CharmedLife4

We're also just back from a FABULOUS trip on the Harmony of the Seas. Can't say enough about our two Rome In Limo drivers for Rome (Civitavechhia) and Naples. There were 6 of us total - my husband and myself, our two teenagers, and my 60-something parents.

For Rome, we had Luca as a driver and he was amazing. Our ship docked an hour late (someone else was in our spot!) and he patiently waited with all of the other drivers, and extended our tour an hour to make sure we saw everything we needed. The drive to and from Rome flew by, and my teenagers were especially happy on the way back when Luca shared his wi-fi passcode! It was our first trip to Rome and it was fantastic to have a knowledgeable local driving us around, teaching us history, giving us great instructions for the walking parts of our tour, making sure we had our fill of gelato and pizza, and making adjustments on the fly as needed. We always felt safe and comfortable, and the 8-passenger, AC van with cold bottles of water was a haven.

For Naples, we had Enrico and he was also fantastico! Again, we were able to make adjustments on the fly as needed. We first visited Sorrento and then drove down the Amalfi Coast to Positano. First of all, I would NOT want to do that drive myself. Not only because of the crazy roads but also the heavy traffic, with lots of people driving who don't know the area. But just as with Luca the day before, Enrico was full of colorful stories (and loved talking about "futbol" with my teenage son) and gave us a lot of insight into the people and culture of the region. He played lots of Frank Sinatra which made my mom very happy. We instantly fell in love with Positano and he suggested we cancel our later lunch reservation to spend more time there, just getting takeaway food. All 6 of us agree that this town and spending time with Enrico was the highlight of our trip. We also loved our visit to Pompeii and the outstanding guide we had there, Lucia.

Our cruise ports were a mixture of RC excursions (Mallorca), a DIY day (Pisa) and two days with Rome In Limo (sadly, Marseilles was a cancelled stop!). Luca and Enrico truly made our last two stops the most magical and I have already been recommending RIL to friends who are planning future trips to Italy. I also think it was very special for us to get to spend some time with a local and learn from them, versus being one of 40 on a big tour bus.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Interested as well for a cruise in June... Is the "Old Port of Marseille" something you can walk to from the cruise dock? Or do we need transportation from the cruise into the city to get to this location, and can then purchase boat trip tickets directly from the vendors?

Getting excited but lots of pressure to get everything planned, and have already spent a lot on other excursions so DIY is sounding pretty good to me now!

I have not seen a deck plan that explains the differences between the sub categories, they all have the same description. Yes the deck plan will show what color rooms are what category, but that doesn't answer the question

Thanks, that was my question. I certainly see different categories on deck plans but when you're pricing out a cruise I haven't been able to find anything that describes the differences in the same category, i.e. D1 to D3 to D6. Thanks for the explanations about the sofa bed versus non-sofa bed, even though our rooms are next to each other so location is clearly not a factor, whether a room fits 2 or 4 clearly is.

Thanks to everyone for your help, I'm the queen of Disney planning but as a first time cruiser I feel like a newborn. Difficult for a control freak like me.

The cabins are identical except for location and, depending on ship, the D3's have a sofa bed while the D6's do not. It all depends on which ship you are on.

Thank you so much for the info! We needed the sofa bed for our kids so that explains it. I wish RC would have a list somewhere that defines these categories, but I haven't been able to find it. Thanks for the explanation!

I'm a newbie as well and have been trying (and failing) to understand the differences between the stateroom categories. We are booked in a D3 balcony and my parents are 2 doors down from us in a D6. What is the difference between them? I've searched as many places and terms as I can think of and yet haven't been able to find the answer... I assume "D3" is nicer than "D6" but in what ways?

Thanks for your help!

I've used air2sea(Choice Air) six times and in every instance their price was about 1/4 the price directly through the airline. April 29, Barcelona to Phoenix is $390 p.p. in coach. This is for one way US to Europe or visa versa.

It seems their pricing holds pretty well no matter if your cruise is out a year or two months.

Thanks for the response; I might be doing something wrong as I'm not getting any discounts over what I pull up on Travelocity, etc., or the airlines themselves for Chicago to Barcelona in June. I'll keep trying and hoping for a miracle, right now the flights are quite a bit more than expected and of course I need them X4! At this rate we're spending more on airfare than we did on the cruise. It is what it is but I'm hopeful for some sudden price break using air2sea.

I keep checking air2sea and am not coming up with anything less expensive to BCN than what I find through the airlines or sites like Travelocity. How far out is your cruise? Mine is in June - wondering if I'm either too early or too late... Not sure how long to wait for the prices to come down before booking, husband is already nervous...

As for your question, I'm a new cruiser so I'm not sure my info is helpful but I do fly internationally quite a bit and that timeline would make me nervous. I've been delayed from hours to days by weather, strikes, mechanical problems, etc. I suppose it depends on what time of year you're flying to see how big the risk of weather delays are, the rest is definitely not something you can plan for.

We'll be in Harmony of the Seas in June for a very port-intensive Western Med cruise. I'll have a 13-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter, and we've never cruised before. For those of you with experience on port-intensive cruises, do you find that the kids hang out in groups as much? My kids are not super-outgoing so I'm not sure how much they'll be comfortable with a group of strangers although I intend to "encourage" them to go to the activities on the first night to meet the other kids on board...

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such an excellent review! I'm going on the Brilliance of the Seas next June on a similar itinerary so it was exciting to read about your adventures in ports!

As a cruising newbie, can someone give me advice on how far in advance you should book excursions? If our cruise is in June, is it too early to start booking now? Especially with some of the excellent private parties that I've seen listed in these reviews? Also, what happens if the port call is cancelled, such as what happened to you in Santorini?

Thanks again!