erby2283

I can check in tomorrow night for my May cruise and have never done it before. Can someone advise if it just "pops up" in your app or if I need to go somewhere to see the option? I can do either computer or app so which is better? We are three best friends in one room so I should be able to check us all in (at least to get an arrival time) and then they can go in individually and input any other information such as credit card, passport, info, correct?

Question - we received the email that they have confirmed enough people to run our time and are now asking for payment. We have the option to let them convert to USD when charging our credit card or to be charged in Euros. Does anyone know what the better option is? If my credit card does not charge international fees, does it matter?

So you don't think it will be too bad with 14k people?

We get the pleasure of 5 ships in port in (in September) the day we are there - almost 14,300 people. Won't that be fun..... (sense the sarcasm). Never been to Mykonos so planning the day has been one of the harder ports. Both us (Carnival Legend) and NCL Epic arrive at 7am so not sure who will get to dock. The other ships arrive at 8 and 9. Half tempted to shell out the money and just do a day pass at a hotel just to get away from the crowds and not deal with public transportation.

Filled out the "Contact Us" form on the Scavi website for our trip in September. Only put down September 5th as an option as we arrive on the 4th and our cruise embarks on the 6th. Hopefully we'll be able to do this! Now...if only we can get Colosseum tickets as well. Maybe we can try and the Colosseum on arrival day (the 4th).

We are cruising in September and a couple weeks ago, I contacted EphesusShuttle.com after reading so many good things about them for our stop in Kusadasi. I have to say that even though I have not yet toured with them, I am very impressed with their communication. Each time someone joins our group/tour, I get copied on the email and when we hit 9 people, they asked if I wanted to split the tour into two vans or wait until we hit a larger number. If we add lunch, it’s $5 USD. And those of use who wanted to add the terrace steps can do so while those who are physically unable (because they can be challenging for the elderly or those with physical impairments) can opt out. Pricing was really good too. The tour will be 4-5 hours giving us plenty of time to get back in time before the ship leaves.

@grumpyfan thank you!

I'll be sailing on Icon of Seas in May and last time I sailed a new ship (Anthem back in 2016), I brought my hair dryer but couldn't use it bc it would blow the fuse out. I know they have hair dryers in the room but this mess I have on top of my head requires a ton of product and a hair dryer diffuser. Has anyone ever bought some type of generic diffuser for cruising they would recommend? Would be great to find one that someone loves as it would also save space in the suitcase.

I kicked myself when I didn't buy it when I booked my cruise bc the price increased and I worried I'd never see it drop it again. It went from $27.99 up to $31.99. But I saw it drop to $23.99 again (on Icon) I believe it was around Black Friday and cancelled and rebooked at the lower rate.

Sorry to post on an old thread but didn't want to start a new one when I could just bump an old one. As first time visitors to Messina, is a trip to Etna worth the time or would you rather spend more time in Taormina (DIY day)? ItalyTours has a 8-hour tour for 99 eu that goes to both - but I think they do Etna first - which would put us in Taormina in the afternoon - and I think I read the shops close from 1-4 or something like that. It's nice not to have to worry about transportation and booking train/bus independently, but when you're also looking at seven ports, cutting down costs and only booking tours when absolutely necessary also helps your money go a long way. Thanks in advance. BTW - we are in Port 9am-6pm

@cruisemom42 @euro cruiser Thank you both. I will make notes in my "trip it" app as well. Not having to change Lines is a big plus for us. Is it possible to take the Metro towards St. Peter's as well?

I confuse myself so not surprised I have confused you as well. Lol. I didn’t want to post the actual address of the VRBO but I did take a screen shot and will attach it for reference. You may very well be correct regarding the metro. All I did was google closest metro location while I had this pulled up and it listed that stop. Sorry for the confusion. Also appears to be a 20 minute walk to termini - We were going to take the train to Termini from the airport but as you told @NCteacherlovescruising, no need to pay more if a taxi is approx 50eu (maybe more for 3 pax?).

Been reading your posts as we are traveling in September. We arrive on Wed morning and board the ship on Friday for a girls cruise. Our plans are: Arrival day - check into VRBO (on Via Labicana between the Colosseum and Termini), and use Metro to visit Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevi, etc. Day 2 - Looking to book the Underground Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill tour with CoopCulture directly (hopefully), followed by lunch. Then it gets iffy - two of us have been there before and one of us hasn't. I think it would be great for the 3rd friend to see St. Peter's Basilica but one isn't interested in seeing again (but she also is fine doing her own thing if we want to go). We also want to see the Spanish Steps and Trevi at night. Since we'll be tired day one, that only leaves nighttime day 2 so we don't want to plan too much to do during the day on Day 2. Thinking we may be able to do St. Peter's on Friday before we board the ship since we don't depart until 7 pm but the VRBO will want us out in the morning and not sure what to do with out bags (maybe the VRBO would hold them?). Was hoping to add a day or two post cruise but got an incredible prince on round-trip non-stop flights so we leave the day we come back on the cruise. @cruisemom42 - Is there a particular order you would visit the things we want to see on Day 1 (listed above)? We arrive at 9AM - hoping VRBO let's us drop bags off so we'll be leaving from Via Labicana. Looks like the closest metro from our VRBO is Metro linea C - Fermata Amba Aradam-Ipponio - about a 10 minute walk. I get so overwhelmed thinking about transportation but probably just the fear of the unknown and never doing it before.

Hi! Question for you! American Airlines has changed our flights twice now - but this is flying home from MIA. Original flight was 1:40, then changed to 11:40 and now 10 AM. Only problem is, my friends who are traveling with me, have a connection at 2:56 and unless we make the 10am, the don't make that connection so we'd have to change both flights home for them. Would you risk staying on the 10 am flight (from MIA to CLT) or would you just go ahead and ask the airlines to switch to the 1:40 flight which then gives them a 7-hour layover in Charlotte? We're on the Icon and a total of 3 ships dock in MIA that day (15,500 passengers). We dock at 6am, then the other ships dock at 7am and 8am. Or, we can try and switch to an 11:43 flight from FLL but then they only have a 56 minute layover in Charlotte. 2 out of three of us are TSA pre-check and we don't mind carrying our stuff off the ship (self assist).

Thank you for your response. The first change to the 11:40 flight was fine - so they didn’t want to change it. It’s not until today I looked and saw both our 11:40 flights had been changed to the 10:00am. Guess I wanted to wait a couple days to see if that 11:40 flight popped back up but you’re right, it may be better they change the flight now. And thanks for the Florida Depatures board reminder - I didn’t think to check there so ny question was airfare related but I’ll remember that for next time. i do believe they booked a Basic fare so I don’t think they’re allowed free changes so they may have to call to get it rectified and switched to a better time.

Actually, I was wrong. Their original connection flight left Charlotte at 6:00 pm. Now their options are only 2:56 and 8:37. So if 10 is too early, nothing gets them into CLT in time for the 2:56 (unless the 11:40 show back up) so that leaves a really long layover if they don’t make the 2:56. Do you think 10 is too early? But, yes, I guess they can make the changes online. Thank you.

I am meeting up with some friends for a cruise in May in Miami. American Airline keeps changing their return flight (for example the flight they originally booked completely disappeared off the search engine for a few weeks but then was put back - yet AA never switched them back to their original flight time). This has now happened twice so instead of a 1:40 departure from MIA, it's now at 10am. Since their layover flight is in CLT, which is my home airport, I booked the same flight home so we could all fly together - but all our flights keep changing now. Just frustrating trying to keep us all together on the same flight and now am worried that 10AM is too early. Is a 10am flight too early disembarking Icon? I have TSA pre-check but my friends do not - so I am more concerned about them. If 10am is too early (and since the 11:40 flight has now "disappeared" from the search engine), we'll also have to re-adjust their connecting flight as there would be no plane to get them to CLT in time to make their connection. Can they not just ask to be put back on their original flights since those are all showing up in the search engines? Thank you.

https://www.romefiumicinotransfer.com/ and the one mentioned earlier above: https://sharedshuttle.it/ Also, you may want to hook up with others on your sailing to see if anyone else wants to share a ride from the the ship back to the airport that way these companies can't pull a bait a switch and say, "Oh sorry, we don't have any shared rides, you'll have to pay the private fare or we'll be forced to cancel the shared ride."

I took 4 tours with them in 2019. Our tour in Villefranche (yes, they had a guide in France) only had 4 people and they didn't cancel - and they honored the original price without us having to fork in the extra. Not sure if anyone canceled or if there was only 4 people all along but it was my favorite stop of the whole trip.

Well I supposed that's up to what people are willing to pay for a private car....which is why I stated I'd prefer a shared shuttle. I personally don't need a "private" ride. I've already received quotes from two companies who offer shared rides: 3 people - 110 euros for one and 120 euros for the other. There are other options which is why people should research....and why they come here for advice.

My first trip to Europe, we sailed out of Barcelona - but that was mostly due to itinerary. Also, it was cheaper to fly into Barcelona than Rome. However, one of our ports was Rome and it was a tiring 10 hour tour day with so much to see.. I feel like I barely scratched the surface. In September, we are sailing from Rome and flying in a couple days early to spend more time at the places I felt rushed at (like the Colosseum). I'd say consider the itinerary, do some mock bookings to get an idea of flight prices, and figure out what you want to see the most. I did thoroughly enjoy our time in Barcelona so you can't go wrong with either.

It's always good to share opinions: positive and negative. I loved my Barcelona / Montserrat tour. Our tour guide, Marta, was awesome. I never thought I would be into architecture until I went to Spain. Bought two books while I was there on Gaudi works. Guess it depends on your tour guide, weather, etc. I would give them another chance int he future - it could have just been an off day for them.

In 2019, we had a 10:25 flight from BCN to Lisbon. We did self-assist and were off the ship by 7am and had plenty of time to spare. I would see how many ships are in port with you that day, when they (and you) arrive so you know if people will be at the airport before you.

I'm not the OP but I'm gonna definitely need a shared shuttle....$150 for 2 people?????? That's crazy talk. lol

I booked a VRBO for Sept 2024 a few months ago. It had all 5-star reviews so I hopefully they don’t cancel or two-night pre-cruise stay. However, I don’t think you get to leave a review if they cancel on you. To be safe, we also reserved a hotel room that allows 48 hour free cancellation. I would like to think the VRBO would not cancel with less notice than that. Since we have three in our party, it’s more difficult for us to find hotel rooms in Rome since they don’t usually cater to more than 2 people. Fingers crossed our VRBO works out.