MeHeartCruising

Interesting. I’m doing a B2B turnaround day in Ravenna and am looking into my options to get into Ravenna to see the mosaics that day. I found the bus company timetable and routes website here. You can see it in English by clicking on the Italian flag in the upper right and change that to the UK flag. https://www.startromagna.it/en/timetable-and-services/timetables-and-routes/ I searched for route 90 and downloaded the Ravenna schedule PDF. https://www.startromagna.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/start_libretto-ravenna_estivo-2022.pdf On page 85/86, you see the stops for route 90. The stop in Porto Corsini is named Porto Corsini Traghetto. Using Google maps, I was able to find that bus stop on Via Molo S. Filippo. what I don’t know is where the ship docks. Do you know where that specifically is in the port? Edited to add: Based on https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/ravenna-port-261 it looks like the cruise ships dock fairly close to that bus stop. Maybe a couple ship lengths away. I don’t see any obvious security fences or obstacles preventing a walk from ship to bus station, but that could have changed.

Yes. Double Latitudes points.

A couple weeks ago, even with our ship docked at 92/93 beside the primary terminal building, there was a line of people outside that was about 1/4 mile long waiting to get into the terminal building. We were among the first on board around 11:45 and watched the line grow until about 2:30 or so before it shortened back up. NCL should drop LA until the city upgrades the port facilities.

Same on the Joy a couple weeks ago. And it wasn't all that clear there were coupons on the paper. You had to really read the text to know that. I assumed they were doing it all via the computer/account/keycard and didn't bother taking the coupon to the restaurant. I had to go back to the cabin and get that. There wasn't even a perforation to tear off the coupon. You had to bend it and do the best you could to tear it straight.

While the majority of countries in Europe use the Euro, not all of them do (i.e. UK, Norway, Sweden, etc.). The ones that don't will be best served by using their local currency. Be sure you check your itinerary and note what currency each country uses. For countries that use euros, then yes, you should plan on using euros if using cash. You can get this cash from any ATM. You can also use credit cards for most purchases. I would use the credit card first and use cash for snacks, small entry fees, etc.

This is a great point, cruisemom42. I hadn't remembered that option. Other than the logistics of getting TO the Civitavecchia train station, I agree that this is a simpler option and probably worth the money if the OP decides to go via train. I will confess that I shamelessly booked the Frecciabianca train from Rome TO Civitavecchia for my May cruise and I actually purchased 2 side-by-side seats in 1st Class just so I could have my luggage right beside me without needing to potentially bother another passenger. For 22 euros total, this was money well spent. The YouTube videos I reviewed didn't show a lot of baggage storage areas on the train and I wasn't sure if my bag would be small enough to fit in the overhead rack either. Sometimes convenience and peace of mind is worth a few dollars. Especially on a trip that costs thousands of $ overall.

You can give them either euros or dollars. I generally give them whatever I have more of. Or if I have enough, I ask them which they prefer. They have ways to use whatever you give them.

^^^^ This. The OP is trying to coordinate 8 people getting to the airport. If the train is to be used, the OP should be prepared for needing to be separated on the train and having each person or small group understand what they must do to get on the train. I don't know that all 8 would necessarily be able to get on the same car on the train. You just won't know until it happens. My 75 year old father and I had to stand in the aisle for 1/2 of the way into Rome because there were not seats available. We were on a stop on our cruise, so we had no luggage. I can't imagine how it would have worked out with luggage. OP, I would suggest you look into private transfer services. But you will pay a price for that convenience and ease of travel.

Right. If I add up the points shown for my cruises in the list of past cruises, they total only 45 points. However, my C&A account actually has 58 points in it according to the header at the top. One of my oldest cruises shows as only 2 points in the list, but it actually adds 15 points to my total (it was a long cruise).

I'm sure the safe deposit boxes available through guest services is a carryover from the glory days when passengers wore their fine jewelry to dinner each night. And rarely used today with the digital safes in each cabin. However, they might still actually have them. I'm also very sure that you WOULD have to wait in line at guest services each time you wanted to access your box. There have been no public area safe deposit boxes on any ship that I have seen. I would imagine they take you to a room behind the desk somewhere with the boxes, if they still offer them.

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/greece/santorini/karavolades-stairs-santorini-port-to-fira?u=i 1.2 mile walk 606 ft. Elevation gain share the path with donkeys (and their by-products) who may or may not be carrying riders. I walked down with no complaints. Didn’t need to walk up, however.

I should have said "They are often MORE expensive than buying a standard inside cabin and paying the supplement".

I am also on similar cruises to the OP in the same timeframe. I am from the US. I totally agree with John Bull on all his points. I spent all my euros on my last trip to euro, so I currently have zero. I may decide to land in Europe with zero and just look for an ATM or I might decide to get about 100 euros from my US bank before leaving. I haven't decided. You really just need a small amount for "just in case" situations upon arrival. If I land with zero, I will just track down an ATM as soon as possible. I use my credit card wherever possible. I've never had an issue with that (notify your bank before leaving). If I truly need more cash, I just get it at an ATM when I need it. ATMs are everywhere. Notify your ATM bank too.

Unfortunately, it has not changed very much. There are a few restaurant chains that now have table-based devices or the wait staff using portable devices. But by far, most restaurants will take your card away to process your bill. I would say that the majority of retail and convenience stores do now have devices where you use your card yourself to pay. Also, we are starting to see a real uptick in tap to pay in those stores. Although, it seems that the tap only works about 75% of the time for me when it is available.

I see this on NCL all the time with their solo cabins. They are often less expensive than buying a standard inside cabin and just paying the supplement. Although, I'm not sure I've seen one that was priced at over $8,000. Computer-defined pricing based on supply and demand is the likely answer. My guess would be that there are very few cabins in that category still available, so the price has been set high to squeeze revenue out of someone who really, really, really wants that solo cabin.

FAS terms are different for passengers from the UK compared to the US. The OP is from the UK.

No idea why it was done, but I would be happy about the change. I didn't find much of interest about a stop in T&C.

My personal thinking is that a lot of people who might notice Covid symptoms on a cruise today would not even notify the ship personnel about it. There was no noticeable excess coughing on my recent cruise and I did not come home with Covid. However, on a September cruise, I did come home with Covid. Symptoms appeared on the flight home.

Take note that some of the posts above refer to transfer from Ravenna to Venice. Some of the posts above refer to transfer from Venice to Ravenna. In my case, when I called Royal Caribbean a couple weeks ago to purchase FROM Ravenna TO Venice, they were offering TO Venice Airport and TO Venice City Center (which would be at Tronchetto). I did not ask about going the other direction.

I’m from the US. I use Capital One credit cards to buy almost anything I need in Europe. CapOne does not charge international transaction fees. So each international purchase simply gets converted to US dollars at the current rate, which will be better than exchanging currency either in the US or upon arrival abroad. Once I land in my overseas destination, I also hit up a Bank ATM (not one owned by a currency exchange company at the airport) to get a SMALL amount of local currency. Usually not more that $30-40 worth. This is just in case I want to make a small transaction where they don’t take credit cards. I replenish this cash from the ATM as needed during my trips. Often I don’t need to. I never have issues finding ATMs in Europe. They are everywhere. Notify both your ATM and credit card companies prior to traveling. Some no longer ask you to do that.

You should call back and make them tell you if the $100 coupon was applied to your cruise fare balance or if it shows as an OBC. It has disappeared from your account for a reason. You want to make sure it was properly used somewhere. Otherwise it could be that it was erroneously deleted somehow. The longer you wait to resolve this the more likely NCL will not be able to fix any problems. Keep pushing them to escalate it until someone who knows about the coupon can do something with it.

The OP is referring to the Norwegian Star which has a 2024 itinerary from Portsmouth, UK to Reykjavik, Iceland.

I think I have decided to cancel my currently booked "Best of Slovenia" excursion and just plan on winging it with a planned trip to Piran + walking round Kotor. I'll probably plan on using the bus, but keep a taxi in mind as Plan B. I found what appears to be the bus company website and was able to look at the timing of the bus and various stop, some of which I've found on Google Maps. I also see that there appears to be a Tourist Info booth set up at the cruise port on days ships are in port. I think with their help, I can validate the bus details and/or decide to get a taxi. If you're interested in the bus company site, it is https://arriva.si/en/ Unfortunately, I can't seem to find a bus route map anywhere, which seems weird. But such is life.

I'm not 100% certain which train station/cities you are specifically asking about. But, your "Rome" cruise actually ends in Civitavecchia which is about 60-90 minutes from the primary Rome train station. Trains to Venice begin in the Rome train station (Termini Train Station). So you first need to figure out your plan on getting from the ship to that train station. That could be via train, private arranged transfer service, or other means. There is a train station in Civitavecchia, but not direct trains to Venice from there. Getting to the Civitavecchia train station generally involves riding a shuttle bus from the port and is either free or cost a few euros depending on the shuttles in service at the time. You can take a train from Civitavecchia to Termini and then catch the train to Venice. You can look at available timing and train selection at the Italian train line website trenitalia.com. If you were asking about distances in Venice, the main station in Venice is Venezia S. Lucia. It is located in the western side of Venice proper, and depending on your hotel location it could be a short distance on foot or a longer distance on a water taxi or water boat. Can you elaborate more on what your hoping to do?

I think the OP's tour guide must be referring to dropping off near this location, or perhaps a little further up the hill: https://goo.gl/maps/PDnxwjSPoAhTjisE6 They most certainly would not expect you to climb the Nietsche trail from the Sea, but I would confirm this with your guide. Using the link above, put Google Maps in Street View mode and "walk up the hill" to see how long and difficult it is. You will see lots of people walking it on the screen. Yes, it is uphill. But it's not Nietzsche Trail uphill.