CCJack

There is a very similar thread about difficulty in getting the Scavi office to reply. I couldn't put my hands on the thread to repost, but I know it was recently posted in the last 3 months or so. When we were there, we noted that the Scavi office and staff seemed to be completely different than the Vatican museum staff (which is very large) . From our experience, the Scavi tour staff seemed to be small in number, very friendly, not great english and maybe too casual with email reply promptness. Keep trying, it is an excellent tour if you can secure a spot, it is very limited in availability due to the close quarters underground.

Our last few cruises have had the booked excursion passengers meet at some point on board (such as the theater), then they release you with your individual excursion group and you disembark with your group and head straight to the bus, etc. Not sure if all cruiselines do this, but all of ours have been like this the last few years.

In Juneau we took the tram up and then hiked further up from the top of the tram. The hiking is free (at least when we were there) - it has spectacular views, you are hiking way above sea level. Although the tram was crowded the trails are not. There are a lot of trails up there you could hike a long while or a short while, whatever you want. Only drawback is that it was quite windy, there are not a lot of trees or windbreaks up there.

Lake Bled is spectacular, I thought it was one of the most beautiful lakes I have seen. We were on a ship's excursion. We did have a lot of traffic and were delayed exiting the lake, there seems to be a single road through the valley which was backed up and we were late to return. That said, given your tour operator's experience and the fact that your next stop is close, I think it is a reasonable risk to take. My only other thought is that this excursion is the type where a ship's excursion and independent excursion may not be that different, essentially they are both transportation. So a ship's excursion may not be a bad option given the tight schedule if one is offered.

I would say they are pretty equal, yes Cunard has 2 long fjords, but HAL has Bergen which would be a shame to miss if you are going to Norway. How about the embarkation city, have you been to both London and Amsterdam? If you have not been to one of those, then a pre cruise stay of a couple nights would be my plan and that would be the deciding factor between the two cruises. They both look like great cruises, have fun.

For sure if you have only one day, you want to stay in Old Quebec. It is very hilly but not that large. You can see quite a bit within a few blocks. As princeton says, Chateau Frontenac would be a great central point to work from. We did a walking tour through Tours Voir Quebec, which starts at the visitor center near the Frontenac. I remember it being a pretty slow moving walking tour and doesn't cover a lot of distance. I am wondering if it makes sense to try a walking tour and just drop off if the group moves too fast, you wouldn't be out much $ and you won't ever be too far from starting point. The tour guide may work with you a little bit allow you to wait on a bench and skip the farthest stop or something like that.

Our tour was in 2018 and Chris (owner) handled the emails with us and he found us a guide who was willing to work on xmas day. Their current website shows the same owner and also has a photo of their tourguides and our tour guide is in the photo, so she is still associated with the company. It was a great tour given most all businesses were closed on xmas day. Ours was a 1/2 day walking tour of Valletta and Mdina (with a short van ride between the two). Our specific tour I don't see listed on their current website but they could change the tour names from time to time. I think the fact they are in business in 2018 and still in business now is a good sign. Not sure why you are not seeing a lot of reviews, maybe they don't go through viator, etc. Malta is very interesting.. enjoy your trip.

sure, let me do some checking on my past emails with them and their current website and make sure it is one in the same, etc.

Agree, go to roll calls and ports of call. One very general tip, if you have not been on a Med cruise..... some of the ports are not nearly as "walkable from ship" as you may find in the Caribbean or Alaska, etc. Some stops in the Med are large cities and the ship may dock in an industrial area. As such, you are going to want a plan for each. Not necessarily an excursion but give some thought to transportation ahead of time. A few may be walkable from ship. Also, you may experience more traffic problems in large cities than what is typical for other cruises. Something to keep in mind in planning excursions. Have fun. We have really enjoyed our Med (and Adriatic) cruises.

this sounds troubling.. I would first check to make sure who the merchant is for the $500 charges to your credit card. If it is indeed Viking, then I would call and ask to speak to a manager at Viking and try to get it sorted out.

Well between Budapest, Venice and Rome, you have a great start on a nice vacation... those 3 are all great cities to visit. I like at least 2 nights in Venice first, in that way you have one full day. Venice can be crazy crowded mid day but mornings and evenings it can really empty out. I would suggest a hotel in Venice proper so you can walk in the morning and evening. 3 nights in Rome post cruise would be good. We have been on all 3 of those cruiselines in Europe and they are more similar than different. I would base my decision on itinerary and price, all 3 of those would work for me. Celebrity maybe a step up in food quality, etc. If you are considering 7-10 day maybe do the 7 day cruise and use those other days as land based stays on the front or back end. Have fun...

re-reading this thread, I am surprised no one has mentioned the book "the day the world came to town".... this is about all of the jumbo jets coming from Europe that had to land in Gander Newfoundland on 9/11 as the U.S. airspace was closed. The small town had to deal with thousands of passengers for many days. So much you don't think about.... Local Pharmacists overwhelmed trying to fill all of the Rx as people's luggage was on lockdown in the planes cargo holds for days due to terrorist concerns.... also local vets trying to rescue the dogs that were in those cargo holds. Plus, feeding and housing all of the visitors. Very interesting true story.

Thank you. I am concerned there may be something else going on such as NCL considering dropping the port altogether. Let's hope not.

EliseL can you give me an update if NCL finally posted Kusadasi excursions for your June cruise. We are on NCL for Sept 1. and there has been no Kusadasi excursions posted ever since we booked 10 months ago. When I call they say that Kusadasi is a port that sometimes it takes longer for them to secure excursions. Not sure if that is true or not. It seems that for your June trip they should have something posted by now. thanks.

For sure they will. Also since Delta was mentioned in this post, note that Delta has 5 classes for transatlantic flights, whereas other airlines still have 3. You will get class #5 from Delta. NCL does have a "new" option to request class. I am not an expert, but I did call them and inquire (about 6 months ago, things could have changed).... I was told that you tell NCL what you want (class, times, etc.) and they will come back in a few days with a quote. It has nothing to do with the BOGO price, essentially you are starting over and they are quoting you current market prices just like a travel agent would do.

A couple thoughts. We took the Celebrity Apex on the Iceland / Ireland cruise. It was great. Apex is fantastic. Many people recommend a land tour over a cruise for Iceland. After cruising there (and having a great time) I do see the rational in that recommendation. In Iceland many of the interesting sites are inland. You spend quite a bit of time traveling by road inland, and the views from the ship are not nearly as spectacular as Norway, for example. One option is to consider Iceland for a future land based vacation. A Scandinavia cruise remains on my bucket list, so I cannot comment. You can't go wrong with either of your options. Have fun.

I can recommend floating-amsterdam as well. That is who we booked with. It was a great canal cruise.

agree canal cruise. I would recommend the smaller boat tours. There are several companies that offer a boat for about 10 or 12 people. Typically they have a bar (actually a cooler) with a server and then the captain does the live commentary. These are not the big long boats you will first see near the city center that have the many seats and headphones you plug into recording. You may need to research and prebook a small boat company at 2x the cost of a big boat but i think a much better experience. I have done both. Have fun.

At least for viking, our included tours were great. Typically a short walking tour of port city, then we could go back on our own to spend time in a particular area that interested us. That is typical but not always the case. Some might be a bus ride to a site outside the port city and thus a longer excursion. Be careful with private excursions and DIY as it is possible they could move the boat during the time you are off and s private tour would not know that. Typically they should be very clear about that before you leave in the morning however.

I believe we just hailed a taxi from a streetside downtown. I don't recall it being difficult to find one.... You could also ask the taxi driver on way to the museum where downtown is a taxi stand.

A good DIY hike in Juneau is take the tram up the mountain, then hike the trails at the top. Beautiful views, inexpensive. However i can also say that juneau (and ISP) are great whale watching ports. Not inexpensive, but our ISP whale watching was fantastic.

Agree, the wilderness tour increases chances of seeing wildlife. Plus, unlike other national parks Denali is not easy to experience on your own with just a couple hours. It is very vast. We did have a nice 1/2 day hike near our lodge but that was just outside of the park.

When we were on the joy last September you could reserve comedy shows, etc. after boarding. You pretty much needed a reservation as well, all shows were at capacity from what i could tell.

There are lots of threads on this topic... you can read the pros and cons for days..... Personally, I disagree that it is the way to go for Europe. I would be much more inclined to let someone (or a computer) chose my flights for a domestic trip than for an overseas trip. For a trans Atlantic trip, I would much rather pick my flights, seats, class and most importantly layover times.. No question, however, you can save some money. Good luck.

If time is not an issue, it is great to explore a new city on your own. However, in this case, time is an issue. I like the idea of a local, highly rated, private guide that spends all day with you. I have rarely regretted hiring a local guide in our travels. They will know all of the small things... best walking route between sites, time of the day when lines are shortest, when to walk vs. taxi or subway, where the restrooms are....etc. End result is a much more efficient day (not necessarily "hurried", but more efficient.) If this is the travelers only time in Rome, it would be money well spent.