luv2trvlnow

OK. So the FCC was a 25% credit, not any part of your deposit. You left your deposit with them and now they have refunded that deposit. That would mean you are not out any money. Do I have that straight?

Thank you for answering my question. But I still am wondering about the following. It sounds like she did not take their deposit back, but received FCC. Yes that money is now Carnival's but it did orginally come from her. It appears she paid money and received nothing but a FCC, which is now gone. I don't know if I am reading this right. Or did she receive their deposit back and also receive a FCC. But the highlighted part seems to say she got a FCC instead of cancelling and taking back their deposit back.

In the Spring the water levels can be too high from rain and snow melt. Then the riverboats are unable to get under some bridges. So the same scenrio can happen. At least I haven't heard of the rain and snow melt there being as bad as Yellowstone had this past June. We arrived in the morning and by afternoon they closed the park and we had our reservations cancelled. Lots of fun trying to get things figured out on the fly.

Just be sure Europe gets enough rain before you go. When the river is low your river cruise turns into a bus trip. It has happened before. Currently they are having a drought in Europe. So I imagine the rivers are low.

I am a bit confused. I thought a FCC was given when a cruise was cancelled by Carnival and you chose not to get a refund (of the money you had paid) in exchange for a FCC with an additional amount of money in OBC. Or - they are given when you buy Carnival insurance and cancel for any reason (you get 75% back as an OBC). So to me that was my original money. MINE not theirs. What other FCC is given that you didn"t already give them money for? I know there could be something you might get a FCC for but I am not sure what that would be.

We have booked a B2B for the end of September into October of 2023. This will be our first cruise post pandemic. We had 3 cruises cancelled during the pandemic. And those were booked before we even heard of Covid. It has been a long time since we have been on a cruise - April of 2017. So it will be 6 years between sailings. Way, way, way too long!

I am happy that my starting this thread made you check your offers. That is a good offer. Hope you have a wonderful cruise next year. We are hoping ours goes well too. You will be visiting a few of the ports that we will also be visiting. Enjoy!

OP here. Yes. That is part of the reason for my post. I was interested in why some people say other cruise lines do Europe better. Information provided by experts can add to your experience. So this is one way other lines do Europe better. Then one has to decide if that added experience is worth the price difference. I too enjoyed the information provided by the Naturalist on our Alaskan Princess cruise.

I did look at Celebrity for the B2B. We do get to go to Ephesus on the Pride, but not Istanbul. But I don't think being in Istanbul for the afternoon one day and the morning the next is all that great. It would cost us just over $10,000 for a deluxe inside cabin for those 2 cruises. We are paying $4658 for the 2 cruises on the Pride for a balcony. That is a savings of over $5300. It just seems to good to pass up the Pride for that price difference. Celebrity was the first one I looked at. I know price isn't the only factor, but this price difference pulls a lot of weight. We enjoyed our cruise on the Celebrity Summit out of San Juan. The price was about the same as Carnival out of San Juan. Some things I liked better on Celebrity and some things I liked better on Carnival. I found many similarities. I know many will say that is not true, but for us it was. I would give Celebrity the edge, but not enought to pay more than double.

Hello fellow cruiser. I felt the same way about the itinerary. So many places we want to see and the B2B offered a few more interesting stops. Hope we have a chance to meet when onboard.

Well MSC doesn't have any cruises listed in Europe past April of next year. And what they have until then doesn't go to the ports we want to go to. Like I said I'm cruising for the ports not the ship. For the Caribbean you have many choices of newer ships on all the cruise lines. And most go to the same places. This is not the case for our cruises next year. The cruise lines with similar ports and days cost way more. I am not crusing to Europe just to be in Europe. I want certain ports. I have been to Europe on land trips so I am looking for a specfic itinerary. And yes money is a concern. I think it is for most people. I am happy that it isn't for you. I would not enjoy a cruise if I paid 4 to 5 thousand dollars more just to be on a newer ship. The old Pride will work for this old 70 and 74 year old couple.

They don't have cruises that go to the same ports. If I find a cruise for some of the ports, the other ports are at a different time of year, like months apart, or from a different home port. They don't have any longer cruises so it would have to be a back to back of 6 and/or 7 day cruises. Just doesn't work. Their only cruise to Dubrovnik next year is in April and we already have a month long trip planned for April. Didn't really check the prices since I couldn't put together a combination of cruises I liked. I first find the cruises and then check the prices.

I am the OP. The only reason I asked this was because CruizinSusan70 said other lines do Europe better than Carnival. So far I don't see why she says that. Most of the talk is about the ship. I guess that is how they do it better. If price was not a consideration than sure the other lines would be my first choice. But I just can't see paying $4600 more for Princess (21 day cruise) or $5300+ for a back to back on Celebrity Beyond and the Celebrity would be in an inside cabin. The bells and whistles are nice but not thousands of $$$$ nice. I would still need to pay for excursions on those lines. They are not included. I was just trying to find out if another line would provide something more than a fancier, newer ship. If so, I would be willing to switch. We almost always choose a cruise fare that is refundable. She told me to enjoy my cruise. It is my dime. Actually it is $1000's of dollars.

We aren't in an expensive balcony. We are in the lowest level one. Like others have said it is nice to be able to have a little privacy and the price difference was not that much to move up from a ocean view. Most of our cruises have been in inside cabins. But that was before Covid. Covid has made us rethink things a little.

Yes I looked at that cruise from Princess. The cost for the 2 of us would be $9200 for a balcony. The cost for the Pride is $4600. So twice the cost. We can use that $4600 for private excursions by locals who will know their port very well. Also we are mostly interested in Greece, Italy, and Kusadasi for Ephesus. We preferred these ports. I did read on the thread about the Pride being a disappointment, that you stated when you take your first trip across the pond it will not be on Carnival. So currently you have no European experience to base your opinion on. I don't either. But I will read everyone's thoughts and then make my decision.

We have booked the Pride for a B2B next year starting on September 29, 2023 (9 days) followed by the October 8, 2023 cruise for 10 days. When reading the comments on another thread about the Pride being a disappointment, some people say that other cruise lines do Europe better. My question is how do they do it better? These are our ports and times. Are they bad ports? Bad times in port? What other factors would make the other cruise lines better. This is our first European Cruise. Get on ship in Rome Naples 7-7 Day at Sea Dubrovnik 8-6 Kotor, Montenegro 7-5 Corfu, Greece 7-4 Messina (Sicily) 9-6 Day at Sea Livorno - Florence 7-7 Rome - Cruise 2 Day at Sea Day at Sea Mykonos 9-6 Kusadasi (Ephesus) 7-5 Athens 6-5 Santorini 7-4 Katakolon 8-5 Messina (Sicily) 9-6 Naples 7-7 Arrive at Rome port

Yes it is your opinion and you have every right to it. I am very happy for you being able to choose whatever cruise you would like. I looked at Celebrity and Princess (and I have been on both) for a cruise that included the Greek Islands. I ended up choosing a B2B on the Pride next year. My 19 days will cost the same as a 7 day Celebrity cruise or a little less than half the price of the Princess cruise (this is a 22 day cruise). And then there's the airfare from the middle of the US. It is currently not too bad. But it probably will back up to costing us over $3000 for the 2 of us by next year. And that is for the cheap seats. So we decided we would rather go on the Pride and have the extra money to spend on the excursions. We will have 13 port stops and only 4 sea days. We will have so little awake time on the ship and so much to see when in port. That is where we will spend our money. Each person or family has decide what is best for them. I mean that almost $5000 more for the Princess cruise would sure get you a lot of very nice private excursions when in port when on the Pride. And you might still have some money left over. And Yes, like BlerkOne said, money is a concern.