Sun Lover

Thanks so much for replying.  The information is really helpful.

What about when we go other places beside churches?

What is the general dress code for Italy?  I just read that in Rome you cannot have your knees or shoulders exposed.  Does that apply to other areas of Italy as well? We would be there in late August/early September and I know it will be really hot.  Does that mean we can never wear shorts?  

Thanks for replying so quickly!  This information is so helpful.  Wow, 110 miles!  That's a lot of walking.  We like to walk and are used to walking 2-3 miles a day a few times a week but that doesn't even compare!. 

You said all your excursions were privately booked.  Were you at all concerned about not getting back to the ship on time?  We've been on several Caribbean cruises and we almost always book our own excursions, but I'm really careful about getting back to the ship way ahead of time and in that case we're on islands that are really small.  I'm not at all familiar with any of the stops on this itinerary and would want to be careful about the time.

How did you find the private tours - is there a site for each city that has listings and reviews or recommendations to know which ones are reliable?

When you booked your hotels in Rome and Venice, did you book directly with the hotel or did you go through a booking site?  

Did you purchase the airfare through Celebrity or on your own?

Sorry to ask so many questions but your information is invaluable, especially for someone like me who has never traveled to this area before.  Thanks very much.

 sofietucker, how do you find out which ports have a tender?  Since you've been to many of these ports, I'd love to hear your opinion of them and any suggestions on what to see in each one.  Do you know if any of these ports are a long way from the city center and how far of a drive it is to get there?  If you have recommendations for excursions, please let me know.  Thank you!

Surfnsun, your live review has to be the best I have ever read.  The details and information you provided is amazing.  Congrats on your award!

We have the Rome to Ravenna Mediterranean cruise on courtesy hold until tomorrow while I try to decide what to do.  If you have time to answer some questions, it would be very helpful.

We have this same cruise on a courtesy hold until tomorrow, as I'm still researching it and trying to decide what to do.  We've never cruised on Celebrity.  We've been on numerous Caribbean cruises with Royal Caribbean but only on the large ships.  If you could answer some questions for me, it would be very helpful.

Which ports used tenders? About how long did they take?

Which ports were far from city centers and in those ports how long did it take to get to the city?  Did you always use the shuttle buses that were provided?

When you say several ports were unwalkable, what do you mean and which ports were they?

Did you do excursions through the ship or privately?

If you have recommendations for any excursions you liked, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks so much for your help!

On 5/3/2024 at 3:17 AM, flyerbrp said:

Just walked off the Constellation in Revenna and boarded our bus to Venice Airport. This was 10 Day Rome to Ravenna.From start to end the cruise was fabulous. We are Elite status so we have been on many ships. On this cruise we were in a Veranda cabin deck 6. Absolutely no complaints. We sometimes sail Aqua or Concierge so we have a little perspective. To answer the question about shower curtains, yes no door in our cabin. 
The food in main dining was very good. Never a bad meal but food is always subjective. Our servers were absolutely top notch and in many respects the whole experience rivaled or exceeded Blu. 
The entertainment was over the moon based on several past cruises. From Domenick Allen to Rikki Jay, Lifford Shillingford, Leanne Mitchell and Roy Tan the theater shows were superb. 
Ports were awesome albeit very very crowded. Two tender ports but handled efficiently. I don’t like tendering but I don’t fret over things I can’t control. We did excursions pretty much every port. I would be happy to answer individual questions. 
Embarkation and debarkation were seem less, flawless and absolutely no delays. Absolutely no line getting off on on to the transfer bus for the 3 hour ride to Venice. Several ports are very far from city centers etc but shuttle buses were provided. Again I don’t fret what I can’t control. Several ports are actually unwalkable. 
The ship is beautiful. It was clean but the actual refurbishment was limited to common space. Cabins were not refurbished so our while very clean showed signs of aging. Again very clean and our attendant did a great job of keeping it clean for us. We used the laundry service for the first time ever and it is something we will do from now on.

And for you Blue Chip members the casino was very generous to us and thanks to Jasmine for keeping the casino fun. 

I’d love to read a review after your May cruise.  Do you mean May of 2024 or 2025?

I am looking into possibly booking this cruise to the Mediterranean but have never done a European cruise or a cruise with Celebrity.  We have only done Royal Caribbean cruises to the Caribbean on the huge ships. 

I know the small river cruise ships can get into small places and I think many of them you can walk right off the ship into a port.  Does anyone know if the Constellation has to used tenders at most ports?  Would they have to dock so far out that we'd waste a lot of time trying to get to places by car once we get off the ship?  I priced some cruises with small sailing ships as well as river cruise ships and the price difference is unbelievable.  One of them has 2 nights less than the Constellation and it's triple the price of Celebrity. However, it does include several excursions in the price.

If anyone has done this particular itinerary or has experience with this ship in Europe, I'd appreciate your feedback and/or advice.  Thanks.

Thanks so much for replying - it definitely helps. I like the fact that this itinerary includes the 3 day land tour. I realize this would be very different as far as shows and activities. I would need to find out the hours the ship is in each port and how much time is actually on the ship. We like to keep busy so the lack of entertainment is a concern, but I really like this particular itinerary. 

If you have been on both types of ships, do you have a preference between the sailing ships and the motorized ones?  If you have any other advice, please let me know. Thanks again.

We have cruised several times to the Caribbean on Royal Caribbean large ships and have enjoyed them very much.  We recently received a brochure from Windstar in the mail and they have an itinerary that looks very good to me - Lake Como & Adriatic Romance cruise aboard the Wind Surf for 11 days.  I realize this would be a huge difference from the large ships we're used to so I have some questions:

1.  Do the sailing ships like Wind Surf use tenders at all ports?

2.  What is the difference between the sailing ships and the motorized ones?

3.  Is it likely you'll get seasick on the sailing ships?

4.  How does Windstar compare to other cruise lines and are there any others you would recommend for this type of trip?

Any advice and/or suggestions you could give me would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

I’m going on Wonder tomorrow and just purchased 8 bottles of water to put in my carryon.  I didn’t realize until a few minutes ago that the bottles are supposed to be under 17 ounces.  I bought 20 ounce bottles.  Will they not allow me to bring them on board?

Thanks so much for the suggestions.  I ended up booking Cortrans.  They had a lot of positive reviews.

What's the latest they will let you stay on the ship on disembarkation day?  I want to book a shuttle for transport to MCO and I have to pick a time that morning.  We aren't in a hurry as our flight doesn't leave until 4 p.m.  Would we be able to stay on the ship until 9 a.m.?

We will be on Wonder of the Seas next week and will be disembarking on Sunday, November 19.  We need transportation to MCO after we leave the ship.  I've checked into Port Canaveral Connection shared shuttle service, which got terrible reviews, and a couple other ones and none of them seem to be very reliable.  I finally decided to use Go Port shared shuttle but now I just read bad reviews about them too.  There are six of us.  I don't know if we should try to use a ride service, such as Uber, or a private car service maybe or a shared shuttle.  One of the people in our group has breathing difficulties and can't walk very far so I don't want something where we have to go quite a distance with luggage to meet them. 

We leave in a few days so I need to get something in place now.  If anyone has any suggestions, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

I know they rent chairs, but do they also rent tubes or floats at Magens Bay? If so, does anyone know the cost?  I can't find any recent information about it.  I also read they will bring you drinks while you're in the water but I'd like to know if they still do that now.  Thanks for any info.

I know they rent chairs, but do they also rent tubes or floats at Magens Bay? If so, does anyone know the cost?  I can't find any recent information about it.  I also read they will bring you drinks while you're in the water but I'd like to know if they still do that now.  Thanks for any info.

Thank you.  The bigger planes arrive in the afternoon so that's why we wanted to be there until around 3 if possible. 

We want to go to Maho Beach hopefully to see some bigger planes and plan to be there from 1 - 3 p.m.  If we leave Maho at 3, would that be enough time to make it if we have to be back to the ship by 5:30?  I read somewhere that traffic can be really bad in the afternoon and I also read something about a draw bridge in the afternoon and to make sure you don't get caught there.

We have an upcoming cruise on Wonder of the Seas in a few weeks.  I need to know how far it is to walk from the ship to the taxi stand at the port.  We have someone in our group with health issues and he can't walk too far.  Does Royal Caribbean provide assistance to people, such as a wheelchair or tram at this port?  If it's a short distance, maybe a quarter mile, he could probably do that but it will also depend on the heat that day.  Thanks.

Thanks so much for the information.  I just went on the app and now I see where it's listed.  Appreciate you getting back to me!

Actually, that's what I meant, the Dress Your Best nights.  I forgot they changed the name.  So are they always on nights two and six on a seven night cruise?

We will be on the November 12 sailing on Wonder of the Seas and I would like to know if there's a way to find out when the formal nights are?

Ok, thanks.