taylortime05

Thank you! I will definitely join.

We’ll be on the Oasis Nov 27th sailing. Thank you so much for this live trip report. I’m enjoying it so much. Was it difficult to book your shows and any dinner reservations? Prior to covid I though you could book the shows prior to sailing. Thank you Sue

When we arrive at the port we usually give our luggage that includes our carry on luggage to the porter. We keep a backpack with us. What is the benefit of dropping off your carry on luggage if you have the Key over giving the carry on to the porter?

Which ship were you on and what was your itinerary? We’re headed to our first Alaskan cruise and I’m going back and forth if we should purchase the deluxe beverage package. Right now hubby has purchased the deluxe Bev package + internet and I have the refreshment package. We’re both diamond so I’ll have 8 drink coupons (4 each) that I can have. This option is $843. If we both get the refreshment package and wifi streaming it is $520 with savings of $323 and we’d both get the 4 drink coupons each. I’ve always enjoyed the beverage package and ability to try different drinks without worrying about the price tag. I need to decide today because online purchases will close soon since we sail this Friday, 9/26.

We’ll be on the Radiance for a northbound Alaska cruise next Friday. How’s their dining room? Is it worth getting a seat by the table for 5:30 dinner? It should definitely still be light outside.

I’m on a 9 night Reflection cruise next Sep 2023. We got a great group rate with a TA. I did a mock booking a few days ago for this cruise and the difference between the Aways included and Indulge Pkg was only $378 pp which would be a great deal since we’d also get $300 OBC. I tried to get the indulge pkg added to my reservation yesterday by calling Celebrity group department because my TA was closed. They wrote some notes on my account and told me to have my TA call today and they could see if it could be escalated to have it added. Today they told me since I have a group rate with a refundable deposit the cost for the Indulge upgrade is not $378 pp. It’s $60 per day per person so it would be $540 per person. That made a big difference. In this case it was cheaper for me to upgrade the beverage and wifi pkg separately with my Elite discounts.

Do you know where the information is? I wonder if the price to upgrade the beverage & wifi packages will go up? I’m Elite status and I know there was 10% discount for the beverage upgrade & 30% discount for the wifi upgrade.

Thank you!

Hi, I’m trying to decide if we should get a balcony cabin on the right (starboard side) or left (port side). Does the ship sail close enough to the shore line that you can see land as you’re sailing or just when you get into the port? Which side do you think is better? Thank you for your feedback.

This sounds like a great idea. Could you recommend any hotels that are in a good central location? Thank you so much.

Thank you. We’re feeling much better. I did go ahead and book the cruise. I really like the Celebrity Reflection and I thought it was a nice itinerary. I just need to figure out how many days we can visit Barcelona and Rome. Thank you so much for all your help in planning our Rome itinerary. I can almost lift and shift that plan to this new cruise.

Even though I’m disappointed we missed our vacation this year, I’m glad I have plenty of time to research all the ports. For our June trip that was cancelled I booked it only a couple of months ahead of time and spent most of my time planning our Rome itinerary. Now I’ll have time to research the ports and Barcelona.

Thank you! Yes, we are feeling much better. We were fortunate that we had mild symptoms but I was quite tired. We’ve been vaccinated with 2 boosters. This was the 1st time getting covid. If we didn’t have a trip planned I don’t know if we would have thought to get tested. It felt like a head cold. I’m excited to plan this trip. I moved it to Sept/Oct because I kept reading about how hot it was in June/July. I’ll definitely take everything I planned for Rome and use it for this trip. Thank you for the tip on Florence. It seems like a great port to stay overnight.

Hi. I wanted to give everyone an update. We were scheduled to fly to Rome on June 23rd and our cruise departed June 28th. The weekend prior to our flight we both got a cough and felt tired. We both tested positive for covid. We were so disappointed that we had to cancel our vacation. I have submitted an insurance claim and expect that a we will get reimbursed for our nonrefundable trip costs. We’re looking at another cruise next Sep/Oct 2023 on the Celebrity Reflection. I like the itinerary because we can stay a few extra days in Barcelona pre-cruise and Rome post-cruise. I also like that it has an overnight stay in Florence. The only repeat ports for us are Barcelona and Sicily. I’m also thinking that the weather will be a little cooler in Sept/Oct. I’m still disappointed we didn’t get to Rome this summer but all your great tips will be used for this next cruise. I need to research all the new ports. If you have any tips or recommendations please let me know.

What did your husband need to provide to the doctor to get the note?

Hi, could you share the link to the exact working needed from a doctor? I’ve looked on the CDC website but cannot find it. Thank you.

We will be in Rome for 4 1/2 days prior to our NCL Epic cruise leaving 6/28. I booked this cruise about 6 weeks ago for me and hubby. We were originally staying at Cosmopolita Hotel Rome but I was notified yesterday that they will not be ready to open until July 1st. It was disappointing because I had booked with Hilton points. I was lucky that Albergo del Senato had availability (Thank you cruisemom42 for the recommendation!). Do you have any restaurant recommendations near the hotel? Could you please review my itinerary below and provide your feedback? I’d like to fit in an evening golf cart tour on Friday June 24th to get an overview of Rome. I wanted to book with LivItaly but they are fully booked. I want to make sure I’m not over doing it with tours because I want time to relax, explore & eat some great food. But I’m also trying to maximize our time to see as much as we can. I appreciate your feedback and any suggestions.

I’m trying to decide between these 2 excursions. I know my hubby would enjoy visiting Pompeii and we have no worries with the ship excursion getting back late. However, we both like smaller groups and the 2nd tour is so much cheaper. ItalyTours guarantees to get us back on time. Which one would you pick & why? 1) Ship Excursion with NCL - 9 Hour Large Group Tour - $269 per person - Amalfi coast & Pompeii 2) Semi-private 8 hour tour with 4 others from our cruise - (6-8 people) - 69 Euros per person - Naples, Sorrento & Positano with ItalyTours.EU Thank you so much for your feedback.