mevs904

We’ve used EZ Air twice for European cruises and were very pleased. If we plan another European cruise we will definitely use EZ Air. If we’re sailing from a domestic port we book our own flights.

Definitely. In addition to only having to use a $100 FCD when booking a new cruise you get that money back in OBC once you are on the cruise. It’s a win-win. If you don’t use the FCD the money is returned to you as happened to us during the pandemic. It used to be that you had two years to use it, but I believe that it is now one year. In any case you get your money back. Unless you know that you will never take another cruise there is no reason not to get one when you are onboard.

We will be on the CB in March and would be delighted to find out that there is still a real library there. Although we have sailed on Royal class ships for attractive itineraries our preference is for ships with a full promenade deck as well as libraries.

We also really enjoyed the Jim Henson/Muppets show on The Enchanted this past summer and would be happy seeing it again on a future cruise. It was lighthearted and entertaining.

Interesting thread. Our favorites are: The excellent crew The full promenade deck on the older ships The IC Alfredo’s/Gigi’s Sabatini’s The variety and quality of the entertainment The laid back atmosphere, no silly contests on the pool deck The classic exterior of the ships (They don’t look like floating milk cartons.)

FWIW, we picked up our medallions in Civitavecchia last summer when we boarded for our Mediterranean cruise. The wait was 2 minutes or less. Prior to that we had a similar easy experience picking up our medallions at Port Everglades for a Caribbean cruise. Thus far although we book packages we have seen no reason to have our medallions mailed to us.

Glad to hear that you received your Medallion, Ombud. FWIW, we have never ordered our medallions ahead of time and it’s always been quick and easy to get them at the port. The most recent time that we did this was this past summer when we boarded the Enchanted in Rome. Just mentioning this to ease your mind for your future cruises.

Yes, the Crown and the other older ships have real promenades with plenty of chairs, loungers, and viewing space. The small spaces that they have on the Royal class ships are not a true promenade and are very disappointing.

Ah! Just another reason why we’re happy working with a TA. I just take a photo of the relevant page of my latest statement, redact confidential information and give it to my TA. She submits it and it always works perfectly. It seems that in many businesses consumers are being asked to do the work and deal with apps that aren’t always cooperative. It can be very frustrating.

Thanks for your suggestions, Tom. I thought about your concern about carry-on bags and realized that we don’t seem to have that problem because we usually have lunch after 1:00 when the cabins are open. We do enjoy creating a nice salad at the buffet and sitting by the window or outside to watch the port activity. We find the views and interesting food choices a pleasurable way to begin our cruise. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I know we are in the minority, but it’s great to have different options for different tastes.

That’s another of the reasons that we don’t do a MDR lunch on embarkation day. We’re just not interested in a heavier meal at that time of day. We prefer to get something light like a sandwich or salad at the buffet or IC and then we’re ready for a multi-course dinner later on.

We are not in the majority as we prefer the buffet breakfast. We enjoy the variety of dishes and the variety of selections in the fruit and bakery areas. We are happy to take mini portions of the foods that we are interested in and in the morning we prefer to serve ourselves. Unless we are on an excursion we tend to have breakfast a little later (9:00 ish) and don’t usually encounter a crowd.

teddie2, it seems like you are well-equipped and you have gotten excellent advice for this great adventure. Like most of the previous posters we have done a combination of independent tours, ship’s tours, and DIY experiences. The tours from the independent tour companies have consistently been much better (and less expensive ) than the ship’s tours. Last summer we were on a 14 night Enchanted Mediterranean cruise. In Turkey we used Ephesus Shuttle for our tours of Ephesus and Istanbul and as a previous poster reported, they were excellent. We did not have to create our own small group for these tours. We simply signed up for them and the company placed us with others from our ship. We ended up with a total of 7 people on the first tour (Ephesus) and 6 on the Istanbul tour. In 2019 we used an independent tour company when we were in St. Petersburg, Stockholm, and Helsinki. They were also excellent. They were all very conscientious about genus back to the ship in plenty of time. As others have said, the key is doing the research ahead of time and reading reviews from previous cruisers. Have a wonderful cruise! We loved our European cruises.

Thanks, edinburgher. I appreciate the thought and was thinking that flight fares might be difficult to get at this date and definitely more expensive. After much reflection we’ve decided to change our focus to another time of year. We may look at the spring and in the meanwhile will try to get a sense of of how unsettled world affairs will be in the future.

Exactly. We were booked on a 14 night Mediterranean cruise this past summer. It was overbooked and Princess sent us an email with a Move Over offer which we happily took. We took the same cruise at a later date and our cruise fare was refunded to us. Much to our delight the weather on our rescheduled cruise was much better than on our original one. It was incredible good fortune for us.

For all the reasons that others have already posted Coral is our favorite Princess ship. We love the full promenade deck and forward and aft viewing areas. We felt very fortunate to have sailed on the Coral in Alaska and through the Panama Canal. We were booked on a South America/Antarctica cruise on the Coral but it was cancelled due to Covid.

We were on the June 24 cruise for two weeks. Wonderful cruise, beautiful weather, interesting ports. Probably our favorite Princess cruise due to the rich itinerary. We love Sabatinis and had a great dinner there, but hated the location. The noise from the piazza definitely detracted from the dining experience. I made sure to mention that in my evaluation. Enjoy the Mediterranean!

We were on an Enchanted Mediterranean cruise this past summer, but our 2 week B2B ended in Barcelona so we didn’t purchase any food or drinks that morning. I wonder, however, how does this apply to separate land tours?

Thanks for the link, TouchstoneFeste. I just checked it out. Very helpful!

Yes, in our multiple trips to Europe we have almost exclusively used our credit cards. Even the peanut vendor along the wharf in Copenhagen took credit cards. The cards that we use have no extra fees for international transactions. We do bring some cash that we get at AAA before the trip, but we bring most of it home, We have the security knowing that we have cash if we absolutely need it. For us, credit cards are definitely the way to go.

Yes, thank you, TouchstoneFeste, I was aware of expedited processing, but not super-fast delivery. The passport situation just adds to the considerations in planning a less than ideal trip for my family. We will probably have the opportunity to do this trip only once so I’d like to make it as pleasant as possible.

My continued thanks to the last three posters. I appreciate the information that you have added to my inquiry. There are two additional aspects that I am processing. First of all, the boys’ passports have expired and given the current backlog in obtaining new and renewed passports we will have to move on that immediately. Also, the impending government shutdown should be considered. An extended shutdown might not be the best time to put a large amount of money into a big trip.

This question is not related to a cruise, but I’m interested in getting the opinions of the well-traveled folks on these boards. I am looking to take my family (DS, DDiL, 2 grandsons 12 & 14) to London. Their schedule for next summer is very busy and they are suggesting a trip at Christmas time. I can’t say that I’m enthusiastic about going at that time of year, cold crowds, etc.). Can anyone offer some thoughts about what a trip to London would be like at that time of year?

Have you checked out the buffet for breakfast or lunch? We rarely go to the dining rooms for these two meals because we have found the menus to be limited and rather plain. We love the variety of foods and cuisines available on the buffet. Also, the International Cafe is always open and has nice selections of breakfast and lunch foods.

You’ve gotten some excellent advice here and I’ll just chime in to recommend the Coral. We loved our Panama Canal cruise on her, particularly because of the fore and aft observation decks that many don’t know about. We loved transiting through the historic locks and watching the “mules” in action. We were scheduled to enter the locks at 6:00 am and it was so interesting to stand on one of the forward observation decks and see all of the ships gathered near the entrance to the canal wait their turn. I also agree with the poster who recommended reading the Path Between the Seas. I read it before our cruise and it really helped me to appreciate the experience even more.