Anybody relieved to cancel a cruise trip

[chisoxfan]

I would say 5 nights would be too long in Venice. We did effectively 3 nights, one on board and two in a hotel and we walked over almost every street there is in that time. By the end I was getting fairly bored.

 

Gordon,

I really appreciate your post. This was my gut feeling ( no offense to Venice lovers and I understand to truly appreciate many cities you need to spend weeks).

Using my Marriott points the sweet spot of stays is five nights. So our original plan was five nights and then cruise. As I started to investigate I began to feel that two or three nights might be more appropriate for us to get an overview of the city . I am not locked into the five nights but it is seductive as the fifth night requires no additional points, etc.

[Shaco]

Thank you for your suggestions regarding my stresses over booking tours after a long flight. I do plan to take 5mg Ambien and no alcohol. After flying and waiting in airports all day, I'm going to be wiped out anyway.

 

BTW, all business class "beds" are not created equal. To determine which airline and type of aircraft provide the most comfort, go to Seat Guru. One more task to do to research your cruise, ugh.[emoji16]

[cle-guy]

Would a TA cruise be better than the business class flight to get to Rome (does such a TA itinerary exist - I'll have to look on the website!)

 

YES! I've doen 3 TA's the last 3 years, 2 on Eclipse to the UK and this year Connie to Rome.

 

I was looking to fly to London 3 years ago to visit friends there. After chatting with them, they suggested doing a transatlantic since I had the time.

 

I booked a RS last minute for $7000. A business class airfare can get close to that. Of course I still needed to fly home.

 

So I look at TA's as a cheap airfare, with 13 nights of pampering and indulgence instead of 7 hours inside an aluminum tube.

 

I know Connie and Reflection do TA's to Rome. Not sure if others do as well.

[Gordoncruickshank]

Gordon,

I really appreciate your post. This was my gut feeling ( no offense to Venice lovers and I understand to truly appreciate many cities you need to spend weeks).

Using my Marriott points the sweet spot of stays is five nights. So our original plan was five nights and then cruise. As I started to investigate I began to feel that two or three nights might be more appropriate for us to get an overview of the city . I am not locked into the five nights but it is seductive as the fifth night requires no additional points, etc.

Do you have to stay in the one hotel for the 5 nights. If not you could take the train from Venice to one of the other cities on the mainland and spend some time there.

[Gordoncruickshank]

B

 

Business Class can be great but I find that it does little to negate jet lag- just makes the experience more pleasant. I like to get value for my money and

BC does generally not provide it. We use airlines miles or sometimes run across a great deal (my wife and daughter had an 1800 r/t business on Delta

to London this year which was a no brainer). Plus the BC experience can be very different depending upon carrier and plane. Anyway I have a hard time spending more than 3,000 r/t for a bc flight to Europe. When you think about how you could spend the difference between coach and b/c (meals , hotels, tours) 8-10 hours of 'confinement' doesn't seem so bad.

 

I only do business when we can get miles upgrades with Virgin but have to work hard to build the miles up each year. You need to book these as the flights are released as they go quickly.

 

I must try and use the bundle of miles I have with BA but every time I try to do so I can't fit in the cruise I have booked.

[Iamthesea]

Gordon,

I really appreciate your post. This was my gut feeling ( no offense to Venice lovers and I understand to truly appreciate many cities you need to spend weeks).

Using my Marriott points the sweet spot of stays is five nights. So our original plan was five nights and then cruise. As I started to investigate I began to feel that two or three nights might be more appropriate for us to get an overview of the city . I am not locked into the five nights but it is seductive as the fifth night requires no additional points, etc.

 

Do you have to stay in the one hotel for the 5 nights. If not you could take the train from Venice to one of the other cities on the mainland and spend some time there.

 

That's what I was going to suggest, or rather, do some day trips.

http://goitaly.about.com/od/veniceitaly/tp/venice-daytrips.htm

[sunshine nana]

To get back to the OP's original point. If you're not really excited about a cruise, it is hard to do all the planning etc. and a good idea to cancel. Having said that, I was not thrilled about our Panama Canal cruise (DH really wanted to go), but I ended up really enjoying it mainly because we left Western NY in February and had a wonderful 10 sunny warm days on the cruise. We did the Princess round trip partial from Fort Lauderdale, so there was no long plane trip which I dread. It was a wonderful break from our horrible winter and I did enjoy the excursions more than I thought I would.

[chisoxfan]

Do you have to stay in the one hotel for the 5 nights. If not you could take the train from Venice to one of the other cities on the mainland and spend some time there.

 

Yes, you have to stay in one property to get the free night. Suggestions were excellent and we would have no doubt gone by train to Florence for a day.

 

We had used 5 night stays at Marriott Park Lane London, Marriott Champs Elysee,Marriott Grand Hotel Flora Rome so we are pretty spoiled with these award nights.

Frankly would not be spending the 400-600 US on these properties as nice as they are. Nothing Marriott in Venice was 'spectacular' (IMHO). They have a new prop on an Island off Venice but inconsistent reviews.

 

Speaking of business class- this is a another 'stress factor' in planning (a little tongue in cheek here). Not all business classes are equal depending on plane or carrier so research is needed. There are sites where flyers check plane serial numbers on routes to see what the bc arrangement is on a particular route. I agree this is crazy.

 

Understand that Virgin is excellent.

[MR_T]

I imagine it is the terrorist attack on 10 August this year: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33844246

 

If everyone stayed away from places that have ever had or at risk of having a terrorist attract we wouldn't leave the house... And then be too scarred to leave the house!

 

Personally I love the planning aspect of booking our holidays and always book everything separately to ensure the best deals & prices all round

[dabear]

Thank you for your suggestions regarding my stresses over booking tours after a long flight. I do plan to take 5mg Ambien and no alcohol. After flying and waiting in airports all day, I'm going to be wiped out anyway.

 

BTW, all business class "beds" are not created equal. To determine which airline and type of aircraft provide the most comfort, go to Seat Guru. One more task to do to research your cruise, ugh.[emoji16]

 

Absolutely agree. We took BC to India on Air France & with an ambian, I slept well and was comfortable even though I am tall. We took United on return from London and the flat seats were shorter & less comfortable.

 

Regarding cancelling & stress, I enjoy planning for a trip but we ended up cancelling a RSSC cruise round trip from Capetown this fall, including a 3 day safari for 2 reasons, one was ebola and the second was the terrible flight connections to Capetown. Instead we booked on the Connie from Istanbul to Rome. Now we are disappointed that they cancelled the overnight in Istanbul and added a 4th sea day on a 12 night Med cruise. Although we've been to Istanbul a few times we were looking forward to enjoying it again, but I don't feel like cancelling another cruise (with larger cancellation fees after we made final payment). BTW, we are not complainers, but are very disappointed with Celebrity not providing a substitute port of call.

Edited September 17, 2015 by dabear

[Ontario Cruiser]

We cancelled the Caribbean portion of our upcoming October Reflection TA cruise when I realized that my knee torn miniscule didn't need the stress of tender ports. This was a very hard decision as we were travelling with friends. Actually waited until just before final payment date. But don't feel too sorry for us as we are doing a B2B Summit cruise in January.

Ontario Cruiser

[Iamthesea]

Absolutely agree. We took BC to India on Air France & with an ambian, I slept well and was comfortable even though I am tall. We took United on return from London and the flat seats were shorter & less comfortable.

 

Regarding cancelling & stress, I enjoy planning for a trip but we ended up cancelling a RSSC cruise round trip from Capetown this fall, including a 3 day safari for 2 reasons, one was ebola and the second was the terrible flight connections to Capetown. Instead we booked on the Connie from Istanbul to Rome. Now we are disappointed that they cancelled the overnight in Istanbul and added a 4th sea day on a 12 night Med cruise. Although we've been to Istanbul a few times we were looking forward to enjoying it again, but I don't feel like cancelling another cruise (with larger cancellation fees after we made final payment). BTW, we are not complainers, but are very disappointed with Celebrity not providing a substitute port of call.

 

It is hard for a cruise line to arrange another port, sort of last minute. They may surprise you and come through with a substitute port, however. Especially after reading and hearing about all the complaints.

 

We cancelled the Caribbean portion of our upcoming October Reflection TA cruise when I realized that my knee torn miniscule didn't need the stress of tender ports. This was a very hard decision as we were travelling with friends. Actually waited until just before final payment date. But don't feel too sorry for us as we are doing a B2B Summit cruise in January.

Ontario Cruiser

 

Because we have done most of the Caribbean a few times over, I would have taken the cruise anyway and stayed onboard while everyone else enjoyed the ports. Rest and relaxation!:D

 

Hope your knee feels better soon. :)

[dabear]

Iamtheresa: actually Celebrity had 2 months to arrange a substitute port which was much more time than the other 6 cruises that they did arrange another port.

[Project_gal]

Re I imagine it is the terrorist attack on 10 August this year: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33844246

 

Take a look at the following re terrorist attacks. Istanbul is only one of very many across the world..........

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terrorist_incidents,_2015

 

I was only answering the question about what event had generated the post and not advocating boycotting any city.

 

I did not cancel a planned trip to London a few days after the second [failed] bombing attempt exactly three weeks after 7/7 although, at that time, most people expected further bombing attempts. We learned during the [earlier still] IRA bombing campaigns not to let the b.......s change our plans.

[Gordoncruickshank]

If everyone stayed away from places that have ever had or at risk of having a terrorist attract we wouldn't leave the house... And then be too scarred to leave the house

 

While I agree with you, personally, I will not travel around North Africa or the Middle East just now. Too much going on. Personally I don't have a real issue in Istanbul, I would feel ok there and would not be too bothered leaving or finishing there.

[gordylad]

Re While I agree with you, personally, I will not travel around North Africa or the Middle East just now. Too much going on. Personally I don't have a real issue in Istanbul, I would feel ok there and would not be too bothered leaving or finishing there.....................

 

Agree with you Gordon on this. For us the Middle East and NA are a no go and as mentioned previously I cant think of any Celebrity European destination just now that would give us any concern.

[tbmrt]

Since we live in FL we usually cruise once or twice a year to the Caribbean since it is so easy and more affordable than flying somewhere to another port.

 

Next year we are considering Alaska, but I'm so confused. Don't think we'd visit there twice and want to do it right.

 

Since we've been on many cruises, I'm not as concerned about the ship, but more about the excursions, etc. Also want to take the train. Thinking about 12 - 14 days.

 

I've started a file with so many options...Where to fly in and out of? Should we take northbound/southbound cruises...Best ships?.....Best time to go to Alaska?.....Don't take this ship because you can't get close enough to a certain glacier, etc.

 

Much as I love planning our Caribbean cruises and excursions, Alaska really is overwhelming to me.

[DrivesLikeMario]

OP - Yes, I totally understand what you're saying. We just cancelled a great 8 night Azamara Croatian Inside Passage cruise out of Venice. We did the same thing - "do you really want to do this cruise?" After looking at each other, we both said "no" for a few reasons.

 

We just got back from a wonderful, although exhausting, river cruise. DH only gets 2 wks. of vacation a year. That river cruise ate up almost all of his vacation for the whole year. :mad: We were on the go every single day and missed having sea days. The Azamara Croatian cruise was going to be more of the same - a different port every day, lots of tours, and lots of logistics planning.

 

It felt good to cancel and now we get to book two one-week cruises in it's place. And, now we can fly first class for both of the new cruises due to the cost being so much cheaper than international bus. class airfare. We'll do Europe again in 2018, but for now, we're happy to cruise closer to home. :)

[keithm]

I too believe this happens more often then one thinks.

 

For moi, I have a wife that needs a scooter to get around. Now logistically, that is the nightmare. Last off planes. Finding transportation that can/will take a scooter. Anchored ports of call vice dockside.

 

i do all the planning and logistics work, and let me tell you, it can be hard to accomplish a travel plan and feel comfortable executing it when doing air travel, even in the US...LOL

 

We were going to do an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle last year. What a nightmare that planning turned out to be to fly there and get transportation once there from airport to hotel to port. That, plus when checking prices to fly (2K) put the brakes on it and we just booked a cruise 1.5 hours away to a few new ports we have not visited.

 

That is why we just take our home state (Florida) cruises. 99% of vacations are cruises. We have 4 main ports we can drive to easily, and choose between most main line cruise lines for the date and cost we are willing to pay. No air travel. No overnight travel. No taxi's to worry about. Be it, the cruises are all Caribbean type, but we like the Caribbean...even repeat port visits to most. Easy Peasy. :)

Last off planes?? Usually, you would be first on & first off due to moblity issues.

[nordski]

Last off planes?? Usually, you would be first on & first off due to moblity issues.

 

 

That has not been our experience. When my wife required assistance, we were often first on, but also asked to be wait upon arrival because of the desire not to block the aisles or corridors.

 

In fact, there is a bit of a joke about this shared by our attendants.

 

Some people ask for mobility aid when boarding, or for connecting flights, so as to speed up or simplify transit (and passage through security), but when they arrive at their final destination that flight has suddenly provided miraculous healing. Thus they do not have to wait for disembarkation.

[cruisequeen4ever]

We recently canceled our Galapagos Xpedition cruise. It's DH's dream cruise but was becoming increasingly stressful for me for a variety of reasons. I was definitely relieved to let it go for now. We plan to do it in the future when the issues are no longer issues, but for now, we are both thrilled with doing a Caribbean Christmas cruise instead! Last year, we canceled our Caribbean B2Bs to do a 17 day Med dream cruise, and it was worth every second of planning. I think it really depends on one's vaca priorities at the time (relaxation, adventure, exploration, time, etc.), and that can change from year to year. The beauty of cruises is being able to secure your spot on a cruise but be able to cancel if you change your mind before final payment.

[JFontaine]

I find planning ahead for any cruise to be very stressful. As we age, stress just gets worse. My main problem concerns my health. We will fly in flatbed business class overnight to Rome. Great, right?

 

Does that mean I'll be able to get off the plane and head straight for a tour of the Vatican? Or, will I be so exhausted and in pain that I'll have to forfeit the considerable amount of money the tours cost? We only have two nights in Rome and don't anticipate ever having the opportunity to return. What would you do?

 

I would absolutely not plan getting off the plane and going to the Vatican. Your lie flat bed will be nice, but crying babies, turbulence, delays, etc. can all interfere with a good night's rest. The Sistene chapel can be crowded. I'd save this for day 2, and I'd go with a guide to work around crowds. This tour, in my opinion, is the highlight of a Rome visit, and you should be fresh. Have a great trip.

 

I just cancelled a weekend cruise. I'm a Celebrity, Crystal, Regent suite cruiser. With a spare long weekend, I booked a NCL weekend cruise on an older ship in a regular cabin - 160 square feet. I was OK with the cabin size, and the older ship. Then I realized 3 and 4th passengers were free, and free alcohol packages were being offered. The idea of a packed, booze cruise pushed me over the edge. I am going to a resort instead, much relieved.

[teecee60]

 

We had booked a Venice stay and 11 night X Constellation Venice to Istanbul.

 

It was getting near time to book hotel and flights (planning to use points for both).

 

We were concerned about hotel availability in Venice, and trying to hook up with some business class seats

 

(using points) which is always a headache.

 

And cabin location and class, etc.

 

Then there was other issues to work out (tours, insurance, limos).

 

I reviewed everything with my wife and asked, 'are you really excited about this trip?' The answer from both of us was 'no'.

 

It was almost a burden to do all of the prep so far in advance.

 

We had just been to Europe a few times but alot of work did go into the planning.

 

We may wind up sitting around the house thinking we could have been in Europe.

 

 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on such a terribly stressful and challenging situation. :(

 

Unfortunately, this horribly unjust world dictates we all must endure difficult circumstances from time to time.

 

I'm sure people all over the world can relate to your plight, and they're hoping your troubling situation improves. ;)

Edited September 20, 2015 by teecee60

[Lois R]

Since we live in FL we usually cruise once or twice a year to the Caribbean since it is so easy and more affordable than flying somewhere to another port.

 

Next year we are considering Alaska, but I'm so confused. Don't think we'd visit there twice and want to do it right.

 

Since we've been on many cruises, I'm not as concerned about the ship, but more about the excursions, etc. Also want to take the train. Thinking about 12 - 14 days.

 

I've started a file with so many options...Where to fly in and out of? Should we take northbound/southbound cruises...Best ships?.....Best time to go to Alaska?.....Don't take this ship because you can't get close enough to a certain glacier, etc.

 

Much as I love planning our Caribbean cruises and excursions, Alaska really is overwhelming to me.

 

I live in Florida too and have sailed to Alaska 4 times......most

recently in May of this year. I went on Solstice out of Seattle and had

a wonderful time.

Many folks will tell you this is not the best itinerary but I enjoyed myself

so that is what matters most to me:)

Many folks will tell you to do the roundtrip out of Vancouver or a north

south itinerary out of Seward......

I will suggest you go over to the ALASKA forum. There are many,

many threads with really good information and some long time

CC folks who have lots of Alaska answers to many of your questions.

 

As for ships? I went on Solstice and the other 2 ships that do Alaska

are Infinity and Millennium. My other cruises there were on ships that

are no no longer in the fleet.

[pspercy]

Since we live in FL we usually cruise once or twice a year to the Caribbean since it is so easy and more affordable than flying somewhere to another port.

 

Next year we are considering Alaska, but I'm so confused. Don't think we'd visit there twice and want to do it right.

 

Since we've been on many cruises, I'm not as concerned about the ship, but more about the excursions, etc. Also want to take the train. Thinking about 12 - 14 days.

 

I've started a file with so many options...Where to fly in and out of? Should we take northbound/southbound cruises...Best ships?.....Best time to go to Alaska?.....Don't take this ship because you can't get close enough to a certain glacier, etc.

 

Much as I love planning our Caribbean cruises and excursions, Alaska really is overwhelming to me.

 

Agreed about Alaska, especially the first time. You might take a look at HAL, they have a 14dy itinerary, round trip Seattle, no repeated ports either. On Maasdam next year.

 

To OP, totally agree, we've done that too. No longer have a mileage 'points' problem, all gone as of July, ditto Marriott points, fun while it lasted:D

Edited September 21, 2015 by pspercy