Kennycapes

We sailed on the Symphony 7 days round the Med in Europe.

1. The continuous maintenance was impressive, they were always wiping things down, washing decks, checking things washing balconies down.- was this because it was a new ship and once it has left for Florida will they reduce this.

2. Main dining room, we always sat on a table for 4 (2 ad 2c), is this the case on all cruises, i thought there might be large tables for 10 and we all mixed (i preferred our own table)

3. the hygiene, there was "gels everywhere" automatic doors to loo's, staff asking and checking you either wash or gel your hands before entering food area.

4. Staff were so helpful and friendly. Were we lucky or are all staff on RCI friendly.

5. on older ships what is the upkeep like, do they maintain them well.

My wife has converted me to cruising now but she has set the bar very high with booking the largest and newest chip available.

What are the others like?

I thought they had a huge bus that had 5,000 seats

:')

Tried to edit but it would only edit the content not title.

That would have been a big bus.

:')

Did you get the bus and make it to the ship.

I did Thanks.

When the bus driver pointed up the road he meant to point opposite and up about 10 feet.

In the trees hidden is the bus stop sign

We went for a walk got a nice lunch then walked to a clearly marked stop. Got back passing the stop hidden in the trees.

Feel old and a wally

got the bus easy from just outside Naples cruise terminal.

No problems.

Asked the driver of he picked up from the same place he said yes.

Waited for 14:00 bus and saw it coming.

Took some trouble flagging it down.

He stopped but wouldn't pick us up.

Just kept pointing up the road.

Ran after him for ages in the heat with my lad to only miss the same driver by minutes.

Now at another stop across town waiting for the 15:40.

Can't see how this is right.

Anyone else used the sita 5000 to get back from Pompeii.

Thanks all.

Double check with your provider that this works while at sea. I've seen a bunch of these plans that work on land but don't work at all at sea.

Also check if Tethering will work.

Many Sims/providers can detect Tethering and won't enable days through them.

At least if you have a limit you can't get billed £1000's for miss understanding roaming.

You're on a maritime network which isn't covered under EU Roaming Rules.

 

 

Lots of people don't understand this then complain to their Mobile Network Operator / RCI after the event, even though it's nothing to do with them.

Totally understand that.

As it's our first cruise I have never heard of the maritime mobile network so wasn't expecting it.

It's the same on an aircraft which I am very familiar with and also make sure roaming is off.

Will know for the future and a heads up for other first timers

first ever cruise

We were in the port of Barcelona and happily roaming on our free EU data roaming laws.

Set off it to sea

Got a text about an hour later saying I was roaming on a maritime network at £36 per MB.

Ran straight back up to the room and switch all our devices on airplane mode.

Lucky catch I hope.

Just for your info.

Cheers all.

My only suggestion - try to do as many of the things you want to do on Day 1 if you can. Lines for the Abyss and zipline can be long on sea days. They are really quiet on Day 1, wherever you get on.

Thanks for the heads up.

My lad would like nothing more than exploring round the ship and trying it all immediately.

I'll let him know

 

You need to copy my spreadsheet lol!

 

 

 

 

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Ha ha

Great planning

How late are your late drinks 😀😀

Have you got the Royal app? It’s free in App Store.

You log in and it connects to your cruise.

This shows the times of activities on board so you can plan beforehand

 

 

 

 

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Just downloaded the app and logged in.

Great stuff and thank you.

Almost ready for Sunday now.

Here’s a cruise compass from the beginning of a July. You will be able to see activity times in here.

 

https://issuu.com/hochmania/docs/merged.compressed__2_/1?ff=true&e=2025714/63091439

This is great to see, thank you.

Feel a bit more settled about what goes on.

Hi all

first ever cruise and it will be on symphony of the seas.

we leave Sunday.

have researched a lot so far but have come up with this questions.

The ice skating doubles up as a laser tag course.

i would like to know how you know when these things are on?

Looking at my cruise planner, ice skating and laser tag are not activities i can find.

how do we know what is on etc...

great pictures!! your kids are so cute!!!!

 

how does the ice skating work?

i assume you have to pay to rent the skates, yes?

Would like to know this too?

Great post and really useful insight.

Some ports lay on free shuttles to the port gates (Civitavecchia) and some ports don’t (Livorno)

Some ports don’t need to because you are parked (docked) right in the middle of town (Naples)

Some ports you walk to the gate and catch a local bus ( Palma)

Some ports the cruise company say you have to pay for their shuttle to get into town but there actually is a free shuttle around the corner (Marseille)

 

I’m afraid you are at the mercy of the port authorities and geography !

 

 

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Great feedback on the ports I need.

Sounds like Livorno is the only one I need to pay for

Thank you for this info.

What he said!:cool:

Maybe I just need to pay it then.

So you all pay at some ports and then use the free bus at others?

Why? If you get off an airplane via airstairs and walk across the tarmac you might get hit by a plane, or a catering truck or baggage handler, or get sucked into a jet engine.

 

If you get off a ship via the gangway you're in the cruise terminal building. You won't have access to where the catering trucks/baggage handlers are. And if you get yourself to a place where you could get hit by the ship, you'll probably notice 'cause you'll be really wet. ;)

That is a great and the point.

What if you don't get off via a gangway?

Never cruised before so I really think I'm missing something here.

All ships dock and get you to the terminal do they? But then it is not safe to get out of the port.

I'm trying to understand how ports work.

Heathrow is the busiest airport in the UK. I can get all the way to a public bus without being charged anything.

How are cruise ports different?

For Rome i understand civitavecchia had a free bus to the north side of the port.

There I can walk or take a bus to the train station. No €40 charge.

Is Livorno just different and charges you.

Livorno - big cruise port so yes, you are right people cannot wander around. Charge to drop you off in the centre of town. It was €5pp when I was there years ago, so €10pp would not be unexpected now.

From the centre of town you can catch a public bus (#1) to the train station if you want to go further afield, or there are some nice areas of Livorno itself for lunch and a beer.

Many thanks for the info.

I think it's a bit wrong to get charged €40 to just get off the boat ( for our family).

I wonder if Barcelona airport are going to leave us stranded on the tarmac unless we pay for thE bus to the terminal.

I hope not.

Hi all,

am really struggling to understand why i cant find the info i am after about free shuttles to the cruise terminal.

hope you kind folk can help?

when i land on a plane and it parks without a ramp and is somewhere away from the terminal, it is so dangerous to allow people to walk around an airfield that the airport collect you by bus and take you to the terminal safely, FOC or hidden in the cost of ticket.

I seem to be missing something here. for example

we are travelling into Livorno and all i can find is statements like "cruise shuttle into town".

What am i missing,

surely, just like an airport, the port "has" to lay on some transport to get to a safe place.

We are more than capable of finding our way from there.

Livorno for example, i have read it is up to 15-20 euros to get to the centre so i can catch a bus to the train station. (with our family that 60-80 euros just to get to the station, madness!!)

What i want to do is get to a safe place and then use the buses to get to my final destination.

is every port different or do they just ask you to pay or you are stuck on the ship.

would be interesting to see what would happen if that happened in an airport.

Cheers all,

Hello fellow CC members,

 

Just got off the Symphony of the Seas after a Western Mediterranean cruise last week. Anyone interested in a post-cruise review? If so, I'll post details over the next few days. :cool::cool::cool:

Yes please. First ever cruise and on her in 9 days time out of Barcelona.

sailing into Barcelona on the Symphony of the seas on the 12th Aug.

I do not flight till late so using bagsandgo to pick up my cases and meet us at the airport at 8pm.

I need to tell them a pick up time,

What time should i recommend?

i dont want to miss them but i dont want to be waiting at the port for hours for them.

its a bit vague but what is the general disembarkation process like?

for that matter do you go through an immigration process? we are only sailing in the med? do i need to go through an immigration process at each port for our day trips?

Travelling in a weeks time and just thought of something,

what time do you have to be off the ship, someone is meeting us at the port on our last day,

also do you get breakfast after checkout?

cheers all

Hi all,

first cruise and just checking something

we are sailing on symphony in 2 weeks and have both added the alcohol package against our booking.

How do they know we have when going to the bar, wrist band, boarding card?

how would i get 2 drinks, will my wife have to be there, if its a card do i just take both up?

many thanks

For the free shuttle just follow the green line on the street outside of the terminal building. They recently built a new bus stop which is now much easier to find.

 

 

The free port shuttle is running inside the port area and ends close to Place de la Joliette (where the public bus also ends). From there it´s about 10 min walking to the Vieux Port where you can find the Petit Train. There´s also a public bus going up to Notre Dame de la Garde. I think the bus stop is on the opposite side (the side the Notre Dame is located) of the Vieux Port.

 

 

For the free shuttle make sure you have a good amount of time left on your way back to the ship.

 

 

 

steamboats

Perfect many thanks.

we are a family that are very used getting around cities and using public transport. This is our first cruise and what i am finding very difficult (strangely) is how to get from the ships to the exit of the port and in some cases where the hell the exit of the port is (some have multiple exits).

this is perfect info and i now know exactly how to get to the land train.

thanks.

The free port bus is about 500 metres from the bus and I understand it's destination is the nice shopping centre about 10 minutes from the city centre.

The RC shuttle drops you off at the port in Marseille.

The taxis are very reasonably priced ie 16€ to the centre and there are plenty at the terminal.

The taxi is the best bet and would take you to the train station.

Many thanks.

I'm trying to work out some of your detail.

I'm on the ship and trying to get off. What do you mean by free bus being 500 meters from the bus?

I'm off the ship first then trying to get the free shuttle to the exit . I then would like to think I've got off walking distance from the place I take the land train.

Any ideas where i get on the free shuttle and off again. Is there only 1 exit ? If so that might be easier.

...simply looking for where the free port bus (or free RCI) drops off so i can catch the petite train to Notre-Dame de la Garde

the port maps show no "green" dots for drop off or perhaps i am coloured blind.

i dont want to end up at the wrong end of the port and have to pay my mortgage in taxi fares to get me to the right place.

Thanks all, i have sorted Barcelona, Rome and Palma but i dont know my i am finding this one so hard