it is mostly pre-booked as a charter? I can't really understand why it is only visible on limited sites.

We watched this video the other day - maybe more relevant to Canadians as insurance might differ. It is a good synopsis of 4 travel groups on the same flight who missed their Princess cruise. One had Princess Air (like FlightEase) and the other 3 had different insurance plans (one was just their travel credit card insurance, one was a Princess add on insurance and one bought an independent travel insurance through a TA. The very short synopsis - the guy with credit card insurance had both flights and hotels covered to get to next available port. The ones with Princess Air screwed up not accepting their new flights (non-direct) and not surprised they were not covered (not sure they realized it).The other 2 insurance plans were pretty unhelpful ...typical insurance issues! The takeaway for us (who often accept the risk and fly day of ..) is that we probably have some reourse between our travel credit card insurance and of/when we book cruise/air, and we will just have to wing it if/when it happens.

We disembarked Oct 8 and nothing yet this time. Maybe a thing of the past....?

Ours was 2 or 3 days before sailing.

Not sure the Canadian Cruisers is the best place to look (maybe the Caribbean ports forum?) but you can search through the timetables for April and May 2024.. https://www.cruisetimetables.com/willemstad-curacao-cruise-ship-schedule.html

Thanks. That is actually how we ended up with this particular Celebrity booking. We had an RCL cruise that when cancelled by RCL opened the opportunity to move the cruise to a "similar" Celebrity cruise which we did. That was why I thought "maybe" if we decide to move that Celebrity cruise, we might be able to move it to RCL. The cruise is many months out and we are still undecided, but will certainly ask if/when we decide to move the cruise.

I think you have to look daily, as they seem to change daily (at least mine do).

Yes they are cancelled. It was announced during their financial outlook announcement https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/norwegian-cuts-outlook-cancels-israel-sailings-through-2024/ar-AA1jdsqW

Hey - I got some again too....hadn't seen any for a while. Nothing we can use at this point (darn dog and darn flight costs!)... but still nice to see them again ...😃

Thanks. In the event we do decide to cancel (still unsure) I will ask. Generally prefer Celebrity, but am interested in a Pacific Coastal itinerary with RCL if it was an option.

Although I don't expect them to return to San Juan (at least not in the foreseeable future), even if they did, it would still just be "1" ship and itinerary, NO chance of them pulling out of the plethora of other options from Florida, California and other US ports, so no need to worry if they return.

Thanks 😢

I'm pretty sure the answer is "NO" but never hurts to check ... If I have to cancel/rebook a Celebrity cruise (with the $100/pp charge) can it be moved to an RCL cruise?

Celebrity is dropping San Juan as well (at least for 2025). We had booked with them our of San Juan in 2025, but all the 2025 San Juan itineraries were pulled to Florida embarkations. If you want to do Celebrity - get it in for 2024. NCL is doing San Juan and we have that one booked for January 2024 (7 day cruise with no sea days!). Options from San Juan are becoming more limited, I am guessing it is a result of flight costs 😐 Celebrity said they wanted to make it easier for families and more cruises with the RCL private island when the made the change to Florida.

Just ask yourself ...regardless of whatever answers you get here ... could you actually be confident with taking your children out of the country without a passport based on "but people on Cruise Critic said it was OK...."

I don't recall if it was on HAL or Celebrity, but on a cruise in the last year .. we came back to the room to get ready for our final night dinner - and our suitcases had been pulled out from under the bed and put on that bed luggage runner. It was probably Celebrity cruise and maybe becasue it was our first Celebrity cruise, and they thought we needed a bit guidance on what we were supposed to do ... 😉

Just to clarify on this - do you think that applies if the overall price for all cabin categories has increased? For an upcoming cruise - we have an inside GTY. The current price for that cabin (and others) has risen overall. Would we have a shot at an upgrade for the differential between inside and balcony at the current pricing, or the differential between the GTY we paid a year ago and a balcony price today? Another "call-in" upgrade question - if you call in and buy an upgrade, can you pick the cabin?

Having spent a week on that beach, I can say our experiences varied widely. Perhaps cruisers are treated differently? The Dominican Republic is not a wealthy island and not like visiting one of the virgin Islands. Samana has very little development in the area which is the draw for the area being far more natural. As far as vendors, I'd put it on par with vendors in Barbados or Ocho Rios. We've definitely had much worst experience with vendors in Barbados and Ocho, BUT, we have only been there as cruisers, and I do think there is something to that.

I can't believe I found a relevant picture! This was 2019 taken from our hotel .. and down past that walking bridge you can see a cruise ship (not HAL though), so you get an idea of the tendering distance.

Have holidayed quite a number of times in the DR over the years in different areas of the country, Spent a week in Samana in 1998? and then again a week in 2019. It's a popular beach holiday area for Canadians. I don't recall ever feeling unsafe and would not hesitate to return. Whale watching (if the season is right) is big. I know 2019 cruises were offering tours/day passes to the island Cayo Leventado which is quite beautiful.