Things to do before planning a World Cruise

[muggo11]

Fingers crossed for our dream WC on Sea Princess June of 21 out of Sydney. We shall see. 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

On 5/30/2020 at 5:02 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

My best wishes for you!  

 

(To help us "dreamers", it would be appreciated if the cruise lines would again publish their brochures.)

 

I'm getting tons of brochures from our fave, Regent Seven Seas.

[rkacruiser]

On 6/3/2020 at 5:16 PM, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

I'm getting tons of brochures from our fave, Regent Seven Seas.

 

Thankfully, I am not.  Oceania and Regent have been on my list of those whose stuff that I receive go nearly immediately into the trash to go to the dumpster.  I don't want them.  I have told them so.  And, they still kept coming.  Maybe Covid-19 killed mine off?  

[SummerStar57]

I'm still dreaming!

When do you think they will come out with the new WC itineraries?

[rkacruiser]

7 hours ago, SummerStar57 said:

I'm still dreaming!

When do you think they will come out with the new WC itineraries?

 

HAL's 2022's itinerary has been published.  The Zaandam will replace the Amsterdam.

[Heidi13]

14 hours ago, SummerStar57 said:

I'm still dreaming!

When do you think they will come out with the new WC itineraries?

 

Viking published 2022 a couple of weeks ago and it is selling quickly.

[RICHARD@SEA]

Its been a longtime for posts here so I thought I'd bump it up....I've read that WC bookings are up considerably...I'm looking at the MSC WC 2023 RT from Rome?

 

How is everyone's plans coming along?

[BVILady]

I have just checked cruiseguru a few days ago for available interior cabins for my 2024 Costa World Cruise and there are only 5 cabins left open, so bookings seem to be up and anybody waiting might be out of luck when they finally decide.

[KKB]

On 4/16/2022 at 12:50 PM, BVILady said:

I have just checked cruiseguru a few days ago for available interior cabins for my 2024 Costa World Cruise and there are only 5 cabins left open, so bookings seem to be up and anybody waiting might be out of luck when they finally decide.

I just took a look--that seems to be a heck of a deal.

But are drinks, wifi or tips included? All would add a significant amount of $.

Viking is my bucket list but at 3x this price...I think we could cover those...

Have you tried Costa?

My cousins did a Costa Caribbean cruise & were not overly impressed.

[BVILady]

sorry for bad typing, broke my right wrist yesterday. i have been on costa several times and o

pincess, hal and several other european smaller lines an i do like costa. i am euopean so everything being in several languages is not a problem to me. only wine, beer and softdrinks with lunch and dinner are included. i have a spreadsheet and worked out estimated extra's. the service is a fixed daily rate. i do drink, but what i drink will not even be as much as the drinkpackage you can add - E 4300 - E 5500 for the entire cruise, especially when you are out all day. they include 15 excursions, so even viking claims excursions are included, they are short excursions and if you do want do do something different you still pay for it. have almost all excursions booked for my 2023 world cruise including Isuaca falls overland, laundry and extra water package for the room and extra non-alcoholic drinks and only reached about E 6500 according to my spreadsheet i will be able to do 2 1/2 worldcruises with costa for the quoted price of 1 with viking - and that does not even calculate in the additional expenses i would have for the excursions i  would still have to pay on viking. somebody posted the pricelist for drinks on costa at the costa board so have a look. also just read on facebook

that the same excursion i had booked on costa was priced 3 x the amount on another upscale line. so take your pencil and work it out - how unimpressed can you be at 40 % cost.  

 

[Heidi13]

5 hours ago, BVILady said:

sorry for bad typing, broke my right wrist yesterday. i have been on costa several times and o

pincess, hal and several other european smaller lines an i do like costa. i am euopean so everything being in several languages is not a problem to me. only wine, beer and softdrinks with lunch and dinner are included. i have a spreadsheet and worked out estimated extra's. the service is a fixed daily rate. i do drink, but what i drink will not even be as much as the drinkpackage you can add - E 4300 - E 5500 for the entire cruise, especially when you are out all day. they include 15 excursions, so even viking claims excursions are included, they are short excursions and if you do want do do something different you still pay for it. have almost all excursions booked for my 2023 world cruise including Isuaca falls overland, laundry and extra water package for the room and extra non-alcoholic drinks and only reached about E 6500 according to my spreadsheet i will be able to do 2 1/2 worldcruises with costa for the quoted price of 1 with viking - and that does not even calculate in the additional expenses i would have for the excursions i  would still have to pay on viking. somebody posted the pricelist for drinks on costa at the costa board so have a look. also just read on facebook

that the same excursion i had booked on costa was priced 3 x the amount on another upscale line. so take your pencil and work it out - how unimpressed can you be at 40 % cost.  

 

 

Financial costs are obviously a significant consideration when booking a World Cruise. When I am staying on a ship for 4 months, I also want to know how competent the Deck & Engineering Officers are. 

 

Prior to the Costa Concordia, several Carnival brands developed a Bridge Team Command & Control Policy that significantly enhanced safety by improving the bridge procedures. This was developed by operational Masters/Officers, without having experienced an accident. It was also integrated into Engineering operations.

 

Had Costa implemented these procedures, they would most likely have prevented the Costa Concordia accident, as the Master would have either bought in, or been replaced. Carnival have since forced implementation across all brands, but it is the classic case of being forced to enact safety after the fact.

 

This is the reason, I will never consider Costa, or any other Carnival brand.

[BVILady]

On 4/22/2022 at 6:43 AM, BVILady said:

sorry for bad typing, broke my right wrist yesterday. i have been on costa several times and o

pincess, hal and several other european smaller lines an i do like costa. i am euopean so everything being in several languages is not a problem to me. only wine, beer and softdrinks with lunch and dinner are included. i have a spreadsheet and worked out estimated extra's. the service is a fixed daily rate. i do drink, but what i drink will not even be as much as the drinkpackage you can add - E 4300 - E 5500 for the entire cruise, especially when you are out all day. they include 15 excursions, so even viking claims excursions are included, they are short excursions and if you do want do do something different you still pay for it. have almost all excursions booked for my 2023 world cruise including Isuaca falls overland, laundry and extra water package for the room and extra non-alcoholic drinks and only reached about E 6500 according to my spreadsheet i will be able to do 2 1/2 worldcruises with costa for the quoted price of 1 with viking - and that does not even calculate in the additional expenses i would have for the excursions i  would still have to pay on viking. somebody posted the pricelist for drinks on costa at the costa board so have a look. also just read on facebook

that the same excursion i had booked on costa was priced 3 x the amount on another upscale line. so take your pencil and work it out - how unimpressed can you be at 40 % cost.  

 

just checked my bookings my total on extra's now is E 5640 no 6500 and i do only have 5 ports left to book excursions for and i have not saved any expense to book what i wanted, had to say no to the Taj Mahal only because it looked to streneous and hard for me. i can't wait!!!😍🌞😍

 

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, BVILady said:

had to say no to the Taj Mahal only because it looked to streneous and hard for me.

 

I don't know any details about the tour to the Taj nor your situation.  But, I am so very glad that I made the effort and spent the money to do a land tour in India as part of my world cruise.  My tour included flights from  Chennai to New Delhi, tours of New Delhi, bus trip and tour to Jaipur, bus trip and a tour to Agra, an afternoon visit to the Taj as well as one the next morning (if one wished), bus/tours back to New Delhi and a flight to Mumbai to rejoin the Amsterdam.  I did not take the morning tour to visit the Taj again; my hotel room overlooked the Taj and I could watch the changing of its colors as the Sun rose.  It was a truly memorable journey!  

[BVILady]

rkacruiser thank you so much for your post. i had originally booked taj mahal but then they changed the itinerary to fort in the morning, then taj mahal and then fatahpur siki, which was just to much for 1 day and i figured would make the visit to the taj mahal midday, so hot. after you posted i went back online to the tour and they did change it back to morning taj mahal and then the fort so much more manageable. i am 73, do walk every day dirt roads in the hills (broken wrist!) so not worried with this itinerary. so thanks to your post i am booked again 🌞😄🌞and the cost is about E 1050 for tour and 2 nights single room so not breaking the bank.

[rkacruiser]

8 hours ago, BVILady said:

rkacruiser thank you so much for your post. i had originally booked taj mahal but then they changed the itinerary to fort in the morning, then taj mahal and then fatahpur siki, which was just to much for 1 day and i figured would make the visit to the taj mahal midday, so hot. after you posted i went back online to the tour and they did change it back to morning taj mahal and then the fort so much more manageable. i am 73, do walk every day dirt roads in the hills (broken wrist!) so not worried with this itinerary. so thanks to your post i am booked again 🌞😄🌞and the cost is about E 1050 for tour and 2 nights single room so not breaking the bank.

 

That is a reasonable price to pay, I think.  Do you know what hotel you will be using?

 

If I recall accurately, due to traffic delays en route to Agra, my tour arrived at the Taj in the afternoon.  I don't recall heat/humidity to be an issue for me (and I am sensitive to such).  Be prepared for many people in the Mausoleum itself, but, the plaza around the building and the grounds can easily accommodate many people and they were not crowded.  One must remove your shoes before entering the Mausoleum; then, they will a part of dozens and dozens of other shoes.  I was concerned about whether I would find mine after leaving the building; I did.  

 

I was 65 when I did this trip and was in significantly better physical condition than I now am at 78.  It would be most unwise for me to try this kind of an excursion again.  

[The-Inside-Cabin]

On 4/24/2022 at 3:45 AM, BVILady said:

rkacruiser thank you so much for your post. i had originally booked taj mahal but then they changed the itinerary to fort in the morning, then taj mahal and then fatahpur siki, which was just to much for 1 day and i figured would make the visit to the taj mahal midday, so hot. after you posted i went back online to the tour and they did change it back to morning taj mahal and then the fort so much more manageable. i am 73, do walk every day dirt roads in the hills (broken wrist!) so not worried with this itinerary. so thanks to your post i am booked again 🌞😄🌞and the cost is about E 1050 for tour and 2 nights single room so not breaking the bank.

Here is a link to my blog posts about our overland to the Taj back in 2016

https://www.theinsidecabin.com/day-77-colombo-sri-lanka-to-new-delhi-india/