Cruise changing logistics (also Fjords/Iceland cruise advice)

[msmama]

I currently have a 7 night SW Western Caribbean cruise booked for February. At the moment it looks like flights to Orlando are well over $1000 per person (and since it's a holiday week for us here in NY, it doesn't look good about them going down drastically).

Since that's more than half of the price I have for the cruise, I'm looking at canceling. Also, due to circumstances beyond my control (ex husband), I've been forced to start thinking about my summer vacation for next year.

So I started thinking about changing my Caribbean cruise to a European cruise next summer. It's a lot more $$ than I was planning on, but still doable if I scrimp (and use CC pts wisely).

Is it possible to change cruises or is it canceling one and then booking another? To further complicate things I'm cruising on the Magic in less than a month - should I book the new cruise now (even though I'm not 100% sold on the idea of 11 days on a cruise ship that we will have just spent 5 days on 9 months before) or wait until I'm on board the Magic to take advantage of discounts (I checked, there seems to be plenty of rooms in the categories I'd want available).

Any advice on the Fjords/Iceland cruise? It looks like a good mix between ports and sea days (though that means more $$ - on the Caribbean I wasn't going to do any excursions, just stay on the ship). Do you really find enough to entertain you (and your children) for 11 days? I'm afraid my 9 year old would get antsy and I'd start to feel claustrophobic.

Part of the reason I want to wait to book is because I want to see how we do on the shorter cruise first. That said, I'm not even really sure if it's a comparison at all.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I currently have a 7 night SW Western Caribbean cruise booked for February. At the moment it looks like flights to Orlando are well over $1000 per person (and since it's a holiday week for us here in NY, it doesn't look good about them going down drastically).

Since that's more than half of the price I have for the cruise, I'm looking at canceling. Also, due to circumstances beyond my control (ex husband), I've been forced to start thinking about my summer vacation for next year.

So I started thinking about changing my Caribbean cruise to a European cruise next summer. It's a lot more $$ than I was planning on, but still doable if I scrimp (and use CC pts wisely).

Is it possible to change cruises or is it canceling one and then booking another? To further complicate things I'm cruising on the Magic in less than a month - should I book the new cruise now (even though I'm not 100% sold on the idea of 11 days on a cruise ship that we will have just spent 5 days on 9 months before) or wait until I'm on board the Magic to take advantage of discounts (I checked, there seems to be plenty of rooms in the categories I'd want available).

Any advice on the Fjords/Iceland cruise? It looks like a good mix between ports and sea days (though that means more $$ - on the Caribbean I wasn't going to do any excursions, just stay on the ship). Do you really find enough to entertain you (and your children) for 11 days? I'm afraid my 9 year old would get antsy and I'd start to feel claustrophobic.

Part of the reason I want to wait to book is because I want to see how we do on the shorter cruise first. That said, I'm not even really sure if it's a comparison at all.

Any help would be appreciated!

If you change cruise dates, it's a cancellation of the original reservation, and a new reservation on the new cruise.

You should go ahead and book the cruise now. And reshop it once on the Magic. Then, if the prices haven't risen enough to negate the savings, you can cancel the original reservation and make new one with the onboard booking. The discounts on an onboard booking are taken off the prevailing price of the cruise, not what it was when you first booked it. And it's possible for prices to rise so much as to make the original booking price a better one, even with discounts on the onboard booking.

 

[Pens Fan]

Our 11 day Norway/Iceland cruise in 2015 was our favorite to date. The 11 days flew by, all too fast. None of us wanted to get off of the ship. My son was 17 at the time, so much older than yours which honestly goes to show just how amazing this cruise was. He is way past the character excitement age (was never really into that actually) and only spent a little time in Vibe. I can tell you that none of us were bored once, not at all! The ports are amazing, much more interesting than the Caribbean for our tastes, though everyone is different. I probably wouldn't book an 11 day cruise with 7 or 8 sea days (though a lot of people love them!) because it's just not our thing, but I found this cruise to have just the right mix of sea days and port days. It was nice to have the time to sleep in and recover after 2 or 3 days of long excursions. It was also nice to be able to take advantage of the midnight sun, knowing you didn't have to get up the next morning at the crack of dawn occasionally.

I will point out one thing, though, as you mentioned being concerned about the $$. While you can certainly do any port on a budget, there are many high priced excursions to tempt you on this cruise - much higher than the Caribbean cruises. I would definitely recommend booking outside of DCL to either save money or have a better experience (as in a private tour just for your family) or even both. If you aren't comfortable with that - some folks aren't - then take a close look at the excursions and pricing before you make your decision.

ETA - My husband and I will be on what I am guessing is the same 5 night cruise on the Magic as you. While we are definitely looking forward to it, we are afraid after the 11 day cruise, only 5 days will be a huge let down. Funny how that works!

 

[ldo]

if the timing works, you could consider the 7 day Norway fjords. We did it this summer and loved it. It was a lot less $ than the 11 day. We booked simple excursions online on our own (including kayaking and bus to Mt. Disnabba (?)) and barely spent $300 total for 4 persons for 4 ports. You could add a few days in CPH, as there's lots for kids to do there.