Help Me Decide between Rebooking Cruises

[kesrya]

With the announcement of Canada being closed until November, I'm quite sure our first NCL cruise to NE / Canada on Breakaway in September will get cancelled. I'm deciding between 3 cruises next summer to rebook using our FCC. We won't be able to do the NE/Canada itinerary due to next year's school dates for my kids.  I know nothing about the other cruise ships in NCL's fleet - we chose the Breakaway cruise completely based upon timing and convenience of the departure port.  My kids would be 6 and 10 next summer. They enjoyed kids club on the other cruise (RCL) we were all on, and they also enjoy culture and history. My eldest wants to do international travel very badly (I've been all over the world and he said he wants to do all 7 continents like me).  They are all 7 days and we'd get a Large balcony. Balcony space is *very* important to us. Here are the three itineraries we are considering.:

 

Western Mediterranean from Barcelona on Epic - I might be least interested in this one just because I have been to all three countries (Spain, France, and Italy) previously and want to go somewhere new. But my husband has only been to Spain and is interested. We could rebook this cruise for about $500 - $1000 less than our total NE/Canada FFC will be. Not sure what I'd use the extra $1000 for because its not enough for another cruise, but it can't be used for exercusions, etc. right?

 

Baltic Roundtrip from Copenhagen on the Jade - This is the most interesting cruise to me as I've never been to any of these countries (Denmark, Estonia, Russia, Finland, Germany) and I'm really intrigued by these Scandanavian places. Not sure how my 6 year old would feel about these places, but he could always stay on the ship at Splash Academy. I think my husband is least interested in this one.

 

Alaska R/T from Seattle Glacier Bay, Skagway, and Juneau on Encore - there are four different 7 day Alaskan itineraries next summer on 3 different ships and honestly I'm not sure what is different about them other than price? This one is closest to our FCC of the 4, but would still cost us about $1200 more. We'd get a massive balcony (150 feet) at the forward of the ship. We've both always wanted to do Alaska but I worry that the kids are too young to really enjoy this. Also, it only has one stop in Canada (Victoria) so it would not fufill my elder son's desire to check off other countries like the first two would. This is the one my husband wants to do most.

[HaveWeMetYet]

1 hour ago, kesrya said:

With the announcement of Canada being closed until November, I'm quite sure our first NCL cruise to NE / Canada on Breakaway in September will get cancelled. I'm deciding between 3 cruises next summer to rebook using our FCC. We won't be able to do the NE/Canada itinerary due to next year's school dates for my kids.  I know nothing about the other cruise ships in NCL's fleet - we chose the Breakaway cruise completely based upon timing and convenience of the departure port.  My kids would be 6 and 10 next summer. They enjoyed kids club on the other cruise (RCL) we were all on, and they also enjoy culture and history. My eldest wants to do international travel very badly (I've been all over the world and he said he wants to do all 7 continents like me).  They are all 7 days and we'd get a Large balcony. Balcony space is *very* important to us. Here are the three itineraries we are considering.:

 

Western Mediterranean from Barcelona on Epic - I might be least interested in this one just because I have been to all three countries (Spain, France, and Italy) previously and want to go somewhere new. But my husband has only been to Spain and is interested. We could rebook this cruise for about $500 - $1000 less than our total NE/Canada FFC will be. Not sure what I'd use the extra $1000 for because its not enough for another cruise, but it can't be used for exercusions, etc. right?

 

Baltic Roundtrip from Copenhagen on the Jade - This is the most interesting cruise to me as I've never been to any of these countries (Denmark, Estonia, Russia, Finland, Germany) and I'm really intrigued by these Scandanavian places. Not sure how my 6 year old would feel about these places, but he could always stay on the ship at Splash Academy. I think my husband is least interested in this one.

 

Alaska R/T from Seattle Glacier Bay, Skagway, and Juneau on Encore - there are four different 7 day Alaskan itineraries next summer on 3 different ships and honestly I'm not sure what is different about them other than price? This one is closest to our FCC of the 4, but would still cost us about $1200 more. We'd get a massive balcony (150 feet) at the forward of the ship. We've both always wanted to do Alaska but I worry that the kids are too young to really enjoy this. Also, it only has one stop in Canada (Victoria) so it would not fufill my elder son's desire to check off other countries like the first two would. This is the one my husband wants to do most.

Forget the FCC and take the refund. If NCL makes it then you can always book next Spring. It s not like there is going to be high demand for cruises for awhile.

With a 6 and 10 year old forget Alaska they are to young like you said. Probably would pick the West Med. Best bet with 2 kids that young is the Caribbean beach stops.

[Budget Queen]

It’s about activities in the ports-  in my opinion.   Have you determined what you would be doing?    Have you researched each port?   That goes a long way is separating options.    Then take a vote.    

[mugtech]

4 hours ago, HaveWeMetYet said:

Forget the FCC and take the refund. If NCL makes it then you can always book next Spring. It s not like there is going to be high demand for cruises for awhile.

With a 6 and 10 year old forget Alaska they are to young like you said. Probably would pick the West Med. Best bet with 2 kids that young is the Caribbean beach stops.

Agree, keep your money, see if you can book another RCI cruise, knowing the kids liked the first one.  Kids love Quantum class ships.

[kesrya]

Thanks all. You've given me some things to consider. 

 

I thought about just taking the cash refund. But with the 125% FCC and the 25% off if we book within a month of NCL cancelling our current paid in full cruise, we'd be able to do a cruise that is close to $2000 more expensive than oir original one. I was thinking that is a good incentive to stick with NCL. Sounds like several of you think its not worth the risk.

 

I do know what we would do in the western med ports cause I've been to all those places several times before. I will research the Baltic ports more. Does anyone have experience with Alaska ports? We don't normally do ship excursions - we do our own thing in ports. But is there really anything to do on your own in those Alaskan ports?

 

We don't have any interest in a big ship cruise in August to the Caribbean at this time. We have an adults only tall ship cruise booked in west Indies in late 2021 so want the family cruise to be somewhere else. We loved RCL for the cruise itself (kids club, entertainment, relaxing on our balcony) and we went with family friends who we enjoyed spending time with, but we don't enjoy sitting on a hot beach with a ton of other people. Our kids like history, cultural stuff, and environmental stuff - they are both avid NPS Junior Rangers. That's why they were excited about hiking in Acadia for the NE cruise.

[disneykins]

I would definitely suggest the Baltics. For history buffs, what could be better than Russia. Same with Germany. And the Scandinavian ports are small and (for the most part) not overrun with tourists like the Med ports. For most people, this is a once in a lifetime cruise, we spend all our time in familiar surroundings, Caribbean, Med, Southern Europe.

As for taking the FCC, I would take it. My reasoning is you are into NCL for that amount of money already. If you take the refund and book with, lets say Royal, you are now into Royal for that amount of money. Either way, your money is at risk if one of them goes bankrupt. The only way to guard against that is hide your money under the mattress and book last minute, but I don't think you're able to do that with kids school schedules.

We've done Oasis class and there's so much for the kids to do so I think they'd have a great time. Alaska, as has been said might be a bit boring for the kids, just watching scenery go by, lol. If you want the history aspect, Baltics for sure and the kids wont spend much time in the clubs since there are so many ports.

[bluesea777]

I would suggest that you look for a cruise in 2022, rather than 2021. NCL has put out a whole 9 yards of new itineraries for 2022 and part of 2023 and there are many new interesting ones.

 

What about Iceland? We have been there several times and we all love it. Our son was 9 when we went there for his first time (we'd already been before before he was born) and he loved it so much that we made a few repeat trips there over the years. We hired a car each time and had fun driving around.

 

Now NCL has a couple of R/T cruises out of Reykjavik in July 2022 to Greenland and other Iceland ports. We're booked on one, and when our son heard about it he wants to come along - he'll be 28 then!!

 

JMHO and 2 cents.

 

[kesrya]

My son is named Leif for Leif Erickson and he desperately wants to go to Iceland. So that's great to know that there are so many more cruises out in 2022. I would definitely consider delaying but I'm nervous about delaying a trip a full two years. A lot can happen between now and then. I'll definitely ask if he'd rather wait that long for Iceland.

[bluesea777]

10 minutes ago, kesrya said:

My son is named Leif for Leif Erickson and he desperately wants to go to Iceland. So that's great to know that there are so many more cruises out in 2022. I would definitely consider delaying but I'm nervous about delaying a trip a full two years. A lot can happen between now and then. I'll definitely ask if he'd rather wait that long for Iceland.

 

Maybe this will help: we're in Bermuda, and have had one NCL shortened (Feb 2020 - from 20 to 17 days) and 3 cruises canned by NCL - two Jan/Feb 2021 back to back Asian and the June 27 2020 Ultimate Baltics out of Amsterdam - so we have a few FCCs and FCDs. With the Covid-19 crap going on around the world and particularly in the USA and UK we have more or less decided we're not travelling until things clear up A LOT and there is a vaccine in. 

 

Cruise ships may be clean enough, and crew healthy, when cruising restarts, BUT it's the travel to the port. Airports are still hot spots, and one never knows where the others have been. Also when one boards the ship they don't know where the other passengers have been. And we do not want to be stuck with having to wear masks while cruising. No thanks. 

 

So we've decided no cruising for the rest of 2020 (yeah, we cruise 2-3 times a year) and none either for 2021. We had to take advantage of the 20% bonus discounts so we found and booked a couple of cruises in 2022. Hopefully the world will be back to normality then.

 

We're safe here in Bermuda with our airport closed until Phase 4 (at least a month's time). We just started Phase 2. Curfew still in force for 10pm to 6am.

 

But you can still make a land trip to Iceland! 

 

[kesrya]

Thanks that's a helpful perspective. We are planning to just drive to the national parks that would have been on our cruise stops and do a secluded camping vacation this year for those exact reasons.

 

My husband and I went to Antarctica in 2018 and my son really really wants to go to one of the artics - he has to wait until at least 13 to do Antarctica, but we discussed Iceland and Greenland sooner, so I'm thinking he's gonna vote to wait til 2022 to do this!

[bluesea777]

1 minute ago, kesrya said:

Thanks that's a helpful perspective. We are planning to just drive to the national parks that would have been on our cruise stops and do a secluded camping vacation this year for those exact reasons.

 

My husband and I went to Antarctica in 2018 and my son really really wants to go to one of the artics - he has to wait until at least 13 to do Antarctica, but we discussed Iceland and Greenland sooner, so I'm thinking he's gonna vote to wait til 2022 to do this!

 

Ha Ha, I said we've booked 2 cruises for 2022 - one is Antarctica (yeah, NCL ☺️) and the other is Greenland (July 14th). These are 2 on my bucket list! 

 

[dexddd]

I'd say Baltics on jade.  We did it but our kids were 8 & 12.  Tons of history.

 

I don't think NCL will let you leave a kid on ship if you go to port unless they've changed that.

[Peachypooh]

Alaska is beautiful and safe. There are things at each spot that interests children. We rented a car in Juneau and

drove to the Mendenhall Glacier. From there we drove over to Douglas Island and had pizza at the local

pizza shop. Then the tramway.  In Ketchikan the lumberjack show would be fun for kids. If they are up to

it, in Skagway there is an awesome zip line. I wouldn't hesitate to take my grade school grandkids.

[Budget Queen]

4 hours ago, kesrya said:

Thanks all. You've given me some things to consider. 

 

I thought about just taking the cash refund. But with the 125% FCC and the 25% off if we book within a month of NCL cancelling our current paid in full cruise, we'd be able to do a cruise that is close to $2000 more expensive than oir original one. I was thinking that is a good incentive to stick with NCL. Sounds like several of you think its not worth the risk.

 

I do know what we would do in the western med ports cause I've been to all those places several times before. I will research the Baltic ports more. Does anyone have experience with Alaska ports? We don't normally do ship excursions - we do our own thing in ports. But is there really anything to do on your own in those Alaskan ports?

 

We don't have any interest in a big ship cruise in August to the Caribbean at this time. We have an adults only tall ship cruise booked in west Indies in late 2021 so want the family cruise to be somewhere else. We loved RCL for the cruise itself (kids club, entertainment, relaxing on our balcony) and we went with family friends who we enjoyed spending time with, but we don't enjoy sitting on a hot beach with a ton of other people. Our kids like history, cultural stuff, and environmental stuff - they are both avid NPS Junior Rangers. That's why they were excited about hiking in Acadia for the NE cruise.

Of course there are multiple independent options for Alaska-  additionally-   Superb for National Parks and culture.   And I’m certain there is plenty you haven’t done in the Med ports as well.       You can simply go to the ports of call boards and read up more.     Doesn’t look like you’ve gotten enough details on each location.    You need that to make balanced choices     

[Travelling2Some]

Two factors nobody has mentioned yet . . . First the Med is extremely hot in July and August but it's a great time for either Alaska or the Baltics, weather wise.  Nothing spoils a vacation (and balcony time) like uncomfortable temperatures.  Also, have a look at the odd bathrooms on the Epic.  If you are planning to share a room with your kids you may not be comfortable with the lack of privacy.   Also, in a tie, I would give extra consideration to the preferences of whoever is footing the bill.

[All-ready2cruise]

Such a great summation, Travelling2some, many wouldn't even think of considering these very wise options.  Very important to take into consideration. 

Edited June 1, 2020 by All-ready2cruise