gail-s

You can get chips and charge them to your room, there is a 5% fee for doing so. So if you get $300 in chips you're charged $315 on your statement. Otherwise you can bring US dollars to buy chips.

Not sure exactly what you're looking for, but if you have any specific questions I can try to answer. We did Barcelona to Rome in July on her this year, having also sailed on her in 1999 in the caribbean. Like others said, she's a simple ship. Go see Nester in the Schooner bar and Theresa in Chops. Both were fabulous. I'm not a buffet person to begin with and felt like I was in the Hunger Games in the Windjammer. Couldn't get out of there fast enough. They will be very tired after port days, thankfully it's a relaxing boat. The Viking lounge was almost always empty, great place to unwind. Even the pool wasn't crowded because of all of the excursions. Late night, the casino was pretty much the only activity that we found. My one recommendation is for ports where you have to tender in, they're probably better off booking an excursion through RCI if they plan on doing one. In Portofino they used the lifeboats as tenders. Due to rough water and tie ups, the process was very slow. We met a few people who had tried to book an excursion through a private company and missed it because it took them hours to get off the boat. We booked through RCI and while the 7:30 meeting time was rough, we got off and had a wonderful trip. We were back on by 2pm and relaxing. For our stop in Florence we also went through RCI since it's a long drive from the port to the city and we didn't want to chance missing the boat - literally. The guide was wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Book the key and keep your eyes open for a Royal Up offer. We had a JS on the Enchantment and planned on buying the Key. Our Royal Up was accepted so we added 2 devices to DH's account for wifi and cancelled the Key. Totally spoiled by the special treatment of being in a suite.

We avoided the Windjammer as much as possible on our Enchantment cruise in July. It was worth the extra $$ to eat in Chops and we were lucky enough to be able to eat there in the morning as we had a suite. The behavior I saw in the buffet made my stomach turn and I didn't want to touch anything in there.

Yes, we had reserved through the Amex site for one of their Fine Hotels. We received a $$ credit for food / drinks which we blew through quite easily in the bar on site ($35 cheeseburger, $25 Caesar salad etc) We had the room I reserved so I'm assuming that there were no upgrades available. The hotel was nice and we appreciated having staff who spoke English and assisted us in getting taxis when needed. I linked my Marriot account to the Plat card but haven't done the Hilton yet. I probably should.

We were in the owners suite in July 8014 which is also under the windjammer. Every so often I'd hear them rolling something along the floor but that was it. I never heard any noise from people in the windjammer. It didn't bother me at all. The room was beautiful and we enjoyed the special treatment we got from the staff for staying in a suite.

Most that I'm finding are water resistant not proof. I could always use a small wet bag inside of it for anything I don't want getting wet.

I know this is an older post, but popping back into it. Now that belt bags have popped up everywhere, has anyone found a waterproof one that they like? I've seen the clear plastic ones on Amazon and I do not like them. I'm looking for something just big enough for my phone, sunglasses, lipgoo and id card. Maybe some cash. We'll be in the Bahamas in January (one day entirely at the beach) and Costa Rica in April (not a cruise). I'm looking for something small that I can keep on me at all times. On the way to our last cruise I got a Le Pliage tiny sling that was good for keeping those things with me on the ship, but it doesn't close securely enough for doing anything active. https://www.longchamp.com/us/en/products/phone-case-34201HDF165.html

Thanks for asking this question. We've been to Nassau twice before. Once did the aquarium at Atlantis (it was pretty new at the time) and once rented a moped and drove around and got lost (probably not to be recommended) We're a touch older now and I don't know what we're going to do on this next trip there. The other half cannot sit still long enough to make paying $200 each for a seat at a beach worth it. We won't have any kids with us, so I honestly would prefer going "somewhere" that won't be overrun with them.

We just booked a 3 night cruise out of Miami for January. We'll be landing around 7:30pm and going straight to the hotel. My husband booked the Intercontinental before I could do any research into it (aka overthink it for a week) It looks like they might have 1 or 2 restaurants/bars. Does anyone know if they'll still be open when we arrive or how they are? It's a Thursday night. All of the comments I see about the hotel mention the view and walking distance to XYZ. We're not going to want to go for a walk (and I'm not a chain restaurant person) Thanks!

Sorry just seeing this now. I slept quite soundly and the noise didn't bother me. My husband was up a little later and told me it was crazy and loud out on La Ramblas. You could ask for a room further from the main street possibly if you think it might keep you awake.

I wanted to thank the people who responded to my questions before our trip. We ended up staying at the Hotel 1898. It's in a great location, on the corner of La Ramblas. We had a room with a view on the side street, which was small but clean and well set up. King bed, dresser, chair, big window that opened up onto the street. Giant bathroom. The hotel staff were excellent. Very friendly and helpful. There was a taxi stand just outside that we used to get a ride from the hotel to cruise. We spent some time at the rooftop bar and pool while we were there. The pool was nice and relaxing, no problems getting a place to sit. The bar was good as well. We had some tapas and drinks and our second afternoon had the place mostly to ourselves. The views were beautiful. We only ate breakfast at the hotel one morning. Unfortunately we were hurried and couldn't take advantage of everything that was offered. There was a large buffet and you could also order omelets etc. If you have time to relax and eat a ton, I'd recommend it. We'd definitely stay there again if we go back.

Back from the trip and we didn't rent scooters anywhere. I thought Boston drivers were insane but Barcelona was pretty close. And Rome was 100 times worse. In the days leading up to the trip we had a ton of family stuff to deal with and i never got the driving permit. Walking through Rome I told my husband I was glad I hadn't bothered because there was no way I would have been comfortable driving there. Wanted to share since some of you were nice and responded to my original question. THanks!

Which cruiseline? We were on Royal Caribbean leaving Barcelona on July 3rd. We had an 11:30 boarding time scheduled. We left our hotel a bit early and got to the port at 10:30. I knew this might not be a problem because we were staying in a suite and one of the perks is that you have wiggle room with your boarding time. BUT that wiggle room is usually only 1/2 an hour. There was maybe 1 other couple there when we arrived. We showed them our boarding passes and were able to pass along our luggage and board the ship. I have no idea how it went later in the day or if they would have given us a hard time if we weren't staying in that suite. If you're staying in a suite I'd say it's worth a shot trying to go early. Otherwise I can't say.

We just sailed on RCI (and yes, I called it RCCL too) after not sailing them in 20+ years. I forgot that these boards can be amazingly catty, so take responses with a grain of salt. There are some nice people on here. The flexible dining time is very similar to NCL. You can book in advance or just walk up and wait. We were in a suite so we were seated almost immediately once we made it to the door to give our number on nights we didn't reserve a table. We loved the Chef's table on Enchantment. We ended up eating in Chops, which was the only specialty restaurant, a few times to get away from the crowds. I can't stand them and neither can my other half. Finding snacks or something to eat after dinner or in between meals was problematic. Unless you like pizza which you could find in the Solarium at the cafe. I remember there being more available in the past. It may have been our trip, but it was very mellow. Not a lot of things going on. The pool deck was empty most nights. The bars on level 11 that have wonderful views were empty most of the time. Staff was amazing. They mentioned to us that many of the staff are new post covid and still learning the ropes. Being able to check in ahead of time and having all of your information with the company made boarding so much faster than I remembered. You'll have fun.

We were just in Genoa and I wanted to do the funiculars as well. I downloaded a self guided walking tour so that we could see the city and was hoping to make it to the Zecca-Righi Funicular. The tour thankfully had me go down Galleria Garibaldi and since I'm prone to getting lost we ended up in front of the station for the funicular. It's free, so we hopped on and took it to the top. The view is amazing but unless you want to go hiking to the forts (which are 1-4 miles away) there isn't anything to do up there. The restaurant next to the station at the top was not open yet and there was no sign stating when it would open. Also, this was July and it was very hot and the funiculars are not airconditioned. They are built on an angle so someone with difficulty walking may have issues getting in and out due to the stairs and the angles.

We just got back from a July 3-10 cruise in the Western Med ending in Rome for 3 days. It was very hot, over 100 every day and very crowded in all of our ports and in Rome.

I was going to say exactly what Scottishclover said. We had an 8:30 am tour and it was very crowded. Tour was good but you had to keep moving because it was wall to wall people. St Peter's was beautiful. We wandered around and could get away from people. Completely disgusted with some people's behavior there, but that's another issue. You don't need a selfie or to take glamour shots for your IG inside a church like that. ***** We were there during the extreme heat and DH wore pants as instructed. There were some men in shorts ( and with annoying backpacks that kept hitting everyone) but they were the minority. They were allowed in but I don't know if that was because of the heat or what. Most people were dressed following the dress code. I was able to walk through the museum section in my sundress but had to put my sweater on for the chapel and St Peter's. Thankfully it was cooler in there.

Find a comfortable pair of shoes that you can easily walk 5+ miles in and you're good. Don't worry about what they look like. I wore sandals that were very comfortable and looked good with my dress to Sagrada Familia and ended up with blisters on my little toes. Never happened before but it was so hot and with the leather rubbing for that many miles it happened. People said "no one in Europe wears flipflops" but I wore my awesome Eddie Bauer flipflops for the next few days and I was much more comfortable while I let my toes heal. Unfortunately, as it got hotter and hotter, my feet started sliding around a bit and they weren't as comfortable for that many miles. I ended up switching to my Cariuma sneakers for most of the trip. White, basic, blended in with everyone. My only stupid move was that I brought no-show socks only and the back of the shoe rubbed on my ankle because they weren't totally broken in yet. Believe it or not I had trouble finding somewhere to get socks that came up and covered that while walking around Rome. Maybe I didn't look hard enough. I had some blister pads from 3m that worked though. The sneakers were the best bet. DH wore Hey Dudes all week. They were super light and comfortable. Looked like his boat shoes but more casual. As everyone else said, no one looks at your feet except other tourists.

We just flew back to Boston on 7/13. We were in Rome from the 10th until we left. It was over 100 every day. Dry heat but miserable. In the afternoon you felt like you were going to drop walking around. We had a 5pm entrance to the Colosseum (only time I could get thanks to their fabulous system) and DH was miserable the entire time. So many people, so hot, sun beating down. We walked by the Forum and Palatine Hill but skipped going through them. We had an 8:30 guided tour of the Vatican on Wednesday. Figured it would be early so no problem. It was absolutely packed. They start the tours earlier. Wall to wall people. If there was AC you couldn't feel it in the museum sections. Thankfully you don't need to have your shoulders covered there but you did in the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's but with the higher ceilings they were much cooler. Talking to people who live there and they said it normally isn't quite that hot that early in July. They said that August is unbearable and wouldn't recommend travelling there during that month. DH is a teacher so we're tied to school schedules when we travel so I feel the pain of only being able to travel when it's bloody hot. There were lots of places to refill water bottles walking around. One day the police actually had the shaded section of the Spanish Steps corded off to keep people from sitting on them, it was that bad.

Email them and get the answer in writing

🙄 we technically had 4 bags. 2 we checked on the plane 2 were smaller carry ons. They offered to take all 4 at the dock so I let them. Figured no big deal. It really wasn’t other than the little bit extra time it took for the bag to get to me. Other than the sticker they didn’t seem to care either. We rarely cruise anymore so these rules were all new to me. I mentioned it because not everyone does 2 cruises a year and knows every single stupid detail of the rules by memory.

Keep in mind if you have a bottle of wine in your bag it may take it a bit longer to get to your room when you check in. We checked in 2 suitcases and 2 carryon bags. 1 carryon had a bottle of wine in it. The 3 other bags all arrived at our room hours before my carryon, which of course had everything I wanted in it. Not a big deal as it made it there eventually. There was a sticker on my luggage tag showing a bottle of wine, so that was why it took longer.

For anyone on the US side, if you buy something make sure you use your actual passport as your identification. I bought a couple of purses in Rome to bring home and used my passport card as ID because that's what I had with me. At the airport they refused to process it for me because I hadn't used my actual passport. I think the woman was just being a b!tch but it is what it is. Figured I'd share so someone else might avoid the problem.