sjmbruce

That makes sense. I guess I'm going to have to decide if I'm okay with a scenic cruising day or if I'm going to need to do some serious saving. Thank you for the information.

Are there any affordable cruise lines that have excursions that allow passengers to step foot on Antartica? So far I see larger cruise companies that are affordable but only have scenic cruising, or small lines that have excursions but are expensive. I'm mentioning my own version of affordable: $5000 for two people, not including flights. Anything over that starts to hit the wallet a little too hard.

This is our 2nd cruise with NCL. Our first one with them was in Hawaii so I feel like our upcoming European trip is a whole new animal and I have lots of questions. First up: flights. Our cruise is in September and we purchased the flights through NCL. We'd like to spend additional time at the embarkation and disembarkation ports. What's the best way to tell NCL about our dates? When should we tell them?

I would love to do that but neither one seems to be working 🙁

And also, same question for The Cathedral of Barcelona. I'm clearly confused.

It looks like it's free before 1:00, but do I need tickets to enter before that?

Thank you for the information. I don't mind if it's a hike, a boat ride, or an e-bike tour. I'm just struggling to find a company that caters to cruise passengers. One boat company leaves an hour after we dock, but we'd be responsible to get to their pickup point 30 minutes away. It feels like if we're not the first people off the ship it would be cutting it too close.

By boat, by land, doesn't matter. Please recommend a tour company.

Thanks for all of the advice! I'm planning on using a credit card for everything I possibly can, but figured there might be some instances where I can't (cheap food, gelato, unplanned gondola ride, smaller souvenir shops).

My husband and I will be on the Enchantment this fall. Our Royal shuttle isn't leaving Venice until 12:30 for a 2.5 hour drive to the embarkation port in Ravenna. Best case scenario we aren't on board until 3:30. I'm assuming that the buffet will be closed by then, what are our options for food at that point?

My husband and I are going on our first European cruise and are sailing for a week with Royal. We're staying in Venice for two days precruise, we'll want to buy food and souvenirs plus tip tour guides during the cruise, then we'll spend two days post cruise in Barcelona. I have no idea how many euros will be needed.

Does Ravenna have anywhere to store luggage? Our cruise initially had an overnight in Ravenna after embarkation so we made plans there. Now it is only embarkation in Ravenna with sail away at 7pm. I've been told that we cannot check in, board the ship, and then leave. Basically there's no in and out privileges on embarkation day. I am hoping that Ravenna has somewhere to store luggage so we can still spend a few hours there. Unfortunately, this change was made after we bought flight tickets and booked a few pre-cruise nights in Venice. We can't (and honestly really don't want to) go through any hassle to try and change already existing reservations.

We'd like to go into the churches and such in Ravenna. Do tickets need to be bought in advance or can we just show up at the entrance?

We'll arrive at the Venice airport and will need to get to our hotel (Rosa Salva). How easy is it to find and take the public water bus from the airport to hotels near St Mark's square? A few days later we'll need to get to Ravenna. My husband wants to take the train, so we'll need to get from the hotel to the train station, switch trains, then go from the Ravenna train station to the ship. Where do I start booking all of this?

We'll arrive at the Venice airport and will need to get to our hotel (Rosa Salva). How easy is it to find and take the public water bus from the airport to hotels near St Mark's square? A few days later we'll need to get to Ravenna. My husband wants to take the train, so we'll need to get from the hotel to the train station, switch trains, then go from the Ravenna train station to the ship. Where do I start booking all of this?

Is the $36 paper laundry bag offered during the beginning of the cruise? We're spending some time in the embarkation port before our cruise and then time at the disembark port post cruise. We pack light. I can see us wanting at least clean undies, socks and pjs. If we can turn them in the first or second day of the cruise, that'd be great.

Is it a Royal thread?

Thanks!

I see 2023 dates for Bermuda, any idea when 2024 will be released?

I was finally able to book a reservation and now I've been charged twice. Ugh.

I'm in the same situation. We were also booked on the Brilliance in October 2023 but were moved to the Enchantment. Are you going to Italy or are you on a different itinerary in the area?

We were able to request a specific bed at the Shore Excursions desk. The bed was definitely worth the money for us.

My husband and I would like to do an all day tour of Pisa and Florence from Livorno. Any suggestions?

I'm definitely debating about the air. Especially since I like to have some control over my bookings. The extra cost for the free at sea seems to work for my DH and I. For approximately $560.00 in gratuity fees, we'll have an open bar and a few specialty meals. I'm thinking we'll most likely eat and drink our money's worth - at least enough to break even. It looks like the website is allowing us to forgo those choices too and not spend the $560 if we don't want to.

Alright I think I have my last question: During booking, when I choose airfare, ground transportation is automatically added at a price of over $300. If we plan to arrive a few days before the cruise and leave a couple days after disembarking, we wouldn't be using their shuttle. Can that be refunded (even OBC would be fine) or is that a cost we'd just eat? Or given the distance from port to city (like Le Havre to Paris) maybe it would make sense to take their transportation to the airport and just leave from there in a cab.