Fishboy1947

3 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

There's not a one-size-fits-all solution. Ideally I look for a tour provider who either accepts payments from multiple parties in advance or on the day of the tour. The problem with "day of tour" payments is occasionally someone doesn't show up -- and then the arranger is usually on the hook for the extra. (Sometimes the tour manager will reduce the cost but not always.)

 

I've also been places where the best reviewed tour provider or the one willing to provide the itinerary I want will only accept payment from one party. My philosophy with these is that I've traveled thousands of miles to see X, Y and Z who knows when I will be back?  I will take a private tour there even if it is a tour for one (I travel solo).  Any additional "sharers" are just lessening the amount I'd pay if I went alone.

 

For the OP:  You can always request a price for the size of your own party only. Sometimes it will be reduced, as they can use a sedan rather than a mini-bus or van. Sometimes not. Either way it can be priceless to enjoy a day doing precisely what you want, at your own pace, without having to worry about the logistics.

 

Europe, my most frequent cruise destination has much better public transportation and tourism infrastructure than, say, the Caribbean. An option I use whenever I can is to just sightsee on my own, using buses, trains, taxis where needed to get around. Often in larger cities many of the main sites are grouped together and within walking distance. It can be gratifying and fun to spend a day this way, and the more you do it, the easier it gets...

 

 

My question on touring on your own is, do you get much more from the experience if you are with a guide? We are going to Athens in Oct, you laid out a nice, doable walking tour. Will we miss much being on our own, realizing we need to read up on the attractions beforehand?

I’ve participated in shared tours where the fees are handled by the tour provider. But I also see many private tours where there are different prices for groups of 5 or 8 and we are just traveling as a couple.  I know we can try to put a group together on the roll call but how do you handle the payments, if we have to pay upfront?

We are looking to book our first Celebrity Mediterranean cruise. The embarkation is Venice, actually Ravenna 2+ hours away. The itinerary shows an overnighter in Ravenna. I assume that we can forgo the first night and just arrive at the ship on the departure day. But I’ve traveled enough to not assume anything.We would prefer staying in Venice

Does anyone have experience with this or a similar embarkation experience?

23 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

On an overnight you are permitted to spend the night ashore without making any formal request.   For that matter you can spend all night out at a bar.  LOL   An overnight is like a regular port stop and you can come and go from the ship at anytime.

 

 

 

If I can piggyback on this comment, we have an overnighter in Venice, actually Ravenna, to begin our cruise. Can we stay in Venice and arrive at the ship on day 2? Or do we have to check in on day 1? Don’t see any benefit of an overnighter in Ravenna, would rather have a couple days in Venice

I’ve always had the problem with EZAir since I am a Jr. in the past I would call and they added Jr. Now they say there isn’t even a place to show Jr and the airlines won’t care. Funny that they stress the name must be exact but can’t show it exact.

Ive found that Princess is also inconsistent in their own website on how they show my name

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

So lets talk about a few of the ports you mentioned.  As others have warned, most ships are no longer permitted to dock in Venice.  The best (closest) alternative is the commercial port of Marghera so check with the cruise line to see where they plan on docking (other options can be 2 hours distant).

 

As to Marseille, while that city is not our favorite the nearby Provence region is fantastic.  Places like Nimes, Avignon, St Remy, Pont du Gard, Aix en Provence, etc. are all within excursion/tour range.  As to Messina the town has some of its own charms but going to Taormina is a very satisfying experience to most folks.  Genoa is not my favorite place but there is an excellent Aquarium (world class) located a short walk from the pier.

 

Hank

Hank

I’ve also read your comments on the Italy ports section and value your input. You’re one of my goto resources

The cruise we are looking at leaves from Ravenna. I’ve looked at the choices. I have to think that by June 2023 there will be more good options, but a train adventure may add to the trip. But more than that your comments about staying in Venice give me more concern. But I’m optimistic that my 20 year olds will be a big help there because I would really like to stay in Venice, possibly in an AirBnb.

We all talked and a cruise from Venice to Rome via Croatia, Naples, Portofino & La Spezia is where we are leaning. For first visit it hits many ports with recognized names and attractions and good embark/disembark cities. We were disappointed that all of the other choices generally had 5 ports with 2 that might be great for seasoned travelers but didn’t look exciting to us, Marseille, Genoa, Messina, etc. 
Venice has some logistical challenges and our stay in Rome will mostly be over the weekend so there will be some extra planning, but I enjoy the planning almost as much as the trip

I appreciate all of the input that I have received here. I find the cruise critic community to resemble the websites I used to visit at the beginning of the internet, friendly, experienced and extremely sharing and I feel caring. The best of the internet. Thank you

Planning a cruise on the Constellation. We would be taking our granddaughter who is 5’ 9”. Would the sofa bed in a prime veranda be long enough, is it full size?

On 3/1/2022 at 7:07 PM, Jim_Iain said:

For me I just called my agent and he removed the Refundable Deposit amount.  I kept my original price  all my existing perks and OBC's.    

 

His recommendation was to do it prior to Final Payment date.    He said it was possible with the various cruise with confidence programs to do after Final but he said was much more difficult and he would have to work with Celebrity to do while before final he can do it directly himself. 

 

For my reservation it was initially priced with Non-Refundable Deposit and I clicked the button to pay XXX amount for Refundable.   The invoice broke out that as a line items so may have been easier to just remove.

I’m looking at my first Celebrity cruise. How do you add the Refundable option after initial booking?

We are 5 adults, 3 are older grandchildren 20-21.  Thinking of renting apts, condos to get a real feel for the cities, also we could all be together. Have seen some in good locations at reasonable rents.  Has anyone done this?  Good or bad idea?? Would not intend to do any cooking but maybe breakfasts.

We've taken 5 Princess cruises and are now looking at the Constellation in June 2023. What are the differences I should know about between the lines?

From what I have read, it seems that the lines are more alike than different.  I have only heard positive comments about Celebrity.

The Constellation is smaller than the Princess Royal class ships that we have cruised on. Any comments on the Constellation? It would seem that a smaller ship would be better, 2,200 vs 3500 passengers.

We are bringing three of our grandchildren, ages 20-21, for their first trip to Europe

Thanks for all the good ideas and comments. We’ve had a delay in getting together, a COVID death in the family.

Whether a cruise or a land trip I think they will love the trip. I was very fortunate and toured Europe when I was 16 and it remains my favorite trip. Maybe since it was my first time out of the country, first time more than 100 miles from home.

The cruise with days at both ends sounds right, plus it is physically easier on me and it’s a trip that I can afford. I have not independently traveled in Europe and a trip with the kids doesn’t seem like a good time to learn.

I like the idea of Barcelona to Rome or Rome to Venice. Rome has a special appeal to me. Now to see what sounds good to them. 
 

thanks again
 

On 2/28/2022 at 1:57 PM, Zach1213 said:

 

Thank you for all the input

I plan to meet with them this weekend to discuss everything. I wanted your input to help me prepare for when we meet. I had been thinking of taking them on a trip for the past couple years, but COVID. Seeing the pandemic hopefully reaching the point of allowing travel, I thought now is the time. But looking at the current bookings for May/June 2023, I see I have to move faster than I thought

it will be interesting to hear their thoughts. At that age I didn’t have any background to have intelligent input if asked the same question, other than Rome and Athens, etc sound neat. Thanks for the Utube idea, hadn’t thought of that

I picked doing a cruise to give them exposure to several areas, I know it’s only exposure. Maybe the idea of a seven day cruise and a couple days at each end is a good combination.

I just ordered Rick Steves Mediterranean port guide, thanks for the suggestion

Thanks again to everyone 

We, 71 & 76, want to take 3 of our oldest grandchildren on their first cruise to Europe in May/June 2023.  We’re thinking 7-12 day cruises with a full day at the ports at both ends.
 

Our 2 grandsons will be 20 & 21 and our granddaughter will be 20, they will all still be in college. They have cruised once each to Alaska & the Caribbean with our families as a group.They get along very well and have diverse backgrounds, pretty typical young adults(more older teenagers).

We have only cruised Princess but their options are very limited, will be happy to try other similarly priced lines.

The choices are overwhelming, The different areas of the Mediterranean, British Isles or possibly the Baltic. We have cruised the British Isles and the Baltic and traveled Italy on land but this is their trip.

What area would they enjoy the most? Any particular countries or ports? Any must sees?

I know they would enjoy any trip but we want to optimize this first adventure for them. 

Thanks for any input

Thank you, lots of info

6 hours ago, voljeep said:

why - especially if I've been double vax and boosted ? - what is the need to continue with any testing for ourselves? - why keep worrying about infecting others - take care of yourself and let others do the same - make decisions - it's not like this is all new now - it's over 2 years going on

 

rant

I worry about infecting others who wished they could be vaccinated but can’t due to medical reasons 

Occasionally I check for price changes for my June family cruise. I went to the Princess site without logging in and saw a price drop. Since this was on the weekend I decided to wait til Monday to contact TA. Before calling on Monday I logged into my Princess account and did a cruise search for my scheduled cruise. The pricing was the old price, not the lower price.

I doubted that the price had gone back to the prior price. So I went back to the Princess site without logging in and the price was the lower price.

Contacted TA and was told the lower price was for new bookings only. Could not reprice my bookings to get lower price. Had to cancel bookings and rebook. Fortunately I was able to keep the existing 7 cabins.

2 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

 

They cancelled over a month's worth of cruises and unfortunately your's was one of them.  This release on the Princess website includes the full list.  https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/plan/impacted-and-cancelled-cruises/cancelled-cruises-caribbean-spring-2022.pdf

We are booked for the June 25, 2022 W Caribbean on Caribbean Princess. None of the June Caribbean cruises are listed as replacement choices for cancelled cruises. Any guesses why?

1 hour ago, barrykel said:

If you add someone as a travel companion, do you have to dine with them for every meal, or can you select just some members of the group for one meal?

You can select each day separately

11 hours ago, mthomp5 said:

Did you have to do anything to be able to book 17 people through Dine My Way?  I’m trying to book dining times for myself and my husband who are on the same booking and also include one other person on their own booking.  I select that person to add to the reservation but I get an error message.  
 

if I book for just my husband and myself, I can reserve a slot no problem. It’s just a problem when I try to add someone not on our booking. 

No, I just added the other 15 people as travel companions. Did not have any problems.

19 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

I'm sure when you get aboard the maître d' will find a way to accommodate your group. I can't imagine traveling with a group that large. (I especially can't imagine cruising with my wife's sisters... 🤪)

We have a good group, our three adult children, their spouses and 9 grandchildren aged 13-21. All raved about first cruise to AK

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

 

In all honesty, why a table for 18 ? It makes no sense - the diners  at one end of the table are so far away from the other end, that they cannot hear or converse with those  at the other end. 

Far more sensible to have two adjacent tables of 8 and 10.

This is where the app falls down. It only works within defined parameters  - once anything out of the ordinary takes place, you need human intervention.

I hope the MDs know what is going to hit them !

We would prefer, and really expect, at least  two tables but I was not given that option. Hopefully we will be together 
 

When our family group of 22 cruised Alaska we were given a room to ourselves, 5 tables. Beyond expectations

10 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

Did you see a choice of table size ? When I have booked 'every night' it selects the dining room and gives a table for two - we are only two people and have not linked to any other travelers, so maybe that is why.

Yes, choice of table for 18 in one dining room or table for 20 in the other dining room

The choice came up after we had indicated each person and selected a time. I did each night separately since we varied the times

My cruise isn’t until June 2022 but after reading the comments thought I would see how DMW works. I am platinum and we are a family group of 17.

I was able to reserve a table for 18 at different times for each night.  Although when you look at the daily reservation it indicates 17 at a table for 8