ITGuyMD

What is your idea of 'reasonably priced'? And when you say shopping, what kind of shopping do you have in mind? Top end designer shopping like via Condotti? Souvenir shopping? Food markets?

Yeap not sure if there are any reasonably priced around Trevi, all very high end shops around the via Condotti, we saw Dwayne Wade, Gabby Union and his family strolling through.

On the way to the Pantheon are tons of souvenir shops and food though and may be cheaper hotels while still being close to Trevi and via Condotti shopping.

Just need some practical information. We will be on our first TA in May. In the past we have carried a few bottles of wine in our carry-on/luggage upon embarkation, replenishing with wines from local ports. However, if we purchase a case of wine prior to embarkation, does it need to be packaged/placed in luggage or can we simply present a case along with our luggage?

You can leave it in the case and check it like any other piece of luggage. Just have one of the porters put it on a cart for you and move it to the luggage check-in area.

Thanks, this gives me an idea for prices.

 

Any idea the price to thr airport?

Pretty sure it was 80E, definitely cheaper to the airport since that circuit is closer, more common, more likely to get a return fare.

You can try this website too looks like their prices are a little cheaper and they're a tripadvisor company so they should be reputable, but again I would book in advance if you are shopping online, don't wait until you are on the boat to try and price shop and book things due to spotty internet.

https://www.viator.com/tours/Rome/Civitavecchia-Private-Transfer-Central-Rome-to-Civitavecchia-Cruise-Port/d511-5476ROMHTLPRT

As you can see the prices get cheaper with more people, 2 people is a bit cheaper than the prices I quoted.

Thank you for the great information.

 

We will coming off a Princess ship to Rome and going hotel to Rome airport after our stay.

 

Can you tell me how got from cruise port/airport to hotel?

We did everything by private car and had our hotel arrange it for us, which made it very easy with the spotty internet to just give the hotel our time of arrival. It is more expensive this way, but the last thing you are going to want to do is lug your luggage around the port into town (which would be about as much walking as you would do to see 3-4 sites in Rome) and then jump on a crowded commuter train or bus. A private car (luxury van or sedan) is similar price to a standard cab since the prices are regulated by their tourism authority, and if you have more than 2 of you, the price for each additional person is still cheaper than the increase in car size. If you can pair up with another group on the ship that is ideal but we weren't able to make arrangements with folks we met that had similar itineraries.

Do NOT arrive without arrangements with the expectation there will be readily available transportation at the cruise port, generally the only transportation there is car services, buses, and tour guides waiting to pick up those who arranged for travel. The drive back from Port to Rome is around 1.5 hours so its not super close and they only go there to pick up guaranteed fares. When you disembark it is pretty much chaos and you're going to be tired from your cruise, so the last thing you're going to want to do is sit around and try and make transportation arrangements. Private car will have a professional driver in a suit with your name on a placard and drive you ship to door in a air conditioned car for around 120E.

Easiest way is to book a hotel, then have them arrange for a private car or bus to pick up your group through one of their preferred services. Prices are more or less fixed in Rome by the tourism authority so expect to pay around $120E for a car or luxury van (mercedes) to take you to your hotel. Bring Euros too, if you try to pay in USD they will give you a pretty poor exchange rate.

For hotels, there's a wide variety of comfort and price ranges. You'll have to gauge how comfortable your family needs to be in the hotel room vs. how close and convenient they want to be to the tourist sites. Prices and star levels vary greatly.

I am in the planning stage for 2 - late 60 year old ladies for a stay in Rome pre cruise. I have never been to Rome before, a little lost with the information.

 

You should be back from your Rome stay.

 

Can you tell us about your hotel stay? Name, tourist places close by, walking distance to sights?

 

Name of any tours or websites i.e.: Vatican would be helpful.

 

Any information would be helpful.

Hi there sorry I forgot about this post, hopefully a reply still helps you plan your trip.

Our hotel stay ended up being overall very good with some issues on the first night with the room AC. You can read about our experience in this TA review: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187791-d237193-r505298861-Hotel_Grifo-Rome_Lazio.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT

I will emphasize that the room itself when compared to a US hotel is probably a 2.5-3 star experience, but you are not paying for the hotel experience as much as you are for the amazing location, food options and vibrant nightlife in the area.

For sightseeing, you are only 4 blocks or so away from the Coliseum, 4 blocks away from the Roman Forum, 4 blocks away from Augustus' Forum, 8-9 blocks away from Trevi Fountain, 13-14 away from Spanish Steps. Pantheon is another 13-14 away perhaps but they are all walkable in 15 minutes or so. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes as the large volcanic pavers in Rome are uneven and get very hot in the summertime. The only locale we really felt the need to cab to was the Vatican, but if you go to some of the gardened estates and villas you will also need to cab.

For tours, there are a number of options, the first day we ended up getting solicited by an individual to do the Colisseum tour by https://italywithus.com/ and it worked out great, even got a slight discount since the tour was just about to start and another discount for signing up with a 2nd tour for the Vatican (you get to choose the day). They sign you up and pay at the first office near the colisseum and you get the vouchers for the Vatican tour.

These tours are WELL WORTH IT. Some people sign up in advance but no matter how you book your tours, you should definitely go this route because YOU GET TO SKIP LINE QUEUES. This is honestly the single biggest reason to do the guided tours because you will almost always see 2 lines at any major tourist attraction, 1 for guided tours and 1 for general population. The gen pop lines snake around for what could be hours in the sweltering sun (June in Rome is 85-90 with a HOT sun), while the guided tour line, usually you are the line with maybe 1-2 groups with you. You also avoid getting lost or missing something, which is a major risk for the Vatican especially (a wrong turn means you might miss the museums or the Sistine Chapel). Also, the cost is actually not much more than general admission anyways, so again, more reason to just do the tours. We paid 50E per person per tour so 100E per site or 200E total (2x coliseum/forum, 2x Vatican) and from what I saw actual admission prices were 30-35E or more.

Finally, enjoy the food and the sites of Rome! The hotel we stayed at Hotel Grifo gave wonderful suggestions on good local Italian restaurants, all of which were 4-5 blocks away max. You can eat at a different place every night and not run out of options for a week! The one restaurant that seemed most highly rated in the area around the ancient sites was La Carbonara. Apparently its popular and well-rated on Yelp and Trip Advisor, they don't seem to take reservations (from tourists anyways) but the secret is to line up before 7pm and if you are there at first seating, you don't need a reservation with the caveat you must be finished by the time their 2nd seating reservations start (8:30pm). Really good food, some misses but mostly hits, great cocktails, great atmosphere (kind of a trendy 80s vibe with music and interesting decor).

Let me know if you have any other questions, we had a great time in Rome and look forward to visiting again!

Can you have a glass of wine or a drink from Prestige Pkg ...ordered to your room ???

Yes you can but I found it faster to just walk to a bar

Question about wines on the Prestige Bev Package. Are all wines served by the glass as part of this package, or could you get a bottle to take back to your room?

 

Thanks.

Only by the glass but you do have an option to buy a wine package, there are restrictions that I don't remember the particulars of but it did not seem like a great deal.

I feel at that point you are better off bringing your own wine onboard especially in a wine rich itinerary and then either drinking in your room or paying corkage fees in public areas.

It seems you can't generalize. On the Marina two years ago, we had much better meals in the GDR than we did in the specialties. Food (including breakfast and lunch) was consistently very good to excellent in the GDR, while the food in the specialties never rose above "almost" good to poor (our waiter in Polo Grill warned us to stay away from the prime rib, as it was "not very good"). When I mentioned all this on our mid-cruise survey, we were contacted by every restaurant manager and even by the F&B manager while eating in the Terrace (they obviously studied our photos!) urging us to give the venues another chance. While better the second time around, the dinners in the specialties never seemed as good as in the GDR. I realize that even the best land restaurants and chefs have off nights and this certainly in no way diminished our enjoyment of that cruise, but I would caution about expecting the specialties to be automatically better than the GDR.

It wasn't meant to be a generalization, it was my actual experience. Sure there can be variation, but speaking to the actual crew members, they did acknowledge that they worked towards promotions and the specialties (and eventually La Reserve) were considered more difficult positions to attain and hold onto.

Again, none of the food in the MDR was "bad", it was just more hit or miss in the MDR, veal cutlets one night were dry and bland, NY strip (signature Jacques) was overcooked, wienerschnitzel was bland and tasted more like country fried steak at cracker barrel as just a few examples.

Meanwhile, the only "bad" entrée I got in the specialties was a curry dish I probably shouldn't have ordered anyways in Red Ginger.

The good news is you have plenty of opportunities to decide if the MDR is for you, personally I will probably book suite level or more La Reserve dinners after my MDR experiences, but YMMV!!!!

I do feel that getting specialty restaurant reservations is important. We sailed on the Riviera twice and found the food in the specialty restaurants dramatically better than in the Terrace Cafe or MDR. I guess it depends upon the person since food is subjective and what they are used to varies. We found a plethora of items on the Terrace Cafe buffet but also found the quality less than what we were used to.

 

While we may be unusual since most people love the food on Oceania, the main reason we have not sailed with them again is the food!

I would agree with this as well, the Specialties all seemed to execute their food better, I guess it helps that they have the same menu nightly so the chefs don't have as much variation. The MDR on the other hand was hit or miss in my opinion, and I think a lot of that has to do with the constantly changing menu. We had some excellent items in the MDR and we had some that were very disappointing, on a few occasions we did just send back disappointing entrees and politely asked for something we knew we liked (the spaghetti bolognese was always to our liking).

The next time we cruise Oceania we will probably end up booking more La Reserve dinners to supplement our Specialties and roll the dice on the MDR less. The La Reserve meals are prepared by the Executive Chef for some courses and one of the Sous Chefs and assistants for the rest. Amazing meal and quite a good "value" all things considered!!!

Hard call, but for similar money I would probably go with Option 2 given the itinerary and less out of pocket expenses.

I will say having just cruised Riviera, if Sea days are important to you, the pool deck on our one Sea day was pure mayhem. If you didn't get poolside by 8:30am you were pretty much out of luck for a spot in the sun, however by maybe 11am the early sunworshippers started clearing out and you could move into the primo spots near the pool.

Can you give some detailed information about how people dressed for dinners. We travel a ton but this will be our first cruise (Baltic Sept 2). We always do carryon luggage only and would like to do the same for this trip, but a little bit concerned that I will need to bring more clothes than normal in order to dress up a bit for dinner. I have read that it is "Country Club" casual, can I just wear black or white pants with nice sweater/blouse and nice flats? Are dark skinny jeans ok?

Yep black/white pants with sweater/blouse combo is totally fine for women, dark indigo wash or black skinny jeans are fine too with fancier open-toed sandals/heels/pumps, very popular look on our Med cruise and my wife also wore that look a few nights. Avoid sneakers and flip flops.

For men, slacks/chinos with polo or button down collared shirt is fine. If your husband wants to dress it up a bit a blazer or sport coat is about as dressed up as men get. I brought a nice navy blazer and don't regret it at all, wore it probably half the nights (La Reserve and Specialties). I'd say about 25-30% of men on any given night are wearing a sport coat with higher concentrations at the Specialties, La Reserve, and the fancier bars (Martinis and Grand Bar). The groups that gathered at the tables around Martinis always seemed to run 6-8 people deep with the men wearing jackets. Also, our table at La Reserve all 3 men wore Jackets, the other 2 tables were maybe 50/50.

Personally if came down to a choice between packing light or bringing a sport coat and dressing it up a bit, I would still bring the sport coat and either wear it on the plane, or pack fewer dress shirts and pay for the laundering/pressing service onboard.

But in the end you'll be comfortable with what you are used to wearing at a nice dinner out on the town, everyone was dressed nicely for the most part and was similar to how folks dressed when on a dinner date at a nice restaurant in town!

I've been trying to see how your suggestion would work on our three cruises and am having difficulty seeing it. Correct me if I'm wrong please (this excludes the guy from NYC)

 

On a 10 day we would receive $600 OBC but that would be taken up totally by the Prestige package for one person. Then all drinks for the other person are real $$.

 

If we select the beverage package then the upgrade for one person would be $200 and the other person drinks at no extra charge at lunch and dinner.

 

We also have a 14 night and a 16 night and those numbers appear to be worse not taking the beverage package.

 

14 nights gets $800 OBC and the Prestige pkg costs $840. The upgrade for one person is $280. 16 night gets $800 OBC but the Prestige pkg is $960 for one person. The upgrade for one person is $320.

 

It appears taking the beverage perk is the better option for us instead of the OBC. Am I missing something?

Sorry didn't get the notification but deciding which benefit to take will definitely vary by person, cruise and itinerary. Also, I shouldn't have said just take the OBC, in our case we actually took the free 6 excursions which came out to a higher dollar value and also happened to be the 3 main cities/ports we felt we would need a guided excursion. We did a 10-day so it made more sense for us to just pay the $600 for my premium package and then pay as we went for my wife since we knew we would rarely do lunch on the ship and 1-2 glasses of wine at dinner hardly seemed worth foregoing either OBC or the excursions (which came out closer to $1000 in retail value).

I guess we looked at it this way:

Olife Bev Package value = $400x2 + $200x1 to upgrade to premium. The normal bev package was basically useless to me (I drink beer at bbqs and wine at dinner, but always prefer cocktails and spirits when available), so we would have to spend $200 no matter what to upgrade me. We felt the $200 would be better spent on whatever my wife wanted to drink wherever she wanted to drink, she basically had a $200 bar tab and we used about $60 of that on a bottle of wine that lasted her most of the trip at dinner. She had a few other cocktails, but overall we did much better by not taking the free Bev package, which imo, is worth much less than the face value of $400, while the Premium Bev Package is probably undervalued if you drink 4-5 doubles a night and drink mostly cocktails or spirits.

The OBC is basically same as cash, so face value is face value, and that's also probably why the face value is the lowest.

The excursions imo offered the "best value" provided you are willing to live with the non-exclusive nature of a large tour bus and group. While their actual value is probably higher than face value (many seem to find similar private excursions for 4-6 people at the $100-150 range), these O arrangements take almost no effort on your part and I actually felt they were really good as long as the itinerary matched your interests. We didn't want to deal with the hassle of arranging private tours and we were travelling as just a couple with no other friends/relatives, so the total dollar amount of our 6 free tours made the most sense instead of spending ~$1000 out of pocket or having to pay surcharges for more excursion options.

Going back to your case, it will still depend on how much the other person plans to drink and when they plan to drink. Combined with the frequent 2-for-1 happy hours and after-show special on Horizons, if one person in your party is only doing 1-2 drinks a night, you may still be better off taking OBC or taking the free excursions.

"14 nights gets $800 OBC and the Prestige pkg costs $840. The upgrade for one person is $280." To me, if only one person is interested in the Prestige package, this is $240 out of pocket you could use on the other person to buy whatever they want. 2 bottles for dinner that follow you around and another $120 or so for cocktails/wine whenever.

"16 night gets $800 OBC but the Prestige pkg is $960 for one person. The upgrade for one person is $320." This is definitely a tougher call since the OBC didn't increase, but you are still looking at roughly $160 difference to buy what you like. Also it would depend on itinerary, if you are port heavy or sea day heavy. If you are sea day heavy, my advice if you plan to drink would be to take the bev packages and upgrade them since relaxing by the pool and drinking whatever you prefer is a great way to pass the time. Definitely weigh all variables and make the right decision for you, your travel companion based on itinerary and Olife perks offered!

Last benefit of buying the Prestige Package outright is it gives you a 20% discount for La Reserve, was about $25 for the Odyssey tasting dinner we enjoyed, and definitely worth it!!! I don't believe it applies if you take the Olife + upgrade. Not something I would base my decision off of unless you did La Reserve a lot, but the discount is there!

I was told by Oceania that if you took the O-Life beverage package perk, either person in the cabin could upgrade to the Prestige. The other person did NOT have to upgrade.

That is correct, however you both have to take the base bev package and then upgrade from that. You are better off just taking onboard credits and paying for a prem. Bev package with it then going ala carte for the other person but it really varies by itinerary and drinking habits. Personally beer and wine at lunch and dinner only (we had lunch onboard once on the sea day) is not even worth paying for or forsaking the onboard credit for.

Oh and can individuals buy it or the entire room?

Yes you can individually choose whatever beverage package you want by person, however, if using the standard bev package as your OLife Choice, you both have to make that choice since that benefit must be uniform for the stateroom.

As for the drinks, they use a standard 1.5oz jigger for main spirits and .75 or so for any cordial/aperitif mixers and secondary spirits. Same for a dram of scotch, cognac, brandy etc., it is a single shot and is barely a finger in a scotch glass. It is definitely on the light side compared to American pours so keep that in mind.

If you ask for a double, which is closer to a typical American high-end restaurant pour you are looking at $20+. If you ask for a specific drink not on the menu that may have 1 shot of something and another shot of something else you are looking at a $20 drink. They have 2 for 1s (happy hour before dinner or in Horizons lounge after the show) often to offset this however.

As for premium spirits vs. non-premium, I never noticed if there was a difference in price being on the premium package, it was always top-shelf spirits and a great selection of scotch and cognac.

If you drink more than 4-5 1.5oz drinks a day, the premium bev package is well worth it imo, and also, gratuity is included so no added charge at the end of the cruise!

You have to get the same OLife package for both, but you can absolutely only have just 1 cruiser buy the package and the other just go ala carte. I got the premium package but my wife only usually has wine at dinner and maybe 1 cocktail so we just bought a bottle of wine for her that followed her around most of the cruise.

Since you have OBC you can apply that to the bev package for one of you and then apply it to ala carte drinks for the other supplemented by whatever you bring aboard.

Also, the price is the same if you purchase the bev package before or onboard although you will be paying possibly months in advance.

Liquor drink prices start at $9, up to about $12.50 for the basics. Top shelf very special selections top out at $27.50.

Cocktails are $10 - $11.25

Specialty coffees $9

Wines by the glass $10 -12, but the Montaudon burt champagne, $16.50

That looks about right but I believe some cocktails were $14-15, although I didn't really look too closely since I was on the Premium Bev Package.

Also, keep in mind, the bartenders unless familiar with you or very busy, tend to actually measure out drinks using a 1.5oz jigger....which is generally less than what you will see in a typical American bar pour (2 oz main spirit, 1 oz mixer/aperitif).

Asking for a double will literally cost you double the price, and double the tip. Even custom cocktails with multiple spirits may count as 2-3 drinks in price.

With the Premium Bev Package, doubles are standard (they ask you, double?), the jigger goes away, and you're enjoying yourself to the tune of 5-6 cocktails, Scotch, Cognac, whatever....that are probably closer to 10 drinks in price since they are always poured as doubles with a free hand once the bartenders know your name and that you're on the BIB.

One of the crowning moments of my Med cruise was seeing no additional gratuity from my bar tab, and keep in mind, I got flagged for elevated ACL (liver enzhymes) due to increased alcohol consumption during a pre-op physical upon return to the US! Even my wife remarked at how great of a deal it was!!!!

We didn't have any issues at CDG in Paris, we did have to show our passports again before entering the international departure area and the custom official seemed more annoyed than anything when I walked up to the counter with my wife.

Upon arrival at IAD in DC, there were no hang-ups either, the custom official just assumed the $1700 I claimed was for my wife's newly bought LV bag and I mentioned I also had ~$350 in Cuban cigars.

He just said "Welcome Home" which actually warmed the cockles of my heart and sounded great after a long journey.

Maybe the fact Senator John McCain and a few other congressman I didn't recognize were on the flight (with some Air Marshals I'm sure) had something to do with it!

The Casinos were hopping every night except Monte Carlo (Midnight disembark) and everyone probably lost enough betting $100 hands haha.

Definitely $10 and $15 tables on Riviera for my June Med cruise, it did not seem to change the 4-5 nights I played although some nights were busier than others. Maybe one night both were $10 because I remember the next night the pit boss mentioned my bet was too low ($15 mins) and kindly asked me to adjust next hand. The Casinos like the bars stay open as long as there are patrons and there is a chance they adjust the limits based on itineraries and activity.

ITGuyMD,

I suppose you can have people arrive late even on a private tour but it is indeed more likely on a large bus with more people.

I applaud the guide who left the late couple behind - I wish they would do it more often.

Just curious - how long did the guide wait before leaving them behind?

Indeed, although I do think in a Private Tour you're generally going to be able to move faster between the different sites especially if there are some folks that tend to straggle from site to site in a big group

The guide in Barcelona waited about 5 minutes before he left, it sounded like he alerted Oceania in case they tried to contact the ship. In the end we did hear they made it back to the ship (on their own).

Also, a point I should make is that these O tours are not completely rigid, these are professional guides similar to the ones you might hire on a private tour so they will work with you, their main goal is to hit their destinations and keep their headcount from location to location, BUT if you tell them or make arrangements to deviate from the tour and meet at a set location later, they will accommodate you.

For example, in Barcelona, we went to Montserrat which is certainly beautiful, but we were set to spend 4.5 hours there including a 2.5 hour lunch break (also for folks who wanted to queue to see the Black Madonna). A woman and her adult daughter had already seen Montserrat and decided that instead of spending more time there, they left after about an hour to go shopping downtown. Apparently they told the guide this and he said to meet them in Columbus Circle at 4:30pm...and somewhat amazingly, we did end up linking up and picking them up on the way back to the ship.

We will be traveling on the Marina for the first time in December. What should I expect for the minimum bet on the blackjack tables? $10 or $25? Thanks!

I cruised Riviera in June, there was a $10 table and a $15 Black Jack table every night I stopped by the casino. The 3rd card table was Poker. The $10 table was always packed with people ready to jump in, while you could usually jump onto the $15 table at any time with 1-2 seats empty while the Casino was crowded.

There was a $10 and a $15 table on Riviera, the $10 table was always more crowded with folks waiting to jump in. But I'm the same way, played for hours and hours playing $10-15 a hand doubling down and splitting along the way. More fun than I imagined I would have gambling on a cruise!!!

The biggest issue I had with the Veranda showers was the low headroom. I'm only 5'10 and my head was right up against the showerhead. I overheard another lady complain to the concierge because her husband was taller than 6'.

We didn't use the bathtub for baths at all even though we thought we might prior to booking. We tried using it once to shower, but there is no way to close the back of the shower so you end up getting water everywhere if you try to shower in the tub. We mainly used the tub only for the clothesline to dry our bathing suits. I preferred the waterfall overhead shower anyways, there just wasn't enough headroom for men.

We were just on Riviera in early June in Marseille and we were in the port close to the heart of the downtown port. About 10 minute bus ride from the Old Fort/embattlements and most of that was just navigating the port itself and passing checkpoints etc.

I've heard it largely depends on when you arrive (if the close port is already full) as well as budget and other ports of call on the trip.

The glass by the wine list was OK, nothing great but I definitely found a few very drinkable vintages when I was in the mood for wine. The Les Salices was a nice crisp, dry and not too sweet Chardonnay and they had a nice red blend from Spain called Rojas I believe.

I was on the premium bev package but my wife wasn't, she usually only drinks at dinner with a cocktail before or after on occasion, so we bought her a bottle of red we've had before in restaurants here that sells for ~$70-80. It was ~$55 on O and it lasted her most of the trip and worked out great. Miraculously, they came up with a system that works that centrally stores your corked bottles that you can have the Sommelier pour from at any of the restaurants....