LoriLoriLori

Thanks to you both.  This is good news! 

I've cruised twice -- Enchantment and Vision.  Loved these ships, especially Vision since we were in Europe.  Thinking about Mediterranean 2024 on Oasis. Worried about getting off the ship in a timely manner at ports, and long waits.  

If you've been on this class of ship can you advise?  Thanks so much.

WAS

$4,385 USD*

STARTING FROM

$1,849 USD*

AVG. PER PERSON

All the way through booking it states inside stateroom is $1,849 USD yet at the end it's giving me the 4,000 dollar price. What am I doing wrong?  I did not elect to pay gratuities, any extras, or any upgrade at the time of booking.  Thanks.

Thank you for all of the replies.  

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

I have a restaurant included meal on a excursion and I googled the restaurant and tripadvisor did have full review of the restaurant.  I havent found reviews of excursions in rcl and many are new or revised since covid. Different choices these days same ports.

This is neat that they told you the specific restaurant in the excursion details, or did you find out the day of the excursion?  The restaurant name is not listed in the details but perhaps it will later, and it does not matter really.  I am sure these excursions will be fine,  and we will go with it and enjoy.  I think my motivation is to stay at the place as long as possible before heading back and I'm not sure these ship excursions do that. 

19 minutes ago, pikwe012 said:

Lori,

If you know where in Rome you want to go first eg. Colosseum it would help to advise on train.

Thank you.  I have been researching these trains like crazy and trying to get a lay of the land in Rome. We are trying to see three major things on our port day which is 8am -8pm.   I'm trying to plan it out to most efficiently use our time.  I have about 90 more days so hopefully I'll get it figured out by then, lol.  

On our upcoming we are doing two cruise sponsored excursions and with the other two ports we are going out on our own.  

We have only been on one cruise prior and it was to the Bahamas and we did our own thing.  This time we are cruising to Italy and France. 

One of our port days is in Carrara, Italy.  There are not many opportunities to go out on you own so to speak in this port.  There are no fast or easy trains or public transit to Florence, nor are there independent tour operators. Carrara appears to be an industrial port.  On this day we booked the excursion to Accademia Gallery.  Another port is Toulon, France and we booked and excursion to Aix.  I would like to travel to Aix on our own, however public transit from Toulon to Aix is non-existent, and that's okay. It's all well and good and that's how it goes.  I would still like to read reviews. (I imagine they might be buried in specific cruise reviews.)   

If I can't read reviews, I have some questions:

1.  I've read that a lot of time can be wasted waiting for passengers to board coach busses and such.  I don't know if this is true.  What is your experience with time management?  Did you get to see a lot and was it enjoyable?  I know these things will vary.

2.  What is your general opinion of cruise sponsored excursions?   If you avoid them altogether,  or love them, I'd like to know your thoughts. 

3. If a restaurant meal is planned as part of the excursion what types of places to you go? I imagine large places that cater to cruise passengers?  

4.  How is it run?  Do all passengers stay together?  How many people are generally on a tour?  

Thanks for any comments or where you have found reviews.

14 hours ago, euro cruiser said:

There's only one functioning train station, everything goes there.

 

There is a free shuttle bus that currently drops off a 1.8 km/1.1 miles from the train station.  

 

There is also a paid shuttle bus all the way to the station.

 

In both cases you have to wait for everyone else.  If you are berthed at the southern end of the port, #10 - #13, you can probably walk to the train station faster than the bus can get there, because it has to go north to the vehicle exit then double back to the train station.  On foot you can go out the southern exit and be just a couple of blocks from the station.

Excellent -- maybe we will get lucky and will be berthed at the south end.  🙂 Thank you euro cruiser.  You answered another one of my train questions.  It's a bit overwhelming but I think I'm getting a handle on it.  🙂 

52 minutes ago, pikwe012 said:

Lori

copied and pasted the above from a similar question to yours posted under Odyssey of the Seas May 25th.

I would 'nt plan on walking with luggage and its very hot in summer. The $3 shuttle is direct from ship to station..no stops. Does a loop from ship to station and back. The train you get depends on where you wish to get off . Frecce at 9.16 goes direct to Rome Termini other Regional trains stop at different places and are therefore slower.....and cheaper. Look on website Trenitalia.com. A "Me and You" fare is cheaper than booking individually but only offered on certain trains. Frecce is one. You can also pay $2 extra each to book a specific seat on Frecce. At least thats what we did. The train was quite full when it arrived so make sure you get on the right carriage which is marked only on the door where you enter the train and not on the side of the carriage itself. 

Thank you for this, it's very helpful.  Fortunately we are not carrying luggage - it's a port day. 

https://civitavecchia.portmobility.it/en/port-civitavecchia-guide-cruise-passengers

I also found this helpful guide.  It answered some of my questions.  Thank you.  Any tips appreciated.

1.  If we are sailing on Royal Caribbean Vision of the Seas, do you know how long it takes to walk from ship to train station?  I think I read there are free shuttle busses.  Perhaps the shuttle bus would get us closer to the train station faster?  Where does the shuttle bus go specifically?

2.  Are there different locations for the Civitavecchia Express versus the regular or regional trains? 

I found this -- https://www.civitavecchiaport.org/port-mobility-shuttle-buses/

Thank you.  

Did Royal Caribbean's website undergo a recent redesign?  I did make my final payment yesterday, so maybe that is why everything looks different?  Maybe?  Anyway, I can't find the calendar where it lists port days and times in port.  It's not on the app either.  Do you know where I can find this information?   I liked the old calendar where I could view arrival to port,  and departure.  Thank you. 

Hello,

On the day our ship is in port at Toulon we have booked and excursion through the cruise line to travel to Aix.  The excursion includes a walking tour with free time.  Total duration of the excursion is 6 hours.  The bus ride one way is 1 1/4 hours, so we would have about three hours in Aix.  

Do you know if there are taxis or city busses that we could take to Aix on our own?  I would like to make the most of the day.  Currently my husband is interested in just leaving it as is.  I want to maximize our time.  Thanks for any advice. 

23 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

Yes it is, as well as the 30-45 minutes of meeting time prior to bus departure. 

Thank you.  

I've purchased an excursion through Royal Carribbean that has a duration time of 6 hours.  There is a bus ride that is 1 1/4 hours each way.  Is the bus ride factored into the total duration time?  

Thank you.  I am hoping they do away with it.

On my excursion, it doesn't say if we are on a bus or train. I am only assuming my excursion is by motorcoach.  On other excursions (Rome for instance) it does. 

I looked at the port and it seems that it's a docked port.

51 minutes ago, euro cruiser said:

The marina at Carrara is pretty small, is this a tender port?

 

It's certainly less expensive to go on your own but Carrara is almost as bad a marketing ploy as calling La Spezia a port for Florence.

 

From the port area to the train station is a pretty straightforward walk of 2.4km/one and a half miles.  For most people that's at least a half hour.   It's not a big passenger port, without regularly scheduled ferries I don't know that I would count on a lot of taxis available at the port, but I could be wrong.

 

The train trip takes 2 - 2.5 hours.

This is a good question, Re:  Is Carrara a tender port?  I don't know.  I know that Villefranche (Nice)  is a tendered port, but I can't remember where I saw it,  or found it on my cruise planner.  

9 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

The test must be taken a maximum of 1 day before the first scheduled departure time in the flight itinerary (if a flight is at 1 pm on a Friday, travelers could board with a COVID-19 negative test that was taken any time on the prior Thursday).

 

So, you have to take the rest in Spain; cannot do it on a connection in Canada.

Thanks for this.  It makes sense.  We will test in Spain. We are disembarking in Spain and going straight to the airport.  We will schedule a test in the airport that morning.  Debarking at 0700.  Flight departs at 1315. Hope we can do it in this time frame with results.  I'm wondering if proctored test is more practical.

On 5/16/2022 at 11:12 PM, mauimary said:

We will be using these tests as well for getting on our ship in Barcelona in July as well as for flying back to the USA.  Plan to use them in June for Alaska as well. They are very easy to use.  

Be sure to watch a YouTube video as it helps to show you exactly what to do and where folks have problems including having a pr of scissors available for helping to open the pkg.  

In Barcelona, if you use the proctored test to fly back to the USA, will you do this test on the ship the morning of your departure, or somewhere else?  Will you need a printer, or will they take the negative test results from your phone?   We are disembarking and going straight to the airport in Barcelona.  We were going to test at the Barcelona airport but perhaps the proctored test easier. 

On our Air Canada return flight Barcelona to Montreal (3.5 hour layover) to USA, at what point do I test? I am assuming I would test in Barcelona.  I am assuming since my final destination is US, Air Canada will want negative test upon boarding in Spain.   Canada does not require negative test to enter country.  I would ideally like to test in Canada instead of Spain, but not sure if that's possible. 

Thank you for sharing.  Good tips to get travel insurance.  

Our ship ports in Carrara, Italy to access Florence.  Have you visited this port?   Do you know if there are taxis or third-party tour operators at this port?  I see that there is a train.  It appears to be just as long of journey as the cruise excursion bus ride.  I've booked an excursion through the cruise line to visit the Accademia Gallery.  I'm wondering if perhaps there is a faster, or less inexpensive way, to get to Florence.  I want to get the most of our time there.  After our museum visit, we get 45 minutes to "explore" Florence. 

Thanks for any info.

22 minutes ago, ycl said:

Regarding Carrara, I’m facing the same dilemma of where to visit.  I’ve been to Florence and Lucca a couple of times. I thought of returning the Cinque Terre but that requires a taxi to take our group of six to one of the towns, maybe Vernazza, as we will be there on market day, and a taxi to return.  Did you find taxi’s waiting at the ship upon your arrival at port?  

Our cruise is this September so I cannot say if there are taxis at the port.  I will report back.  When is your cruise?  

We booked an excursion through the cruise line to go to the Accademia Gallery.  We have not been to Florence.  We want to see it,  but I think we might be spending a LOT of time on a charter bus. 🙂

3 minutes ago, Ashland said:

We'll live life as much as we can.

My sentiments exactly!  Enjoy!

Hopefully this requirement will be lifted this summer.  Regardless, I'm aware of the ramifications.  I expect all to go well.  I am vaccinated plus boosted,  plus I had Covid with the Delta outbreak,  and likely had Omicron during its peak (symptoms never tested).  I am optimistic and excited to travel abroad.  If I get "stuck" and can't enter the US hopefully my health will be intact while I recover in Canada or Spain.  

I answered my own question that I should test in Spain before I travel to a layover in Canada destined for US.  While Canada does not require a negative test to enter, I am assuming the airline will ask for the test in Spain because of my final destination is in the United States?