elaine5

Sheraton is part of Marriott now. We used M points for our S stay. We also wanted to jump on the Disney bus as the station, so that was the deciding factor-and it worked great! But, if you're flying out the next day from HND, the airport bus might stop at W. For S, you do need to walk thru the interior of the train station (with your luggage) to get the YCAT direct bus. The concierge showed us with a map of the station. We easily did it with 2 very large (heavy bags)+ in 10-15 minutes--but for some, this might not work.

We were on Majestic in March. Kids were allowed, but we saw few in the Hollywood Club. We found it very tranquil-but they do play pop music. Not loud, but enough to detract if one needed to concentrate on work. Ok for reading a book. No scheduled activities. No announcements. A few people quietly playing cards.

Just back from Yokohama stay last week. We flew delta HND-LAX, spent the night at Westin LAX and flew to east coat next day. I’d do that again. Good break up of flight. It was 2 tickets, but less than HND-IAD on FF miles. One suggestion, if you can swap hotels, I’d recommend Sheraton Yokohama vs. Westin. We swapped hotels after reading a review that Sheraton was in prime location. We passed the Westin on our can ride from port. I agree. Sheraton is next to train station, excellent shopping, and easy direct buses to both airports (and also Disney if yoi have time for a quick visit-tickets are $50-70 dollars). Nice executive/elite lounge serves decent breakfast/light dinner/open bar.

Thanks. Good to know.

Mid-March wasn’t too bad: 2 days each way-2 mild rocking, 1 smooth as glass, 1 quite rocky, but nothing falling of the shelves. Overall, much better than expected.

No experience for Taste Tour, but we did “Fullers vineyard tour” last week. Easy and fun with Vouchers for 3 good wineries. You can hop on/off as much as you want. Ferry pick up right by cruise port. Hop on bus is outside of ferry exit. Waiheke is a lovely island. Ferry ride is beautiful.

I think 8am is the departure time and were told to depart the ship 15 minutes in advance. Once off the ship, we got our luggage, gave to bus to store, boarded, and left fairly shortly after that. They were selling shuttle tickets in the middle room by elevators on 6/7/8(?) a few days before the cruise ended. I bought in person, as I wanted to ask those same questions. Check in the navigator day 4+ of the cruise for details.

Here is a schedule from spring 2023. We were on Explorer in Sept. and it was similar. Shuttles were on time--they are not on demand. We took a shuttle to Ravenna and then traveled to Bologna on a VERY crowded standing room only train. I'd go to Bologna via shuttle next time. If you took the 8am shuttle, I'd say 10am Bologna train is good, 10:30 would give you flex in case of any delay. The station is very nice with a lovely large quick service coffee/cafe where you can sit and wait for trains. We were also headed to Florence.

This is the pedestrian bridge just past Santa Lucia train station. You have to be able to carry your own luggage and there are a lot of steps--but they also have porters (for a fee) to carry it up. After that, cross the street to get to People Mover (tall white/glass bldg far right corner). You purchase a ticket inside the People Mover bldg from the machine. I believe it's the last stop, not the middle one.

There are post about Venice shuttles on Italy forum and also on royal carib forum. Information should be similar for Celebrity, which is owned by RCI. We took the shuttle from Tronchetto in August. Shuttle is for cruise guests. You book via travel agent or cruise line. Agents will have a list with your name to check in. FYI-no bathroom on 2 hr ride, but stop for bathroom midway. Have euro change.

Wondering how strict Princess has been on post-Covid sailing for wine brough onboard at ports? As AU/NZ has lots of wineries, we'd like to bring wine onboard from some of our port stops. Whether we could drink onboard vs. only retrieving at the end of the sailing would impact how many bottles we purchase. And, does it matter if the wine was purchased on a Princess winery excursion? Thanks, Elaine

I use this when picking OB OV. Views vary greatly--assume you'll not get one of the good ones. But, for $20PP, I'd certainly go for that and bid over--maybe $32-$52 range. For July 2025, OB OV is $100PP over Inside regular pricing. https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/ships/ov.php?ship=Sapphire-Princess&cabins=C106-C109

Info from September—We took shuttle to Ravenna and then took train to bologna and then onto Florence, but could’ve continued to Rome. We booked our Ravenna-Florence train tickets in advance. Booked shuttle to Ravenna onboard.

Our Air2Sea on RCI got changed to 11:05am. Sat in July-tons of ships in port...we'll do self-assist debark at 7 (or whenever we can) and get a taxi. No other option without big increase in fare.

We also walked the Paseo A Maritime. Lovely, safe walk.