Rysyonok

There are cut-off limits for cancelling without penalty. At least 24 hours, I think. That said: - hitting your favorite restaurant the instant you get on board and telling them out of the gates that you really enjoy their place will do wonders - booking multiple nights at the same place will greatly increase your chances of getting your desired time - "Can I write down your name so I can mention you on the survey" makes things so easy it's not even fair 🙂 Also, be flexible. Virtually every restaurant *will* have 830-845pm slots open daily. You don't have to win every battle.

They are running uploads. Mine disappeared and came back. It's a regular middle-of-the-night US time thing.

Are these La Spezia ship to terminal busses running pretty much nonstop?

Elegantly said and makes perfect sense.

The best strategy is to hit early or to hit late. The rush hour appears to be around 7; so, 530 and 845 reservations are the easiest to come by. Book first formal night dining first out of everything else. Book latter half of the cruise next (Remember, as you're doing this, others are doing the same). Book the lobster formal night last - that one is going to be the easiest to get 🙂

I believe Jamie's is the go-to for embarkation day lunch these days (experience: Oasis / Anthem).

This sale was a nice unannounced surprise (50% off unlimited dining on my sailing). Does anyone know how long is it going to last?

How was that experience, if I may ask? Crowded, noisy, or pleasant and on-time?

That would be tough to predict, but I would suggest early (530) dinners and early (1200) sea day lunches in general. I will say that Anthem did a rather mediocre way of scheduling events: they kept overlapping. Good for crowd control, bad for those who want to do multiple things. If you're a really active person, stack up on Izumi (quick meals + you can order to-go) and Solarium bistro (hit-and-run). Jamie's was also takeout friendly. If you prefer taking your time, book heavily 530 across the board with a plan to cancel 1 or 2.

May I hear more of your dissenting opinion? SO and I are of a unique mindset, where we prefer exploring on foot rather than spending time in a tin can heading down to Rome on a long excursion. We're actually considering spending our port of call of Rome's (Civitavecchia's) time staying in that port (I know, I know). Would you mind sharing a few of your favorites in Civitavecchia?

Is there anything in particular you're looking for? I did November and December 2021 on Anthem to the Bahamas.

If you do come across any good underground tours in Naples, can you share them please? Galleria Borbonica or Catacombs of San Gennaro do sound interesting, but I haven't done either one (yet), so I cannot recommend as per rules of this forum.

FYI, there are daily updates through the sailing, usually at 8am, especially when it comes to available reservation times for activities. Have you considered checking posted Cruise Compass editions to get a general idea of what to expect? https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass?ship=435 may be a good start. One advice - book North Star the instant you get on board.

Thank you for your review. Have you tried all the free venues, e.g., Solarium Bistro, El Loco? Have you tried any paid ones - or have you seen how much they were booked? What kind of promotions were being pushed for paid food venues, prior to the sailing and onboard? WJ used to have a hidden gem that I call "chef's night off"; it's when on a formal night all the more senior crew are pulled to MDR, and some genuinely ethnic dishes come out, the kind you both can't name and can't resist 🙂 Has there been no changes like that at all?

As of October 21st, all Spanish entry restrictions had been lifted (as related to the topic of the original post). It would be interesting to see when/whether/how cruise lines sailing from Spain react to that.

A few suggestions based on experience. - seats towards the back of the plane, where there are only two between a window and a walkway - a plush / soft hoodie that can become a pillow, pressed against the window / wall - walk, walk, walk, stand up until the moment you have to board - an extra drink brought onboard so you don't have to call a crew member every time - underdress slightly to avoid overheating - easy to remove shoes - fully charged batteries and fully emptied bladders 🙂

Roger, Thank you so much for your responses. I have a few follow-up questions, if you don't mind. 1. When it comes to Palma Cathedral, is headwear required for women? And are Cathedral terraces worth it when it comes to view offered? With waterfront to the south of the Cathedral, I imagine mid-day sun is going to impact picture quality. 2. Looking at the website you had mentioned, there is a spot called Dalt Murada, a unique blend of 2, if not more buildings, and maybe even a small wall. Do you happen to know of any other hidden gems like that, with a wild mix of styles? 3. How receptive are locals to US currency? Or it's euros only? Thank you in advance.

FYI, Spain dropped all the Covid-19 requirements a couple of days ago. I would assume that any facilities inside the airport would start closing before long & reach out to the cruise line to see if onboard testing is an option at all.

Greetings, First all of all, a hearty thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. Reading it has been a pleasure. @roger b - your wisdom has been very much appreciated. I have a few questions that I have not seen asked in the prior 12 pages. 1. We're in port for 8 hours (8-4). Taking a train to Soller is a hair risky in our opinion, so we are considering taking the train only to Son Sardina (the very first stop, according to https://trendesoller.com/eng/routes/train ) just for the experience, then bouncing back to metro line M1 back to Palma as stations are side by side. That seems like a trip doable in under 30 minutes, unless there's something major that I'm missing, like service interruptions due to track repair. 2. I'm a fan of old fortifications, so I'm interested in any remains of Palma city walls. I can see their outline - Torrent de Sa Riera --> Av. de Portugal --> Av. D'Alemanya --> Av. d'Alexandre Rossello, but the real question is how much is truly left. I don't expect anything as elaborate as Constantinople, but are Bastio de Sant Pere and Baluarte del Principe all that's left? Bellver castle isn't an option - we're arriving on Monday when it's closed. 2a. Follow-up to the previous question: Aside from Baths, are any Moor buildings still survive? 3. Every cruise port has a tourist market, or so I thought, with something truly genuine (no offense to Chinese-, Vietnamese-made and such goods). Whether it be blue-and-white imp figurines of Charleston, South Carolina, hand-painted rum bottles of Marigot, St. Martin, pink-sand jewelry of St. George, Bermuda, frog figurines of San Juan, PR - whatever that may be for Mallorca, I must be missing it. Is there not a store or even a market where a spirit of Balearic Islands might be captured in a sense? 4. How long is the wait to get into various tourist attractions in Palma, let's take the Cathedral for example? Are these pretty much walk-in (May, only ship in town), or reservations are needed? I'm specifically asking for a generic answer here as my partner and I prefer to keep walking rather than waiting, as we'd rather see a dozen of city blocks than a single place if we have to wait in a long line to get there. Thank you so much in advance!

In short, probably not, unless you're in good physical shape and can weather 2 miles by foot with a suitcase in tow. There is a shuttle bus, however, you would find the following site useful, as it has a clickable map correlating hotels and the bus route: https://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/faq/cruise-ship-terminals/shuttle-bus-barcelona-cruise-terminal.html Ourselves, though, we're crazy enough to try it on foot (both ways nonetheless), staying in Hotel Roma Reial, a small outfit adjacent to the big red circle on the map (2.7 miles, an hour in 70F weather).

All the previous posters are correct, drinks, presumably alcohol, do count against daily allowance. But if you're a real fan of coffee, then you can get all day (depending on Diamond lounge hours) access to a really good coffee machine for free.