golfguyhhi

We just disembarked in Civitavecchia on Sunday and used CIVITAVECCHIA SHUTTLE SERVICE. I had requested a 9:30 pickup and we were in the van at 9:30. Their van can accommodate up to 8 passengers, but I would suggest you take no more than 7. We were 7. Cost: 150 euros total. The coordinator at the port was Aldo and our driver was Luciano. I highly recommend both.

 

I got my group together from the roll call. Suggest you do the same.

I'm flying in the day before embarkation and wonder if you could recommend a good hotel either near the airport or near the cruise port to spend the night. It seems I might be able to use Civitavecchia Shuttle Service for moving among these three places - does that sound plausible?

Also, does the shuttle actually get to a spot that's walkable (with luggage) to where we would board the ship?

look on the bight side....you won't have to deal with Customs and Immigration at Newark. :eek: So it is all good no matter what one you pick. :D

I'm looking at Aer Lingus JFK - DUB - FCO with a reasonable layover in Dublin, which I think is acceptable because I won't have to clear C & I until I get to Rome (right?).

Coming back it's LHR - DUB - JFK with a 2 hour DUB layover but only an hour in JFK before connecting to my flight home. In this case, am I right in thinking I do C & I in Dublin and not at JFK, so that 1 hour connection will not have me going crazy trying to clear C & I -- just moving quickly to my next gate?

Thank you all for such great information. Very, very helpful.

I guess I've been living in the dark for a while as I had no idea business class fares had gotten so high. I'm taking Marina's grand voyage from Rome to London next year and thought I would be able to deviate upwards to business class.

I think that may not be possible based on the $7000 +/- per person one way rate I found.

For any of you who may have flown from Atlanta to Rome and/or London to Atlanta in the last year, may I ask:

1. If you accepted "O" air as offered, was it coach class (I presume it was, but want to be sure)? Was it non-stop?

2. If you deviated by stepping up to Coach Economy, what was the up-charge (beyond the deviation cost)? And did you go nonstop?

3. If you deviated by stepping up to Business class, what was the up-charge (beyond the deviation fee)? And did you go nonstop?

Thanks in advance for helping me with this information.

Thanks everyone.

On Marina, the Oceania Suites describe having a 'hot tub' on the balcony. Is this a true jetted hot tub? Is the temperature controllable or set to a fixed temperature? Is it large enough for 2 people? Is the butler responsible for covering when not in use, or during rough weather?

I understand (on Explorer) that Prime 7, Chartreuse, and Pacific Rim will be 'specialty' restaurants and require reservations, but will Setti Mare be handled the same, or will it be walk-up and open seating like La Veranda is at lunch?

I seem to find conflicting info on the RSSC web site.

Will certainly make myself available should they do something similar on Explorer in January. Thanks for the heads-up.

Thanx!!

I notice that the Setti Mare menu has two sets of suggested wines on the bottom of their menu: One set just says "Wines" and has a red and a white. The second set says "Reserve Wines" and also shows a white and a red.

Can someone comment on the difference? If all wine is included, what makes a wine "Reserved"?

Not exactly a casino question, but was wondering if RSSC ships offer Bingo? Oceania ships do, and they had a Sno-ball accumulating prize which one man won on the final day of the cruise - $4,200 -- which he collected in cash and then placed as a down payment on his next cruise. My BW would like to play a few times and we haven't seen any mention of it anywhere.

Jackie,

Thanks, it certainly does. When we did a 14 night on Oceania, we did each specialty restaurant once - on sea days - and the MDR and Terrace on the other nights. Sounds like we'll have a very similar set-up on Explorer, and that's just fine.

Thanks again.

Jackie,

Can you explain if there is a limit to the number of reservations one can make for each of the Explorer (or any RSSC ship) specialty restaurants? I am on the LA to Miami 15 day cruise in January 2017. Will I have an opportunity to book each Specialty more than once? I can't seem to find anything concrete about that in any of the Regents promotional information.

Thanks!!

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful and informative responses. I'm really glad there is a Cruise Critic forum and that is populated by so many people willing to share of their knowledge and experience.

Dave,

I was answering JMARINER when your post came in.

You've given me exactly what I needed to make up my mind and to make my plans. Thanks very much!!!

I was thinking of doing it in reverse of what you've suggested -- a hotel close to the airport and a shuttle to the pier the following morning. I've used Supershuttle before and that was my thought for the run from the hotel to the ship.

I think the last piece of data I need to make up my mind is the RSSC credit for hotel and transfer.

Thanks for your reply.

Thanks for your reply.

So, did you get a credit from Regent for not using their hotel and transfer? If so, how much? I'm making my own flight arrangements and taking a credit for the air, but was unsure about the land portion.

Do you know what terminal/pier/location to have your van go to get to the Explorer's docking location? Again, if so, how did you obtain that info?

I'd like to make my own ground arrangements, too, but I'm uneasy about knowing where to tell the van driver where to take us.

Thanks again!!

Have booked Explorer LA to Miami, Jan 2017, and will be flying in the day before. I can't find any mention of what hotel RSSC uses for their pre-cruise night. If you've used this service, which one did you get and do you know if they use the same one all the time?

Thanks!!