CruiserBruce

The OP asked about the "best", without any further definition or info. For a party of 8, a limo might be "the best". Nobody knows.

About 2 weeks prior to sailing.

You should expect to have to clear US Immigration and Customs in Vancouver.

That is check in time. HAL almost always tries to start boarding about 11:30, if the ship is ready. Yes, there are very occasional exceptions, but they are rare.

No. Too tight. You will be cleaning Canadian Immigration and Customs at the pier, and if flying to the US, US Immigration and Customs at the airport. If you are flying domestically within Canada, you might make that flight. What happens at Ft Lauderdale has zero relevance to how it works at Vancouver. Apples and oranges.

@JamieLogical, a cruise line may, and some do, require more documentation than required by the governments involved.

I think you might want to book a one way flight with your miles, then check your cruise line air program for the other one way flight. As discussed here frequently, one way international flights are one of the best things about cruise line air programs.

@Heartgrove, the thing MSC has going for it is a huge ( one of the world's largest) freight operations to finance the rapid expansion of the cruise operations. MSC shut down cruise operations during Covid, everyone did. But they had a booming freight business to support them, something no cruise company did. Can't speak to the Costa situation, as I have no knowledge, but I suspect MSC could be hitting Costa hard.

Another thought. We did the Med for our 20th anniversary. Our first Med, and European cruise. Absolutely loved it. In August, 20 days. Waiting for the schedules to settle for 2025, our 40th, and our 5th European cruise. Likely going to be later July into August. Hopefully going to include Isreal and Egypt. Already counting the days... Please go and enjoy. Don't sweat the little things, especially the things you don't have any control over.

I edited my comments...please read again. As mentioned before, you are over analyzing this. You are going to enjoy the heck out of this.

Worse than what? June? Could be...maybe. Can you predict WITH ACCURACY what the weather will be in NC in July or August? What the stock market will do? It will be very warm to hot in June, July and August in the Med. It will be crowded. If it's 20% more crowded in July and August as opposed to June...you won't know...you have never been there before. I am in Paris right now. It's crowded, warmer, and we had strong thunderstorms last night and tonight. But we are enjoying every minute of it. It is what it is, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.

Yep, true!

This has been frequently reported. Drop off at the front of the terminal for Uber/Lyft seems to be at discretion of someone in traffic control near the entrance to the terminal area. @Ferry Watcher? Yes, Uber/Lyft AFTER your cruise is at the lot away from the terminal.

OK, a ship that has double capacity can only sail one route at a time, not two ( or more) routes the smaller ships could have sailed. And you should expect they will plan a route that will support the larger ship. Again, the number of berths being equal to pre Covid doesn't mean the equal or greater number of routes. Berths and routes are not really related this discussion. They used to run 7 ships in Alaska. Don't think they are running 8 this year, are they? But if they are, it's because the money is there. Not heard that HAL has any new ships in the pipeline, but a new one couldn't be built before 2025. MAYBE, in a perfect situation, 2026 at the soonest, but highly unlikely in the current conditions. "If they built a 4th Pinnacle class"...wow...that is speculation on a massive scale. I hope they do, but haven't heard any traces of facts supporting it.

Major issue traveling with minors who you don't have custody or legal guardianship over. Yes you need to clarify the ID issues (I think for above 16 it's government issued photo ID AND official birth certificate, under 16 its just the birth certificate), but you also need to clarify, officially, the legal custody issues. Your own daughter might need official, documented approval from her mother, or legal proof the mother isn't in the picture or doesn't have any legal say in the matter. You definitely should NOT be just looking at this a week ahead of the cruise. This has disaster written all over it.

There will always be that 1 percent. That's why I said "a very high percentage ".

OK, let's enter some facts into the record. First, if you want non-stop from any of the airports you mentioned, to FCO, then you have to pretty much have to look at who has hubs there...UA out of EWR, for example. LH will not fly a non-stop from a US airport to FCO. Doesn't happen, exception codeshares that actually on US airlines operating out of those airports. Second, you should be be looking at matrix.ita.com to answer your basic question about who flies non-stop from X to Y. Third, there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with connecting in Europe. Just need to do your research and planning. As mentioned, thousands do it every day, and there are tons of discussions about it here. MUC is perhaps the easiest of the airports in your area to connect through. Curious why you think there are airlines out there seriously cheaper than UA, or AA, or DEL, on a given route. They monitor each other's prices, and respond accordingly.

Very likely your luggage will be there. Can anyone absolutely guarantee it? No. Historically, a very high percentage has their luggage before the ship sails.

Remember...they sold 4 during Covid?

Totally get that. THAT would be a serious reason not to be ordering dinner in our cabin.

Again, HAL is down 4 ships. They have to determine the appropriate allocation of their resources. Maybe that cruise will be at a different time.

Yes, you can absolutely do that.

@tonymc, 1450 is not a tight flight situation. You could be last off the ship, and still make a 1450 flight with no worries.

Personally, after traveling to many large cities of the world over my life, have found staying in the downtown or historic center has a significant value on its own. But, budgets sometimes get in the way. As to passes, you can save about 15% (1 euro off a 5,90 fare) simply by buying your train tickets on line, in advance. We did.

Just left Amsterdam DoubleTree this morning (now in Paris). Watched Jewel of the Seas dock this morning. Assuming you will be dragging at least one checked bag, so a little laborious. But if you have no mobility issues, yes, you can do it.