FloridaTourist

Here are some pics.

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This will be short as we are getting ready for dinner. Ship is not finished from dry dock. Gave everyone extra $100 pp OBC. Crows nest is closed. They said only partial closure but not true. Write you all the details later

Marion - the offer for the Neptune was $299pp. We tried to get it while

Onboard since they gave nuance extra credit but None avail now.

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Just back from the food tour with John from Livitaly. Great tour and well worth the money. Started in the Jewish ghetto and continued from there. Had the most amazing fried artichoke at Giardino Romano. Would go back for that and their cod. Great tour and great food. We learned a lot about gelato. You would

Be surprised about what you don't know. Actually went to a natural gelato place with no additives. John actually had us go into another place and look and the colors than he bought a gelato at a high end chocolatier. We tasted what he bought and tasted the natural. Of my gosh what a difference.

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Sorry here is the keyhole picture

Today was an awesome day. We were picked up by our tour company Rome Driving Tours for a private 4 hour of Rome. Luca and Johnny showed up at our hotel to meet us at the hotel but they didn't want to disturb our breakfast and they just waited in the lobby. This is an amazing tour company. I would use them over and over. Luca was like a walking encyclopedia of Roman history. Johnny was very knowledgable as well. The 2 together was fantastic. The vehicle was clean and spacious. They started with an early tour of the coliseum and continued from there. They took us places many tour guides don't take you to. It was great to have Johnny come out of the van with us while Luca double parked places so we could see more than normal. This tour was well worth the money. The best part was when they took us to the key hole to look through, Johnny gave me a tip on how to get the picture that most people never through the whole. I will add it at the bottom. At their suggestion and we totally agreed that we would skip the sights near our hotel since we can walk to those. At the end of the tour they dropped us in Trastevere for lunch. From there we walked to Trevi Fountain and back to the hotel to rest for a bit before our food tour later tonight. The same tour company will pick us up at the hotel, take us to the Vatican for an early tour then off to the Oosterdam. Unfortunately we won't have Luca and Johnny for that part but in sure we wi be well taken care of.

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On the way to dinner we stopped and toured the Pantheon. Interesting place. Good thing was that it was not crowded. Than Had dinner tonight at Baffetto. It's supposed to be the best pizza in Rome. Waited 40 minutes for a table. The line continued all evening going down the block. Pizza was really good. Mine had artichoke, red pepper yellow pepper, onion and an egg in the middle. I also had an Italian beer. DW had mushroom pizza. Both were really good. Interesting in that most pizza doesn't come with cheese. After dinner we just walked through the narrow streets and ally's. Sunday will be your day

Can't seem to edit last post but that's gelato not ghetto.

So more about the Hotel ****onale. We had reserved a deluxe room but the upgraded us to an executive room. Room is very spacious even by American standards. Nice bathroom. Very clean hotel. I see a few things that could use to be replaced but all in all a good place and amazing location. We took a nice nap this afternoon so we can get caught up on sleep and will soon venture out for the evening. But we won't be late as we have an 8am pickup from Rome Driving Tours for a tour of Rome. I will try to add some hotel pics below.

Well we arrived today in Rome at approx 10:50am local time. We left Orlando via Delta to JFK. The airport lines were not bad at all. Matter of fact the shortest I have seen them at MCO. The pre-tsa line moved quickly. All in all from drop off to gate took 15 minutes. The MD 88 had very small luggage bins. That was an issue for most most folks. We Arrived in JFK on time but had to change terminals there. We left from from terminal 4. Ate dinner at Blue Smoke BBQ or some name something like that. Looked like a good bar/bbq. Looks can be deceiving. Note to self: airport food is worse than airline food!

Our flight was scheduled to leave at 8:00pm but Delta started lining up everyone an hour before. Never did that before. Priority boarding on one side of the hall everyone else on the other. We had "sky" boarding which was a priority type as we had purchased the economy comfort. We boarded the Airbus rather quickly and watched everyone else. We thought these would be good seats to have. Bought economy comfort once before for a long flight but different plane type. Well another note to self: check plane type when booking economy comfort. We had our choice when we booked and didn't want bulkhead. So took the row behind it. That was a bad move. Should have taken the last row of EC as on the other side of the bulkhead wall was the business class kitchen which operated and banged and made noise all night. Anyway service was good. Food better than I expected and flight was on time. Oh and right before we boarded at JFK Kristin from LivItaly tours emailed me to let me know my driver would be waiting for us in Rome. By the time we got through a fast moving customs line the luggage was waiting for us. FYI-luggage carts at FCO are free. The driver was there as promised and he took us to he Mercedes. It was nice to get off the plane and have someone with my name on a sign. No hassles.

He took us to our hotel the Hotel ****onale right in the center of Rome. Great reviews on Tripadvisor. Even though I booked this room in September and told them we would be early, of course it wasn't. So we went to lunch and walked around and also got ghetto. Came back at 3:50 and said at least another 45 min. Ok at this point I am not happy. The manager apologies and takes full fault. So after some Italian discussion between staff we finally got into another room. Very cool hotel in same square as the Italian parliament. So lots of armed police etc. very safe feeling. Lunch was great in a place locals go Taverna Antonina. Living in Orlando where tourists abound there is one thing here that makes us feel at home - just like home no one speaks English!!!

Friday we will depart from MCO to JFK Than to FCO. But one day at a time. I'll let you know how the pre-tsa is in Orlando this week. Usually it's not to bad. Will be on Delta in economy comfort. Couple of bourbons and I'll sleep just fine!

Hi FloridaTourist

 

Looking forward to your report, especially since the Oosterdam will have just come out of dry dock. We are boarding on May 12 and are excited about our itinerary.

 

 

 

Safe travels and enjoy the sights. There will be many, especially the sail into Venice.

We are very excited. We upgraded from a verandah room to a signature suite last month. Yesterday we received an offer to upgrade to a Neptune. But because this cruise is port intensive we opted not to upgrade again since we won't be on ship that much to use it.

Hi Folks. Just getting this thread started. My DW and I will be heading to Rome on Friday from our home airport in Orlando to board the Oosterdam on April 18 from Civitavecchia. I plan on writing live each day and sharing our experiences. I hope to add some humor and general interest for everyone. We will stay in Rome from Saturday till Monday, than board the ship and disembark in Venice on April 30 and stay an extra night in Venice. We don’t have any shipboard tours planned but do have many private tours planned before, during and after the cruise.

A little about us. We both still work and are very active in our early-mid 50’s. This is our first trip to Europe, although we have been overseas three years ago on a trip to Israel. The kids are finally on their own and the dog has passed on, so finally we are able to begin our travels. We have been on several cruises. We sailed HAL last on the Zaandam in 1999. We have also sailed on Princess and most recent RCCL. We chose this cruise because we wanted to see some of Europe and we liked the idea of a port intensive cruise – 11 ports in 12 days and we wanted to do it in April. This fit the bill even though Kusadasi, Turkey is seeming more and more unlikely.

We have the spare bedroom filled with clothes ready to pack in our suitcases. I can’t say we are super experienced travelers although we have traveled all over the US and parts of Canada. We don’t travel lite. The DW says if she has to do laundry while on vacation it is not a vacation and I kind of agree. We are not opposed to doing a little hand laundry though, but we will utilize the ships laundry services. The DW doesn’t like her stuff in the dryer so this will be interesting. We also are not big on wearing things a second time. Since we live in central Florida in the heat and humidity we seldom can wear things twice. We are not flying first class so are limited to 50lbs per bag…total of 2 and 2 carry-ons. We will be bringing all of that.

So hold on to your seats as we begin the ride shortly…..I’m taking Cruise Critic on this trip with us…..Hope you all enjoy

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Did they not take you to the lower levels of he Church of Annunciation? The newer church is built in top of 2 centuries older churches.

This is the response that I received from Santorini Excursions. I am in hopes that someone will report back that they are indeed operating this season.

 

 

 

This kind of tour is available. It begins from the old port of Fira with a speedboat and you gonna reach Ammoudi bay in only 10 minutes. In this bay there will be a private bus which going to take you to the top of the village of Oia.

 

 

 

In Oia you will have free time to enjoy the famous village and then every one hour there is a private bus from the same spot that we left you and with the same ticket it goes to Fira town.

 

 

 

In Fira the free time depends from the departure time of the last tender to return back on your cruise ship.

 

 

 

In order to see availability please tell how exactly how many adults and how many children you are. Children below 6 years old don’t pay at all but please mention them. Official price is 20€ per person.

 

[/my cruise leaves April 18. I'll let you all know

An interesting view from cruisemom42.

 

 

 

Even allowing for language constraints, most European tourists seldom take organised tours so, for us, it is a strange concept that North American visitors want guides wherever they visit. This is not a criticism - just an observation.

 

 

 

If you feel that you need a guide in Rome for historical information as well as tickets/transport logistics you will probably want one in Venice. If however, you prefer to do your own research - so easy now on line - and see places at your own pace which we far prefer, then Venice is as I said earlier so easy to DIY.

 

 

 

Out of interest - again please do not take this as a criticism, it is a genuinely interested enquiry - would you take a guide when visiting a new city in the US? If your answer to this is yes then I would recommend that you take one in European ports.

That's an interesting thought. I never take a guide when touring in my own country (USA) in new cities. But because this will be our first time in Europe and will spend a few days in Rome and Venice at the start and finish of a 12 day cruise I for some reason felt the need for a guide. Maybe it's because of the language? Or maybe because of the crowd and limited times to see as much as possible??? I know some cities are easy to do on your own but I think it's the reassurance of having someone familiar with the area, customs, arranging for my tickets and transportation that make it worth while investment. I also refuse to take public transportation in Europe. That's a personal choice. Beside these 2 cities we hired guides for the Amalfi coast, Athens and Ephasus. I did do research on Athens and it's easy with the hop on hop off bus but I'm not doing buses and public transportation. Part of my travel smart criteria. So the guide helps with reassurance.

We were just offered an up sell on the Oosterdam for April 18 from signature suite to Neptune for $900. We already upgraded once from verandah to signature suite. We turned down the Neptune. Should we change our mind? It's 12 day 11 port cruise. Didn't think we would be in the room to enjoy it that much. Plus all the suites will be new just after dry dock so thought signature suite was enough. Was that a mistake?

I just got off the phone with RCL. So far there is no change in the itineraries of any ships going to Turkey. They have not received any alerts yet. All ships are as scheduled. I really want to go to Ephesus, so I hope this situation does not escalate. If our ship docks in Kusadasi, we will get off and go see the sites.

I agree with you. We leave on the booster damn on April 18 I will be at Ephesus later that week. The key is to travel smart. We don't plan on using any public transportation and I don't plan on doing any bus tours. our tours will all be private

We are having our interviews tomorrow at Orlando. Do they not advise you almost immediately thereafter that you have been approved? Or is it that you won't know until the card arrives? It was my understanding that once approved, and before the card arrives, that the approval is digitally sent to your passport. No?

They tell you immediately if you are approved but it has nothing to do with your passport.

What is the exchange rate for the kuna? If one has euros.

 

 

 

Thank you for all your help

If you have a smartphone there is a free app called Currency+ that does it for you with there latest rates. Makes it easy to tell if you are getting a good deal.

We are not museum or buildings fans.

So glad to read that. My wife and I thought we were the only ones. After a while all those ruins look a like!!

So I leave in 19 days and we stop in Turkey for Ephesus. Part of a 12 day 11 port cruise. When would the cruise line let us know about the port change if there is one? In advance or when we board? Currently I have a private tour booked and the terms specify I'm not liable for charges if ship doesn't dock but I would want to replace it with something in what ever port we go.

We just had a very pleasant experience getting GE. I did the online application about two weeks ago. We had the 'conditional approval' in three days. I went online to schedule the interview. Unfortunately for us the closest port of entry for is Charlotte. RDU only schedules them one day a year. Charlotte CBP did not have appointments available until Mid-June :-(. We sail in 18 days. I went back online and saw that Dulles had appointments right away. So we spent a lovely Easter weekend in DC enjoying the cherry blossoms. Interview took 10 minutes and now we are 'trusted travelers.'

 

 

 

Dennis

Did they issue your GE cards right at the airport? We did ours at Sanford/Orlando International and we had to wait for the card to come in the mail......it was another week at least.

The market near the port is amazing.

If you book a hotel in the old Montreal area you may be able to walk from the ship to the hotel. I was there last summer and I saw many people do this. The port is literally in the tourist area of old Montreal. In worst case if you have a lot of luggage it is a very short cab or uber ride.

If you want to purchase euro's in advance, if you are a AAA member they offer a very favorable exchange rate with no fee and deliver it right to your home. If you order under 1000 euro's there is a $7.50 delivery fee but 1001 and over deliver is free.

We depart April 18 on the Oosterdam. No plans to cancel. Can't wait to go. You just need to travel smart. We are doing all private tours. No large group tours and we won't use any public transportation. If you don't go they win.