marielco

Thank you for the information.

I’ve heard the Barcelona terminals have changed in the last year or so. Does anyone know the name of the terminal Costa now uses? we are embarking on Costa Pacifica on 15th , our first Costa cruise.

Things got worse on Ambition today. Areas closed including pool, hot tubs even the library! No self service in the buffet.

I just heard from a friend on Ambition at the moment. She just came down with the virus and has been quarantined along with her travelling companion. Apparently a number of passengers have come down with it. My husband and I were on Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas visiting the Greek isles last month. My husband came down with the virus as did a lot of other people on the ship. We have been cruising for years and never encountered it before. Is Noro virus more prevalent this year in Europe?

Thank you.

My first MSC cruise was soon after cruising restarted after the pandemic. Then we were given an embarkation time. Is this still the case or can you now arrive whenever you like on embarkation day?

Hi @orville99 I don’t this there was any problem at all with Starlink. It is just as another poster said there are two elements which have to work together - Starlink and the ships network tech. There is no doubt the problem lies with the old tech on the ship. I cruised Wonder last year and the WiFi was great. Until all the older ships local network tech has been brought up to the standard on the new ships there will be various levels of WiFi available whether Starlink is fitted or not.

It definitely was not a temporary outage of the nearest access point. The WiFi expert at the sales desk was very clear about that. He repeated more than once that it was an old ship and the WiFi (even my browsing not streaming choice) just didn’t work in the cabins (except for a some) He said while they had upgraded to Starlink, the necessary upgrade of the ships technology had not been done yet. I have been on many RC ships with varying levels of WIFi (even experienced cabin door open scenario). in this case the problem was clearly what the crew member (an officer) told me - inadequate old technology with Starlink. My problem was not that they had old technology, which did not work across the ship, this is understandable with an old ship. My gripe was that they sold it as perfect, fastest etc…. Without any warning that it most probably would not work in your cabin. You could then decide knowing all the facts if you wanted to buy it. I love RC but in this case I would have expected better of them.

@Biker19 I did all that but still no joy. Our cabin was deck 7 beside the library so we were very central but it made no difference. He said “some” not “most” and I think he would have said “most” if that was the case. At the start it was an even more bold statement that “it didn’t work in cabins” Anyway if you pay for WiFi you shouldn’t have to stand by your open cabin door to use it. I’m sure Starlink is great when paired with up to the minute ship technology but RC should make it clear what is the true standard of service on the ship when selling you a package. if you ha

You need to do longer than 7 days and have some see days along the way. Western Med which may be where you are intending to cruise can be very port intensive and tiring. May is a good month or September. School holidays are not around then and the weather is warm but not too hot.

Planning my recent cruise on Explorer I was excited to discover it has Starlink installed. I booked 7 days of WiFi and looked forward to finding out how fast it really is. I had read all the RC blurbs extolling the virtues of the “fastest WiFi” at sea. I logged in but despite connecting it was so slow to access anything. I had a speed test on my iPhone and on running that I got a negligible result (see attached) I went to the WiFi desk and was told by the crew member selling the internet packagers that the “WiFi” doesn’t work in the cabins”. I was stunned at this. He said it is an old ship so the internal technology needed to be upgraded. They could not do anything about the poor service. I suggested he could tell people before he sold his packages how poor the service was! He just shrugged saying well in works in “some” of the cabins. In the end I cancel my package and got a refund in OBC. I just wanted to warn that the fact a ship has Starlink does not guaranteed good service or speed. This depends entirely on what existing technology is on the ship. Caveat emptor.

@BND I suppose it is pot luck whether the ship you are on handles an outbreak properly or not. Thankfully the captain of Explorer last week did things properly and his medical department were on the ball. We rang them at 2am in morning and my husband was told to come to medical center immediately. There were two nurses and a doctor on duty and a number of other patients attending. The line or other cruisers in defence of RC always trying to say it is “brought on board” by someone is pointless. It happens anywhere there is mass catering and a cruise ship just happens to be one of those. In fact it matters not whether brought on board or originating on board an outbreak needs to be handled properly by the cruise line. As well as good treatment, my husband has already been told he will get a future cruise credit for the time he was in quarantine.

Very aware it happens and when I said, not on a ship with an outbreak before, I meant one that was big enough to impact procedures and a noticeable amount of people impacted.

Just got off Explorer of the Seas yesterday. In the middle of the cruise the captain announced “enhanced cleaning regime” due to stomach virus on the ship. They started serving the food in the Windjammer, a crew member even had to fill your soda cup from the machine for you. A lot of people got ill. My husband came down with it on the Friday - he had not eaten in the Windjammer so not from there - quarantined for 24 hours. The medical staff were very good but it is still a very nasty dose. We have been on many cruises but luckily never on a ship with an outbreak. It pretty much ruined our last few days and the cruises of many others. We always wash our hands, use the sanitisers etc.. but obviously it can still get you.

Thank you. Taxi it is.

Many thanks. I will check there. It may be we will just need to take a taxi.

My husband and I are flying to Bologna and taking a train to Ravenna in June to sail on the Explorer around the Greek isles. We will stay overnight in Ravenna and we are wondering if there is a shuttle from Ravenna train station to the port? Anyone know.

Many thanks, had not realised the breakfast was only Oasis class. I think the milk shakes (I might avoid the Vanilla lol) ice cream sundaes are extra ?

It’s a while since I have been to Johnny Rockets on a cruise but sailing on Explorer soon. Does anyone know what the current charges are? and if possible what is offered on the breakfast menu. Many thanks.

If gratuities are included in the cruise fare and are not optional then they are no longer tips they are a charge.

I was booked on Brilliance out of Athens on 24th May 2023. Got an e mail from RC yesterday. Brilliance will not be sailing in Europe or from Florida in 2023. Her itineraries are being taken over by Enchantment of the Seas in Europe. They gave me the option of cancelling with refund of deposit or continue with the cruise on the replacement ship. Brilliance will be sailing from Vancouver, Canada from April 2023 and then from Sydney, Australia from October 2023

They had notices up showing the expected wait time at each terminal. Terminal 2 was 54 minutes the Terminal 3 was 59 minutes. We found these to be accurate. The lines were very long but were organised efficiently and moved smoothly. They apologised over the tannoy and there were signs up explaining new staff are being trained because of the downsizing during Pandemic.

I don’t think so I didn’t see one. As we had stayed in city for a couple of days we took a taxi from our hotel. Maybe someone else could answer your question for sure.

There was a shuttle to the airport which left the ship at 7.30am for anyone with a flight before 1.30pm. There was a second shuttle which left at 8.30am for anyone with a flight leaving after 1.30pm. As it is only about a 30 minute run to the airport we were way too early for our flight which was at 1.35pm. but better early than late 😀😀 I didn’t need a Covid these as I was flying to Ireland - no test needed.

I was flying home to Ireland. Ireland has not required a Covid test for people entering the country for some time so I didn’t have to worry about testing.