gail-s

Thank you! Like I said, it's been a long time 🙃 The 9:15 train will probably be the one I'll book then.

Thank you! We are just going to Rome. I wasn't sure how long you could stay on the ship on the last day. Our last cruises were all out of Boston and we walked off super early. I don't really care either way this time.

Hoping someone who's done this in the past can chime in. We're getting off in Civitavecchia and making our way to Rome for a few days. So we're not in a hurry to rush off the ship and go. I plan on taking the train from the port to the city. Has anyone done this and can recommend what a good time to shoot for is? I'm assuming most people will be scrambling to get off and get moving early. I'd rather avoid the chaos if at all possible.

Lots of information here, which is great but overwhelming. I've been doing digging right now tied between the W Rome, the Inn at the Spanish Steps, Roma Fori Imperiale or Otivm. Obviously the Otivm is the least expensive. Spanish Steps and Fori Imperiale are in great locations. The W would give me tons of points/perks and has a pool. Going in July. Wondering if anyone has stayed in any of these and can comment on them for me or if there are any I should stay away from. Thanks!

Thanks for sharing this! I'm a bit on the tall side and so many of my summer dresses graze my knee but don't necessarily cover it. I'm trying to make a list of which places I need a wrap or a longer skirt for when we visit.

Thanks for asking this question. It didn't even occur to me to think that they'd wash everything in super hot. We wash just about everything here in tap cold. Our trip this summer is going to end up being 2 weeks long and I figured I'd send things to be washed near the end of the cruise. I'll have to rethink that and / or pack accordingly. For those that use the hooks, I've seen links to them on Amazon, how much do they actually weigh? Trying to avoid the 50lb checked bag 😜

Thanks for the responses! I went with the Portofino trip.

Oh my gosh how annoying! The guide really does make or break the trip.

I think the cinque terra trip is a longer day (9 hours) and involves a train. I wasn’t sure how long the transitions from place to place took. Having the long trip to Florence the next day, I was leaning toward something with a bit less travel.

That's the trip I was thinking of booking. I wasn't sure if there was a pro or con to either.

I'm asking this here because it's specific to the excursion from RCL in Portofino. Has anyone done the Portofino, Rapallo & St.Margherita or the Cinque Terre: Monterosso & Vernazza excursions? Could you share your thoughts on them? Please do not respond 100 times with "You can book your own tour so much cheaper" or "Just do it yourself". That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking about these 2 specific RCL excursions and opinions from people on those particular trips. Thanks.

Thanks for asking this question! We did 2 cruises with RCI and 3 with Norwegian, then we bought a boat and have enjoyed that instead since 2015. We booked our next cruise on a whim for our 50th b-days based solely on nostalgia - same ship/room we had for our honeymoon different location. Since I wasn't cruising I stayed away from the boards so I have no idea how RCI does anything anymore.

Okay, that makes sense to me. And the other comment about driving and being able to do the same. We're in the Northeast so with the exception of Boston to Bermuda, there aren't many cruises that leave out of here. And when we did that, I think you could bring wine on but you had to pay a corkage fee so we never bothered. Most of our rooms came with the unlimited drink package anyway so I just grabbed a drink at the bar. Our next cruise we'll be flying in again, so maybe we'll pick up a bottle each in Barcelona before we get on. We'll see. It's not a deal breaker for us. I remember years ago the big topic of discussion around here was how to sneak booze onto the ships. It always seemed like way too much work and stress for me. 🤷‍♀️ but that's my own opinion and everyone is entitled to their own. We were talking about bringing wine home with us after the trip, we've done that when visiting France but not on a cruise. I guess I'll figure that part out as I go.

Thank you!

Coming back to RCI after a long time of not cruising. Can someone explain MTD? I was under the assumption you could dine when you wanted to like on Norwegian. Yes, sometimes you had to wait, but normally it wasn't bad. How long before your trip can you sign up for the times? And what happens if you want to change them? My thought was to do it because I may want to eat early one night but later another and make the decision on the fly.

I'm amazed at how many people bring their own wine on board and/or are griping about this. We never did previously and just figured paying for wine as part of our plan or separately was part of the vacation. nbd Since we're normally flying in from somewhere, bringing breakable bottles would be a pain in the neck.

Thanks for the great information! to the OP, we'll be on the same cruise with you this summer.

We're doing the same tour in July. Spending 2 nights in Barcelona before the cruise and then 3 nights in Rome afterwards. I'm figuring out the logistics, etc now and booking excursions. We haven't cruised in forever so I'm just going with the ones from the ship for the places we want them (Portofino and Florence/Pisa) I know people will say you can save a ton booking them on your own but I'm more comfortable this way. I still need to book my hotel in Rome and our transfers to the city from the port. We're planning on taking the train. In Barcelona I'm going to do a guided tour with skip the lines for Park Guell and La Sagrada. Still working on the rest. It's going to be here before I know it.

You people are stressing me out trying to make this decision 😂 If you had to choose between Hotel 1898 and Hotel Jazz, which would you choose and why? Do either have airport/hotel or hotel/cruiseport transfers? We're staying 2 nights in July, pre-cruise and like to walk to explore the cities. Understanding we'll need transportation to get to a few of the locations we want to see.

Thanks for asking this. We need a hotel for 2 nights pre-cruise this summer. I was hoping to find a hotel where they spoke English and could assist us with transfers to the cruiseport, etc. I looked at the Marriott site as well and there are so many options. I was hoping someone might have a recommendation on which one to stay at. Everyone says to stay in La Rambla but I honestly have no idea.

We haven't cruised in years but next year we're going on the Enchantment to Europe. Why? Because it will be our 50th birthdays and I was able to book the same suite we had for our honeymoon on that same ship. It'll be fun and something different to do. We've never done the huge new ships and I'm okay with that. I don't think we'd do half the "stuff" as it is.