MeHeartCruising

You say "to secure these flights" and then say "it's not even 100% guaranteed". How did NCL word it? What are they saying "secure" means. If you're asking about seat assignments, it will depend on the rules of the actual airline that NCL purchases the tickets from. Different Airlines have different rules for the different classes of tickets they sell. Especially with economy seats. If NCL buys you a ticket class that permits seat selection and/or paid upgrades to better seats, you can call the airline and get those. Sometimes even on the website. If your ticket class does not permit that then you won't be able to. Not all airlines do this the same way.

I would think with kids that age, I would get them to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It's quite cool to see, in my opinion. You'll all love getting selfies there. You have to get a pictured where you're pretending to hold the tower from falling over! You can do a quick visit to Florence as well if you're so inclined. I did these 2 as part of ship excursion in years past.

In Portland, your ship will dock in a secure (military?) facility. You will not be able to walk off the ship to go anywhere. You can take ship excursions, if you were so inclined. In addition to this, there will be a free shuttle bus that goes from the ship into Weymouth with an intermediary stop at Portland Castle. The bus(es) run regularly throughout the day. I wasn't too interested in the ship's excursions. Some were sold out by the time I booked my cruise anyway. What I did was to ride the bus into Weymouth in the morning. From the drop off point, I walked across the harbor area into central Weymouth and explored the town commercial streets a bit as I worked my way to the waterfront of Weymouth Bay (part of The English Channel). Then I walked up and down the waterfront enjoying the views and typical waterfront stuff. It's a pleasant place to just walk around (if you're inclined to that sort of thing). From there, I walked to Nothe Fort, which I found interesting to explore and enjoy the scenic views of the Channel. Then I walked back to the shuttle pickup point. On the way back to the ship, I got off at the Portland Castle stop and visited the castle. It's nothing special, but it was something to do. I enjoyed seeing the WWII Mulberry Harbour Caissons in the nearby water. I then caught the next shuttle bus which took me back to the ship. All-in-all, I found it to be a very pleasant day where I just "winged it".

Terminal A is Royal Caribbean's large, new flashy terminal. It was built to accommodate the larger ships in the fleet. If there is a larger Royal Caribbean ship in port at the same time as you will be boarding the Explorer, the larger ship will almost certainly be docked at Terminal A and you will be pushed to another terminal, such as Terminal G mentioned above.

Also, there are multiple places where ships can dock. They are not all considered "walkable". I would research the shuttle buses. In May 2023, I used the 6 euro bus from train station right to my ship. It couldn't have been easier. You need cash for the bus.

I would feel very comfortable booking a 9:30 excursion at Costa Maya with a ship arrival time of 8:00. You should be able to walk off the ship by 8:30 or so and the pier walk plus the walk thru the port "village" to transportation options will take 10-15 minutes or so for most people. Plenty of time. Your tour may actually have a meeting point inside the village at the end of the pier. You should ask. And yes, Costa Maya is not across the water from Cozumel. That poster is confusing Playa Del Carmen with Costa Maya.

Had a group who sat down beside me at the pool with walkies. They were totally obnoxious using them without any care whatsoever how it might impact the pool experience for others. Most people around them left for another spot before long. Myself included.

I think they offer a shuttle to the Ravenna train station. You could catch a train there to get to Bologna.

I would look for a hotel near Piazzale Roma, which is the transportation hub for Venice. That will make it easy to get to the hotel from the airport via wheeled transport (taxi or bus). Plus there is a People Mover station there that you can use to ride over to the Tronchetto People Mover station, which is where your transfer to the ship we leave from. All of Venice is walkable. You will need to walk to/from your hotel to see some of the major sites. Or you can lean how to use the Vaporetto water bus lines to get where you want to go when sightseeing. I did a combination of both when I hoteled near P. Roma.

I don't know if all cruise lines provide transfers both directions, but Royal Caribbean and Celebrity appear to (for a fee) based on my personal experience and/or what I've read on this forum. Royal Caribbean offered 2 version to/from Venice. Either to/from the Marco Polo Airport or to/from the Tronchetto People Mover station. So if you're in a hotel, you would likely choose a transfer to or from the Tronchetto People Mover. You would have to get from your hotel to or from that location.

Thanks for sharing this story. You are clearly a level-headed thinker and likely a seasoned traveler. Great job dealing with a bad situation.

Non-studio “solo” cabins is a recent sales/marketing gimmick that NCL introduced in 2023. They exist on all or most ships in the form of inside, ocean view, or balcony cabins. NCL suggests that these cabins allow for more affordable solo cruising. However, the reality is that the pricing may or may not be less than when one person purchased a cruise in the past using a standard, non-studio cabin. It’s not like solo cabins are always X% cheaper. But, it’s nice to see us solo cruisers given a little marketing love for a change. I’m not sure how often it will actually save me money, however.

I was on Celebrity's sister company, Royal Caribbean, but it took me two calls to find an agent that knew how to properly research and sell transfers from Ravenna to Venice. I would assume that someone at Celebrity will eventually find a transfer. Royal Caribbean sold 2 transfers between Venice and Ravenna. One was to/from the Venice Marco Polo Airport for those arriving or departing from the airport. The second transfer sold was to/from "Venice City Center". Their definition of Venice City Center was a bus parking lot beside the Tronchetto Island car parking garage and People Mover station. So, if you would be staying in Venice at a hotel before/after your cruise, you would need to get transportation from your hotel to/from the Tronchetto People Mover station to utilize the transfer bus. Royal was charging about $55 per person for these transfers (one way) in 2023.

Have you considered using the transfer service provided by your cruise line (for a fee)? If this is for Celebrity or Royal Caribbean, they both offer the service. You can call them to pre-book it or arrange it while on your ship. I would do it in advance. I haven't seen a more reasonably priced alternative.

I've bought lots of crap on the ship that I would not otherwise buy in order to use up non-refundable OBC. Better to buy something than to leave it go unused. Buy them out of overpriced M&Ms if you have to.

I used an eSim with no issues in the UK. The process to set up was simple and without issues. There are multiple companies that sell them. You do need to be careful that you are getting the features you want. Since you want calls and data (texts, email, apps), you need to make sure the eSim support that. Many eSims sold only support data (no voice support). A commonly mentioned one to use in Europe is from a company called Orange: https://travel.orange.com/en/buy-a-sim/offers/europe It will come with a French phone number. But it will work in most, if not all, European countries by connecting to a local cellular carrier that Orange has agreements with. Check the website to verify if all your countries are supported. I have not used Orange myself. I planned to, but decided just to switch to T-Mobile, which offers plans that work in Europe as part of the US plan.

https://www.nclhltd.com/investors/shareholder-benefits

To me, Taormina is one of those locations where the ships' "Taormina on your Own" excursions make sense. It really is a town you just want to walk around at your own pace and soak it in. No need for a tour or guide. But getting there using public transporation/taxi is not all that easy or inexpensive. Let the ship's bus get you there and back, but enjoy the time while there doing whatever you want. I've done this twice with no regrets.

Kaisatsu sums it up nicely. These 2 cruises are pretty much at opposite ends of the spectrum. Choose the one that is in your half of the spectrum.

Have you been there before? Assuming not, I would take a taxi from the ship to see La Sagrada Familia. It’s possibly the biggest attraction in Barcelona. Then if time permits, I’d taxi back to walk around some in the area where Gaudi architecture is prominent in several buildings. Then maybe walk down Las Ramblas back toward the ship, catching a taxi at some point to get you there.

I don’t recall the exact time, but yes, they run multiple busses and they will assign you to a specific departure time based upon your flight departure time. They will ask for the flight info when you buy the bus transfer. If you look thru the various threads on this topic, you may find a picture of the bus departures list that people have posted from previous cruises. But your cruise may or may not follow that list.

Since the OP has stated they are going to use NCLs air option, that only gives them the ability to extend 2 nights after the end of the cruise. My advice is to spend that time in London and see what you can. Trying to cram in a Paris visit is not a valuable part of your time. Save Paris for another trip. Or cancel the NCL airfare and book your own flights (which will likely be more expensive) but will allow you to add several more days on to the end of the trip so you can get over to Paris.

It happens automatically on a daily/realtime basis. Incoming charges get deducted from an appropriate OBC bucket until the OBC bucket is empty. You can, and should, follow along using the TV screens in your cabin to check your bill up to that point in time. Note, it can be confusing how the math is being done. Especially on some ships’ TV screens. You can always stop by guest services and they will print out your account charges up to that point. This printout is usually easier to follow with respect to the 2 types of OBC.

I'm pretty sure that all the tours use the same boats. For my cruise in May (on Royal Caribbean), our cruise excursions did indeed get to the island first before ANY public boats or private tours. We left from a dock near the docked ship. While we were touring Delos, the boat that brought us to Delos went back to Mykonos and served as the first public transport boat for individual travelers and those on tours (I assume). They brought those people to Delos and then took our ship excursion groups back to Mykonos. I don't recall seeing any private tour boats in the process.

Then let them eat cake! 😂