NCteacherlovescruising

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.

It's SO cheap though!! Only $1500 for both of us flying from Charlotte, NC.

This was in response to someone that didn't like the same itineraries. My comment had nothing to do with current pricing.

The 11 night Italy, Greece & Turkey is at the top of my list. I'm trying to get my friends to take a look at it. Not only do I love the itinerary, but an overnight in Turkey is a huge bonus! I wish they did this in more ports. So do I! As I mentioned above, it's at the top of my list.

I agree that 2 days isn't enough time. If we reschedule with them, I do think I we will book air on our own so we can come and go as we please.