kctwinmommy

I did look a bit on the boards, but didn't see anything. We currently have a 2025 cruise booked on Adventure with a large group. We haven't sailed RC since 2017, and that was our only time. We did enjoy it though. Anyway, I noticed when looking at the deck plans, it shows deck plans from now until April 16, 2024, then I can click on plans from April 20, 2024 through April 2025. I haven't been able to notice what the difference is, but I also didn't sit and analyze every little detail. Plus, it's hard to look at the deck plans when you have to scroll down to see them all. I was just curious if there was something they were going to be doing next April, and if anyone knew what it was! ETA - Wanted to just add a screenshot.

Glad I'm seeing this. We also have the same thing. It's a group cruise and we picked the 2D GTY. We always get a balcony. Our agent did say it wouldn't be obstructed.

I have this one bookmarked based on recommendations from others. We haven't booked yet, not until next year. But people said they were really good. https://www.limousinrome.com/index.php/tours/

Yep! That's actually how I came across your posts, was searching for the extension hotel info. It said opening in 2024, so I guess there's always a chance, but doubtful. We'll go where they send us, not a big deal. LOL!

We're booked on the 4 day pre-cruise excursion, and it shows the NJV Athens Plaza online, but our paperwork says the Hilton. Of course, we're not going for about 10 months, so I know things can always change.

Yep! Same here! He's been on several cruises with us as well, never had WiFi. In fact, he didn't even have a phone when he first started cruising. He did have the Carnival Hub app so we could chat with him as needed. But he never needed it for making friendships. They would just often meet up there, then hang out and such.

Thanks! That's what I thought it was. I already bookmarked it. 😃 We just have to figure out our plans for the time we're there. We dock at 8:00 a.m. on a Friday, but spend the night there and disembark on Saturday. So we may end up spending just Saturday night and flying back on Sunday then.

Where did you book this through?

OK, that makes more sense! LOL! Looks amazing! I have a feeling we're going to go to Pompeii. I know it's where I've always wanted to go.

I had to look up where that is, and I see it's on Cyprus. We're not going there.

I know, but it will be at the end of 26 days of traveling, so we're going to be a little bit spent by then I'm sure. We have the overnight we're docked there, so we may stay one night at a hotel before flying home. We'll have to see...

Thanks for directing me to this one as well @OneSixtyToOne! Again, great help for our cruise next year as these are also many of the ports we'll be at as well. I bookmarked the Barcelona tour page too, since that's something we'll want to look into for sure. We have the overnight there, but still deciding if we stay one more night and then fly out. And yeah, I have a feeling we'll end up doing Pompeii. It's always been a bucket list item for me honestly. I still remember as a kid, when the National Geographic came out with the artifacts on the cover!

Some great bits of info in here, wonderful post!! We'll be in some of these ports next year, so good pictures and info to go along. We're still stuck on deciding between Pompeii and Herculaneum! I've always wanted to see Pompeii, but I hear that Herculaneum is actually better in many ways. I was thinking of looking for a private company that might be able to take us to both. We'll see though...

Good to know! As I look at flights, I'm checking where the connections are. Having never flown through any of these cities as connecting flights (nor into any of them in about 30 years), not sure which is our best option. I'm actually trying to do a connection through NYC if I can.

Glad the search feature gave me a post that actually helped! We just booked this today, as a pre-extension, and it sounds like we made a good choice! Not 100% sure on which hotel we'll be in, as someone mentioned, the website says NJV, but our itinerary paperwork says Hilton. And like the poster said, the Hilton is closed until 2024. Of course, it's possible it opens in early 2024, and then we are there. We'll see! We opted for this extension since this is our first Viking cruise, and we already planned on coming in at least a day or two early anyway. Having the Viking rep and help if needed will be a great way to get our feet grounded, if you know what I mean, before we jump on the ship. And like someone else commented, can be a great way to meet other passengers for our cruise.

I don't know, a few months ago...

We've already paid about 20% of it, we have to pay the rest of it by the end of the month.

Thanks! We have a Viking cruise for next year, so looking at insurance for the first time.

We have our final payment due on our Viking cruise at the end of this month. And if you know Viking, it's not cheap. I know we want to buy travel insurance for it as well. But do we need to do it now? Our trip is still about 10 months away. I'd love to wait until this is paid off, then pay for that in like July if possible (college tuition is due in September, so need to space things out). But I want to make sure we're not making a mistake by waiting later. We've never bought trip insurance before, but obviously, this is a big trip. Plus, we're still shopping around for policies, looking for ones that cover what we want and to get a good deal. Trying to find out more about the Costco one too, since we didn't book our trip through them. Thanks!

How did you book it if you don't have your trip booked through Costco? Is it only over the phone? I'd love to know their quote for our trip.

For me, yes. And I always made sure to get my money's worth. So that meant that when I was sitting poolside, if my drink got watered down, or warm, I went and got a fresh one. I would always have one waiting at the table for dinner (or shortly after I got there) every night. I know it's not good, but I tend to drink 2-3 sodas in a day anyway, so it is pretty much worth it for me. Now, the last cruise we took, we did a 5 day, where we'd be off the ship for 2 of those days. This was the first time I didn't get the soda package, we brought a 12 pack on the ship instead. It's just that for us, it's a pain to always get a 12 pack when we get to the hotel the night before.

I'll have to keep an eye on this thread, some good posts to come back and read. Thanks to all the people replying with good information!

You were able to do that far in advance? Our cruise is a year away, so we certainly have time. But in the fall I'd like to be able to start price comparing to have some idea of what we're going to spend.

I agree with others here, I miss the roll calls here. I felt it was easier to follow and very specific. I did have one on the main social media site last year for our spring break cruise. We met a few people from it on an excursion actually, just by chance though. I'm also not a fan of sharing too much on there, as it's a more personal site. So while nobody really "knows" me here, I feel people are more civil here. We had a great one for our European cruise in 2017 and it's how we booked an independent tour for Omaha Beach which was amazing!

Nice to hear it went fairly well for you. I'm trying not to get too worried or stressed about booking ours next year. We have like 18 days worth of excursions to book, so I'll need to read up beforehand and plan which ones we really want to do and just make sure I try for the top of the list things first. I'm sure you're getting excited now!