marazul

I just booked flights to Europe on Flight Ease going through LHR. Flight Ease lists several flights leaving at the same time. If you look at "Details," you will see that they are co-branded flights - one entry for AA and the other for BA. If you book the AA flight you can choose your seats. If you book the exact same BA flight you can't.

You can go to the "Booked Guests" section, login and go to Flight Ease.

Here is the timetable starting in March 2024. https://www.travelmar.it/en/timetable-from-march-2024

There are no trains between Naples and Positano.

8:45 pm. In the MDR having a goat cheese soufflé.

For a private tour: georgestaxi.com

@prekcruiser You are only going to Oia and Fira. Decide how long you want to stay in Oia when you are there. The views from Imerovigli are the same as from Oia. The main problem with a brief stop there is that you have to wait for the next bus for half hour and since the bus fills up in Oia you might not get a seat. Do buy your tickets to the Acropolis online before you go. Mykonos - the party starts at night and in some very trendy clubs earlier in the day. I would suggest one or more of the following depending on your time in port: walk around the town, go to the beach (the water will be on the cold side in May), take a 4-wheel drive tour of the island. If you are interested in ancient history, take the ferry to Delos in the morning. Lots of info about all of this on this board.

@prekcruiser@michelle-nh There isn't much to Imerovigli. Do visit the small museum in Fira. Lots of info here on Mykonos and Corfu. You don't need a guide for the Acropolis. The guides may be there, but I have never seen them. Read about it before yor trip and copy a few pages from a guide book (public library) and bring them with you.

I don't think suite size or status are factors on granting requests. Availability of ingredients would certainly be one.

There are many hotels in Naples close to the pier. You probably have early disembarkation. You could leave your bags at the hotel and make your way to Pompeii and Herculaneum. They are both on the same Circumvesuviana train line. Have a nice evening in Naples. Next day you can take a train to Rome. Better yet, if you stay an extra night in Naples, next day you can take the ferry to Capri (near the ship's pier) or go on an excursion of the Amalfi coast. All of these tours are ideal because you will not be pressed to be back on the ship by a certain time. Make the most of this opportunity.

Here is a phone detail we have experienced in some airports. Cell phone connections can be very poor or nonexistent (or not allowed) within the passport control and baggage claim sections of some (not all) airports. Whether this is by design or accident, I do not know. However, cell phone connections are invariably fine between the plane and entering passport control, and then after exiting baggage claim. I have never tried to make a call from within those areas in FCO so I don't know the situation there. I would suggest you send each other a text as soon as you land so the second to arrive knows you are there. Of course, call each other, but be aware that the call may not go through if one of the parties is within a "bad reception" area.

Many people here would be interested on your comments on the hotel. People always ask and, as you said, there is hardly any info.

Good idea for the private transfer. And when you are on board, check on disembarkation procedures, luggage, etc. You might want to check on all of that on the Celebrity CC board to give you an idea.

@msvca The ferry from Piraeus to Heraklion is very long. It takes about 9.5 hours. The flights are 50 minutes. You would waste too much time on the ferry if you only have one or two days to spend in Crete. You are better off taking one of the many daily flights. Check out the schedules in aegeanair.com. Having said that, there are overnight ferries to Crete. Not my cup of tea. I would rather spend the time in Crete.

As mentioned above, there are minimal formalities clearing the ship. You should be able to get out one hour after docking. And, certainly, by 7 am.

A couple of years ago we cruised with a single friend. We assumed we would be having dinner together every night, but she kept on getting invited to dinner with other singles almost every night! There were also one or two coctails-before-dinner events. She has been on two other SB cruises since.

@giadav We usually book the island flights at least six months ahead of time. However, keep checking aegeanair.com as they have sales from time to time. You only need to check in one hour ahead of time for domestic flights. Add one hour to get to the airport from the pier. To be safe, leave the ship a little more than two hours before flight time. In your case, if you can disembark at 7:30 you will have enough time to make your 9:50 flight. If you go to one of the smaller islands, you might fly a 30 or so passenger plane. Carry-on rules are very strict. You will need to check any US sized carry-on luggage. Also, many domestic flights leave from the tarmac and they bus you there from the gate. If that is the case, make sure you get to the airport a little sooner. So, leave the ship by 7:30. Where are you going to?

That would take just as long as starting and ending in England. But the OP was considering a cruise out of Lisbon so maybe this one would be appealing.

George's has great private tours, but it does not do shared tours. PK does. https://www.georgestaxi.com/faq/

@Nancyewhite01 The beauty of Kotor is the long sail in and out one of the most fabulous bays (technically a fjord) in the Med. You can enjoy that from the deck (best) or your balcony. There are some good excursions out of Kotor, but I would rank them as of less interest than those of your other ports. The town of Kotor itself is very small and well worth looking around. If you feel ok during the day just get out for a short walk in the very scenic town. And enjoy the sail out. The same could be said about Portofino (without the long sail in) unless you choose to go to Cinqueterre. Portofino is even smaller than Kotor and you could also plan to tender in for a stroll around if you feel like it.

. Check out PK Travel. pktravelgreece.com. They have semi-private tours where you are added to a group.

Sorry! I should have said Montjuic, NOT Tibidabo! The local hill, not the local mountain. Montjuic is 173 meters. The tower will be 170 meters.

Your baby will bring the average age on board by 15 minutes. Good points on post #19 above. Enjoy your cruise and welcome to your little girl.

We also return again and again. The first time we saw it was closer to 40 than 30 years ago. We walked into the site which was full of weeds. There was no roof. You could look straight up to the sky. It really amazes us the way it has grown to almost completion. The most striking was when we were there shortly after all the stained glass windows were installed. The colors are magical. Hopefully, we will see that main tower completed in the future. That will be quite an accomplishment considering that it is meant to be just a few meters shorter than the Tibidabo mountain that overlooks Barcelona. Gaudí believed that no work of man should be higher than a work of God (but it could come close.)

https://www.medocvignoble.com/en/my-stay/convenience/ https://www.medocvignoble.com/en/degustation/maison-du-tourisme-et-du-vin-de-pauillac/ https://www.france-voyage.com/cities-towns/pauillac-11560.htm https://www.cellartours.com/destinations/bordeaux/wine-regions/pauillac