Giantfan13

12 hours ago, Despegue said:

You can NOT get Covid-19 from recirculated cabin- air.

please keep to facts and not hysteria please.

Your statement might be correct, but you could have been a bit more polite about it. Just no need to be crass. A polite reply goes a lot further than some stodgy remark.

Cheers

Len

Thanks for the all the replies. This helps a great deal.

Cheers

Len

We are sailing on the Allure, this Sunday, Ft Lauderdale to Barcelona. I think we are more worried about the plane rides than the cruise. Planes recirculate the same air, so you breath what everyone else does. 

Cheers

Len

We are sailing on the Allure this Sunday and we have reserved a 6:30 slot for MTD. We have never sailed on the Allure, but on most RCCL ships, downstairs is for set seating and upstairs for MTD. From my understanding the Allure's dining room has 3 levels (??). Is there one specifically used for MTD? WE have reserved a table thru our roll call and we are scheduled to meet, but since there is so many floors, we were just curious where most people go for MTD?

Cheers

Len

Without a reservation, you might have to wait, maybe 5 minutes, maybe 1/2 an hour, depending on how full the dining room is. People with reservations are usually taken before those that just show up. We have done it both ways, and we usually want to share a table, so we never really have had a long wait, but we see people with those beepers all the time, outside the MDR, waiting for a table. 

Cheers

Len

Thanks for the replies. 

Cheers

Len

Those of us who have cruises booked with Royal have receive their emails about banning certain people from boarding ship and doing health screenings. We are sailing on the Allure, Ft Lauderdale to Barcelona on Sunday and was wondering what type of screenings they MIGHT be doing/ Has anyone who has boarded a ship since these precautions have come out, been 'screened' for anything and how are they doing it. On reading others boards, it seems as if it's business as usual with nothing really changed regarding boarding. Has anyone experienced anything different as regarding health screenings?

Cheers

Len

21 hours ago, thrifty99 said:

Here is a video I made on Oasis a few years ago walking at a brisk pace from one end of the ship to the other.  Gives you an idea of how big it is.  It took a little over 3 minutes.  I think the video is small enough to post here.  Sorry about the shaky video - before image stabilization was better on phones.

 

Oasis hallway compressed.mov 76.4 MB · 1 download

Ha----- I got tired just watching you.

Thanks

Cheers

Len

Without having to go thru 20 pages of this thread, so if this was asked already and answered, I do apologize.

We have a cruise booked out of Bayonne mid May. We live on Long Island NY and we are asking what would be the best way to get to the terminal. We don't mind driving, but what are the charges for parking at the terminal and are there other options, like parking say a mile away and shuttling over.

We were thinking about maybe doing the train, but we know nothing about NJ Transit. We have a good access to the LIRR into Penn Station, but what happens after that. We are two seniors who really don't do well schlepping luggage. Is there a sort of direct route from Penn Station to the terminal?

Thanks, any helpful advice would be appreciated.

Cheers

Len

Just now, thrifty99 said:

That is a pretty safe one to bid on as if you win the bid you are still guaranteed to be near mid ship.  

 

We always choose a cabin near the aft elevator banks.  We were at one of the furthest aft cabins once and it is no fun walking so far to your room.  If you have never been on an Oasis class... it is a long walk from one end of the ship to the other.  

Our present cabin is also on deck 9, right near the elevator. Thanks for the tip though, as we have never been on a ship this size and I do walk with a cane.

Cheers

Len

On relooking at the ships deck plans, we ended up submitting a bid on ''Neighborhood' inside with a view of the park. seems all of them are on Deck 9, basically mid ship. All the others are balconies.

Thanks to everyone who tried to help.

Cheers

Len

12 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I chose all the way aft on purpose. But not high

Oasis ships roll a lot more than they pitch

Lower is better since we'll be going a little slow

 

In my opinion

We just do not liker all the way aft as my DW is a very light sleeper and she says she hears the engines all the time. Happy wife, happy life, so prefer mid ship, especially if we are lower. 

Cheers

Len

Thanks for all who responded with those helpful suggestions. I guess it wasn't so much the question of what I would get for any upgrade I might want to bid on, but more the location. As I said, I just do not want to be all the way forward or aft while crossing the Atlantic. I purposely picked the cabin we are in for that reason. If I read the rules, if I submit a bid and it is accepted and they put me in a different cabin and location, I have no choice but to accept it even if I hate the location. Is that correct?

Cheers

Len

I would also tell you to forget any notion of doing a ship's tour. The private tour companies get you a 72 hour visa and you will tour, at the most, with 16 or so people instead of 60. They will cater any tour to what you might want. You also have to understand that the private tour companies will go out of their way to make you happy and come back to CC with a great recommendation. Most ship's excursions couldn't care less if you recommend them or not. 

A private tour company can and will change your itinerary according to the weather, traffic and any other things that might arise, but they will make sure you do see everything you are entitled to see. We used SPB Tours, which have been one of the highest rated tour companies in St Petersburg. They will or can arrange tours at many of your other ports and the more you book with them, the cheaper the price gets. When we toured with them, we mentioned that we would like to see the Grand Choral Synagogue in St Petersburg. We are of the Jewish faith and really wanted to see it, but it wasn't on our itinerary. You could have guessed that they did arrange a visit there for us and the rest of our group. Tell me any ship's excursion that would do that. 

You will never remotely have any chance of missing your ship. Most companies book the furthest places on day one and then usually keep you local on day 2. Do yourself a favor and take everyone's advice and find a company you are comfortable with and use them. 

Cheers

Len

We are sailing the Allure, TA on March 1. We have booked an inside cabin, mid ship, I believe on deck 9. Now we received the 'bid on an upgraded cabin' for this cruise. Since this is our first time on the Allure, we really know nothing about the cabins. Price wise we still would like to stay in an inside cabin, but they offered several cheap upgrades. Like what is a 'Neighborhood view' inside. That is available for like $20 PP more? 

And, I guess, my main question is, if you do this upgrade, can they assign you a cabin anywhere on the ship, like right up front or all the way aft and on any level. We like where our present cabin is located and for a TA, we want to be mid ship. Should we really forget anything about upgrades?

Cheers

Len

Try making a reservation and you will have no wait time.

Cheers

Len

WE haven't booked an excursion thru the ship in almost 20 years. No need to. With some reasonable research you can have the same tours and more, at a more reasonable price. As long as you stay with reputable tour companies and there are hundreds of recommendations for so many ports of call, you will be fine. I look at it this way, if anything happened and you missed your ship that tour company would be mud and would never have another tour booked. I have found that private tour companies will go out of their way to make sure you have a great time, come back on CC and recommend them. Do you really think that RCCL cares if you have a great time. If you do, fine ,if not, there are thousands of others who will probably sign up.

The, of course, is the Do It Yourself option, which in many European ports is so easy. Grab a copy of Rick Steves books, with what to see, terrific walking tours with little cost to you. 

Another suggestion, when we did a Baltic cruise, we emailed the tourist info center for each port and asked them to send us maps, walking tours and any info they could, and most did. 

Do a bit of research and ask questions on the ports of call boards, and you will see how  easily it all opens up for you.

Chers

Len

Kind of figured everyone would say that. Thanks

Cheers

Len

Thank you all so much for the excellent responses.

I want to make sure I got this correctly. If I were to stay in Venice, then it is a requirement that I would have to schlepp luggage to the train station?

If I were to stay in Mestre, it would be much easier to go from the hotel to the train?

Flying into Venice, I would require a taxi to get me to Mestre? (about 45 Euros) or a bus from the airport to the train station (Venice/Mestre)? How far would be have to go from say customs to where the bus is and do they have those carts to help with luggage?

And, if I do manage our luggage thru the Civi train station, then it is two buses to get to where we board? Do the drivers take your luggage on these buses or are you responsible for them?

Once again, thanks for all the great suggestions. I know I can always count on CC for help.

Cheers

Len

We are arriving in Miami, off a RCCL cruise on Friday, Nov 20. Ship is suppose to arrive in Miami at 5 AM. We are coming off two cruises so we will have several pieces of luggage and will be hard to self disembark. So say we disembark the usual way, what time should we be looking to book our flight back to NY? Can we make an 11:00 flight or is that cutting it too close. We are what one may call, nervous nellies about these things so I don't want to have to fret if we may be running a bit late. The next flight available is 12:30--would that be a safer bet. We would love to make that early flight, but not at the cost of a worrisome trip.

thanks for any advice.

Cheers

Len

We are doing a Mediterranean cruise on NCL end of Oct from Rome. Then on returning to Rome, we are doing a TA on RCCL back to Miami.

Now, we were thinking of flying into Venice a few days early, spend a day or two there, take the train to Civi and board our first ship. 

So my questions, from Venice Airport, what's the best way to get into Venice and our hotel (which we haven't booked yet). I would assume taxi. We are two seniors and would have two large suitcases and probably a couple of carry ones. We don't do well, schlepping luggage up and down stairs and all around town. We are also not in the category of, what the heck, we'll pay whatever they want to get us from here to there, if you know what I mean. So about what would a taxi cost if that is our best option.

Second, getting to the train station from our yet to be announced hotel. If my understanding of this is correct, you can't take a taxi there? Is this correct? What would be the procedure for catching a train schlepping wise and cost wise? 

Third, when we get to Civi by train, what's the best way to get to the cruise port or hotel by the cruise port. I thought I read that via train you again have to haul luggage up or down staircases?? is this the case. Any other options?

Sounds complicated, but if it is too stressful or too expensive, maybe another time and we will go to Rome instead and then shuttle to Civi. We are looking to book our airfare, we just have to know where we are going to fly into. 

Thanks all

Cheers

Len

I can understand the way they are thinking, but really. Next they may stop people from throwing coins into Trevi Fountain.

Last time we were in Rome, we sat on the Steps until sunset, watched the sun set down the avenue right across the street. Just a marvelous experience. At that time, they weren't allowing anyone to eat or drink on the Steps, which I can understand. 

We have been to Civi several times, as a departure point and as a cruise stop. As a whole. there really isn't that much to do, but we wanted something different. On exploring this site, and others, we came across a Thermal Spa/Baths, Ficoncella Thermal Baths  https://civitavecchia.portmobility.it/en/ficoncella-thermal-baths. Now this was something we were interested in. 

We had to get a taxi to take us there and also made arrangements for him to pick us up at a certain time and it all worked out wonderfully. The taxi is sort of expensive, but the baths are only about 1-3 euros, depending on how long you want to 'soak'. The day we went, we were the only 'tourists' there and had a wonderful time with some of the locals who frequent this place.

Anyway, it suited us fine, had a memorable day doing something no one else ever did, visiting Civi.

Cheers

Len

Just heard this on the radio this AM, but I'm not sure if it has been mentioned here.

Anyway, I heard people are no longer allowed to sit on the Spanish Steps???? Has anyone heard anything about this?

Cheers

Len

Thank you all for some of the suggestions. I kinda figured, with the amount of luggage we have, the train might not be the best idea. (and as to the luggage, we will be away almost a month (7 day cruise+14 day cruise and assorted pre and post cruise stays and to tell my DW she can't pack this or that, well you do it, not me 😁).

We have been to Civi a couple of times already and have done about what there is to do there. We even tried the hot baths last year, and that was pretty nice. 

We haven't booked any hotels or planes as of yet, so I just don't know exactly where we want to stay. If we fly in the day before the cruise, we will most likely do the shuttle from FCO to Civi and spend the night there. We are using miles and it is too early to book.

CruiseMom, you mentioned that the shuttle will leave you off at the terminal, is that the cruise ship terminal, or will we have to take a bus to get there?

Again, thanks for all the help and advice.

Cheers

Len