Mick B

Hi, I normally do this... Find a cruise to ports we want to visit. Find a ship that has all the entertainment/facilities we want/require. Find the best time of the year to go and the best price we can find. The whole holiday is a holiday. We normally travel down to London and stay in a nice hotel and go out for a nice meal. Then get the best flights at times that suite us to NYC or Miami and again stay in a nice hotel overnight and go out and have another nice meal. Then get on the ship. Spend a few days at sea enjoying and discovering everything it has to offer, then getting off at just about every port of call and enjoying everything it has to offer. My wife and I are not rich people and work hard and therefore have to make sure that we enjoy every second of every day we are on holiday whilst we can afford to do it and still have our health. That doesn't mean we have to rush around doing everything, just the things we want to do and those can be planned for beforehand by simply spending a little time checking up on what's available during your cruise before you go on it. Off the top of my head in the past I have done the following things at the following ports of call. Done a submarine trip to bottom of the sea at Barbados (via cruise line). Done a Zip Line at St Lucia (via cruise line). Also, done the walk into Castries on other occasions. Done a Helicopter ride to Montserrat from Antigua (via cruise line). Done tour to Nelson's dockyard at Antigua (via local van) on other occasions. Done island tour of St Kitts (via local transport). Done tour to Maho Beach at St Maarten (via local bus/van) Also had drinks at hard Rock Cafe on some occasions. Done the tour to Magens Bay at St Thomas (via local bus/van) Visited the Pina Colada pub in San Juan on foot (not far from ship). Done the Zip Line at Labadee on one occasion and the Dragon's Tail roller coaster on another and just swam in the lovely sea too. In fact the beach at Labadee is one of the best and easiest to reach as the ship pulls up less then 5 minutes from it. These are just some, but not all of the things I have done. I do try to use local transport, not only to save money, but to also support the local folk. I do however, sometimes have to use the ship's tours for things that are just impossible to do yourself (like helicopter rides and zip lines) or where you risk losing your money if the ship cannot dock at the port of call for whatever reason. I would say if the cruise lines prices are only a few dollars more, then book through them as you will get either a refund or a cruise credit if things don't go to plan. I can normally find something new to discover at each repeat port of call. However, coming from the UK, we have only visited the Caribbean about 5 times in the last 15 years as we also get to do Europe and the Baltics (well we did before Feb 2022!). I do try to alternate things to avoid going back to the same places too closely so that I can look forward to enjoying them again. Lastly, anyone who gets on a cruise is a lucky person. You simply cannot find what a cruise ship holiday offers on land. All the food, entertainment and destinations. Enjoy it whilst you can! Mick.

Hi, For folks like me who have to fly in all the way from the UK to either NYC or Miami to board a cruise ship to sail to the Caribbean, I would say the following... Getting off the ship at all ports, yes - if possible, after all, you have chosen to visit the Caribbean, but consider these things... Have you been to the port before, and is there actually anything of interest you remember that is there for you to do that you haven't already done? What class of ship are you on? Depending on the ships activities, you may want to stay on at a certain port (whilst just about everyone else is ashore) in order to get a go on things like the Zip Line or Flo Rider (if they are open) as these may be busy on sea days at the start and end of your cruise with fairly big queues which you wouldn't want to waste your time waiting in line for when there are other things to do. You may want to stay on the ship just to get a sun bed (if chair hogs haven't gone ashore and left towels on them) and just get some sun or get a seat at the North Star Bar or somewhere like that (which is normally rammed at other times) and try some new drinks. Perfect if you have a drinks package or are Diamond and above with the CAS. As it has been said before, it is your holiday and your choice. We have sailed into St Kitts several times and sometimes we have stayed on and other times we have jumped in one of those buses/vans and had a trip round the island to that nice mountain top, but again it depends on the weather, no good if its raining. And that's the thing with the Caribbean, the weather, sometimes you just can't predict what the weather is going to do from one island to another and also if its raining then staying on the ship means staying indoors or in the solarium or other covered areas to avoid the rain which also limits the activities you can do onboard depending again on the class of ship you are sailing on. If I may make a suggestion, after spending lots of money on a Caribbean cruise, it may pay you to google each island you are visiting beforehand and see if there is something there that you either did not know about before, or only found out about it last time you were there after someone told you when back on board what they had done there that day. I used to hear all sorts of stories in the Diamond Lounge from people who had stood on a beach with planes coming in just feet above them, so I goggled it and when I went back to St Maarten I was able to get the bus to that beach and experience people being blown into the sea for myself. I am sure every island will have something of interest, even if its just a shuttle bus ride to a nice beach for a few hours. Nice to find a little bar and have a drink, sometimes something not available on the ship. As for Labadee, I have done both the Zip Line and the Roller Coaster which need booking in advance to be guaranteed a place. Not been back to Coco Cay since 2014 so cannot comment on the new stuff there, except from what I see which is that you will be getting off a ship that may have a zip line to pay for a bigger zip line. Getting off a ship with a water slide to pay for a bigger water slide. Its up to you, but I would rather spend my dollars on visiting things like waterfalls, caves, mountain tops, nice beaches and bars. One other thing I would suggest is either get a 12 night or above cruise or if not, then do a B2B with different ports as 7 day or less cruises won't show you the best the Caribbean has to offer. Also, my wife and I are both in our mid to late 50s and although I am in perfect health, my wife is sadly not and gets tired after a few hours of travelling or walking etc, so again, certain factors have to be taken into consideration when deciding what to do at each port of call. If my wife has had a busy day then the next day she may want to stay on board and chill, so planning the right amount of trips verses rest time also comes into play as you get a bit older or are not as well as you used to be. Lastly, dodgy ports of call. I have been lucky in the past to have always found nice people on board to talk to on cruise ships who have been to ports we may not have been to yet and sometimes its possible to either go ashore with them or at least to listen to what they say about the port and take their advice. Crime is fairly low around those parts as some of the islands need and depend heavily on money from tourists, so robbing/killing them is counter productive and is taken seriously by the local authorities. But... sometimes you can get overrun with local people trying to sell you things including rides to exotic beaches which may not be the best the island has to offer. All of this can leave a lasting impression and influence your choice not to get off at that port again. Luckily for me, I have not had these issues, but I have seen other people get taken in by them and also heard stories from passengers later on during the cruise. I hope this helps,. Mick.

Hi, Sorry, no, not all are alcoholics, but if you look at what you have to drink in order to break even with a drinks package over the course of a cruise, then you must surely start to look like heading that way and I bet there are some onboard who when they spend that amount of money on a package are going to want to get either their monies worth or more or are at least going to use the package as a way to try out some new drinks. And this brings us to a possible reason why the Anthem (or any other RCI ship for that matter) is more expensive than other cruise lines offering similar itineries and/or similar ships - the fact that the C&A perks on RCI ships (4 free drinks per day @ $14 a drink for Diamond, 5 for D+ and 6 for Pinnacle) means that the cruise line has to recoup these costs somewhere and I bet I know where!. I have sailed on ships that have more than 50% Diamond members on board where they had to seal off other bars on the ships to act as overspills as the Diamond lounge was practically impossible to get into. Also, in the past I had worked out that they had given me back more $$$s in drinks than I paid for the cruise. I remember saying to my wife at the time that this surely cannot continue as a business model. As far as I know RCI is the only cruise line to offer these perks, hell, last October we were on the Anthem doing a TA from Southampton to Bayonne when we got an invite to a C&A meeting in the solarium where they came round with glasses of sparkling wine as we left port. They were still coming round 13 glasses later and the Isle of Wight had vanished from view. I don't remember much about the next day except there was another get together in the 270 and more drinks galore! This is all before we started using our 5 free drinks vouchers - and I am sure I am not an alcoholic (not on land anyway!). Mick.

Hi, Being UK based, I can tell you this much, for some reason (whether it be blamed on the weak UK pound verses the Dollar or the war in Ukraine and/or just extremely high port costs at Southampton), it is actually cheaper for us to fly to Europe and board a ship in Italy or Spain than sail anywhere out of the UK at the moment - and that is what we are doing this year! A cruise in May/June on the Enchantment from Italy and a cruise in October on the Symphony from Spain. The other thing to bear in mind at the moment is that it looks like all cruises out of the UK are on the Anthem. Now she is a fairly newish ship and is one of the larger ships too. But apart from Dodgems, Flo Rider and the flight sim which all seem to be aimed more at the young (as try finding older people with no medical issues that can get insurance cover to use them), plus there is no golf, no ice skating or ice skating shows, so jumping on ships like the Symphony is a better choice both financially and entertainingly too. Plus the weather is normally better the further south you go from the UK, but not always! I had actually booked a Norwegian Fjords cruise on the Anthem back in 2021 but this got swapped for a UK only cruise due to covid restrictions in Norway. This brings me onto something else now... Tourism, I know some places are overrun with tourists like Venice which doesn't need ships coming and going, but Norway, can they really afford to ban cruise ships if the tourists to those places only come via ship. What next! will Alaska ban ships too?, Key West was on about it too not long back IIRC. In a world where so may people are constantly on TV news saying they don't have the money for things anymore, would they really want to risk the loss of any further revenue from lack of cruise ship tourists if that's the main (or only) income they are likely to receive? Of course, the other option (and it is starting), is for new cruise ships to run on renewable energy. problem is where do the old ships then go? (Caribbean I suppose!), and who pays for the new ships, sorry how much more will I have to pay for a voyage on a newer ship? Finally, if countries are thinking Climate change issues with ships, then surely with it being cheaper and a possible better cruise for me to fly from the UK to ports in Europe to sail as opposed to sailing out of my own country, then what is that saying about my carbon footprint? Hell, its even cheaper for me to fly from the UK to the Caribbean and then do a B2B cruise out of Florida (have you seen how cheap some of those cruises are?) than sail from Southampton to the Canneries. I am not made of money, so what money I have will be spent on things like ports of call and class of ship/entertainment etc. BTW I am D+ and not an alcoholic, so at least I don't have to spend money on drink packages, but just think about the cost to people that do? And think about the cost for restaurants like Chops Grill?. If you are not careful (unless you have enough money not to care), cruising can and is starting to become something the average working class person is not going to be able to afford to do on a regular basis if you want all the trimmings. Mick.

Hi, Yes, you can normally order more than 1 main. Unless they stop that too. However, sometimes finding something else on that nights menu that goes with the lobster may be difficult or not very pleasing. Simply not bothering and ordering something else entirely would be my choice, unless my wife orders a lobster and gives it to me. She doesn't like them and doesn't see the appeal like I do. Another thing here is if you normally like say 3 lobsters then going to a sea food restaurant on the ship (if it has one) instead and then paying for all their lovely sea food may now work out cheaper than paying for 2 additional lobsters! Again a win for RCI. Mick.

ref the Lobster tails... Just before the new year when I last cruised, on Lobster night you were given 1 lobster tail but the waiters would soon be round to offer 1 or even 2 more if you wished and I always had 3, not because I am a pig but because 1 or 2 simply didn't fill me up the same way any other nights menu would such as the lamb shank. Now, RCI are limiting the free Lobster to 1 tail per person and then you have to pay $$$ for any extra. To me, this now makes having this meal null and void (as explained above), so I will now choose something else. The point under these circumstances is that for roughly the same price as ordering a second lobster tail, you could now order a chops fillet steak which would only be a few $s more, but be more filling and therefore, more worth the extra money. Just my opinion here, but just watch this space as more and more passengers either chose not to have the lobster and pick another dish off the menu, or pay for a chops instead. Maybe this is Royal's master plan, who knows! I wonder too how many couples are going to order a Lobster tail just to give to their spouse and then order something else as a main instead. There are always ways around things if you try. I bet the waiters are not going to try to stop you doing this given that this event is normally on the last night and that is when the waiters are hoping for those envelopes from you with any extra gratuities inside! Mick.

Hi, I wouldn't tell your wife its a small ship either. BTW a say a small ship, but its still slightly bigger than what the Titanic was! And I certainly wouldn't tell her that either - especially if you are crossing the Atlantic of all places! With ref the Chops, I think it depends on your loyalty status, my wife and I are D+ and I am sure there is a BOGOF offer at Chops but only on the first couple of days. Like someone said here, you can order Chops food at the MDR for basically half the price. In fact now the Lobster tails are roughly the same price as a steak (for any additional ones), you could instead order a Chops on Lobster night and get a lot more value for your money. As for the Inspection, I could guess that this is the US Coastguard coming aboard to inspect everyone's passports before docking, just to make sure all is in order. If anyone know differently, please correct me. Mick.

Hi, with ref to Miami, Some time ago we had a B2B on the Liberty and we kept the same rooms. We were able to get off at Miami with our sea pass, go to the South beach for the day, then return to the port and show our sea pass card at the terminal and explain we were on a B2B and they let us skip the line and re-enter the ship. Not sure if this is still the case now though. If you do keep the same room for both parts of your cruise, then it may be worth nipping to guest relations before arriving in Miami and ask them what the procedure is for either staying on board (I am sure they used to let guests stay in a designated part of the ship until lunch) or how to re-board if you get off without having to go through all the boarding stuff again. BTW Rhapsody is a small but really nice ship. We had done several cruises on her when she was based in Venice. Enjoy! Mick.

Hi, I will be on the Enchantment at the end of May. Originally I booked this holiday on the beautiful Brilliance and had booked an interior room 8641 which was the last cabin aft in the long corridor at the rear of the aft lifts so would be nice and quiet. However, RCI switched us to the Enchantment and have given us room 2133 which is close to the engines. I have stayed down here before and it is a good location for getting to the rear lifts for things. RCI have just offered me the Royal Up options, so I have bid the lowest amounts of £70pp for an Ocean View Balcony and £50pp for a Ultra Spacious Ocean View cabin. Let's see if any of these gets excepted. I didn't pay a lot for this cruise, so under these circumstances don't mind paying a bit more for the chance of getting a better room. On my last cruise which was on the Anthem doing a TA I had an inside cabin (which is what we wanted due to possible bad seas). However, I did bid for a balcony at the minimum, but it wasn't excepted by the time I boarded and my wife loved the cabin we had in the end so we cancelled it at guest services just before 4pm. There were loads of rooms available during this cruise (as I spoke to staff about them), but no-one at guest services tried to contact me to see if I still wanted to pay for an upgrade. I thought they needed as much cash as they could get from us! I know I cancelled it and it may have been possible to have got a balcony if I had waited, but like I said, once my wife saw the cabin we had booked, she did not want to move. Perhaps if RCI or whoever does the Royal Ups had moved us before we got to see our cabin, then we would have moved and they would have made £££s from us. As it happened the weather at the start was stormy, then sunny, then foggy then sunny again, so I don't think we missed anything special. I will let you all know what happens on my next cruise. BTW I have another cruise on the Symphony in October and that is a GTY and they have given me room 10133 which is at the front port side. It looks like there is only one room next to me and a blank space on the other which is the same for the floors above and below. Not sure if this a crew/ship thing. Anyone know what this is and how it may affect us. If its going to be bad then the Royal Up may come into play. Mick.

Wow! is that true that you can move cabin after a royal up. I believed that you were stuck with the cabin they gave you. I suppose if there is another cabin in the same category in a better location that is available, then guest services may allow the move. As I said before, one of the main reasons we choose an interior is the cost, also if we know the sea is going to be rough, also if there is nothing to see (if we are on a TA for example) and lastly, because on some cruises we will be getting off the ship at every port on every day for most of it, so won't be spending much time in the cabin to enjoy it anyway. I must admit it was nice being in the junior suite with the extra width of the room and balcony and having the bathtub and don't forget the doorbell - and coffee machine - and access to coastal kitchen on Quantum and Oasis class ships and queue jumping on boarding day, but it really does depend on what the cost of this is compared to an interior. Although the coastal kitchen was lovely and the food was great, but so is the food (or at least it was) in the MDR. We never used the bathtub as we were too busy enjoying the ship, so again it all depends on what you are going to do in the time you spend onboard. I know there are some nice perks too with Grand Suites upwards, but if you are Diamond upwards with the C&A program, then you also get some nice perks too. Again it comes down to what you prefer or can afford. Mick.

Hi, I always give my wife an option, she can have an interior room and have 2 cruises a year or have a suite and have just 1. She always chooses an interior. Sometimes I will select the cheapest option which is a GTY and hope that when we get it, it is in the right place, if not, royal up becomes an option only at that point. It also depends on the class of ship. I have actually upgraded from an interior to a junior suite for next to nothing on the Anthem which then allowed us to eat at the Coastal Kitchen every night, which we did! However, I would not consider paying for a suite on a ship that is old and doesn't have anything on it worth paying an upgrade for. I know I sound tight, but we are not rich, but love cruising. Being based from the UK we also have flights/trains/hotels to pay for too which can sometimes add up to almost the price of the cruise. I normally check the plans for the ship and pick somewhere that is slightly aft/midship and near but not next to the rear elevators, and in the middle of the ship to avoid sway as much as possible. The main reason is so that it is easy to get to the main dinning room on foot at busy meal times without waiting forever for a lift. From near the back the longest distance to walk is to the theatre for a show, but that is normally only after dinner, so we would simply walk from the dinning room through to the theatre which sometimes is on the same level. My wife's health is not too good, so we normally find a cabin that is quiet and not under anything that is going to keep her awake like the kitchen, theatre or running track. I see on some ships that they have suites under the running track etc. I don't know how noisy that would be and wouldn't want to pay to find out. Also some ships have promenade view rooms above the pub - not too bad if you love being in the pub till midnight! Again, depends on the cruise, but an interior is great for transatlantics too where there is nothing to see for days on end and it is more stable. Afterall, if you want to watch the sunset, you can always go out on deck and watch it. I must admit a balcony is nice in places like the Caribbean, but again, it depends on the price difference. Sometimes a balcony can be cheaper than a ocean view room and sometimes a balcony can be double or triple the price of an interior. If I really would want a balcony but the price is too high then I would book an interior and then go to guest services and see if there are any balcony upgrades available either on day 1 or day 2 or if I see anyone get kicked off or miss the ship. The cost of an upgrade on the ship can sometimes be far far lower than the difference displayed on the website. Another thing to think about is the C&A points scheme. If you want to get to Diamond then booking suites is a good way to do it. We are currently D+ and probably will be for the next 20 years, so I am not going to spend money on trying to get double points just to get 1 extra drink and access to the Coastal Kitchen on Quantum and Oasis class ships as like I said before, we can have 2 cruises a year in a interior and still collect the same points as having 1 cruise in a suite. We have done 25 cruises with RCI since 2008 and are very very happy with where we are in the loyalty program. It has taken a long time to get here, but we have enjoyed every single day on every single ship we have been on and so far, have never had any major issues. I hope you can see my thinking behind this. Like I said, we are not rich people and we love cruising. BTW we do also sometimes spend money on trips from the ship to places that we want to visit that we cannot do ourselves, so RCI does get a bit more money out of us that way. Mick.

Hi, Some years ago we pulled into Marseille, sorry a cargo/parking lot a few miles away on the outskirts and had to cross a busy road and catch a bus into and out of the city centre. This was back in 2014 on the Liberty. I will be calling there again this October on the Symphony and according to their excursions, I cannot see any shuttle buses mentioned. There are several trips and the cheapest is around £33 for just 2 and a half hours and another for £54 which lasts 4 hours and is in Italian language only (in a French port from a US registered ship that is sailing from and back to Barcelona, Spain! - go figure!). I am sure the local buses were quite frequent and only cost a few euros, so that may be your best option. If anyone has been since and knows differently, then please advise, as I for one, would like to know too. Mick.

Hi all, 2 things here, Firstly ref GTY rooms.. I have booked these in the past and even have one coming up in October on the Symphony. Normally with these RCI will issue the room number to you a few months before you sail. With that information, you can check the ship plans on their website and check out where on the ship you will be housed. You can also check whats above and below you and how far from the lifts you are or if you are at the very front or very back etc. If you are not happy with your GTY location, then you could try the Royal Up as just about anything else will be either the same or better, so you have nothing to lose!. BTW I have checked and I am happy with the GTY room on the Symphony they have given me so I won't be using the Royal Up for that particular cruise. Secondly, the Royal Up program... As long as you are not going to be bothered by what surrounds you or where you are located (inc noise) then go for it, but, remember, once accepted, there is no going back to your old cabin. Like it has been said already here, we are now at full capacity on most cruises, so the choice of the best spare rooms to upgrade to will be limited and probably based on how much you bid and you may not be informed until you have boarded or even as late as 4pm on boarding day. Again, if you don't want to be at the very back or very front or too far away from the lifts, then I would suggest not going with the Royal Up, but instead, you could approach guest services around 4pm and ask them if there are any upgrades available and if so, they normally tell you/show you where they are before committing, so now you can make a choice of staying where you are or paying a small fee for a guaranteed better room as opposed to the Royal Up where you may pay even more and then get a room that is above the pub or with an obstructed view etc. I know the cruise lines have to make some money, but the Royal Up program does not sound like it is the best option for some cruisers (especially those prone to sea sickness or not too good on their legs) who could probably use the money for other things. Like I said, go to guest services and see what rooms they have. There is normally someone who is late/misses the cruise or cannot travel at the last moment due to some other issue. Sometimes, as a result of people missing the cruise, their rooms may be taken up by a Royal Upgrader which then frees up their original room which may be in a better location than yours. You may have to wait a day or two for such a change to register at guest services, so if nothing is available on the first day at guest services, try again the next day or the day after. I have moved from an interior to a balcony mid-cruise when the people in the balcony were kicked off and arrested, and that room change didn't even cost anything as I had complained about the state of the room I was originally in. So you can get a better room without forking out loads of money! Mick.

Hi, One thing I would recommend, if you can delay your flight, is to delay it by 2 days if you can. If you have not been to Venice before, then 1 day will not be enough to see everything and do everything and you will end up having to leave the city before you have enjoyed it to go to the airport for your flights. My suggestion, and I have done this several times, is to stay in a hotel in Mestre, near the train station. The reason is the airport shuttle buses leave from outside here, so on the day you fly you could go onto the island of Venice by Bus/train/tram and still spend most of that 2nd day there too. BTW your tickets for transport around Venice are normally for 24hr 3 day or 7 day, so if you time it right, you can validate a 1 day pass on the first day in the early afternoon and still be able to use it for most of the 2nd day too. It all saves money! So you could in effect get that no.90 bus or a taxi from the port to Ravenna FS, Get a train to Bologna, Change for another train to Venice and get off at Mestre. You would arrive there by say midday and if you cannot check in till later, they will store your luggage so you can get out and start enjoying the city. BTW there are loads of nice restaurants on the island near the Rialto bridge, but there is also one in Mestre called the Dante on the Via Dante near Mestre Train station. We used to go to it every year and its great value and is normally quite full of regular local Italians and not tourists! And good priced for what you get! We had many drunken nights in there years ago and Filippo the owner is one of the nicest persons I have met in Venice. Hope this helps. Mick. PS. God I miss the fun of Venice, such a beautiful city!

Hi, Not too sure if you can get off with your luggage at the port before. You would certainly need to have made sure any credit owed on your sea pass is paid at guest relations first. Moreover, why should you lose out on part of your holiday because of a simple error of depending/believing in RCI shuttle/transfers. I have met loads of people who have booked these and then been let down at the last minute as they have been cancelled at short notice. As for flights, well let me tell you also, this is the first fly/cruise with RCI where I have had to book my own flights. Firstly, my TA and RCI did have flights but they were at silly o'clock and would have meant not being able to visit anywhere before the cruise. Secondly, we would find out own flights which suited us and then get our TA to contact RCI and add them on as a package for around £20 Thirdly, I found some better flights but my TA/RCI wanted £200 more to add them on with RCI than what the airline was charging for them (A big jump from £20 to $200 for that service). Fourthly, I found some even better priced flights than before but my TA could not find them on their system (even though they were on BA's website on my phone in their shop for them to see), so these could not be added on with RCI either. These flights are the ones I have gone with and which now best suit us under these conditions. I doubt I will be travelling out of Ravenna again anytime soon unless RCI gets its act together here and starts treating its customers like they were customers and not cattle. Back to your issue, I would speak to guest relations on board asap and point out your needs to get off as soon as possible and arrange your taxi for say 7am from the port. You should make VCE by 9am and I doubt the airport will be funny if you should have been there at 0830. IIRC, as long as you have checked in and dropped your luggage off and got through passport control and are at the gate in time, you should be OK. None of this helps the fact that a holiday should be a time to relax and enjoy yourself and your surroundings and not be on edge worrying if things will go pear shaped at the end. Again, talk to guest relations upon boarding, get it sorted and then relax and enjoy! BTW Did you say you were on the Symphony? I thought only the Explorer and Enchantment called at Ravenna. Mick.

Hi, The distance from the port to Venice is roughly over 120km or 80 miles. If your flight is from Marco Polo at 1135am on the day of dis-embarkation, then you will be pushing it! If the ship docks at 6am and you can get off by 7am with a pre-booked taxi, you may make VCE by 9am if you are lucky. Sadly, trying any other mode such as bus 90 to Ravenna FS then train to Bologna and then another train to Venice/Mestre and then a coach to the airport would not be practical/possible in that time limit. I have not yet sailed out of this port and this May will be my first. I have sailed out of many ports, but this one is the one I am looking forward to the least. The main reason is because no-one at either RCI or may TA can give me any details at all of how to get to/from the ship of offer any transfers. I have had to do all the research myself and my whole holiday depends on mew getting things right. I will post details here when I get back in June detailing how things went. Sadly with the banning of cruise ships of a certain size from Venice, this is the port RCI will be using for now which begs the question of why there seems to be little help for passengers that are sailing from it. I have travelled and sailed so many times now and I can only stress that flying back home the day of dis-embarkation can be a mistake. I find it better to spend at least 1 night at the destination as anything is better than having to either rush to an airport or get stuck at one for the whole day due to later flights. If 300 euros is the price to get to the airport then depending on how many of you there are, that's probably not a bad price. Local taxis wanted 60 euros just to take me and my wife from Ravenna train station to the port. Mick.

Hi, Flying back to the UK on the day of dis-embarkation is the issue here. Sadly lots of people do it, but it just means hanging around a airport for hours and hours waiting to get rid of your luggage and then waiting for your flights with very little time to venture outside and enjoy what the city has to offer. My wife and I have visited New York so many times and have done everything it has to offer. We no longer stay for 10-14 nights there anymore like we used to at first, but instead now we jump on a cruise to places like Bermuda and/or the Caribbean. We would book a 12 night cruise from Bayonne and then spend 3 nights either side of it in New York. There is is always plenty to do in New York, like spending a day in Central Park, or Macy's or walking over the Brooklyn Bridge and visiting the 911 memorial. There's 3 days worth there. I did the TA on the Anthem back in October and met passengers from the UK who were flying back the same night as getting off the ship. Some with the tours mentioned here and some just going straight to the airport to sit there until their night flight back home. I can only advise that flying back the same day can be a mistake and I can only suggest that people spend at least 1 night in NYC. You normally cannot check in your hotel until 3pm, but you can arrive earlier and store your luggage there. The same on check-out day. You normally have to check out by 11am but can leave your luggage until going to the airport. Like I said, there is plenty to do and see in NYC and you don't have to waste time and money on touristy things either. I always just enjoy walking the streets and being part of the buzz of things. Anything is better than being stuck in an airport. Hope this helps anyone planning a cruise to/from Bayonne. Mick.

Hi, One other option you could do (if you are brave/confident) is get off the ship at the normal time (say 9am), get your taxi booked to EWR and then see if you can drop off/check in your luggage for your flight early and then just leave yourself with a small bag with your essentials/money/passport in. Now take the Air Train to Newark Liberty Int Airport train station and change to the main line and take a train into NYC Penn Station which is on 7th and 32nd. Depending on the trains you could be in the city within an hour. Now you could possibly have 4 or 5 hours in New York to get something to eat and visit places on foot or even take the subway. If you flight is at 6pm and you are checked in, then leaving NYC around 3pm back to the airport should do it. I would suggest what I do, and that is print out all the relevant time tables for the trains both to and from NYC and see if the timings are right to achieve such a task and then get your tickets booked and printed out and off you go!. Could I suggest trying lunch at Tony's DiNapoli on W43st at Times Square (just a 10 block walk straight up 7th from Penn) - you won't want anything else to eat until that day mid-flight after eating all that! Mick.

Hi all, Not sure if this is the case now, but back in 2015 we caught one of these transfers which was basically a dozen passengers and their luggage in a small bus which left Bayonne, went over the Narrows bridge, dropped some passengers off at JFK, then went to LaGuardia and did the same and then 2 hours later, dropped everyone else off in Manhattan. Not sure which airport you need to get to, but if its Newark, then there are plenty of Taxis that wait outside and charge around $50 plus fees to take you/your family there. A local taxi firm seems to run things which is called Archie's Cab Co and Van Service who are based at 520 Broadway Bayonne and can be contacted on (201) 858-8800. BTW I am from the UK, and use them to do this instead... Get a taxi from the ship around 10am to the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail stop at 34th St Bayonne (which costs approx $20) then get a ticket to Hoboken (costs $2 or something like that) and then walk around the station to the other end and take a PATH train into Manhattan (again $2 or something) which ends at Harold Square at 6th and 34th. Now there is normally just me and my wife, so we usually stay for at least 1 night in a hotel and then would take the Long Island RR from Penn Station on 7th and 32nd to Jamaica station (costs approx $7) and then the AirTrain to JFK (which you buy at Jamaica, unless you have a Metrocard with enough credit on it, otherwise its about $5). It all adds up though... Obviously, this depends on how many of you there are and how much luggage, but I can tell you this much... AND BE WARNED!... On several departures from this ship in the past at this port I have bumped into passengers I had met onboard who said they had booked RCI transfers to the airport only to have them all cancelled on the morning of dis-embarkation for unknown reasons, leaving them all waiting in a long queue for a taxi with hundreds of other fed up passengers. I can also tell you that the way people queue and get their taxi at this port is absolute chaos! No-one seems to be in charge and the people that seem to take charge and call the taxis over constantly shout at the customers if they are not in the right line for whichever airport/destination you require. Believe me, it is not nice when you have got up at 6am and come to the end of your holiday to find you now have no transport to the airport for your flight and then get treated like cattle at the taxi stand. Please, please, please, do what we have been doing at this port and arrange a private taxi to meet you. I would suggest around 10am which gives you chance to get up at 7am, go and have breakfast without rushing, take you own cases off the ship if you can, around 9am and that gives you chance to be outside for your cab by 10am as US Customs are fairly quick at this port. Should be plenty of time to get to your flights later in the day. BTW you can ring Archie's cabs toll free from NJ just outside the dock if you want to re-confirm/check/change your booking. We have used them several times and have no issues so far. BTW, We have also done the opposite too, flown into JFK, had a few days in New York then got the PATH and Hudson LR to Bayonne and got Archie's Cabs to take us to the ship (which a 2 mile walk on a badly maintained road not fit for pedestrians with suitcases). Sadly, Bayonne was (and still is as of last November) a mess with no infrastructure in place for foreign tourists and only seems to cater for US citizens with their own cars which can be left at the port for the duration of the cruise. It really is a shame RCI could not either be bothered or afford to dock somewhere closer to New York like P&O and others do. One last thing, Another route we tried in the past was to Get a taxi from the port over the Bayonne Bridge to the Staten Island ferry port and then take the ferry (for free) over to Manhattan. This used to cost around $40 for the taxi. However, sometimes they close this bridge for maintenance/repairs etc. You have to also be aware that if you use a taxi service from Bayonne into New York, you will get charged all kinds of fees for going through toll booths which you may find on the I278 near the Narrows bridge if going direct to JFK or the I78 if going to Newark NJ. Also, NJ taxis don't like going out of state too much either and I have even been in one that got lost and I have to tell him where the correct route was! That's why we now use the NJLR and PATH. Hope what I have shared here helps you, or anyone else who is planning a cruise from this port who is either non US or US but not with a car! regards, Mick.

Hi, Thanks. The problem now is because Royal could not confirm if they were or were not going to put on a transfer from Venice to the ship and neither could my TA (and they both said to see each other in emails), we decided to play it safe and fly in to Bologna in order to give us a better chance of getting to the ship on the day. This is the first cruise with RCI (and this is our 25th with them) where no-one from RCI or my TA could give us a simple yes/no answer earlier in the year to this question and with the flights selling out to both Venice and Bologna, we had no choice but to book them as we didn't want to wait and then be caught out getting to the ship. I think I have it sorted now. For anyone else thinking of doing the same as us, you can fly into Bologna the night before, get a special train from the airport into the city centre, stay overnight in a hotel, get a train to Ravenna on the Monday morning and then catch the bus to the port. There are luggage limits on the bus, but I am led to believe firstly that you can pay a bit extra at the bus station for the luggage and secondly, no-one checks the size anyway as long as it doesn't obstruct anything. One thing I can tell you all is this, this one holiday has really p**ssed my wife off. 1st we cannot re-visit Venice in the time we have, 2nd they have changed the ship and we now have less facilities, 3rd so-far we cannot see any RCI operated trips that include climbing the leaning tower of Pisa. 4th no help whatsoever from anyone (who gets our money) with help getting to the ship. Let's just hope the menu's on the ship are the old ones! haaaaaaaaaa! Thank you again to everyone on here who has helped us with this and I hope to see some of you aboard the ship on the 29th May. Mick.

OK, so I have now been on the Ravenna START bus website and google translated some of the information. Firstly, you can buy your tickets with cash or card on the bus, but depends on change given. You can buy them also from various outlets, but it looks like the best may be the bus companies own office which is right outside the station exit and just around the corner from the bus stop looking on google maps. Very handy if in a rush. It says you can take 1 free item of luggage weighing up to 10kg and 50x20x25cm in size. It also says you can pay extra for an additional piece of luggage (price not mentioned) which can weigh 20kg and can be up to 50x50cm in size, so a medium sized case. It would be nice to see if anyone reading this has used this bus service and also if the rules on case size are monitored by the bus companies drivers. We do have cases that fit closely to that size, but would limit the amount of clothes we could bring. Luckily, it's only a week long cruise! Hope this helps anyone else wondering about this issue. Mick.

Hi all, By some amazement, RCI came back to me late yesterday to inform me that there is no transfers to the ship from Bolgna Airport and that I should either use a third party or go through my TA. Bearing in mind that my TA have not responded to any of my requests, I have found 2 taxi firms on the net and now had quotes from Ravenna FS to Port Corsini which is approx 8 miles or 12km. Limoline 60 euros Rhamaservice 45 euros Hell, some firms were offering taxis from Bologna to the ship for not much more. I would however choose to get the train to Ravenna and try to get to the ship from there on the day though. RCI still did not say in this new email if there were any transfers from Venice Marco Polo or not. Because neither they nor my TA could confirm if there were any when I originally asked back in January is the reason why I chose to fly in Bologna, partly due to time limits on getting to the ship as getting from Venice by myself could prove difficult and also seats on planes selling out and the times of those flights were awkward too, so could not wait any longer and had to book the flights that were best for me. I would be p**sed if RCI now tell me that there are transfers from Venice to the ship afterall, as I love Venice and miss it, but there was just no way to get there from the UK and enjoy it with the flight times and uncertainty of transfers to the ship. RCI did say, however, that I have until 1730 to board the ship, so plenty time to catch a bus/flag down a taxi or phone for one of the above. I will try to find out more about the local bus service, such as how much luggage you can take on board and where you get the tickets from and if you can pay the driver etc. For anyone interested in the Bar S. Marino 90 bus from Ravenna FS (Maroncelli FS1) to Porto Corsini (Sirotti) , the times from Ravenna FS are currently listed as 10:35, 11:50, 1:30, 2:10, 2:35 and 3:50 and take approx 30 mins. If I find anything else out about this I will post it here to hopefully help some (if not hundreds) of other cruisers who may also have the same issue. Again, given the amount of people travelling to Porto Corsini for this cruise, I am amazed RCI have not put on a shuttle (even at $10 pp and made some money as they normally do). However, business looks good for taxi firms that day! Mick.

Hi, Thank you so much for help in this matter. It is just a shame the people I pay good money to cannot get back to me to tell me this. They were quick enough to tell me the ship had changed! thanks Mick.

Hi, I am on the 29/5/23 sailing from Ravenna to Barcelona. I was hoping to fly from the UK to Venice as I usually would and then travel down to Ravenna on the day. I have been to Venice many many times and also sailed out from the port too a few time too in the past as will miss that part of the cruise sadly. However, due to holiday entitlement, my wife and I have to work right up until and including the Friday before the cruise which leaves on the following Monday. I too had asked both RCI and my travel agent several times about transfers from Venice to Ravenna but neither could commit as to if there were going to be any or not. I have now had no choice but to travel to London on the Saturday and then fly to Bologna on the Sunday, stay overnight and get the train to Ravenna from there on the Monday morning as it would be too risky to try to get to Ravenna from Venice on the day of the cruise. I have also asked both my travel agent and RCI if there are transfers from Ravenna to Port Corsini and again so far after many emails, neither have replied. I have found a local bus service from Ravenna to the port which is the number 90 which takes about 30 minutes and costs 2.10 euros one way and which runs at 1035, 1135, 1235 etc. I am always a bit wary about using local buses as you may be limited to what you can take on the bus as space my be limited. I think taxi's cost around 25 euro's but there may be hundreds of people waiting for those. So for anyone wanting to travel from Venice, you can take a train from Santa Lucia station (or Mestre if staying on the mainland) to Bologna, change train for Ravenna and then get the no.90 bus. As I said above, this would be a big ask for doing so on the Monday morning (unless you are not boarding till late, but check-in isn't open until mid April, so you can't even plan that properly yet), which is why we have opted to stay overnight in Bologna. This is our first cruise out of Ravenna, and more importantly, the first time neither RCI or my TA have been able to provide adequate transfer information to the ship in over 25 cruises with them both. It is almost like no-one cares! I only hope that the info I have posted here can help anyone else in my situation, and if you think about it, with ships leaving this port with 1000s of passengers on board, you would expect the cruise line to provide transfers as surely not everyone is going to fit on the hourly bus service or limited taxi service from Ravenna. If anyone knows anything different about getting from Ravenna train Station to the ship, please let me know. Hope to see some of you aboard the old Enchantment soon! Mick.

Hi all, I just think if there was something special the e-muster could do that improves on saving lives over the old way, then that would be a valid reason to keep it. As for returning to your cabin in an emergency, although I have not suggested this, one reason my wife would have to return is for her tablets for a medical condition. These would not normally be taken out of the cabin during the day as she would only normally take one at evening dinner, so unless the emergency was then, she would need to either return to her cabin or get staff to do so, depending on where that cabin was and where the emergency was. As I said in an earlier post, we spend nearly a third of the day in our cabin, not just at night, but also returning to get changed and showered and to use the loo etc. So there is a good chance of being in your cabin during an emergency which is why I think it is a good idea to know how to get to your muster station from it, and by using the normal walkways and stairs and if the e-muster app could be used for this in some way then surely that can only be a positive thing and a good reason to use it and keep it. Also, I think at a bare minimum in either case, you should have to attend your actual life boat station during the muster drill unless for some reason it not possible, but then why would it not be possible? I too have had the drill in the pub, theatre and other places, but have also been myself to find it just to be sure, but that's just me. Not everyone seems bothered, but surely they should be. Mick.