megr1125

They do, and you can book it on the ship. BUT your air needs to be on the same day OR you'll need to find a fake flight to give them if you book it ahead.

Looks like someone took a can opener to it. OMG. Hopefully Rimowa did the right thing---depending on the size, that's a $1500-2000-ish dollar bag. I think I sold 2 in 5 years. 😄

Ravenna, and generally the cruise line's transfer service is the easiest and best price as it's around 90 minutes give or take. I used this company however to get FROM BLQ to my hotel in Ravenna. Reasonable price, nice car, on time too. https://transfer-voyage.com/

UA busted a wheel off my hard side and they were going to cover it. Sent it to their approved repair shop and the wheel was backordered until who knows when. (It was currently available TravelPro) The repair person told Travel Pro that since there was no ETA, they needed to replace the bag. (It was the very first trip too!) . They did. I managed a luggage store for 5 years. I have had cheap luggage (it's cheap. It's bad). I've had expensive luggage, reasonably priced luggage and decent enough stuff that will last a few years and I'll just replace it. Having had my soft side bag get wet on a ramp in a bad storm, I'll keep my hard side. I was a firm 2 wheel luggage user but as I got older and achier (is that a word???) I switched to spinners. (I also had broken wheels on my 2-wheeled bags). That Rimowa above looks like it fell off something and got run over. Ugh. And that's not a cheap Rimowa (well no Rimowa is "cheap") What in the actual heck happened? That's probably the worst-destroyed bag I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of them.

They won't issue tickets until 45 or so days out. You have ZERO say and you also could end up at EWR. If you want control you'll have to pay them for premium air so you can get some control https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/premium-air. Otherwise, it's take what you get and like it. 😄

This is direct from the FAQs about FlightEase Airline Schedule Changes Airline bookings are subject to flight schedule changes by the airlines. Schedule changes can occur at any time and may affect your flights. Holland America Line is not responsible for airline schedule changes. Holland America Line will assist guests affected by airline schedule changes so that flights booked will meet ship embarkation and disembarkation requirements. Any associated costs related to or caused by an airline schedule change is the responsibility of the guest.

It's $10 USD

I stayed one night at Hotel Rialto, right next to the bridge and in the thick of things. It was a nice enough place but do NOT book the smallest room type if you're a solo traveler. The first room I was in, when using the 'facilities' my knees hit the wall. I have zero idea how a man could do this without making a mess. My room also had a bit of a musty smell so they changed my room to a larger one with a double bed and larger bathroom. Still small but I could use everything inside. That said, I left after one night (was supposed to be there for 3) as the room would not cool off enough and because of all the people seeing the bridge, the area was too crowded for me. I switched to the JW Marriott which is on its own island, adding 20 minutes of time to get to San Marco (via complimentary private water shuttle) I will say that whatever hotel you choose, look at google earth to see how to get there and how many bridges there are. I chose Hotel Rialto as the water taxi dropped me of 25 steps (paces, not step steps) from the door. The JW has a water taxi dock too, and arriving via water taxi is fab.

It would be nice if they'd be consistent. LOL. That'll never happen. I swear it's probably up to the whim of the driver.

Via this company https://www.motoscafivenezia.com/it/contatti.php You should entertain having a phone though, as that's how you'll find out what your water taxi number is. I called them when I got off the bus. Your idea about a rent-a-teen is a good one though. 😄 I often tell people who are not tech savvy to go find a kid!

BA cancelled my LHR-EWR leg (VCE-LHR-EWR) last month, probably since my flight was not particularly full per Expert Flyer (not 100% sure if that is the reason it cancelled but it cancelled the night before my flight) I was booked, via cruise air, in Club World and they kept me in Club World, albeit in a not yet updated aircraft with front and rear facing seats. Aside from zero privacy, not much room and really no little spots to stash stuff except a stupid, hard to access drawer, I didn't have any issues with the change or being rebooked. (It all happened automatically).

One deceased, one in hospital

A friend of mine has friends onboard now. Seems they can stay in cabins and food is available but the bars and pools are closed. Carnival Celebration started showing movies on the Lido deck and it seems that there are divers in the water in Government Cut (via the VHF feed on the PTZ Miami webcam.) Miami Dade police just told the Fischer Island Ferry boats to shut down.

I've used them for airport pickup, port drop off and a few weeks ago, round trip port to Grande Bretagne and back (our cruise called in Athens for a day so I booked them to take me to the GB as it is a great location and I was able to walk around Athens a bit, shop, eat and have a drink at the rooftop bar, then I got picked up by the same driver and went back to the ship. https://athenstransferservices.com/

Bingo. It can pay to keep checking too and with HAL/Princess/Cunard's air it's 1000 times easier as you can change it right on line. With Royal and X, you can change it but you have to call. Pretty sure that by the (literal) 10th time I called, they were done with me but either my fare went down, biz went down to within my budget, or I changed a date.

I would not cut it that close at all. They fill (or darn near fill) the buses. I took Royal's to Venice City Center. They were around 15-20 minutes behind calling numbers ( I was on the later bus, 9:45 I think) and it was close to 10 or so, maybe a little later, when we left. The process was easy and efficient if not exactly timely.

Doable? Yes. But remember, ANY sort of crap can happen. On trespasser, one downed branch on the catenary and you're screwed. I live in Central NJ and drive or take the train up the day before. Can you make it? Yes. Might you get stuck. Also yes. And you never know when the damn portal bridge will get stuck or when a train will break down and shut the entire NEC down for a few hours, at least between PHL and New York/Newark. Not trying to argue, just letting you know to be aware that crazy can-and does-happen. 😄

They do, in the fine print. It says something like (paraphrasing) we make a comfort stop halfway but that may be skipped based on timing. Honestly , I don't know what the determining time factor was, and I didn't need to hit the restroom at Tronchetto when we got there, but at least half the bus did. I'd say we were about 50ish people with only 2-4 empty seats.

No, charter... And I know closed train lines aren't always going to happen. My point was, when you've got to travel 2-3 hours from the "Port City" (Venice) to the ACTUAL PORT, as in Ravenna or Trieste, one must be prepared to roll with it, be flexible and change things on the fly. As it was, I changed my flight twice in the days before flying to Italy from Amsterdam based on a number of circumstances. Luckily, AMS-BLQ and a private ride to my hotel worked out very well for me.

TBH I'd not use NCL's air and just buy your own tickets. Sure it may be cheaper but NCL will probably NOT tell you the flight info until 30-45 days out and they are 100% inflexible. Some have reported that with other cruise lines and various carriers they were able to upgrade. I've never tried as I book what I want in the first place. Cheap isn't always good. Caveat Emptor.

NCL's air is terrible. I'd never use it and would never suggest that anyone else does either. You get what you get and it cannot be changed. I agree with the others, buy your own ticket back. Waiting to try and change at the airport is a terrible idea.

I was there a couple weeks ago, there were no porters but my water taxi driver found me a luggage cart. It's a 10ish minute walk from the dock to the terminal. I made this video of the walk. I cut a lot out for length but this is the route/walk in real time from the dock to the terminal. Carts are not allowed on the moving sidewalk, and actually you can't get them around the metal barriers but if you just have luggage, you're fine.

Bus ride from Porto Corsini in Ravenna to Tronchetto (opposite Pizzale Roma) was about 2.5 hours. We did not (I was sailing with Royal) make a comfort stop and there were no restrooms on the bus. The actual debarkation and getting to the bus at the port was fairly organized. I was originally staying at the Hotel Rialto, spent one night and moved to the JW Marriott. Tiny European hotel rooms and I are not friends, especially when your knees hit the wall when using the toilet but I digress. I prebooked a water taxi to the hotel with this company https://www.motoscafivenezia.com/en/. I think it was around 100€ and it was very easy. The boat drivers are very helpful with luggage and in helping you get on and off the boat. That said, some hotels (like the JW's water taxi dock) don't float so at low tide, you'll have big steps onto the boat. The return to the airport was about 150€. Those prices are per boat and it'll hold several people plus luggage. It's not cheap but honestly, YOLO, I'll probably never go to Venice again and it IS a really cool way to see things. I did use the Vaporetto to get around and while people do use it with luggage, it can get crowded and you likely still won't be able to avoid some luggage hauling and steps up and down bridges. I did see both the Gritti Palace and St. Regis and the water taxis stop directly at the door. One of the issues on our cruise, and the ones a couple weeks before, were closed rail lines due to the flooding, and then the day our cruise ended, June 4, people had cancelled flights due to the strikes. Check for strikes during your sailing. There may be some every week. Just google Italian Airport strike, or Europe Airport strikes so you're prepared.

Porto Corsini where the ships dock is about 20 minutes from Ravenna just so you're aware and there are NOT a lot of taxis.

The price YOU have will not change BUT the airfare prices might. Does that make sense? For instance if you're paying $2400 round trip, that's the price but it's possible that your same flights, or similar, or ones that you'd consider, will drop in price so outside final payment, you can change what you have. I've done it several times. This last time, I was happy with the price, it never did go down, I paid the cruise off a little early and got early ticketing. And BA cancelled my flight but rebooked me. LOL. The day before. Right at the time I would have been able to check in. It all worked out.