FamilyAtSea.travel

Thanks, that seems like it should be super helpful. How early do you think we should plan to get there if an hour wasn't early enough?

I've read it's only about 30 seats and they're released about 5 minutes before the show starts. I haven't been on the ship yet to verify though.

From what I've read you need to get there at least an hour before a show if you want any chance at getting a seat (no reservations).

Hey y'all, We have a helicopter ride + dogsledding excursion booked in Juneau for our Alaska cruise in July, but I understand the helicopter excursions are frequently cancelled due to weather (somebody said as often as 2/3 are cancelled). What's an exciting excursion we can potentially book on the day of if we find out our helicopter excursion is cancelled? Thanks in advance!

That's helpful, I will ask. Thank you!

I'm going to go see if I can find a semi-private that includes Ravello! My wife is 38 and I'm 41 and with young kids who are staying with their grandparents for this trip, we're at least used to being on the go non-stop between our careers and kids' sports 😝 I really appreciate your help with things, thank you!

I appreciate the perspective - I'll definitely have to take a closer look. We booked a tour with only 6 people so we're not in a bus... Not sure that changes much, but it at least means we will be easier to corral and we can make it down that road. Unfortunately the only way to really find out is to try and we may end up being very disappointed. The reviews on Viator are generally pretty positive but I think I may try to find one that has less stops on the agenda so we can at least see more when we do stop.

I appreciate the perspective and this all makes sense. With it being difficult to fit everything in, why do you think the most common excursion I see on all the sites for Naples seems to be Pompeii + Amalfi Coast?

Thank you for sharing the menu. What exactly is this experience? Is it eating good food while somebody does a painting? Or is it something else?

You're not wrong...and that doesn't even include the cruise excursions or the 3 days in Barcelona following the cruise! It's going to be a lot, but we enjoy the experiences (even if they're not relaxing).

You know a lot more about martinis than I do so I'll defer to your expertise there. What I can tell you is that on MSC these are definitely poured fresh and the ice melting has never been an issue as far as the taste goes. They're shaken and not stirred, for whatever that is worth. I've had one that was made with premade espresso on Margaritaville at Sea (I had a couple days to kill between a YC cruise and a business tradeshow in Florida) and it was definitely not as good, but hopefully whatever Celebrity does will be better. With all of that said, even if Celebrity can't make a good espresso martini, we are still going to have an amazing cruise (I just may have a few more mojitos this time around). We leave next Friday for 3 days in Rome before we set sail... Looking forward to our first experience in the Retreat!

The salted caramel part is just ingredients - as long as they have the Kahlua and vodka, that part is easy. I can tell you that on MSC they were made with fresh espresso at every bar across the ship that I ordered one in...it's not an exclusively Yacht Club/Top Sail Lounge thing, though that's often where I grabbed one just because it's really nice to grab one right there without a crowd (and I also don't feel bad asking a bartender who isn't busy to make one vs. somebody trying to make drinks for 20+ people all wanting a drink at the same time). I didn't realize this was a rarity as I'm not a big drinker and I never order one of these anywhere besides a cruise ship. I would expect a premium line like Celebrity to make these with fresh espresso but it sounds like I've been spoiled by MSC (it's weird to even write that out when comparing MSC to Celebrity, lol). It is what it is - we'll try the instant espresso martinis in the Retreat and if they're not good, I'll just find another drink to enjoy.

That's helpful, thank you! We enjoy the Yacht Club, but we're also looking forward to sailing in the Retreat!

Yes, we will be flying in from Washington DC and I likely won't be able to sleep on the red-eye so I'll be tired and the sun will definitely help! I appreciate the helpful advice, thank you!

I'm sure that's what the paid Tapas Tour we are doing this, but I guess it would be easy enough to just do it on our own vs paying a guide if we want to.

Thank you for the helpful feedback! The day 3 tour actually includes the Forum as well... I know that will make for a long day, but we definitely have a tendency of completely wearing ourselves out on "vacation". I believe the day two tour includes those items that you mentioned we should do when we arrive on day one, but we will definitely be sure to see those. Our flight is due to arrive at 2pm so I'm hoping we can make it to our hotel, which is right beside the Pantheon, by 3-4pm but I don't know how long it will take to clear customs. I really appreciate the feedback, thank you.

Thank you, I will look into these now!

Wow, really? I would expect that from Carnival or Margaritaville, but not from Celebrity.

Thank you, I will look into these!

I guess I've been spoiled by the Yacht Club Lounge. I really enjoy getting a drink without having to deal with large crowds, but I guess that drink won't be an espresso martini in the Retreat. Thank you for the heads up!

Thank you! I will see about finding another tour that lists more about the coast and Positano.

For our Naples port excursion we're doing a tour of Pompeii + the Amalfi Coast. We want to squeeze as much into our vacation time to see your beautiful country as we can but I also know this particular day we may be trying to do too much. For background - we're a 41m/38f couple in relatively good shape (workout 5-7 days/week but not elite athletes by any means). Does the trip below look like too much to do in 8.5 hours? Or do you think we'll have enough time to get a feel for both Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast? Thank you in advance for any advice! --- Tour details: Pickup at 8am Pompeii Archaeological Park Forum Stabian Baths Tempio di Giove Capitolino Macellum w/ stop for lunch Duomo di Sant'Andrea Dropoff at 4:30pm

We arrive in Rome on the afternoon of Saturday, June 1 and have three days in the city before we board the Celebrity Equinox for our Med cruise. Currently we have made the plans below. If anybody would be willing to review and let me know if you'd recommend any changes (or validate the plans we do have), I would truly appreciate it. Day 1 - Saturday, June 1st (3pm arrival): Plans: Explore the city on our own Dinner: Idylio by Apreda Day 2 - Sunday, June 2nd: Note: This is your Independence Day so we know the city is going to be very busy so we've tried to plan around that as best we can. 9am: Watch jet flyover from Giardino degli Aranci 9:30am - 3:30pm: Tour of Rome w/ food tastings and the city w/ guide from WithLocals Dinner (6:30pm): Food Tour from LivTours Day 3 - Monday, June 3rd: 9am - 4pm: Tour of Vatican + Colosseum (minivan transport), via Through Eternity Tours Dinner (7pm): All'oro Day 4 - Tuesday, June 4th: 8:45am - 10am: Tour of Pantheon Any advice about things would be very truly appreciated as I want to make sure we make the most of our trip. Thank you in advance!! Ciao!

We have two evenings in Barcelona and I'd like to make sure we make the most of them. Currently we have the two dinners below booked: Cocina Hermanos Torres - Three Michelin stars but very mixed reviews...has anybody had dinner here to confirm whether it is worth $1k+ for dinner for two? Tapas Tour + Flamenco - I know Barcelona isn't known for their Flamenco and this is definitely not a fine dining experience, but we love tapas and would like to take in a tourist experience, so this seems like a good option. If anybody has any input on these options or some alternatives we should consider, I would appreciate it. Thank you in advance!!

We are spending 2.5 days in Barcelona following our June 4th sailing on the Celebrity Equinox and I'm currently finalizing plans. We fly out on Saturday, June 15th and our flight is at 3:45pm so we should have enough time that morning for a short tour before we head to the aiport. We are doing the big stuff in Barcelona + Montserrat on Thursday and Girona/Costa Brava on Friday so this seems like a good short tour for the morning before we head home. The problem is that I've only been able to find a single private tour of Tibidabo and it isn't offered on weekends. Does anybody know of a 3 hour morning tour we can do that will then drop us off at the airport afterwards? Thanks in advance for any help!