WWYD: Itinerary change Europe 2021

[nattie]

We had a cruise booked on Enchanted Princess from Barcelona to Rome to Athens in June/July 2021. I was really excited about the ports, picked the flights already (princess air) ... AND... Princess changes the itinerary on us. I dont want to do the replacement itinerary of b2b cruises both roundtrip Rome. Based on what I can see my original itinerary is offered again on Discovery Princess starting Nov 21. We cant travel in Nov, but can wait for summer 2022 for my chosen itinerary to be available.

So the question is, what should we do for June/July 2021 cruise? At this point everyone in my family misses cruising terribly. As my DH puts it, you know you have a problem when you miss stateroom bathrooms :). The options are:

1) Japan. 

+ LOVE Japan (we both lived there, different times though) and DS is very excited to go there

+ one of the available cruises stops at Vladivostok. I have not visited there since I was 7 

- Not sure if cruising is the best way to visit Japan. I would rather do a week split between Tokyo/Kyoto with side trip to Hokkaido

- older ship with no anytime dining

- LONG flight (like 24 hours through Princess air)

 

2) 14 day Spain/France/Portugal roundtrip London

+ shorter flight

+ can visit London (DS has not been yet)

+ newer ship (royal class)

+ and - ports are "meh" in terms of first Western Europe trip for DS. We actually like the ports. I would love to do this one after the original Med cruise we have planned

 

3) Alaska cruisetour (12 day Denali explorer)

+ and - we have to do Alaska eventually (I just cant get motivated for it)

+ Coral princess has covered pool that could be used even in Alaska. We loved Coral through Panama Canal

+ can start or end in Seattle (cruise out Vancouver, but can actually fly to Seattle) and visit friends

+ kind of excited about train to Denali 

 

Please help me decide! Price points are very similar for our chosen stateroom category on all of the above so evaluating purely on ship/itinerary merits.

 

 

[cruisequeen4ever]

In what country do you live? That would guide my recommendation due to the pandemic.

[Ombud]

39 minutes ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

In what country do you live? That would guide my recommendation due to the pandemic.

If you click on any posters name, you can see where they live. OP lives in Maryland 

 

1 hour ago, nattie said:

We had a cruise booked on Enchanted Princess from Barcelona to Rome to Athens in June/July 2021. I was really excited about the ports, picked the flights already (princess air) ... AND... Princess changes the itinerary on us. I dont want to do the replacement itinerary of b2b cruises both roundtrip Rome. Based on what I can see my original itinerary is offered again on Discovery Princess starting Nov 21. We cant travel in Nov, but can wait for summer 2022 for my chosen itinerary to be available.

So the question is, what should we do for June/July 2021 cruise? At this point everyone in my family misses cruising terribly. As my DH puts it, you know you have a problem when you miss stateroom bathrooms :). The options are:

1) Japan. 

+ LOVE Japan (we both lived there, different times though) and DS is very excited to go there

+ one of the available cruises stops at Vladivostok. I have not visited there since I was 7 

- Not sure if cruising is the best way to visit Japan. I would rather do a week split between Tokyo/Kyoto with side trip to Hokkaido

- older ship with no anytime dining

- LONG flight (like 24 hours through Princess air) this is my personal choice as I like nonstop flights and love Japan

 

2) 14 day Spain/France/Portugal roundtrip London

+ shorter flight

+ can visit London (DS has not been yet)

+ newer ship (royal class)

+ and - ports are "meh" in terms of first Western Europe trip for DS. We actually like the ports. I would love to do this one after the original Med cruise we have planned it doesn't sound like you want to do this one BUT there are new itineraries on the Enchanted Princess that focus on the Western Mediterranean. Perhaps that's more your style? (especially since you mention swimming in the next oprion)

 

3) Alaska cruisetour (12 day Denali explorer)

+ and - we have to do Alaska eventually (I just cant get motivated for it) definitely not this one for you. No one 'has to' visit Alaska. Sounds like outdoors isn't your thing so definitely not. I love hiking, ziplining through trees, and rock climbing. Even enjoyed gold mining and all excursions were limited to just a few (9?). But we're active so I loved our 3 trips up north 

+ Coral princess has covered pool that could be used even in Alaska. We loved Coral through Panama Canal

+ can start or end in Seattle (cruise out Vancouver, but can actually fly to Seattle) and visit friends

+ kind of excited about train to Denali 

 

Please help me decide! Price points are very similar for our chosen stateroom category on all of the above so evaluating purely on ship/itinerary merits.

That said, when I return to Western Europe and British Isles I will fly over and do 4 city stays of a week+

 

When I return to Alaska, we will cruise

 

I am looking forward to returning to Japan in Fall 2022. Fly over, B2B cruise

Edited October 9, 2020 by Ombud

[iancal]

I do not think that this is over yet.  There may well be further changes in cruise itineraries, good and bad depending on how well or how poorly covid can be contained as well as the general availability of  fairly instant covid tests and the presence of an effective, highly available vaccine.   

 

Until then there are too many moving parts.  Be prepared for any cruise line changes.

[TRUEBLUE66]

3 hours ago, iancal said:

I do not think that this is over yet.  There may well be further changes in cruise itineraries, good and bad depending on how well or how poorly covid can be contained as well as the general availability of  fairly instant covid tests and the presence of an effective, highly available vaccine.   

 

Until then there are too many moving parts.  Be prepared for any cruise line changes.

Totally agree. We have already had a 12 night for next year cancelled on another line as it doesn't fit in with their "shorter cruise" plans. The local airline we were booked on for 2021 to get us to Barcelona has cancelled our flights already due the uncertain nature of travel and plan a much reduced schedule.

I can see other 12-14 night itineraries being changed until this is hopefully over.

Our Regal Princess cruise{which was originally Grand Princess} next June has had a port change in the past few days.

Very little is certain at the moment when trying to make future plans!

[nini]

As Ombud has stated, you do not seem very motivated to see Alaska.

It is one of my very favorite places on the planet. We have cruised there

four times.

Have you considered a British Isles itinerary? We have also had numerous cruises

cancelled and itineraries changed. We had booked a great itinerary from Barcelona

to Rome for September 2021 (the Enchanted). After the changes, the only original port was Rome.

 

So now, we are booked on the Enchanted for September 25, 2021 You may want to take a look.

 

[nattie]

Thanks everyone!

Nini, your original Barcelona to Rome was part of my original booked cruise. I loved the ports. Unfortunately, we need to travel during the summer (DS started MS, so cant skip school as easily)

Thinking about all the uncertainty, I am actually leaning toward Alaska. I keep hearing how amazing the cruises are from a lot of people (including close friends), but being from Russia the thought of spending vacation time somewhere cold is something I have to get used to 🙂

Cruisetour I am looking at is actually marketed by Costco Travel, so I am confident in booking. I am going to go look at excursions and see if I find something to jazz up my interest. 

[epixx]

4 hours ago, nattie said:

I am actually leaning toward Alaska.

 

Hmmm.  Are you sure you want to take a MS student on a cruise tour?  He/she might be the only person in that age group on the land portion.  Also, it's lots of travel time with not so much time at the destinations.  It also has an overnight at Princess McKinley Lodge, and there's not much to do there.  What would a MS student do to keep from being bored?  If you do the cruise tour, at least try to take the NPS shuttle to Eielson instead of the Natural History Tour in Denali, as the former will be free for an MS student and it will allow you to see much more of the Park.

[riffatsea]

Although it is not beach weather, Alaska is not cold in summer. I think it lends itself to cruising better t h an Eurooean cities which need much more than one day in port!

 

[caribill]

14 hours ago, nattie said:

 

3) Alaska cruisetour (12 day Denali explorer)

+ and - we have to do Alaska eventually (I just cant get motivated for it)

+ Coral princess has covered pool that could be used even in Alaska. We loved Coral through Panama Canal

+ can start or end in Seattle (cruise out Vancouver, but can actually fly to Seattle) and visit friends

+ kind of excited about train to Denali 

 

 

 

 

I suggest this one for several reasons:

a) It is hard to predict the future about the coronavirus. But of your three choices I predict this will be the one most likely to welcome USA residents. Very hard to know now what restrictions there will be for entry into Japan and the UK next year.

b) It is a great trip.

c) Coral is a great ship

[nini]

We have experienced very warm weather on our Alaska itineraries.

And please be careful; CC does not allow travel agencies to be mentioned-

at all!

[nattie]

On 10/9/2020 at 9:56 PM, epixx said:

 

Hmmm.  Are you sure you want to take a MS student on a cruise tour?  He/she might be the only person in that age group on the land portion.  Also, it's lots of travel time with not so much time at the destinations.  It also has an overnight at Princess McKinley Lodge, and there's not much to do there.  What would a MS student do to keep from being bored?  If you do the cruise tour, at least try to take the NPS shuttle to Eielson instead of the Natural History Tour in Denali, as the former will be free for an MS student and it will allow you to see much more of the Park.

My MS student is generally unfazed by being the only kid in the group 🙂 He wants to do Alaska much more than I do.

Thank you for suggestion about the tour!

As for being bored, there are always video games, TV, etc. I am pretty sure they have wifi in Princess Lodge. 

[dickinson]

Just as an FYI - not all the lodges have wifi in the rooms.  I believe it is McKinley lodge that only has it at the lodge.

[Ken the cruiser]

We were on the Enchanted Princess out of Barcelona on the July 10 sailing for 21 days. When they cancelled it, we booked the Pacific Princess cruise out of Venice which leaves on July 10th as well. You may want to check that one out if you're still interested in a Med cruise as there are some unique port stops on that cruise.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Ken the cruiser