Joanne G.

On my September Pride cruise from Dover to Rome, the afternoon before sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar, the cruise director made a ship-wide announcement that the expected time would be midnight. I slept through it. 😟

Unless you are trying to pack light, like with carry-on only, I would be prepared with sneakers and sandals, long pants and shorts or cropped pants. It certainly affects my enjoyment of the cruise if I am consistently either chilly or too warm on board. And unlike as on a land vacation, you can't count on being able to buy appropriate clothing if you didn't pack it. Years ago, the Galaxy was quite warm when the A/C apparently couldn't keep up with the mid-summer Mediterranean heat. On the other hand, the Summit was chilly while out in the open Atlantic on a spring repositioning cruise from San Juan to New York. I had never been cold on a Caribbean cruise, but on that cruise I, and many others, bought a sweatshirt on board. Now I pack for some temperature variations!

I was on both the July 9 and July 21 (ultimately July 24) cruises. The one-day refund of my cruise fare for July 9 and the 3-day refund for July 21 were refunded to my original form of payment. The refund amounts checked out as the appropriate calculation of the cruise fare, not including taxes and port charges. Those were refunded as credits to my onboard accounts for each cruise. Pentlands, I am sorry you had to fight for your refunds, and I am sorry you ended up with covid. It was a difficult and stressful time, nothing like what we anticipated for our cruises. I hope your next vacation goes smoothly. I was back on the Pride in September, and it did go smoothly. 😀

On a one-way cruise for which I am booking a balcony, I consider how much sun or shade is likely on each side and make my choice accordingly. It doesn't matter on a round-trip itinerary when you'll get all sun positions over the course of the cruise, nor does it matter to me without a balcony, as there is no way to predict what I will see out the window when docked.

For the most part, I consider the auto-gratuities to be sufficient. I don't typically make any special requests that would lead me to giving additional tips. However, I took my first solo cruises this past summer (not on Celebrity, but I will be solo on Celebrity next year), and I felt that the cabin stewards had almost as much work in my cabins as they would for cabins occupied by a couple - a bed to make, a bathroom to clean, a floor to vacuum, dirty towels to swap for clean, a waste basket to empty - but would be receiving half the usual gratuities. Thus, I gave them a significant amount of extra cash, in envelopes with their names on it. I hope they got to keep it all, but I long ago accepted that I would never know for a fact how the cruise lines compensate their staff and allocate gratuities.

I got one every evening (without asking) on 3 cruises on the Pride this past summer. I liked having it. They were distributed to all mailboxes.

Thanks. That's good to know. So the lesson is don't get on a waiting list unless you are ready to commit - which makes sense. And it's convenient that you didn't have to cancel the 2nd choice and wait for a refund. By the way, it's great that Princess has waiting lists for excursions. I wish all the major lines did.

Do you mean you went directly from the wait list to a confirmed spot that was charged to your account, without you specifically authorizing that charge? I ask because that wasn't how it worked for me, as I had to log in and specifically choose to commit. If people are now automatically moved from the wait list to being booked and charged, that makes my suggestion to the OP to book a second choice to be canceled if his first choice opens up a bad idea. My situation was before sailing, so maybe that's the difference. Or maybe you pre-authorized being charged if a spot opened up?

Others have suggested to keep checking your desired excursion before sailing, in case for some reason you don't get notification when a vacancy appears. Good luck!

In my experience, I was on a waitlist for a sold out excursion for about a month when I received an email that a spot had opened up. I had a couple days to commit to it or lose it. But no one can predict if or when any spots will open up on the particular excursion you want. It depends on if and when and how many people cancel, as well as how many people are ahead of you on the wait list. Or perhaps if there are enough people on the wait list, Princess will add another bus. Personally, I would book my second choice now and cancel it if my first choice becomes available.

Using the example @Ourusualbeach used above: If you choose the $3900 rate with the refundable deposit, you pay the $900 now and the balance of $3000 in April. If you cancel before the April final payment date, your $900 deposit will be refunded. If you choose the $3000 rate with the non-refundable deposit, you pay the $900 deposit today and the balance of $2100 in April. If you cancel before the April final payment, your deposit will not be refunded, though you may be able to transfer it to a different sailing for a fee. Basically, the higher fare for the refundable deposit buys you some flexibility up to the point of final payment. On the other hand, you will pay less overall if you are willing to take the risk of losing your deposit. It's a personal decision which is the better choice. Edited to add: What I stated above was the deal when I booked a Royal Caribbean cruise for next year. The deposit amount was the same with the refundable and non-refundable deposit amounts, but the total cruise fare was more with the refundable deposit, which would have meant a bigger amount due at final payment. Based on what @SRF stated below, the OP's situation may be one of the actual deposit being more in a refundable situation. Does that mean the total cruise fare is the same with either option? No wonder the OP s confused. Now I am, too!

Specialty coffees are also available at a counter in the Lido buffet, though the hours may be more limited than the Piazza Cafe noted by Jamman54.

OMG That's outrageous!

Have a fabulous time! I was on the Pride B2B for 21 days in July for a Baltic cruise followed by the British Isles (shortened due to a mechanical issue 😥). I also was onboard last month for the repositioning cruise from Dover to Rome. I did Carnival excursions in every port. I will repeat the advice to pace yourself! I found that I had to pass on evening activities if I had a morning excursion the next day. On my cruises, ship time changed to match port times, which was great when we gained an hour but a drag when we had to set clocks ahead. Greece is in a different time zone from Rome, so you'll probably have the time changes, too. Here's my take on currency and tipping in Europe, but I was not in Greece or Turkey, so I can't speak for those countries. Many people on my Carnival excursions tipped the guides. Of course, it is not required. But if you choose to tip, it's convenient to have smaller bills. Before my cruises, I got euros and British pounds from my local bank - not a huge amount, just enough for tipping and incidental purchases. I was able to request smaller bills, 5's and 10's. My own bank gave me a decent exchange rate and didn't charge fees. I found doing so was much more convenient than looking for an ATM during my trip. There is not always the opportunity to do so on a Carnival excursion, and when you do find one, I expect you will get only larger bills. I chose to tip because I figured anyone in the travel industry experienced losses during covid. The guides were all very good, and I was particularly impressed with those who were not speaking their native language. I wanted to reward the drivers also, who were safely maneuvering big buses on often narrow European roads. I could use a credit card for purchases everywhere, though I don't know if your ports are as cashless as the ones I visited. On a land vacation in Paris last spring, I was even able to use a card to pay the fee at a public toilet LOL. Those pay toilets are a pain. Try to have €.50, €1, €2 coins on hand. People have strong opinions on when and how to get currency and if and when to tip, and there is no right way to travel. Do what you are comfortable with, and have fun!

I don't want to find out. I have a travel purse with all kinds of theft-resistant features, and my passport is always with me. Of course, it's not a guarantee that it won't get stolen, but neither is putting it in a hotel safe.

Thank you for the complement. Yes, I used my iPhone 12 for all the pictures. I quit carrying a separate camera after I used it on a trip to Ireland last year and missed the automatic location tags. I am still trying to remember where I was for some of those Ireland pictures LOL. Plus, when using my camera, I took the separate step to transfer a copy to my iPad every evening to make sure I didn't lose them in some tech glitch. So much easier when they automatically get backed up into the Apple cloud.

I would agree about Lisbon. I liked what I saw in all the ports, but Lisbon especially looked like where I would enjoy a land vacation.

You’re welcome. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Oops - forgot the Trevi Fountain pictures. Plus, parking Rome style. 🤣

Summary and post-cruise: I enjoyed all the excursions. I fully understand others’ preference for exploring on their own. Ship-sponsored excursions aren’t perfect. You are usually with a big busload of people. They often start too early in the morning. They are often too long or too short. The ones I did sometimes felt too short, returning to the ship hours before sailing, when I would have enjoyed more time exploring. Often there was no time to enjoy a local meal, if that is your desire. But as I had never been to any of these ports, I felt more comfortable with Carnival’s excursions. Simply personal preference. All the guides were knowledgeable and proudly shared their love of their respective cities. In all the ports, I could easily imagine other enjoyable activities, both independent and other options from Carnival. There is a lot of history in these ports, and I saw some nice-looking beaches, too. Some ports are particularly well suited to independent exploration based on where the ship docks. If you are considering this itinerary next year, be prepared for 6 ports in a row and 3 time changes back and forth. I conserved energy by not doing much in the evenings. And be prepared for hills and heat. But it’s a great itinerary. At the end of the cruise, I took the Carnival bus from the port to central Rome, which departed at 8:00. No tour, just transportation. We were dropped off at one of the train stations and took taxis on our own to wherever we needed to be. I had 2 nights in Rome before flying home. I stayed at Hotel Lancelot, a Rick Steves recommended accommodation near the colosseum. Again, I had a tiny room, but it was reasonably priced, the air conditioning worked well, it was a convenient location, continental breakfast was included, and I had no complaints. Dinner was available at the hotel but not at a restaurant. It was kind of like cruise dining in that it was communal. There was one seating at 7:30, and you ate what was being served – no choices. The evening’s menu was posted at the front desk, so if it didn’t appeal you, you could pass on it. The hotel was somewhat quaint in that the room key was an actual metal key, attached to a tag with the hotel name and your room number. You left it at the front desk when you left for the day and retrieved it when you returned. I wasn’t a fan of that. I am mentioning it because a lot of people turn to Rick Steves for hotel recommendations, and others may be bothered by it also. Rome was very hot and very crowded. The line to buy tickets to enter the colosseum looked to be the equivalent of several blocks long, in the beating sun. Thankfully, that was not on my agenda. While waiting for the room to be ready, I took a walk to the Trevi Fountain. There are now gates blocking people from getting close to the fountain’s pool. The pavement in front of the pool is full of the coins that people toss from behind the gates. Not many people can toss a coin far enough to land in the pool. Behind the gates, it was a mob of people maybe 5 or 6 deep, jockeying for position for their selfies. Not really a pleasant experience. The next day I visited the Borghese Gallery, with its opulent decor and jaw-dropping art collection, including some magnificent Bernini sculptures. They limit the number of admissions each day, and advance purchase is necessary. This keeps it from being overly crowded. Tickets sell out quickly. In June when I made my reservation, general admission was sold out, but I was able to buy a ticket for a guided tour. It was very informative, as the expert guide pointed out details of major works that I would have missed on my own. An aside – only tiny purses or bags are allowed. I had to check my average-sized purse. As any woman would understand, that was stressful. I put my wallet in a buttoned pocket on my pants leg and carried my phone but ended up leaving my passport in my purse as it seemed safer there than in my back pocket. No water bottles allowed inside. I highly recommend the museum for art lovers but plan accordingly if you go. As this is very long already, I don’t have much to add about the ship that Analog187 and jimbo5544 (in July) haven’t covered well. I like the smaller size of the Pride. It never felt crowded. I could always find a place to eat in the Lido, and there were rarely more than a few people in the buffet line. I liked that the salad bar in the Lido was separate from the main buffet line. There were plenty of deck chairs even on sea days. I loved the little-used outdoor space on Deck 3 for walking, and the wide area on Deck 10 for walking if Deck 3 was unavailable. As always on my Carnival cruises, I got a kick out of the low-tech way Carnival can promote its trademark fun, such as a beanbag toss or a ring toss game – people lined up for those! Who needs a rock-climbing wall or go-cart track LOL. I will end with this photo of what my cabin steward left me on the last night. I may have booked as a solo, but Freddy was my roommate.

Sixth port Cartegena: The last port was Cartegena, and I booked the excursion to an active archeological site of Roman ruins. This tour was exclusively walking for 4 hours. No bus ride. We met on the dock and took off on foot. This bothered some people who did not feel up to it, and they dropped out. After a walk through the city to the archeological site and a visit to the associated museum (which had bathrooms), our guide turned us over to a guide from the museum. We walked through the excavation site and learned about the work being done. I find these ancient sites to be evocative, thinking of people living and working there centuries ago. At first look and in photos the site may look like just a pile of rocks, but having the details pointed out by a knowledgeable guide greatly added to the experience. After this part of the visit, we returned to the ship by way of another active excavation site, a Roman theater that had been discovered recently, in the 1980’s. It was up a hill – more climbing! We viewed it from the outside. It’s a separate admission to enter. There would have been time after our walking excursion to return to visit it, but the heat was getting to me, and I passed on doing that. After the theater, we had about 30 minutes on our own to shop. Some people left the tour at this point and returned to the ship later on their own. Lastly, a much appreciated sea day to relax!

Fifth Port Malaga: After sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar (at midnight - I missed it), we arrived in Malaga. I booked the “Best of Malaga” excursion. We had a short bus ride and our guide took us on a walking tour as we made our way to the first stop, a small museum in the house where Picasso was born and lived as a child. There were some challenges during the walk. The tour did not utilize the microphone and receiver system that would have allowed us to hear him better. As a big group walking through a crowded city, it was hard or impossible to hear him unless you could stay close to him. Also, he declined to use the big Carnival sign that other guides carried. OK, so it’s dorky looking, but we were in a crowded area, and it would have been easier to see him and avoid getting separated had he used it. The Picasso Museum (in his house - there is a separate art museum with more of his works) is small, and the museum restricts how many people can be inside at a time. So, our group had to be split in two, with half of us waiting outside the museum while the other half entered. It seemed like wasted time, but it was the museum’s policy, so we couldn’t blame Carnival or our guide. From the exhibits in Picasso’s childhood home, it was clear his talent was evident when he was very young. There is a bathroom in the Picasso house. Next, we visited the Alcazaba, a fortress from the period of Muslim rule in Spain. It is imposing and impressive. The description of the tour said we would take an elevator to the top. There was no mention of an elevator as we entered, and we climbed. And climbed some more. And then climbed some more until we reached the top. Some people did not feel able to complete the climb and stopped partway up and re-joined the rest of us on the way down. Clearly, Carnival needs to update their description. I did finally see an elevator when we were on the top, but we were never given an option use it. But had we taken the elevator, we would have missed the rooms, fountains, and decorations along the way to the top, as well as missing the guide’s information on the history and the structure. Just be aware that the climb is challenging, due to the steepness and the irregular stone paths and steps. I was huffing and puffing at times, but I am glad I did it. I found it fascinating, and there were moments to catch my breath while the guide was explaining something. There is a bathroom partway up. The guide didn’t stop for anyone to use it, but those who did were able to catch up to the rest of us further along the way. After the Alcazaba, we stopped at a restaurant to sample local sherry with a snack of some olives. It felt good to sit for a while. No substitutions were allowed, but you could order a beer or soft drink at your own expense. Lastly, we stopped at a lookout over the city, with our ship and a bull ring in view. The statue in the picture below is Pablo Picasso, native son of Malaga.

Fourth port Cadiz: Clocks forward again as we returned to Spain. In Cadiz, I booked an excursion to the “white villages” of Vejer de la Frontera (very hilly!) and Conil de la Frontera (on the ocean). Both were beautiful. In Vejer, our guide took us on a walking tour, but we were also free to explore on our own if we preferred. I stayed with the guide, which made the visit more interesting and kept me from getting lost on the winding streets. There was a bathroom by the tourist information area where the buses parked - with long lines that caused us to depart later than the official meeting time. We had some time on our own in Conil. I walked to the waterfront, admired the beach, and browsed a street market.

Third port Lisbon: For the Lisbon stop, I booked an excursion to Sintra, Cascais, and Guincho. Guincho was simply a photo stop at a huge Atlantic beach, with waves big enough for surfers. We had free time in both the other towns, much more time in Sintra than in Cascais. I believe the extremely heavy traffic between these stops reduced the amount of time Cascais. Sintra is a cute little town, again hilly, and fairly crowded, though not as mobbed as Porto. There is a public bathroom near the main plaza, with an attendant who appeared to expect a small tip. We did not visit the Pena Palace, sadly. Cascais is a waterfront town, attractive and pleasant for strolling. I thought Lisbon and the surrounding area looked like a place I would enjoy for a longer stay someday. A connection to our first port was that I saw pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela on the Portuguese route.

Second port Leixoes/Porto: We set our clocks back for the next two ports in Portugal. In Leixoes, I did Carnival’s “on your own” excursion to Porto, again with a guide on the bus providing information about the area. Porto was bigger than I expected, and it was mobbed. Because of the size and the crowds, I found it harder to navigate than Santiago de Compostela. Thank goodness for GPS. I wanted to see the train station famous for its blue tile décor, and I found it. I used the public bathroom in the station, though there was small cost of €.50. (Yes, I will mention the bathroom options, as that can be a big deal on excursions lasting 5 or so hours.) I tried to find my way down to the waterfront (Douro River), but I kept getting blocked by construction or dead ends or neighborhoods that didn’t look appealing to me. So, I went back to exploring streets that radiated out from our ultimate meeting point, taking a break for some coffee and a snack at one point. I hadn’t pre-arranged to visit the famous Lello book store, and the line was so ridiculously long that I quickly gave up on seeing it on this visit. Porto is VERY hilly. Be aware of that if you have mobility issues. But a "tuk-tuk" (last photo) is an option.