Joanne G.

You don’t have to buy it at the time of deposit, but you are right to be concerned about coverage for pre-existing conditions. Do read the fine print about how pre-existing conditions are defined and handled. A friend and I had a claim denied by Princess insurance because she first consulted her doctor about the medical issue shortly before we made our final payment which included the insurance premium. We had committed to the insurance when we booked, but to the insurance company, we didn’t have coverage until we paid the premium. By that time, she had what they determined to be a pre-existing condition. We canceled when her condition unexpectedly worsened, and they denied the claim based on her pre-existing condition. The denial was an unpleasant surprise, though we did get future cruise credits for a portion of the cancellation penalty. I don’t know if Carnival’s policy has similar terms.

I agree with the above post that you should check out the ports of call boards. It's also hard to suggest a "best" excursion without knowing your interests and travel style. But from experience, I will say that we enjoyed exploring Mykonos on foot without an excursion. From Naples, as we couldn't decide between Pompeii and the Amalfi coast, we took a long, full-day excursion that covered both, and it was a memorable day. In Sicily, we took a pleasant excursion that was transportation only to Taormina, where we were free to wander on our own for several hours. Santorini can be challenging, due to the tendering and depending on how many ships are in port the same day. We took an excursion to Oia and a winery, and it ended in Fira, where we had time on our own before taking the cable car down to the tender dock. Our cruise was on Celebrity, but if Carnival offers anything comparable to these, I recommend any of them. Sorry, I can't help with the other ports. Have a great cruise.

Malaga and the Alcazaba

White Villages of Andalusia

I visited Cadiz and Malaga on a Carnival cruise this past September. It's hard to know what to recommend not knowing anything about your interests and travel style. But I can say that Seville and Granada, while presumably fabulous destinations, are some distance from the ports of Cadiz and Malaga. My choice was not to spend a good part of the day in transit, whether on a cruise excursion or a private tour. I don't know what excursions NCL offers. From Cadiz, I took Carnival's excursion to two of the "white villages" of Andalusia, and I enjoyed it a lot. We had a great guide, plus we had some time on our own to explore. One of the towns was quite hilly, so someone with mobility issues could find the walking to be difficult. In Malaga, I took a walking tour of the city, with the highlight being a visit to the Alcazaba. This was a Carnival excursion. The walking within the city was on level ground (and included Picasso's childhood home), but the tour of the Alcazaba required a lot of walking on inclines. There is an elevator, but if you use it, you miss out on a lot of the sights on the way up to the top. In both ports, we docked close enough to town so that one could take off from the ship and explore the port city on foot. There was a big beach within sight in Malaga, though I don't know if it was public. Have a great cruise. A friend and I will be on the Getaway in May in Northern Europe.

If you are not able to add a couple extra days in both London and Paris, I would go with Option 1. I would spend whatever extra time I had in London. Doing so eliminates the time spent getting to Paris. I know the Eurostar is fast, but the process is still going to take up a chunk of time, so that full day exploring Paris that you considered in Option 2 will not actually be a full day. For what it's worth, there are reports on these boards from people who have taken one of the long excursions into Paris from Le Havre and have enjoyed it and were glad they did it. These were people who felt that was going to be their one and only time to see Paris, and they considered a short visit better than no visit. I'm sorry I can't remember the names on those postings, or I would try to find their reports. London and Paris - two great cities! Have a wonderful vacation, however you decide to spend your post-cruise time.

Perfectly understandable! Sometimes when my alarm goes off for an early excursion, I wonder what I am doing LOL. Or when the bus whizzes past something that looks I would enjoy seeing more of. It can be hard to decide what to do, especially in an unfamiliar port. Enjoy all of your cruises the way you like!

I would be horrified - and frightened - if that happened. Given that you hadn't reported any maintenance issues and the late hour, I absolutely would report this to Guest Services. And I would insist that they confirm the legitimacy of a non-emergency maintenance call at an hour at which many people are sleeping.

I often use a "worst case" scenario for making a decision like this. What would be more disappointing - losing the $$ if you miss the second excursion or missing the opportunity to see and do what you wanted on that second excursion. The cost of the 2nd excursion would certainly be a factor. But I also wouldn't rule out that Princess onboard might offer compensation if it is missed, as Princess Cruises Fann above noted, especially if a tour operator deliberately extends the tour just because he wants to.

For me, a Caribbean itinerary is for relaxing, as I've been to many of those ports multiple times. But for Europe, it's about the ports, and I fill up my days! But I do like a sea day or two on European itineraries. To the OP, if you decide to chance it, I hope you get to enjoy everything you booked. Out of countless ship-sponsored excursions on 20-some cruises, only once did I encounter an unexpected delay when a tour van got a flat tire. I never encountered anything like Mud_Shark's experience when the operator simply decided to extend the tour. On the contrary, I have had parts of a tour shortened or even eliminated if traffic or some other circumstance would cause a late return to the ship. I suspect a tour operator who doesn't keep to the agreed-upon schedule would be dropped by the cruise line.

Not on Princess, but a friend and I have booked 2 excursions in a day in a couple of ports on a Northern European cruise on NCL. One in the morning and one in the afternoon, with enough time in between for a quick buffet lunch. Or we'll pack snacks! We are paying a lot for the cruise and the airfare, and we may never get to these ports again. We want to see as much as possible. We accept the risk of missing the afternoon one, but in my experience, the tour operators are very conscientious about keeping on schedule, so we consider it to be low risk. We did it once years ago in St. Thomas on a Princess cruise, and another friend and I took an evening canal boat ride in Copenhagen after a Princess tour during the day. Everything worked out fine.

Thankfully I haven't encountered fighting, and I avoid school break times as much as possible in order to minimize the number of children aboard. But I understand those things would drive someone to another type of vacation. As for the entitled attitudes, I think that's more evident on message boards than on board the ships. Or if those people are onboard, I'm not talking to them LOL.

Some people cruising now, such as myself, know exactly what it was like in years past - definitely different in a lot of ways. But the joys of being at sea and seeing different places on one trip without unpacking and repacking still holds appeal to many of us. As for increasing costs, most things cost more than they did when I took my first of many cruises in 1997.

I think a more appropriate question is, given the boom season, why wouldn't the cruise industry keep increasing prices. Businesses don't decide at some point that they have made enough money. Prices will rise until bookings decline. Same with air fares. For a 2020 covid canceled vacation, my round-trip economy flight on American to London was about $540. Now it can be 2 to 3 times that. And when I want to go to London, I'll pay what the current rates are - to a point when I decide it's too much.

Thanks for the explanation. I was on a Carnival cruise from Dover to Rome last summer, and I was charged sales tax on a drink due to, I believe, being in Spanish waters but not later when we were well into the Mediterranean approaching Rome. Sales tax wasn't too big a deal, but not having alcohol served at all would definitely make a lot of people unhappy, especially without a credible explanation.

What was drinkgate?

I'd say that is the reason! If people refused to pay it, the price would come down. I pay it, by the way. I cruised in the days before onboard internet - and in the days when you paid by the minute - and the current cost is worth it to me for enjoyment and convenience.

Have you looked at Royal Caribbean? They have quite a few 2024 7-day itineraries in Europe. (But read the fine print about deposits. Deposits on Royal are not automatically fully refundable prior to final payment as on NCL.)

Interesting. I hadn't really noticed, but now that I check those 2024 itineraries, I see that NCL has a lot of one-way cruises, from Southampton and from other European ports. I am actually on one in May - embark in Southampton and disembark in Copenhagen. Since I have to fly to get to Europe, I liked the option of two different ports in which to spend a few days pre- and post-cruise. As for NCL's thinking, I assume they have reason to believe that these itineraries appeal to people, perhaps focusing on non-Brits who need to fly anyway and may like different embarkation and disembarkation ports as I do. If they don't fill up, NCL will probably alter their 2025 options. My personal issue with the itineraries that include Reykjavik is that they typically include 2 other Iceland ports as well. Reykjavik interests me, but there are many other European ports that I want to see before other ports in Iceland. I hope you find an enjoyable round-trip cruise out of Southampton. Princess has some long 14- or 16-day round-trip cruises from Southampton that go to Iceland, including other ports in either Norway or the British Isles.

This expression comes up periodically on CC boards, and it always makes me wonder if people have sampled dog food in order to make the comparison. 🤔 Saying the food is dry or soggy or too seasoned or too bland or without flavor or served in too skimpy portions or maybe just not a taste that appeals to the writer are descriptions that I find more useful.

That would make sense if the waiter or waitress or bartender were selling you the meal or the bottle of wine. But in most restaurants, they are merely bringing it to you. I really hesitated to get involved in this discussion, but since @kirtihk brought up a point I have thought about, I'll add that at a land-based restaurant, I tend to tip a slightly smaller % for an expensive meal and a slightly bigger % for a cheaper meal. Their efforts are the same whether there's a lobster on the plate or a grilled cheese sandwich, or whether I order a glass of expensive wine or a free glass of water. As for a cruise, when I am solo in a cabin, I add extra cash to the auto-gratuity. I figure the room attendant has almost the same amount of work as he or she would if there were two people in the cabin but would receive half the usual auto-gratuity - a bathroom to clean, a floor to vacuum, a wastebasket to empty, a bed to make, towels to swap out, etc. Clearly, others will feel differently on both these issues. 😃

I have no idea how much a problem theft is - probably not much. But I wouldn't leave my phone or Kindle or iPad on a pool chair while I stepped away for some reason. I don't worry about my flip-flops or sunscreen, but I won't take chances with items of value.

I know that. But they don't typically have to manage that debarkation process on short notice a day early in a different country from the scheduled debarkation, requiring charter flights out of and into whichever airports could handle those charter flights!

On the much-altered (due to unexpected maintenance needs) July 9th and July 21st Pride cruises last summer, it became clear to me that the cruise director has responsibilities far beyond promoting Carnival's trademark Fun. Kudos to Frankie Portero for his role in everything that had to be done to arrange early disembarkation and transportation in Germany for those passengers expecting to disembark in Dover, as well as keeping the rest of us informed with whatever information could be shared. And he still came up with activities for the small number of us left onboard for the delayed return to Dover. Everyone onboard pitched in during the unusual circumstance, but I had never thought about the cruise director's role beyond organizing entertainment. Now I see that position as being a member of senior management, taking a leadership role in whatever manner needed.

This is true only on the E class? I haven't been on Celebrity over 10 years but booked the Equinox in the Mediterranean next summer. The invoice from my travel agent says "6:00 pm confirmed" for dining. Can I expect traditional dining (assigned table and time) on the Equinox? Thanks.