Markanddonna

Call an agent and also call the cruise line. Compare. If you are booking more expensive cabins, then an agent is a good idea.

Some people say you do a mock booking. That seems to work if the number of cabins in the category are less than 15. I believe that NCL doesn't release any more than 15 cabins in a category at a time. I suppose they don't want to give away all their secrets. So, I'm bidding on a balcony and some categories have 1, 4, 11, 15, 15, left. This sailing is still 100+ days out.

We stayed at the Radisson at Port Canaveral and had the parking package. The place was nice and reasonable. The shuttle to the port was great and we got there and back in good time. We've stayed there twice.

I learned about the no hole punching on a cruise in May when I requested it of the CS desk. Fortunately, you can purchase the plastic pouch in stores like Staples. I had purchased one for our COVID vax cards, so I was able to use that.

The only time the cruise air let me change was during Super Storm Sandy. I had to take all the initiative and was on the phone over 3 hours on hold. Finally, the cruise line gave me permission to contact the airline directly. I was allowed to change my first connecting flight in a wise proactive move. If I had not done so, I would have lost all my time before the cruise in Europe. I'm not sure I would have even made it on the flight. I hesitate to use cruise air.

For next week (July 25-30), do you think it is important to repurchase tickets for Tower of London Westminster Hampton Court Palace? Also, do you know if the Gymshark Store on Regent St is open? Thanks so much.

Look for private excursions that have may good reviews, esp on cc and tripadvisor.

I consider ballroom dancing today to be any dance that you had to learn rather than just moving your body to the beat. Salsa, foxtrot, swing, rock (done with some standard movement and turns), etc. can be ballroom.

I disagree. You might have the opportunity to jump up and down or line dance, but ballroom dancing has become rarer as the years go on. I used to see really fine dancers out on the floor and some brought their lovely outfits. That is rarely seen on most mainline cruises. On our last cruise, there was a very sad group that played in one of the main lounges and they never took the pulse of their dancers.

I've been on both several times and consider them very similar. Go for the itinerary and price. You will be happy. Don't listen to the naysayers. Some people are cheerleaders for their favorite line (where they have a high status.) I have top status on NCL and MSC and am almost Diamond on RCL (so I have a bit of experience and am not hard to please.)

I stayed at the Blackfriar's location in 2018 and the Paddington Basin this past May. Both were a very good experience and close to tube stations. The Waterloo would perhaps be better, but the Tube makes everything so handy. My additional advice is to get acquainted with how to take the Tube and you will be an expert in a few days. Also, consider taking the train to York for the day and to Hampton Court Palace (you can use your Oyster card on this one.) Get an Oyster card to ride the Tube right away. You just scan it in and out and top it off when you run low on funds. Also, we took the National Express Bus twice from Southampton to Victoria Coach Station. Easy peasy and very inexpensive. It's not like in the USA. Buses and trains are used by the average person all the time.

In many parts of the world, including Europe, medical care costs much less than in the USA. So, I can see that $100,000 might be adequate. Like others have said, we can't insure against every possible catastrophe. If I were a foreign travelers coming to the USA, I would be much more inclined to have a policy over $100,000.

We enjoy sitting with others at a six top. Any more people than that means that the conversation is segmented. We have met really interesting people at the MDR, but our children don't enjoy the shared table experience. They want their family time which is understandable and the biggest difference between today's cruises and those 40 years ago when children on cruises were uncommon. Only once have I been with people who were not acceptable. It was on a 23 day cruise and I WASN'T going to put up with them for three weeks. The mostly silent older man was eclipsed by his never smiling negative wife, one couple didn't show, and the other two were French Canadians who pretended to not know any English. We explained the situation to the maître de, and he switched our table to a very gregarious, enjoyable one. BTW, one of my favorite people we met on the ship was an eleven year old girl who was the very best traveler you could hope for. We went on many excursions together and she was always polite and well behaved. That's YOU, Tina!

Very helpful. Thank you.

For a good shorter cruise, look at the MSC cruises that go to their private island for two days. They dock overnight. I would recommend a seven day, but be sure to avoid President's Day as there will be lots of kids.

I recall worrying about this and was proactive for private excursions in Israel. The CS told me it would be no problem.

I think I have figured it out, but would love for someone who has been there recently to verify. In 2019, I saw construction at the port of what I thought was to be a train station. It is a tram. So, can I take this tram to Napoli Porta Nolana to get the train to Herculaneum? Here is what Rome2Rio indicated.

Some cruise lines allow their status passengers to disembark later. It doesn't hurt to check if you have status.

Double check when you are on the ship about the schedules. Last time we were in Kusadasi, NCL and the port's times were an hour different. It was mentioned in very small letters on the Daily Planner, but many did not see this.

🙄My eye roll needs to be more dramatic than this. Did the Shih Tzu also come with his stroller?

You aren't truly booking a private tour with those companies. You are booking with a middle- man. With a little research, you can usually find the private operator they contract with.

This discussion prompted me to wonder if some of the inferior private excursions were not properly researched. For example, if I ask on a CC board for a recommendation for a tour guide, and some random poster reports "We had a great guy named Bob who gave us a great tour. Here's his number," I don't consider that a great recommendation. We all suspect that "Bob" probably posted the info himself. I like that I can research tour companies online. You can't do that for companies used for ship shore excursions.

I think pier runners are mostly a Caribbean and Mexican phenomenon. I agree about the close ports in the Med. You could easily take a train if you miss.

Those factory tours and runway shows are something the tour planner needs to know about. JUST SAY NO. BTW, did you know that many "Made in Italy" items sold in Florence are made by Chinese people with Chinese materials in cities like Prato (nearby Florence.) The town is like a village from China. Legally, they can put "Made in Italy" on their items. A by-product of China's Belt and Road initiative. There are lots of articles you can check out on the internet. Buyer beware. Here is one. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/16/the-chinese-workers-who-assemble-designer-bags-in-tuscany

I organized a three day private excursion when we were in Israel. The twelve to fifteen people all agreed to meet at a lounge early to depart the ship in a group, looked out for one another (pointed out the availability of restrooms,) and kept a kind but firm pressure on one another to be considerate. Our guide was often able to let us see an extra site because we were so "well behaved." The person coordinating it needs to be put some rules in place to make things go smoothly. I am a former teacher who knows how to run field trips! 🙂 My students knew my rule "To be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late, to be late is to be left behind."