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Thank you all for replying I appreciate your input

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Just like the title says, given the recent. Omplaints about Prima not having enough interior spaces for cold weather, which ships are better?if you have experience on other lines too I would be interested in hearing, I have heard that Royal and Majestic Princess are not so great either. 
 

Thank you in advance!

Hi all, 

just wondering how far out are you all seeing airfare booked for a cruise, I read somewhere 75 days  out but is that what you are seeing? Next week I am hitting that point…. So just curious.

13 minutes ago, jdc987 said:

Under bed, just like the other ships.  Just no skirt to hide it.

Thats what I feared... not great planning on their side in that is there? I guess I can be happy my suitcase is blue. LOL

Thank you both for confirming!

The way I did it was I researched first, using Rick Steves's book and travel sites. I picked out the best cruise for seeing the maximal amount of my first round ( oh cause that list just grows!). I picked a great little cruise in 2016 called the Grand Med and saw Barcelona, Aux,  France, Livorno (though we chose to do Cinque Terre) , Rome, Naples, Athens, Mykonos, Istanbul, Ephesus, and Venice. We stayed in Venice 3 days, then we flew back to London and stayed there and flew home. It was aboard the Norwegian Spirit and we had a terrific time. The sail into Venice is sublime and I am glad we did it when we did. 

The hardest part of any cruise is balancing the ports and the ship really is an end to t means. Long as it has beds and decent food and you are safe, that is fine. You will not spend the same amount of time onboard relaxing and partying. You get up catch your tour and are gone all day, return to eat. Maybe see a show, and sleep to repeat the next day. 

Make your wish list and go... it is worth it. Then you have to start finding tours, that is the fun and sometimes expensive part! 

What you do not get a on cruise is the inland parts of Europe. So we usually book a land, and then a cruise-type trip, alternating between the inland and sea. Some people are smitten with just one type, but we prefer a bit of variety. We usually plan the base adventure of 14 days and cap the beginning and end in city stays. 

What we have done is very little compared to so people here and many here plan 1 to 3-month trips We sadly cannot be away that long...What I have learned is not to put a large city stay at the end of the busy cruise or land trip. Stay early before and fly home. I prefer smaller towns also so mix it up a bit!

What we have done is as follows. :

• A 14-day trip through the UK, staying in London, Cotswold's, Bath, Cardiff, Conwy, and Keswick UK, and Edinburgh. It was our first and we stayed in some great B&B s and drove in the UK which is an experience in itself. 
• The Grand Med Cruise I mentioned above. 
• Rick Steves GAS tour - We flew into Frankfurt, learned German train systems, then stayed in Bacharach, Trier, Baden-Baden, and Munich Germany. Murren Switzerland, which is heaven on earth. Hallstatt, Salzburg, and Vienna. We then flew back to Paris and stayed there for 3 days. 
• Upcoming for us is an NCL cruise to France, Spain, and Portugal.

We also have been on several stateside cruises in that span of years since 2016  including 2 Alaskan, and two Caribbean cruises. 

Hope this helps. The joy of planning is rewarded in travel and new experiences.... Good Luck!

I looked through topics and see no mention of this, but I need to ask because it may affect which suitcases I use. I have a very large suitcase and then some smaller ones so getting stuff there is not a problem...however...

Where is empty luggage stored? I get and like the aesthetic of the cabins without the bed skirts, but I always just crammed my empty suitcases underneath the bed. I have read the closets are small and there is limited storage, but wonder why no one else mentions this? Does the steward take the luggage to store in the hold after it is unpacked? What do others do for storing smaller items? Ideas are welcome!

I have a BA balcony cabin if that helps...thank you!

Does  anyone know if you are leaving from Southampton for a cruise, does NCL fly you to Southamptons airport or the larger one like Heathrow? What did you get for flights from the US?

Are they red eye flights and nonstop!?I am flying from Houston.

Hey all I just found this tour company for our shore excursions in Spain and it sounds great. Just a quick question, are you able to just book two people into a tour or do you need to fill the bus with people on your sailing. I was not sure just looking at the website.

Has anyone used them to see Ronda? I saw that city on the Amazing Race and it looked wonderful. 

Thanks in advance….

Nancy

Our kids both grew up cruising, and we are now starting that tradition with our 6-year-old granddaughter and her parents, (my son).

Since she will have been on a cruise to Alaska this coming summer, I am looking at Europe for the next experience. Since we all have done the Mexican Riveria, Caribbean and Alaska cruises. She is a good traveler, can handle airplane flights well, and has a great curious nature. 

Of these itineraries where would you go and why? I am looking for one that resonates with a young mind and has memorable sights, but also a few sea days to "recoup". She will be in school it will have to be the standard vacation time frame. Also, what cruise line (besides Disney, did your kids love the most? That you do not have to explain

Great Britain without Ireland

Ireland and possibly Scotland

Iceland 

Norwegian Fjords

Baltic

Med Spain to Western Italy

Med Greece /Croatia/Turkey

What cruise line did your kids love the most?

Thanks for answering!

Nancy

following... thank you for posting!

Ok thanks for the fast reply!

What about kids under the age of 12 and over 2? Do they fall into unvaccinated and needing insurance?

Breeze was very nice, (so nice in fact my daughter and her husband just sailed her again! ) and while we did book early enough to get first pick at the venue and DJ the reception is so fast it really did not matter that much. It is JUST enough time to greet guests chat with people, eat and drink, cut cake, do dances and speeches and toss the garter and bouquet and garter. The photographer did most the shots before the Bride and Groom arrived. The photos were great!

Since you have alot of people sailing with you think of the cruise itself as the extended party and do dinners together and plan activities, it will take some of the pressure off the ceremony reception time.

You TA should be working to get you rerouted and booked... if not push. The CCPs will not help you much to get the wedding rebooked, IF you used a TA first.

My thoughts are with you... Hope all goes well and let us know how it goes?

Nancy

Hi there,

I am very sorry this happened, and I do know how stressful planning this sort of wedding will be. My daughter got married on the Breeze 2 years ago. Most to their friends came for the day and the main bridal party all took the cruise so it worked out well, but we only planned about a year in advance.

I agreed that someone should have told you but with the cruise being from FL it does provide you with a lot of options for changes. Your guests may need to drive to port (like Orlando or Tampa) but you should be able to arrange it and keep some guests. I would start with your TA and have them help find a ship with enough cabins and a wedding slot for you....

Hopefully, you can send out simple...Save this NEW date announcements, but I would suggest you talk to everyone to let them know. The invitations you should be able to change if they have not been set yet.

Sorry for this added stress...take a big breath and tackle the changes, you can help the TA but looking in other ports and other ships. Hopefully Carnival will allow you to change since the cruise was cancelled and it is far enough out.

Best wishes!

Nancy

BirdTravels, and yes I agree with the others. Bird has many great scans of menus and paper handouts, and dailies. The best are actual photos of some of the new menu items plated...YUM!

It is actually pretty understandable... You may or may not fly to the cruise, stay in a hotel a few nights and then are basically stuck on a big floating hotel where bugs get shared.

Norovirus is the most notable causes and is a GI illness, but lots of common colds are viruses and flit from person to person aboard a ship. (we won't even talk about the ports!). You do get a sort of immunity to the mundane bugs as you travel. I have been on two ships that had Norovirus and never got sick.

Legionnaires is a SERIOUS pneumonia and if you get it you would be in the hospital. My worry is more on measles, mumps and Rubella or Chicken Pox (have you had your boosters)? There are a huge number of measles cases in Europe right now. I do not want to get into the immunizations debate here...I am just saying most millennials through baby boomers are at risk especially of we do not get boosters.

Using simple common sense things are best, try not to use the public restrooms, wash your hands OFTEN. let Washy Washy spray your hands, take hand sanitizer and use it. Wipe remotes and bath fixtures down. avoid the buffet, do not touch handrails or elevator buttons and if you see someone sick avoid them. If someone is sick in a bathroom. leave. Hate to say it but I also avoid the hot tubs and saunas for the same reasons. Drink enough water, and while some suggest Airborne there are no real good scientific article that support it. If you are sick stay away from large public places.

Post cruise colds ARE common both my daughter and SIL came back with one last week. But they were on a cruise ship with 1800 kids.... it is bound to happen.

Hi everyone.

I discovered something odd yesterday. I am booked and about 286 days out from a 12 night sailing to the Med on the Jade. I noticed that the tour we did previously, is NOT being offered, however for the sailing on the Epic it is. I thought it may be the port times but each is 12 hrs in Florence/Livorno so that is not it. Is it because it is too far out? Or the tour provider does not have a contract for that sailing? I am just wondering if I need to keep looking or not?

Any ideas?

Hopefully it should be quiet... just as an aside that is always the one thing I do before choosing a room is check to make sure nothing above or below except other cabins, and why I do no book a guarantee room. It took one time being in a room with a late night venue BELOW us and that was enough! It was not the noise so much, as the bass!

Also be wary of stairwells, and far forward rooms and aft rooms where there might be an anchor. If the sea is rough the anchor "clangs" in the housing. We had this happen the first night on the Spirit, it was like a roller coaster, up up up CLANG....down down down CLANG. Thank goodness we do not get seasick, hubby and I laughed for hours, unto the ship outpaced that weather, pretending we were on some crazy roller coaster. We were lucky it was our first night and it did not repeat.

Hope the room works out for you!

Have a great cruise!

Hey all.

I have noticed this too compared to our 2015 sailing in Europe there are far fewer people posting asking questions and trying to join together for groups. It is sad too because having that group was very fun. I checked that other site and did not see any sign of them there.

As a person who does a lot of research on trip , ok I admit it I am a Cruise Prepper, it is surprising to me, even from the standpoint of the costs. So many tour operators charge so much less for a full van!

We do have a few really nice people, and I am hoping for more. All I can do is share in the topic, and hope some lurkers come of of hiding and start posting. I know it took me a awhile to get brave enough to ask questions. I still have a long time, but this new trend is puzzling to me too.

We actually have done both The Pompei, Positano and Sorrento from Naples, and the Cinque Terre from Livorno.

We used Rome in Limo in 2015 for the Pompei trip and reverseved the ordered to Sorrento, Positano and Pompei in the afternoon with a guide. Felt like it was one of the best excursions we did really, and RIL is excellent and extremely dependable and easy to work with. Sorrento was a short stop, and we had the most incredible lunch in Positano. We are planning to do Amalfi, Ravello and Positano again with RIL next year.

DH was not crazy about Pompei, and we all felt more herded there than anything. DH is not a ruins type guy so he was not really impressed. I have gathered more for programs on Pompei on TV than I learned from that tours. It is heartbreaking to see and hear some of the stories. Perhaps Herculeum would be better.

In 2015 NCL offered a Cinque Terre tour for Livorno and we opted for this tour. Sadly we did not get to travel by ferries and instead faced the throngs of tourists on the trains. We learned alot about independent travel via train that day! Our guides took AMAZING care of all of use and we saw enough and are considering going back again. Since NCL is no offering it I would have to use another company. Because of it's distance I am considering going somewhere else too, but it IS worth seeing once. So consider it.

Hope this helps!

Nancy

Can someone explain what this is?

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Mine would have to be the beef carpaccio with arugula , in Le Bistro I have not however seen in in any on the newer menus. Can anyone tell me if it is still there?

Nancy

Joined!

Loving your review! Do you have nay photos of menus? People are still curious if they have been updated... Would love to know if the cruise is 11 or 12 days does the menu start over?

Yes mine has a whopping 16 too... sighs. I need people to prep!

I would like to see them too!

Nancy