ontheweb

As the old saying goes, better late than never.

I also believe that is the question.

We are booked to do that itinerary in reverse (the only difference is an overnight at the end in Reykjavik). We booked it because the itinerary looked so great to us. (we previously missed Norwegian fjords in 2020 as the cruise we had booked of course never sailed.)

Do you want to be on hold, or would you rather have your travel agent be the one on hold? I spoke to ours this morning (he immediately answered). Said he would have to be on hold for 2 hours to find the information we wanted, and then another 2 hours if we decided to make the change we were considering. (He did say Mondays were the worst, since the cruise lines were closed on the weekend. I told him I would get back to him, and since what we wanted was not something needed immediately, he could wait until the middle of the week when he said the hold time would not be as bad.)

Maybe instead or worse, you should have said more prevalent.

LOL, we did Santorini on our own, and it was fine except when we got totally lost. At that point we discovered a museum in a cave. We took the tour (in English for us and Greek for the other couple). We then showed the guide our cruise line map, and asked where we were on the map. He laughed and said we were off the map. He asked if we had a car, and when we said, no, he tried unsuccessfully to get us a cab. He then showed us a short cut back. It was truly a unique experience. Rick Steves says be a traveler, not a tourist. I think that's what we ended up being with that visit to that museum.

but no one is ever going to be banned from a cruise line for being a chair hog. 🤦‍♂️

And as long as they do not enforce their own rules, there will always be passengers who do not comply.

Good luck, and hopefully you enjoy the cruise with no real problems.

Not as relaxing is truly an understatement. You come back from a European cruise (especially if your DW is an art teacher) and feel like you now need a vacation. LOL

That answer sums up very well whether there are enrichment programs or not.

He is based in Florida, so I guess this makes sense as an "inaugural" cruise.

No, he has done very well for us for several cruises.

We are actually among the few who had their first cruise in Europe, a Western Mediterranean from Barcelona to Barcelona. This is how that happened. In late 2001, I said to my DW that our 25th anniversary is next summer, why don't we consider a cruise. She liked the idea. She suggested Alaska (which we have since cruised to), but I said no. I suggested Bermuda (which we have since cruised to) as at that point in time who wanted to fly and we could drive or take the bus to NY City. But, she said no. I then sent away for a brochure from a travel agency I saw with an ad in our Sunday newspaper. I saw the cruise I mentioned above with ports like Rome, Florence. etc (and yes I know now they are not real ports). As she is (actually just retired) an art teacher, I knew she would love that. She agreed, and now almost half our cruises have been in Europe (plus one cancelled for Covid in 2020 and one scheduled for 2023).

And they also do not have to pay the fare for an extra passenger I suppose.

They could still do that.

I do not believe that a passenger would have to register a stuffed animal as a service animal no matter how much emotional support it provides!

Thanks to all of you who responded. I had already read a post and saw the pictures from @Steamboat which is why I wondered how our TA could be on an inaugural cruise in November. What kind of first will it be by November?

When the cruise lines first changed this, the experienced mariners on these boards often posted that the muster drill was really for the crew; it was the only time that they got to "herd" passengers. One hopes there is not a real emergency to prove whether the old style drill was really necessary.

Our TA had told us he was scheduled to be on the first sailing, but was not sure if he would take the cruise. I thought I had seen some posts of people already having sailed, so I e-mailed him asking if he had gone and if so for his impressions. (We are booked for next August.) He e-mailed back that the first sailing was not until November, and that he would not be able to get out of the office.

Unfortunately, I think I CAN believe it.

Would that be the equivalent of my DW wears an angel pin? Once we were on a flight and she realized she had forgot to put it on; she was a nervous wreck that flight.

Are you saying that they have "imaginary" service animals?

You would be able to tell because he would be on ice skates and carrying a stick. 🤣

The most disappointing excursion cancellation we ever had was on the Epic in the Western Mediterranean, a trip to Arles from the port of Marseilles. The staff at the excursion desk warned us it was not selling enough and promised to try to push it as they said it was an excellent excursion, but alas it never received enough bookings.