Help! I can’t make my cruise because of a hurricane

Aren’t you glad you’re not on a cruise?Question: We booked a cruise to Alaska on Norwegian Cruise Line last summer. NCL notified us that we would be sailing a day after our scheduled departure because they had to fix a propeller on the ship. This meant that the ship would not be stopping in Juneau for an originally scheduled excursion.

Then we had to cancel the cruise because of a hurricane that made it impossible to fly. All the airlines canceled their flights and we had no way of reaching Seattle. We had purchased a travel insurance policy through the cruise line.

Our airline gave us a full refund on our tickets, but NCL said we were only entitled to a 75 percent insurance credit that could be used for a future cruise. That isn’t in line with what other cruise lines did. For example, Princess offered a 75 percent credit through for passengers who had insurance and an additional 25 percent credit that could be used for a future cruise.
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One last port of call in Palma

We made one final stop in Palma on the quiet Spanish island or Mallorca. It’s a favorite destination for Europeans.

You can see why: Its breathtaking cliffs (mind the dropoff, Erysee!) and historical medieval towns make this the perfect place to conclude our Western Mediterranean cruise.
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A hot time in Pompeii, Italy

The highlight of this trip so far — other than interviewing the voice of SpongeBob, which I’ll do tomorrow — has been visiting Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius.

Oh, wow. This was totally worth it.
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Leaving Livorno, Italy, with a little jetlag

Here’s what we saw just moments ago as we pulled out of Livorno, Italy, on the NCL Epic. It was one of those postcard-perfect summer days on the Mediterranean coast when all you really want to do is hang out and do nothing.

And that’s pretty much what we did.
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