EXCURSIONS REQUIRED TO GET OFF IN ITALY

[Mbc023]

Hi Fellow Cruise Lovers! 

 

My BF and I have had this Mediterranean Dream vacation planned since July 2019. We were supposed to leave MAY 2020 and you know the drill.... 

 

With that said, we are now set to go on Harmony of The Seas from Barcelona on September 5th. However, we were just notified that if we want to get off the ship in Italy, we have to do their booked excursions.  Some of these excursions are $300 a person. I am truly disappointed as we planned to do Cinque Terre on our own, Capri on our own, and Rome on our own. Now what I thought would be a $25.00 train ticket through the fishing villages of  Cinque Terre is now costing us $600. Our plan of doing the Blue Grotto and Faraglioni Rocks in Capri are shot as they won't let you go on your own.  

 

My dream vacation is already turning into a mess... Thoughts? 

[Tatka]

Are you flying from USA?

If yes... EU is looking to add travel ban as US is changing category to unsafe. 😞

[Mbc023]

Yes, flying from USA to Barcelona. 

 

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if they cancelled it. Harmony of the Seas is supposed to take its first sailing from Barcelona this weekend, and I'm curious to see how it works out. 

[Mbc023]

11 minutes ago, Tatka said:

Are you flying from USA?

If yes... EU is looking to add travel ban as US is changing category to unsafe. 😞

Yes, flying from USA to Barcelona. 

 

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if they cancelled it. Harmony of the Seas is supposed to take its first sailing from Barcelona this weekend, and I'm curious to see how it works out. 

[Hogbay]

Welcome to CC. I would have to wait it out and do b2B when everything opens up .To travel on the train or local bus is the only way to experience your dream vacation. Not a fan of ship tours. 🙂

[Biker19]

30 minutes ago, Mbc023 said:

Thoughts? 

Welcome to CC.

 

Go and enjoy what ever you can on this sailing (even if it means skipping some Italian port) as it will likely be a memorable one.

 

 

[mek]

30 minutes ago, Mbc023 said:

Hi Fellow Cruise Lovers! 

 

My BF and I have had this Mediterranean Dream vacation planned since July 2019. We were supposed to leave MAY 2020 and you know the drill.... 

 

With that said, we are now set to go on Harmony of The Seas from Barcelona on September 5th. However, we were just notified that if we want to get off the ship in Italy, we have to do their booked excursions.  Some of these excursions are $300 a person. I am truly disappointed as we planned to do Cinque Terre on our own, Capri on our own, and Rome on our own. Now what I thought would be a $25.00 train ticket through the fishing villages of  Cinque Terre is now costing us $600. Our plan of doing the Blue Grotto and Faraglioni Rocks in Capri are shot as they won't let you go on your own.  

 

My dream vacation is already turning into a mess... Thoughts? 

I feel for you.  Do these changes qualify for you being able to cancel because you don't like the new protocols?  Because if they do, I would certainly cancel and take the trip another time.

Just my personal opinion, but no way would I travel to Europe right now and risk getting sick or have problems that far from home.

[Ourusualbeach]

34 minutes ago, Mbc023 said:

Hi Fellow Cruise Lovers! 

 

My BF and I have had this Mediterranean Dream vacation planned since July 2019. We were supposed to leave MAY 2020 and you know the drill.... 

 

With that said, we are now set to go on Harmony of The Seas from Barcelona on September 5th. However, we were just notified that if we want to get off the ship in Italy, we have to do their booked excursions.  Some of these excursions are $300 a person. I am truly disappointed as we planned to do Cinque Terre on our own, Capri on our own, and Rome on our own. Now what I thought would be a $25.00 train ticket through the fishing villages of  Cinque Terre is now costing us $600. Our plan of doing the Blue Grotto and Faraglioni Rocks in Capri are shot as they won't let you go on your own.  

 

My dream vacation is already turning into a mess... Thoughts? 

Cancel under CWC and rebook the cruise for next year before Sept 30

[FionaMG]

46 minutes ago, Mbc023 said:

My dream vacation is already turning into a mess... Thoughts? 

 

I have to agree with @Ourusualbeach. Not only do you need an excursion to get off the ship in Italy but the stop in Marseille has been completely dropped. You're coming a very long way for what is inevitably not going to be cruise/trip of your dreams. Next year Allure of the Seas is doing the same itinerary. If you possibly can, put the trip off till then.

[Mbc023]

13 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Cancel under CWC and rebook the cruise for next year before Sept 30

As stubborn as it sounds, I do not want to rebook for next year.  I have waited too long for this trip and cannot wait another year. I planned this in 2019 for 2020, and cannot imagine waiting now until 2022 to take it. Would rather get my money back and do it on foot. 

It's disappointing to see people sightseeing on foot all over Europe, but when cruisers want to sight see they can only do set tours. 

[Canadianmama3]

52 minutes ago, Mbc023 said:

Hi Fellow Cruise Lovers! 

 

My BF and I have had this Mediterranean Dream vacation planned since July 2019. We were supposed to leave MAY 2020 and you know the drill.... 

 

With that said, we are now set to go on Harmony of The Seas from Barcelona on September 5th. However, we were just notified that if we want to get off the ship in Italy, we have to do their booked excursions.  Some of these excursions are $300 a person. I am truly disappointed as we planned to do Cinque Terre on our own, Capri on our own, and Rome on our own. Now what I thought would be a $25.00 train ticket through the fishing villages of  Cinque Terre is now costing us $600. Our plan of doing the Blue Grotto and Faraglioni Rocks in Capri are shot as they won't let you go on your own.  

 

My dream vacation is already turning into a mess... Thoughts? 

I know things like this can suck.  But we have to go by policies of the different companies and countries.   Who knows if this is something royal is doing.  Or if Italy is requiring this.   And remember things could change at any time, even while you are on your cruise.   And that’s no Royal’s fault.  Different countries can set whatever rules they want whenever they want. 
 

if you want to do things they way you want to, and changing rules and policies are going to ruin your vacation, then you should postpone for a year or even two.   
 

[Canadianmama3]

And honestly I really doubt your cruise will even sail.   It would also not surprise me if you would be subject to travel restrictions coming from the US when going to Europe, the way things are going in the US.  Your “land” Europe vacation may not be as stress free as you think.   
 

[Mbc023]

4 minutes ago, Canadianmama3 said:

And honestly I really doubt your cruise will even sail.   It would also not surprise me if you would be subject to travel restrictions coming from the US when going to Europe, the way things are going in the US.  Your “land” Europe vacation may not be as stress free as you think.   
 

Truth be told! I appreciate your feedback and honesty. 

[Canadianmama3]

1 minute ago, Mbc023 said:

Truth be told! I appreciate your feedback and honesty. 

I get the disappointment.  We had a big trip we had to cancel in 2020 too.   And I can’t wait to get back travelling.   But if you aren’t going to be happy with how things are, you won’t enjoy your trip.  
 

Maybe postpone but upgrade to help it hurt less 😉

[smplybcause]

6 minutes ago, Canadianmama3 said:

And honestly I really doubt your cruise will even sail.   It would also not surprise me if you would be subject to travel restrictions coming from the US when going to Europe, the way things are going in the US.  Your “land” Europe vacation may not be as stress free as you think.   
 

 

Yeah, I was hoping to do my own adventure in Europe in this fall, but held off on anything non-refundable because it was just too far away. Starting to think I need to figure out a plan B which sucks because I've already gone to a lot of places in the US. 

[Cigar King]

This subject suggests a level control over my personal life that I am *very* uncomfortable with.  😉

[Sirap]

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/eu-will-not-ban-the-entry-for-us-travellers-official-says/

 

This is the latest update on the EU banning US citizens. We leave in two days for the August 15th sailing.  They will review this in 2 weeks so, anything past that may be affected.

[George C]

I hate ships tours in general they are always overpriced and overcrowded, our last European cruise we only did one , most others were private tours with less than ten from our roll call or on our own. The one I did that was reasonably priced was Capri .

[Mbc023]

5 minutes ago, Sirap said:

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/eu-will-not-ban-the-entry-for-us-travellers-official-says/

 

This is the latest update on the EU banning US citizens. We leave in two days for the August 15th sailing.  They will review this in 2 weeks so, anything past that may be affected.

 

Wow, your trip is SO soon! Do you have all your excursions booked? Did they inform you beforehand that you had to go with their excursions because I just found this out yesterday.... 

I had to do my research last night and figure out what excursions I'd like to do, and now the sale ended and the excursions I put in my cart last night are now more expensive. 

 

[mek]

32 minutes ago, Mbc023 said:

As stubborn as it sounds, I do not want to rebook for next year.  I have waited too long for this trip and cannot wait another year. I planned this in 2019 for 2020, and cannot imagine waiting now until 2022 to take it. Would rather get my money back and do it on foot. 

It's disappointing to see people sightseeing on foot all over Europe, but when cruisers want to sight see they can only do set tours. 

Like you, I booked a cruise in November, 2019 - long before Covid and so I do understand your disappointment; however, at some point the reality of the current situation with Covid has to set in and some things simply aren't possible right now.  That is why I suggest either you or your TA contacts Royal to see if you can get a refund rather than a FCC, because the protocols have changed. 

[Cigar King]

To the original topic, I'd be reluctant to book a non-ship sponsored tour from Rome anyway.  There are just to many things to go wrong for my comfort level.  To each their own.

[Sirap]

@Mbc023We received an email last week that stated the below. We had already booked our excursions through Royal anyways so it did not change anything for us. Note that they say if you book onboard you get 20% off select tours. I saw in another thread that someone outside of the US had different wording in this same paragraph and on this same sailing.

 

Shore Excursion Requirement

Recently, we've been advised that all guests joining us on our sailing onboard Harmony of the Seas that wish to visit explore our Italian destinations on our itinerary, regardless of vaccination status, will need to purchase a Royal Caribbean shore excursion. To help assist you with booking your tour, we will be providing you with a 20% discount on select tours for our Italian destinations. To receive the discount, please reserve your tours once onboard.

[dani negreanu]

1 hour ago, Mbc023 said:

Capri on our own, and Rome on our own.

 

16 minutes ago, George C said:

I hate ships tours in general they are always overpriced and overcrowded, our last European cruise we only did one , that was reasonably priced was Capri .

 

6 minutes ago, Cigar King said:

To the original topic, I'd be reluctant to book a non-ship sponsored tour from Rome anyway.  There are just to many things to go wrong for my comfort level.  

 

Capri and Rome are the "problematic" ones.

 

Capri - because it involves traveling by ferry to and from -- sometimes the sea conditions change, and the ferry "authorities" decide to cancel or postpone a crossing. Better be it Royal's "responsibility".

 

Same with Rome - before Covid I was reading many recommendations to take the train to Rome. Again, too risky for, at least, my comfort level while being on a cruise stop. "Italian strike" rings a bell?

 

With a car, you also have to take into consideration at least one hour travel to and from, and it will be a very rushed visit. Rome deserves more. Again, as with Capri, better be it Royal's "responsibility", if you think your next visit to Europe will take years.

 

[Booking It]

If it's any consolation, if I were to do another Mediterranean (or should I say, WHEN :)), I would 100% do a ship tour for Rome. We went out on our own because we had managed to snag special tickets to the Colosseum that allowed us to see extra parts that the regular ticket won't let you into. BUT, the hassle of getting to Rome on the train, getting to the Colosseum, etc... was stressful and annoying. You really don't have a ton of time there, and the train ride is quite long there and back as is the walk to the train from the ship. I would have much preferred to get off the ship, onto a bus right at the port, and taken to all of the sights that way. 

 

It didn't help that it was also over 100F, and Rome is basically an oven with all of the stone!

[FionaMG]

9 minutes ago, Sirap said:

@Mbc023We received an email last week that stated the below. We had already booked our excursions through Royal anyways so it did not change anything for us. Note that they say if you book onboard you get 20% off select tours. I saw in another thread that someone outside of the US had different wording in this same paragraph and on this same sailing.

 

Shore Excursion Requirement

Recently, we've been advised that all guests joining us on our sailing onboard Harmony of the Seas that wish to visit explore our Italian destinations on our itinerary, regardless of vaccination status, will need to purchase a Royal Caribbean shore excursion. To help assist you with booking your tour, we will be providing you with a 20% discount on select tours for our Italian destinations. To receive the discount, please reserve your tours once onboard.

 

Yes, that was me, but although we are in Europe our booking is with a US TA so I think the difference is more likely to be down to how close or far out the sailings are; ours is not till the end of September.

 

I also noticed that a good number of excursions that had previously been on offer were removed from the cruise planner around the same time the email went out so I don't know if that means they won't be operating at all, they're fully booked or some places are being held back for on-board booking. I would like to think Royal would do the same as the European lines and offer some more affordable excursions while the current restrictions are in place, but I'm not holding out too much hope.