Carnevale

Great photos! Many thanks for adding in “the rest of the story “ for this trip. So very helpful to have all the info you shared.

Thx for this info. It looks like this can’t be shipped to Canada. Does anyone know of a proctored COVID antigen test kit that I can buy from Canada and use in Italy before embarkation?

which test did you use? We will be sailing from Civitavecchia on Oct 1 so will need to test when we are in Rome and would like to use a proctored test that works well from Italy.

Fabulous blog! Many thanks for taking time to share all of this information - much appreciated. It’s wonderful you and your mom are sharing this great experience together. If you happen to notice any ballroom dancing I would love to hear about it and find out where on the ship it was and how full the floor was. We are on Regal in October and really hope to get a fair amount of dancing in.

We have made about 25 trips to Venice over the years some of which were stays of several weeks so we know it fairly well. We do not recommend staying near P. Roma. As has been suggested, take a water taxi to a hotel near San Marco as you will have a much better / more interesting experience. I agree with the poster who recommended a water taxi. They are expensive however, my guess is your grandkids will remember it as a highlight and when you consider that it will take all of you and your luggage the price isn’t too bad. If the weather is good the back of the taxi will be open and you can stand up and get an amazing view of the Grand Canal if that’s the route you go. If you do this it helps to book a hotel with a water entrance as then you will dock right there and the hotel staff can help with your bags going to your room. But if you arrive during an aqua alta (high tide that floods the city) it might not be possible to get right to your hotel as at times the water is too high for boats to get under the bridges ( not often, but it can happen ). Hope you have a great time! It’s a magical place especially in San Marco after sunset listening to the palm court orchestras at the cafes.

Thx Steelers36. I have been part of the Oct 1 RC for a long time. I check it most days even though it is so quiet. We are traveling with some family so this time we are not looking for RC organized tours but we have done that in the past and had some great experiences. This will be our first cruise since the onset COVID and we are really looking forward to getting back to sea however the questions/concerns about catching the virus are worrisome.

I really appreciate this thread as info on Regal seems thin on the Princess board. We will be sailing her starting on Oct 1. Does anyone have information on how COVID testing is being done for Regal’s departures from Civitavecchia? I realize things may change by October but I am curious so thought I’d ask now.

Rules keep changing - last change in Italy was May 1 when they dropped the need for proof of vaccination to do indoor things (restaurants, etc) and made masks mandatory only on public transportation of all types. When we were in Zurich last week waiting for a flight we heard an announcement at the next gate saying masks were required for boarding and during the flight as it was going to Italy. However, If/how the masks on transportation rule applies to an American airline leaving Italy is a good question. The airline will be the best source of this information.

Thx for both of these suggestions. I have looked at Naples Driver and Guide and they seem to have good rates and quickly responded to email questions. Has anyone used them?

Yes and it worked well. I had the SIM in iPhone and used my iPad from it when I didn’t have wifi for my iPad.

Four of us will need a private car service to get from the Naples airport to the town of Amalfi in late September. Then, after a few days, we'll need it again to get from Amalfi to a hotel in central Rome. If anyone has a car service they have used in the past that was good I'd really appreciate hearing about it. Thanks!

We got back from a trip to Italy two days ago. While we were there we had a local SIM. We couldn't find an e-SIM that would give us voice and data that we could order in advance of our trip so, on day one we found a Vodafone store and easily got one there. To our surprise, it doesn't include SMS texts but it had a lot of data and international calling. It worked very well in Italy but while we were told it was good in other nations, it didn't work in Switzerland - I'm not sure why. But even without working in Switzerland it was a good deal. We've used Vodafone many times in Italy and have found them to be a little less expensive than TIM.

We are considering a 28 night cruise but before we book we would like to know if there will be opportunities for ballroom dancing. Can anyone who has sailed on the Island Princess recently please let me know if you saw any ballroom dancing? Maybe in the Wheelhouse? Or? Many thanks!