Making plans for Sept '22 European cruise

[J18ktleo]

Wondering what the general thought might be?

 

We are a group of 14 on Reflection Sept 26 and wondering if we should start looking into private tours or should plan on having to do ships tours throughout?

 

Have spent so much time planning already when we were cancelled in 2021, not looking forward to having that happen again.

 

What's your thoughts?

[TeeRick]

10 minutes ago, J18ktleo said:

Wondering what the general thought might be?

 

We are a group of 14 on Reflection Sept 26 and wondering if we should start looking into private tours or should plan on having to do ships tours throughout?

 

Have spent so much time planning already when we were cancelled in 2021, not looking forward to having that happen again.

 

What's your thoughts?

We are in the same situation.  Cruising on Silhouette last week of August out of the UK to Ireland and Iceland.  We had a very similar cruise cancelled last summer.  We had a number of tours planned.  It is hard to know what to do at this point.  If you sign up this far in advance for ship tours you will be out a lot of money up front.  Or use OBC for some.

[Arizona Wildcat]

Am on Summit August Iceland.  Am booking both cruiseline tours with my OBC and direct with tour operators.  Found in smaller ports Celebrity booked all space.

[TeeRick]

22 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Am on Summit August Iceland.  Am booking both cruiseline tours with my OBC and direct with tour operators.  Found in smaller ports Celebrity booked all space.

On my previous Iceland roll call several of us signed up for tours together that did not require advance deposits.  I would also check into that.  

Edited February 8, 2022 by TeeRick

[dabear]

Having had 3 European cruises cancelled during the pandemic, together with air, hotel & tour arrangements, we're waiting this time  before we start looking at tours, etc for our October, 2022 European cruise. We have booked refundable air & hotel independently. IMHO I would wait a while until closer to departure as rules may be substantially changed.

[J18ktleo]

32 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

On my previous Iceland roll call several of us signed up for tours together that did not require advance deposits.  I would also check into that.  

Was there a way to tell which one's don't require payment up front?

[zitsky]

Are you on the 11 Night Italy, Turkey & Greek Islands?  It seems to me you would really enjoy having your own tour, if you can arrange it.

[Jim_Iain]

Stay tuned and I will let you know what I find out.   We are on a Silhouette B3B starting with the TA Crossing and the next 2 cruises.  We have also held off planning excursions but did book a small group tour in Portugal so far.   Excursions at this point are very limited.

 

My strategy is do your shopping and book Celebrity Tours  to lock them in and if things change you can cancel up to 24 hours prior to the cruise.   That way if you find a CC members private group tour that interest you, you might decide to cancel you Celebrity tour. 

 

I am also exploring private tours and Private Journey. 

[upwarduk]

We are booked on Silhouette’s only Mediterranean cruise from Southampton. At the beginning of December, many of the tours had 30% off. I cancelled 2 which I had already booked and rebooked at the reduced rate. A few weeks ago, a tour became available for Marseilles at 5% off. I didn’t book, as I was hoping more tours would be for Sale. At the moment, this hasn’t happened and there is now no longer 5% off.

[Jim_Iain]

1 minute ago, upwarduk said:

We are booked on Silhouette’s only Mediterranean cruise from Southampton. At the beginning of December, many of the tours had 30% off. I cancelled 2 which I had already booked and rebooked at the reduced rate. A few weeks ago, a tour became available for Marseilles at 5% off. I didn’t book, as I was hoping more tours would be for Sale. At the moment, this hasn’t happened and there is now no longer 5% off.

I'm going to check next week.   They usually have some sale or promotion for U.S. Presidents Day, February 21 this year.

[Arizona Wildcat]

3 hours ago, J18ktleo said:

Was there a way to tell which one's don't require payment up front?

You simply ask the tour operator.  Most require a credit card to hold space, especially if a group.  The important question is if the trip is refundable and those terms.   You can check out the operator's ratings on Viator, Trip Advisor, Expedia or other sites.

[J18ktleo]

33 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

You simply ask the tour operator.  Most require a credit card to hold space, especially if a group.  The important question is if the trip is refundable and those terms.   You can check out the operator's ratings on Viator, Trip Advisor, Expedia or other sites.

Thank you.

I've been booking tours for years and years privately and am very familiar with procedures and cancellation policies, especially since I usually have a group going with me.

I thought you were talking about 'cruise line' tours that don't require deposit...that would be the best!!!

[sydbarrett]

I'm doing Greek Islands in July. Not seeing much at this point for 3rd party tours, mostly just the same as what Celebrity is offering. I normally do a 3rd party tour but for this trip I might just go with Celebrity for the extra security.

[Oceangoer2]

On 2/7/2022 at 2:16 PM, J18ktleo said:

Wondering what the general thought might be?

 

We are a group of 14 on Reflection Sept 26 and wondering if we should start looking into private tours or should plan on having to do ships tours throughout?

 

Have spent so much time planning already when we were cancelled in 2021, not looking forward to having that happen again.

 

What's your thoughts?

I book refundable hotels and private car for transportation from port to Rome and also tour about 9 months ahead (or as the year prices are released), as they book up...Sept. might be one of the busier months.  Depends where you're sailing.  In the Med I booked cruise tours for individual ports we're not familiar with as they're refundable along with the cruise cost.  I don't take chances right now with the current and ongoing virus conditions and possible port closures.  Considering you're a  large group it's worth doing the advance planning even though I know it's intensive even for the two of us.

[Virginia100]

In the Greek islands can you go independently off the ship? I haven’t heard that Greece or Italy require Celebrity excursions to disembark at the ports. I assume it’s all open.

[Virginia100]

30 minutes ago, sydbarrett said:

I'm doing Greek Islands in July. Not seeing much at this point for 3rd party tours, mostly just the same as what Celebrity is offering. I normally do a 3rd party tour but for this trip I might just go with Celebrity for the extra security.

Can you just get off and go on your own? I go to the Greek Islands in August. I’ve not heard of any restrictions like the Caribbean islands.

[TeeRick]

5 minutes ago, Virginia100 said:

Can you just get off and go on your own? I go to the Greek Islands in August. I’ve not heard of any restrictions like the Caribbean islands.

No way to know just yet.  Each country has constantly changing rules.  But hopefully by the cruise season in Europe this summer, restrictions will ease as Omicron retreats.  Starting to happen already.  But that all begs the question (or topic here) about what to arrange for tours in advance now.

[sydbarrett]

8 hours ago, Virginia100 said:

Can you just get off and go on your own? I go to the Greek Islands in August. I’ve not heard of any restrictions like the Caribbean islands.

I’m not even looking into it until much closer. I have FULL confidence everything will be open everywhere by summer. I hope anyway. 

[chromered7]

I would have thought that you could negotiate a good deal for a party of 14? There are always private companies at each port , it just needs an organised member of your group to do some investigation. Happy cruising.

[pixiedust777]

We are currently on the same cruise😊

At the moment I am not planning any excursions either with the cruise line or independently ( which is what we prefer). To much money tied up with the cruise line and to time consuming canceling personal tours if we end up not going.

 I am going to wait until final payment to see where the “world” is regarding Covid and will make decisions about tours/cancel etc….from there.

Crazy that only two years ago I would have vacations booked, planned and paid for up to 18 months in advance and last year we booked our vacation only 7 days before our time off work began! (Paris was wonderful 💕)

 

[J18ktleo]

21 hours ago, chromered7 said:

I would have thought that you could negotiate a good deal for a party of 14? There are always private companies at each port , it just needs an organised member of your group to do some investigation. Happy cruising.

Yes, as I've said, I have been doing this for years.

HOWEVER, I am concerned about doing all the research, negotiations and planning to then find out we have to do ship sponsored tours!

 

[sgmn]

On 2/9/2022 at 1:59 PM, Virginia100 said:

Can you just get off and go on your own? I go to the Greek Islands in August. I’ve not heard of any restrictions like the Caribbean islands.

Fingers crossed 🤞 

Greece was pretty open last summer compared to a lot of European countries so I'm hoping they will allow us to do our own thing. Our Beyond cruise is almost all Greek Islands or mainland 

[Arizona Wildcat]

3 hours ago, J18ktleo said:

Yes, as I've said, I have been doing this for years.

HOWEVER, I am concerned about doing all the research, negotiations and planning to then find out we have to do ship sponsored tours!

 

I think you need to do some research now.  We had 80 booked on 2 different days in the Canaries.  Missed the second port due to weather.  The tour operator was easy.  They handled the names and $$ was not paid till we boarded the vans.  I am a TA - I do not do cruises - in the US.  Enjoy doing it.  Suggest looking for a couple tour ideas and email or call a couple operators.  The good ones will handle the data base and emails for you.

[LondonTowner]

Hello, everybody

 

i live in London and have just booked a Celebrity cruise departing from Southampton.

 

here in the U.K. most COVID restrictions are being lifted and other European countries are gradually following suit. So, personally, I’d hold on a while before booking any excursions. I certainly wouldn’t rush to book a ship excursion.

[Virginia100]

Yes, I just read over here no more UK Covid tests required for international arrivals. I hope by my August 8 cruise out of Rome, Italy does the same and no inbound testing. The US should follow the UKs lead and do the same with summer vacations coming up.