erby2283

Sorry - Meant to say drove to "Sorrento" for lunch...not Salerno. Duh, we ported in Salerno.

I did - back in 2019. Did the Pompeii/Amalfi Coast tour. It was wonderful. Spent the morning at Pompeii with a guide, drove to Salerno and had lunch/free time to walk around for a short bit, then drove down the Amalfi Coast towards Positano - although we never made it TO Positano (I was so sad - but they tell you ahead of time that due to traffic it's usually just a stop from an overlook and that you rarely make it to Positano itself). Then we stopped at a Limoncello factory and then back to the ship. It was a long day but had a blast!

Thank you. I didn't know I was in such close proximity to such a wealth of Italian traveling knowledge. 🥰

Thanks for the tip. I guess I'll see if I'm lucky enough to grab tickets at the 30-day mark at zero dark thirty am (whenever it is they release tickets - lucky for me Aug 4th is a Sunday so I can stay up late...or early). And if not, I'll try again a week before I go. Is it the same website to get those Arena + Super tickets? Are you in Charlotte too?

******sniff sniff***** Now I need to find another tour to do - two of us have been there before and one won't want to go back again unless it's something different - while the third has never been at all. Of course I guess it all depends on whether we end up getting Underground Colosseum tickets. I did notice that the day we arrive via plane (9 am), only 2 ships are in port but our next full day, there will be 5/6 ships! So even though we'll be tired, we may need to try and book the busier tourist areas for the day we arrive to avoid the larger crowds - albeit later in the day in case of plane delays.

Just found out that Scavi tours from Aug 19, 2024 - Nov 3, 2024 are suspended due to archaeological work under St. Peter. Bummer.

Since we were literally one of the first 20 people off the ship, we just got in the taxi line. I think it was around $40-$45. It was definitely more than I thought it would be for 3 people at that time of day with no traffic.

Thank you! Went ahead and purchased our 3 tickets today for 8am on September 12!

Helps if you have TSA pre-check as well. We had a flight at 10 last month and did self-disembark of Icon. We were at the airport by 6:30 and sitting at the gate by 7:30.

Thanks for taking the time to post. I'm sure it will be very helpful for others looking to do the same thing. Isn't Venice just magical? I loved it.

We had an ocean view balcony on Icon and slept with the balcony door open every night...so I don't think the humidity bothered us much....but we were a bunch of girls who preferred to hear the ocean every night rather than using the AC. That being said, we still preferred having a separate outdoor area to sit as one of us would prefer to be out there late at night while the others were sleeping.

My favorite tour with them was the one I did in Villefranche with Gee (pronounced Guy). If you check my (still unfinished...lol) review from 2019 you can see my review from that day. It was our first stop. I really was looking forward to Italy but this day far exceeded my expectations! Starts at post 31. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2746620-vision-of-the-seas-mediterranean-review-aug-10-22-2019/page/2/

I just noticed the day I joined cruise critic below my profile picture, September 10, 2004 - my mother died September 10, 2017. "Isn't it ironic....don't ya think?"

Thanks for allowing me to share my cruise memories with y'all. Hope those of you cruising Icon enjoy her as much as we did.

Day 8 – May 11th and post-cruise wrap-up I got about 2 hours of sleep, if you can call it that. Christina was on the balcony around 3 a.m. and I went out to join her. We had just started sailing back into Miami. It was so peaceful and beautiful just sitting out there. I also was interested in being awake while they maneuvered this massive ship and turned her around. She turns so quietly and effortlessly. By 4 am, we were back in our parking spot. The USS Bataan was in front of the NCL pier. This was as we were making the turn-around in port. Remember, I'm closer to the back of the ship so think about how close to shore the front end must be judging by the shore in the foreground of the picture. At 5:15 a.m. we grabbed our luggage and headed down to Deck 5 Promenade where we already saw some luggage from passengers being lined up and those passengers sitting at tables nearby. We added ours to the line and the girls went to Starbucks to get some caffeine. A little while later staff came by and had us spread our luggage out into 4 separate lines for disembarkation. If you want pictures with an empty Pearl, stay up really late or get up really early. 😘 Our original American Airlines flight wasn’t until 1-something in the afternoon but they kept continually changing it; moving it earlier and earlier. So for the last month, our flight was at 10:15 a.m. which made me really nervous (wondering if they’d move it again and would there be enough time to make the flight). Hence why we decided to do self-disembarkation. Around 6 o’clock I saw several passengers get up and go rush to their luggage. I was wondering what they knew that I didn’t. They apparently got word via the app that the ship had been cleared so they knew we’d be okayed to get off shortly. But the staff kept telling us to sit down and that it hadn’t been cleared yet. And so the back and forth between the passengers advising them what the app said versus what they were saying continued for 10 minutes or so. What’s funny is we could overhear on their radios that the ship had been cleared so I’m not sure why they were saying it wasn’t. We were literally one of the first 20 people off the ship. As we were walking by, they were just now bringing out the luggage for Suites and Pinnacles. It’s still amazing to me how organized the whole process is. I had my passport ready but having not cruised in a while, was not aware that you literally just have to look into a camera screen on your way out to be cleared by customs. Easy! We got to the taxi line and were the 3rd group in line. Our taxi arrived, he got out of the car, and literally zipped his pants up in front of us before grabbing our suitcases and putting them in the trunk while we all looked at each other wondering about this ride to the airport. Smh. We arrived about half an hour later (thankfully). 2 of us have TSA pre-check and one doesn’t so I inquired about curbside check-in for luggage before heading in. He said the line was about an hour inside to check luggage or he could do it there free plus tip. I’m all about convenience at this point so I tipped him $5 for my one bag and we headed inside. Sarah and I to the TSA-Precheck and Christina to the regular security checkpoint. Sarah and I were through in 5-10 minutes and told Christina we’d wait for her on the other side. Waiting….waiting……waiting…..waiting….. Probably an hour later she comes through – keep in mind this was at 7 a.m. When she finally gets through, she says security decided to move everyone to a new line when she was almost at the front. But instead of taking everyone from the front of the line and walking them down to the new line that they were opening, everyone from the back of the line got there first so she got pushed back to the end of the line again. We walked to our gate with plenty of time to spare – like a good 2 hours +. And we were hungry. Not much to eat at this time of morning and we had pretty much walked by where any restaurants were open so we grabbed a bag of chips and drinks from a snack shop to hold us over. We arrived in Charlotte on-time and I walked my girlfriends over in the direction of their connecting gate as far as I could before I needed to veer off to get my bags. Group hug – and off I went to retrieve my luggage in the cluster f that is currently Charlotte Douglas International Airport (they’re doing renovations). Boooo vacation is over....Yay - only 120 until my next. Closing thoughts: The Kid Factor - I was really, really nervous going into the cruise hearing nightmares of kids everywhere. It was my experience that it felt like any other cruise when it came to kids. I never felt inundated with kids or felt like they were “everywhere” and that I needed to get away – or “where are their parents?!” Now it could also be that I don’t go in the pools or hot tubs – and yes, the main pool did close on 2 maybe 3 days due to poop/throw-up in the pool. But for the most part, I was able to enjoy what I like to do on cruises (be lazy and lounge in the sun) and never felt like I was interfered with by either kids (as I said before, there were 1800 on our sailing) or felt any kind of overcrowding on the ship…period. Even getting on/off in port, we never encountered long lines of any kind. Refreshment Package – I purchased the refreshment package like I always do and this time it was definitely a waste for me. Even with 3 sea days, I probably only had 5 virgin drinks the whole cruise. I did enjoy plenty of sodas (I don’t drink alcohol of any kind) but still not enough to warrant $180 worth. Photo Package – I purchased the 10-photo package for just over $100. I enjoyed being able to see all your pictures right in the app. But I must also admit that I kind of enjoy having a physical picture in my hand more than getting a digital download. I think you can choose between digital download and getting a physical picture but since I wanted all three of us to have the option of printing the pictures when we got home, I elected digital. It might also only be on certain ships that you get to elect digital or a physical copy (I can’t remember). I also noticed that some pictures don’t contain a date anywhere on the picture and that many were blurry or the lighting was just off. But knowing you usually pay somewhere around $15 for a 5x7 picture, I thought it was a good deal and would probably buy it again. Cabin 12292 – As I stated earlier, we booked 556 days out – shortly after bookings opened for Icon so we basically had our pick of the litter of rooms. The location of the is cabin is perfect. Close to elevators. We had three to the room so twin beds and one slept on the made-up sofa (or she slept on the chairs on the balcony some nights). Plenty of storage for 3 women although one of the girls did keep a majority of her smaller foldable items in her bag that she just pulled out when needed. We literally had empty shelves in the bathroom, behind the mirror where the safe is, and also the shelves on the side near the tv. I had purchased magnetic hooks which we used to hang our lanyards, small purses, etc. I also brought a pop-up hamper to put my dirty clothes in which I kept in a corner. It was very neat controlling the temperature and lights with the app. I do wish they had a pullman’s sofa even for a 3-person room bc I don’t think most adults would find that sofa very comfortable to sleep on. Overall Ship – She is a beautiful ship and I can’t help but feel like I barely got to scratch the surface on what she has to offer. It wasn’t until the last sea day that I remembered about El Loco Fresh while walking by. Smh. I think you just default to Windjammer instead of remembering all the options available on a ship this size. Embarkation and debarkation were a breeze. Again I’m not a big foodie but I enjoyed everything I ordered (except Izumi which I never got to eat….still mad about that). I honestly think there is plenty for all walks of life on this ship – you can lounge in the sun or in the shade. You can find a quiet spot or a party spot. You can find plenty of activities or just sit in the Overlook and stare out into the big blue ocean realizing what a tiny little speck you are in this world. On Icon, as with any cruise, it is what you make of it. And I hope the three of us made memories to last another 35+ years of friendship together. #Fun@50group #1974babies

We have a 12:10 flight from FCO and booked a shared shuttle. I was nervous bc I have heard stories about shared shuttles saying, "Oh sorry - no one else signed up so you'll have to pay XXXX more to make it a private shuttle" or get left in the lurch. However, I have already been notified that others have signed up for the 7:30 shared shuttle so I feel a bit safer that they won't back out. I also plan to research a back-up to get to FCO in case this does happen. I also booked the fast track for our party. Not sure it will help but for the few euros it cost, I'd rather have it and not need it then need it and not have it.

Over on the European Ports of Call Section - Italy - I have seen several posts advising travelers to carry their passports with them at all times. Italian Laws: According to Italian laws, all non-European visitors must carry a passport as their form of identification. Police officers can ask you to present an ID at any point. Failure to have a valid passport can land you in trouble as the police cannot identify you and gauge whether you are in Italy legally. Also heard it can lead to a nice fine.

Day 7 – May 10th Coco Cay This would be my first ever trip to Coco Cay. I took a Royal Caribbean cruise in 2019 but it was to the Mediterranean and before that was 2016, so I’d never been there. I was able to book a Breezy Bay Cabana pretty early on for a good price ($225). I thought it would be nice for us to have plenty of space to lounge around in comfort with a nice view of the sea. We were supposed to be the only ship in Coco Cay that day but apparently due to last minute port cancellations, Independence of the Seas was also there with us. We were able to get off the ship around 9:30 am and someone directed us to the easiest way to walk to Breezy Bay. We checked in and received wrist bands and were shown to our cabana. Earlier in the week someone from the shore excursion department called to confirm how many guests were in our cabin and when I went to the Shore Excursion desk to follow-up, they gave us a map of the island and showed us the cabana that had already been assigned. Walking through the main pool to get to Breezy Bay. In addition to the Cabana bed, you get two loungers, an umbrella, 2 water mats and a cooler that contained 4 water bottles. We all got in the water at some point – it was definitely cooler than St. Maarten. But it also got really busy with people. I can't imagine what it's like with two mega-ships in Coco Cay. Around 11 the girls went to the snack bar and brought me back some mozzarella sticks. They were soooooo good! The woman working at the snack bar was our waitress from Izumi the night before and she remembered them and asked for an update on how I was feeling; which I thought was very sweet. For lunch I walked over to the buffet but it was very busy so I just grabbed a tortilla and made a taco and grabbed some French fries and got the heck out of there. When I got back to the Cabana, I feel asleep for a good hour+. But man, those dang seagulls….they don’t shut up….lol. We headed back to the ship around 3 to get ready for out 5 p.m. dinner. In retrospect, I wasn’t a big fan of my day at Coco Cay. But I think that just may be due to my lack of planning and not exploring more. I may have enjoyed it more if I did something different or was on a different beach on the island. Next time I know to walk around a bit and see what else there is to offer – or maybe we should have taken the tram instead of walking because Breezy Bay is the last stop and we could have seen the other areas they had to offer and moved if it wasn’t to our liking. It was nice for a beach day, I just didn’t think it was “great.” Dinner service was good and is my customary, we tipped our dining staff and head waiter, and room steward in addition to the automatic gratuities. I know tipping is always a personal and sometimes volatile topic here but I am of the personal belief that everyone on a cruise ship works extremely hard, works long hours every day, and is away from their families for months on end. And if I can afford a little bit of extra money to send their way, I will. We had reservations for Elemental tonight but none of us really felt like going to the show so we went to Playmakers for more hockey after the horrendous task of packing. We were self-assist debarking the next morning and we wanted to pack up early so we could enjoy a last night together. After hockey, I found myself alone wandering the ship taking a few final pictures and hiding my last remaining ducks. I went to bed around 1 a.m. I noticed they were already setting up for the balloon drop for the following night. 😘 Coming up, debarkation, summary of thoughts.

Day 6 – May 9th Sea Day I awakened refreshed after a 12-hour sleep from my migraine. I headed up to the Windjammer for a quick bite to eat for breakfast and was in “my” lounge chair before 9:30 a.m. It was a beautiful sunny sea day. I was waiting for one of the other girls to come up and watch my stuff so I could go on some of the water slides. I haven’t been on a water slide in about 30 years and I had told myself that I was doing at least one on this trip! Since it was still early, I was hoping to get on them before the throngs of people woke up and the lines got long. 😊 Sarah arrived before 10 and I headed all the way to the back of the ship and grabbed a mat to head up to the Storm Chaser water slide. Surprisingly, there was no one in front of me so I just kept climbing all the stairs straight to the top. Phew – that’s a lot of steps!. Lol. You get to step on the embarrassing scale to make sure you’re not over the weight limit and then wait your turn to go headfirst down the totally enclosed slide! Water splashes up in your face a lot and I was going like 80 mph (slight exaggeration) and before I knew it, I was down at the bottom. Ok, once was enough for me on that slide. This was really the first time I took to explore Thrill Island so I took some videos and pictures (I’ve tried uploading videos during this review but none of them every seem to show up correctly). Most of the below pictures were taken around 10 am so you can get an idea of how crowded it is at that time. Christina arrived around 11 and she and I went back to the water slide area to ride the Storm Surge raft slide. There was a longer line for this one but I don’t think we waited more than 10 minutes. I also promised myself I was going to get one of those delicious milkshakes from Desserted! I settled on the Minty Mariner. They aren’t served with a spoon so be sure to ask for one so it’s easier to eat and so that you can also scrape those sprinkles off the side. 😊 I did have the refreshment package so when I ordered, they did advise me that the classic shakes and floats are included in the package instead of paying for one of the more expensive milkshakes but I already made my mind up. I went back to the room and changed and grabbed my kindle and walked up front to the overlook and just sat in one of the chairs in the front row and read while enjoying nothing but open seas in front of me. It’s really nice to enjoy that view without having to battle wind. I hid another duck in the overlook on my way out as well. When hiding in the foliage, I try to place them in a way so that the plants won't get stepped on our damaged so these aren't necessarily "hidden" very well. Dinner was another steak, with the onion tart for an appetizer. I didn’t get dessert but apparently took a picture of someone’s. lol. Went back to the room to change after dinner and back to the overlook to try and grab a picture of the sunset. I wanted to stay longer to get THE sunset picture but would then miss the start of the hockey game. We struck up a great conversation with a guy who turned out to be an airline pilot for Delta who had just moved to Atlanta from the west coast. It was fun to pick his brain about flying questions and all the recent snafu’s that have been happening with planes. Carolina lost….again…. After the game, we found our way to the dueling pianos bar. The guy is really, really good – she is good too, I just didn’t enjoy her playing as much as his. We stayed until the end when they closed with Bohemian Rhapsody…..some songs just shouldn’t be sung by a bunch of strangers. It was pretty bad.😊 We headed back to the room around 1 a.m. Tomorrow – Coco Cay

Thanks. We’re on the Carnival Legend but unfortunately Epic is with us in both Mykonos and Santorini. Just got off Icon and it was my first mega-ship since 2016. Never felt crowded ON the ship but I can just imagine all those people converging on a small island.

Following along! Bon Voyage. Looking forward to reading your posts! @scott_gallant tag, you're it. Our turn in 98 days!

@Hlitner 2) questions for you Hank. We have a day pass booked at St. John but plan to leave early and do some walking around and hopefully see the Windmills. We are in port 7-5. What time would you suggest we leave in order to take in the Windmills and walk around a bit and is there anyway to know if our ship will be at old port? I have in my notes on "trip it" that there are 5 larger ships in port with us that day - approximately 14k passengers (Sept 10th). Luckily our ship and Epic are the first to arrive.

Day 5 – May 8th St. Thomas We were in St. Thomas from 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. All of us had been to St. Thomas before and we really just wanted to do another beach day. The plan was to go to Lindbergh Bay and come back around lunch time to eat and enjoy some pool/slide time while hopefully everyone was still off the ship. Unfortunately, we were awakened before 6am by the sound of thunder. It was an amazing thunder and lightening storm that lasted for well over an hour. Having never docked at Crown Bay (always been at Havensight), I didn’t even know we had already arrived and were anchored to the pier as our side of the ship did not have a view of the pier. Since the weather was bad, we weren't in a big hurry to get off since we knew our plans for a beach day were probably out. We took our time getting ready, ate breakfast in the dining room, walked around the jogging track, explored around the ship some more, etc. Always walking through Central Park 🙂 Christina decided to stay on the ship but Sarah and I decided to get off and at least check out the stores in the port area. Time stamp on our photos shows we walked off around 10:30. I checked out some of the local vendors and purchased a new St. Thomas magnet. I had wanted to buy a new ring as well so we popped our heads into one of the stores (not Diamonds International) right there on the water front. I didn’t really have a particular ring style in mind but did end up purchasing one that contained my birthstone – I mean we are celebrating the big 5-0 right?! Just as we were walking back to the ship, the Celebrity Beyond was getting ready to pull in beside us so we sat down on one of the benches and watched her pull in. We then stopped for a quick bite at Sorrentos (two slices for me) and my friend ordered a gluten free pizza which was brought to our table because it's made to order. Pizza is one of my favorite foods and I thought it was pretty decent! But two slices wasn’t enough for lunch so while my friend was still eating her pizza, I walked up to Aquadome Market and got a bowl from Gingr and brought it back down to Sorrentos while Sarah finished her pizza. The cast for one of the shows seemed to be practicing for a new show (or routine) in the middle of the Promenade so it was interesting to see them do that. I don’t have any pictures on my phone after pizza so I am not sure what we did until our reservation at 6pm at Izumi but it was not a good night for me. I’m a migraine sufferer and started feeling a migraine coming on as I was getting ready for dinner. I took one of my expensive migraine pills (I usually only take them when I know it’s going to be bad) and was trying to remain positive and push my way through it. I was really looking forward to eating at Izumi! We weren’t doing the Hibachi table where they cook in front of you (due to my friends gluten allergy, we were afraid of cross contamination) but you get to choose one smaller plate (appretizer), two larger plates (main) and a dessert. I had ordered the fried pork gyoza, beef teriyaki and chicken udon noodles and I don't remember what I ordered for dessert. But you can also choose sushi and a really good variety of other menu options. I started on my appetizer but wasn’t able to finish it…..any migraine sufferer knows and can relate to what I am about to say. All the banging from the utensils from the chefs on the hibachi stoves and people clapping and cheering and even just the lights from the restaurant….it was just too much. I had to get out of there and go lie down. I was so disappointed. Our lovely waitress had just come out with our food and I had to tell her I had to go. My friends filled her in on why and she said she also suffers from migraines and understood. One of the girls walked me back to the room and I just climbed in bed. I didn’t get up until the next morning. The girls said the dinner was wonderful and that our waitress was so concerned about me – she even boxed up all my food and gave it to them to take back to the room for me. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to eat the leftovers since we were in Coco Cay the next day and I had no way to reheat the food. Oh well, guess I have to go back and try it again!

Did you read the description of the tour when they aenr you the confirmation email? We have the same tour booked and have toured wirh them before. From the email they sent, it’s more about the scenery on this tour than anything else. More like a driver - like you said. They do offer a chance to hire an expert guide. I’m sorry it wasn’t what you expected. I would send them email if you feel it wasn’t up to what you were promosed. They’re pretty responsive.

Awwwww....no, we never got to see her. We had heard later in the week that she's usually in the promenade around 9 a.m. but we never checked to see her.