NCteacherlovescruising

I have the book. I will start it after I finish my current one. Is it hard to get around when everything’s in a foreign language? I’d be so scared we’d get lost and not find our way back to the ship. Perhaps it’s much easier than I’m envisioning. Sounds like we should wait about a year to book air. That’s unfortunate because I’m sure it will be expensive. Is it difficult to book flights into one place and out of another? I’ve only booked round trip.

It's too early to book yet, but I think I will go with them when it opens. Is that about 11-12 months in advance? I will check out Papillon, thanks. Pompeii is on our list. Did you book with Celebrity or private?

I have noticed Celebrity excursions don't have user ratings, which is quite frustrating. My husband and I have booked their 9 night Italian Rivera and France cruise for June 2024 to celebrate our 30th anniversary. I realize it's a long way off, but I want to start planning as this will be the biggest vacation of our lives. Can anyone recommend any of their excursions for this cruise? With this being our first time in Europe, I'm a bit hesitant to book private excursions or try to find our way around by ourselves. If you have written a review of this cruise on here, would you please link it for me? We plan to fly into Barcelona 2-3 days prior to our cruise and stay in Rome a few day after. One of my friends likes to use Celebrity air. Which is cheaper, booking through them or direct with the airlines? When should we book flights? Below is the itinerary: Barcelona Depart 5 PM At sea Provence (Marseille) France 7-6 Nice (Villefranche) France 8-7 Santa Margherita, Italy 8-6 Florence/Pisa (Laspezia) Italy - Overnight June 18 7 AM-Jun 19 6 PM * Love that this is overnight At sea Naples, Italy 7-6 Rome, Italy 6AM

I've always wanted to visit Italy and I love cruising, so we booked Celebrity's 9 night Italian Rivera and France cruise. It's in June 2024 and we'll be celebrating our 30th anniversary. This is our Itinerary: Barcelona Depart 5 PM At sea Provence (Marseille) France 7-6 Nice (Villefranche) France 8-7 Santa Margherita, Italy 8-6 Florence/Pisa (Laspezia) Italy - Overnight June 18 7 AM-Jun 19 6 PM * Love that this is overnight At sea Naples, Italy 7-6 Rome, Italy 6AM We plan to go to Barcelona a couple days early, and stay in Rome 3-4 days after. We have never been to Europe so we have no idea what to expect. Will language be an issue for us or will most people speak English? Should we stick to ship excursions? I can't imagine finding our way around when we don't know their language. What are must see's during the cruise? (Not in Barcelona and Rome, I have a good idea of what we'll do there) Should we do Pompeii or Sorrento and the Amalfi coast when in Naples? Since we're overnight in Florence, would it be easy to do Florence and Pisa on a private excursion or better off sticking to the ships? We are into good wines. Where should we do a winery tour? I found one on Viator I like, "Tuscany day trip from Rome including 3 course lunch and wine tasting". Not sure that's our best option. I'd love to see a beautiful winery with excellent red wines. Thinking of staying in a VRBO in Rome, if so what area?

I see this is considered easy to do on your own. However, this will be our first time in Europe so I was considering doing all ship excursions. We typically don't, but with the language barrier I thought I'd feel more comfortable. In my mind I see us lost and confused and missing the ship. Would this be easy for experienced cruisers that have never been to Europe?

We have booked our first suite, a sunset sky suite. With this conflicting information, I won't expect our mini fridge to be included, but it should be, and will be nice if that's the case.

Wow! I've never heard of them doing this before. I can't imagine them getting away with it!

Our cruise will end in Rome in late June 2024. I’ve noticed we can do much better with a VRBO verses a hotel. Is there any reason not to? What area?

I wish we could spend a week in both, or at least in Italy. Italy has always been my dream vacation, so I’d like to spend as much time there as possible. I may only do 1-2 in Barcelona so we can have more time in Italy. Our cruise is 9 days and it would be difficult for my husband to be away from work more than a couple weeks at one time. It’s also a long time to leave our dogs.

How far is the port?

We will be cruising from Barcelona to Rome in mid June, 2024. I know we want to see Sagrada Familia. What else is a must see? How many days would you suggest pre cruise? We will also spend time in Rome post cruise. I’m thinking 2-3 days each. Is this enough. I have plenty of time to plan and will also check trip advisor. Do we need excursions or just do everything on our own? Where should we stay? Any suggestions for restaurants?

Perfect. Thanks! As long as it doesn’t interfere with our aft view it’s ok. Thanks! I’m just off the Reflection so I’m aware it hasn’t been revolutionized. Pics are still helpful. Is that equipment off to the port side? This looks very nice! Thank you! It will be the nicest cabin we’ve ever had. 😁

I got $1050 OBC booking onboard a few days ago and my TA added another $300.

I was on this cruise as well. I recall him saying we left 7 passengers behind, but missed the part about the private excursion. How would he know they are ok if we left them behind?

Does anyone have a current picture of this cabin? We booked 1663 for a cruise in 2024. It looks like we will have an aft and port view. Is this correct?

Got ya. Thanks!

Perfect! We’re getting them all! Thanks for your advice! You advise to stay off the ship in Florence. Is it far from the ship? Thanks for the info about things being closed. We will arrive there on a Saturday.

I’ve heard. I’m happy we were able to change it. We are planning 2-3 days on each end on land. I don’t recall which 3. It seems Barcelona and Rome were on there, but I don’t recall the third. I’m super excited to see both and stay for a few. Perfect! I agree. They have all been before, but this is our first time and we will be celebrating our 30th anniversary.

Today is our last on the Reflection. I did end up moving to Celebrity. I booked the Equinox for June 13, Barcelona to Rome. I love this itinerary, not only for those two ports, but also because it has an overnight in Florence. An added bonus is since it’s an older ship, a sunset sky suite fit our budget perfectly. Our friends, on the other hand, decided to stay with NCL, which is why I was able to book in June.

Good! It’s so much more reasonable than Celebrity and we all liked it. They will only allow 2 days before and after. We have until final payment to cancel their air and book our own, which we will consider if we can find them cheap enough.

I’m a teacher. I have to go in July.

113 F??? I thought NC summers were bad.

We bought the insurance. Too big of an investment not to! I also told him when I booked the cruise, which we have to change, that we wanted the 2 days on each end. I don't get why they limit it to 2 days. I've only flown first class once. It was during the peak of covid and I felt safer that way. I haven't looked much into ticket prices so I'm not sure.

It's Trieste.

I'm going to see if I can do Barcelona to Rome July 14-18, then July 22-31 Venice to Athens and use their air from Charlotte to Barcelona then return Athens to Charlotte. Not sure if they would allow this or not, but their air is cheap with their current promotion. What would be typical cost to fly from the states to Europe? It seems like they are only charging us $1500 for both of us.