NCteacherlovescruising

Wow! I've never heard of them doing this before. I can't imagine them getting away with it!

Our cruise will end in Rome in late June 2024. I’ve noticed we can do much better with a VRBO verses a hotel. Is there any reason not to? What area?

I wish we could spend a week in both, or at least in Italy. Italy has always been my dream vacation, so I’d like to spend as much time there as possible. I may only do 1-2 in Barcelona so we can have more time in Italy. Our cruise is 9 days and it would be difficult for my husband to be away from work more than a couple weeks at one time. It’s also a long time to leave our dogs.

How far is the port?

We will be cruising from Barcelona to Rome in mid June, 2024. I know we want to see Sagrada Familia. What else is a must see? How many days would you suggest pre cruise? We will also spend time in Rome post cruise. I’m thinking 2-3 days each. Is this enough. I have plenty of time to plan and will also check trip advisor. Do we need excursions or just do everything on our own? Where should we stay? Any suggestions for restaurants?

Perfect. Thanks! As long as it doesn’t interfere with our aft view it’s ok. Thanks! I’m just off the Reflection so I’m aware it hasn’t been revolutionized. Pics are still helpful. Is that equipment off to the port side? This looks very nice! Thank you! It will be the nicest cabin we’ve ever had. 😁

I got $1050 OBC booking onboard a few days ago and my TA added another $300.

I was on this cruise as well. I recall him saying we left 7 passengers behind, but missed the part about the private excursion. How would he know they are ok if we left them behind?

Does anyone have a current picture of this cabin? We booked 1663 for a cruise in 2024. It looks like we will have an aft and port view. Is this correct?

Got ya. Thanks!

Perfect! We’re getting them all! Thanks for your advice! You advise to stay off the ship in Florence. Is it far from the ship? Thanks for the info about things being closed. We will arrive there on a Saturday.

I’ve heard. I’m happy we were able to change it. We are planning 2-3 days on each end on land. I don’t recall which 3. It seems Barcelona and Rome were on there, but I don’t recall the third. I’m super excited to see both and stay for a few. Perfect! I agree. They have all been before, but this is our first time and we will be celebrating our 30th anniversary.

Today is our last on the Reflection. I did end up moving to Celebrity. I booked the Equinox for June 13, Barcelona to Rome. I love this itinerary, not only for those two ports, but also because it has an overnight in Florence. An added bonus is since it’s an older ship, a sunset sky suite fit our budget perfectly. Our friends, on the other hand, decided to stay with NCL, which is why I was able to book in June.

Good! It’s so much more reasonable than Celebrity and we all liked it. They will only allow 2 days before and after. We have until final payment to cancel their air and book our own, which we will consider if we can find them cheap enough.

I’m a teacher. I have to go in July.

113 F??? I thought NC summers were bad.

We bought the insurance. Too big of an investment not to! I also told him when I booked the cruise, which we have to change, that we wanted the 2 days on each end. I don't get why they limit it to 2 days. I've only flown first class once. It was during the peak of covid and I felt safer that way. I haven't looked much into ticket prices so I'm not sure.

It's Trieste.

I'm going to see if I can do Barcelona to Rome July 14-18, then July 22-31 Venice to Athens and use their air from Charlotte to Barcelona then return Athens to Charlotte. Not sure if they would allow this or not, but their air is cheap with their current promotion. What would be typical cost to fly from the states to Europe? It seems like they are only charging us $1500 for both of us.

It's SO cheap though!! Only $1500 for both of us flying from Charlotte, NC.

This was in response to someone that didn't like the same itineraries. My comment had nothing to do with current pricing.

The 11 night Italy, Greece & Turkey is at the top of my list. I'm trying to get my friends to take a look at it. Not only do I love the itinerary, but an overnight in Turkey is a huge bonus! I wish they did this in more ports. So do I! As I mentioned above, it's at the top of my list.

I agree that 2 days isn't enough time. If we reschedule with them, I do think I we will book air on our own so we can come and go as we please.

We'll be on the Reflection, so S-class. What do you mean about it being restrictive?

We are planning to fly in at least 2-3 days early and stay at least 2-3 after so we can see some other places, especially in Italy! The cruise we currently have booked starts in Athens and ends in Venice. Not sure if we're keeping that one or switching to Celebrity. Greece and Barcelona both sound fabulous! We are thinking about doing a land vacation in Iceland next year. I'll keep this in mind, thanks! Hopefully my husband will want to return to see other places. So far all our cruises have been in the Caribbean. While we'd rather start seeing some other places, it's quite a bit more expensive when these long flights are involved. Our current itinerary does not include Rome. The only stop in Italy in Venice, which is where it ends. We have the NCL air promo, which only allows us to come 2 days early and fly out 2 days after. That's one of the reasons I'm not sold on them. I'd rather see more of Italy and fly in earlier than 2 days so we can see as much as possible. Overall, I think it's a pretty good itinerary. Athens (Piraeus)Greece SantoriniGreece MykonosGreece ZakynthosGreece CorfuGreece KotorMontenegro DubrovnikCroatia SplitCroatia VeniceItaly Venice (Trieste)Italy The cruise we currently have booked is only going to Venice. It's primarily focused on Greece. We are talking about doing a land vacation in Iceland next year. It looks like if we keep our current cruise (would have to switch dates though), we'd be better off buying our own tickets so we could fly in early to explore Italy pre-cruise (or post cruise, whichever way it works out).