AlabamaBeachCat

Last year we did a 13 night on Celeb Barcelona to Venice. It was fantastic.

We booked private tours which was our family of 6 in usually a Mercedes

SUV or van with driver who doubled as tour guide. They are very aware of

the time the ship leaves and leave in plenty of time to get you back..they

don't want bad reviews on trip advisor or other sites. Driving back to the port

from Rome, there was highway construction...we got back in time but

5 or 6 buses from ship tours were very late. When you have a private driver,

you can completely customize the day to what you want to see, what kind

of lunch you want, etc. In Italy we used Rome Cabs for Florence/Pisa and

Rome and Sorrento Silver Star for Amalfi Coast. We highly recommend them.

Price was 550E for Florence and Rome and $450E for Amalfi...so if you

have about 6 people it's perfect....less money than ship tours and so much

better to our way of thinking.

We also booked private tours for both Florence and Amalfi Coast. I have to say, the Amalfi Coast tour was amazing! We booked through Amalfi Coast Destination Tours (they have a FB page). Our Tour Guide Roberto lives in Ravello, and was very knowledgeable about the area. He kept us entertained and we did not feel rushed at all. We were in an 8-passenger Mercedes SUV, with a wheelchair in the back. He was very attentive to my traveling companion, helping her in and out of the van, helping store her chair in the back, etc. The cost was $450 Euro, for 8 people that came out to $56.25 each -- well worth it for a full day of sightseeing along the beautiful Coast.!!

We just did a 12 night sailing on Vision (finished May 28) & my experience was very different.

Our dining options were fantastic. There was always ample new foods to try in the WJ, dining room & the solarium. I've actually never seen so much food as I did in this solarium. The room service menu was AMAZING & it had the best honey stung chicken I've even eaten!

Cafe La Tudes always had amazing & had unique treats to try. My husband is a chef, (so we are picky with foods) & we thoroughly enjoyed our food.

The 12 night sailings are usually port intensive, plus there's a lot of older people on them, probably why there's no 24 hour pizza serving at the Solarium, (also as it's such a small ship), but there was 24 hour pizza available on the room service menu.

The drink machines for us were always too strong, so we watered them down a LOT.

 

We found the Main Dining Room great, it's not just the food, it's the whole experience & what you make of it.

 

I'm sorry your experience was so different to ours. I'd go back in a heartbeat. We've booked our next one for eight months time & it can't go quick enough.

I have to agree with you on this one. We found no issues with the food or with the service. This was a very port intensive trip, but we loved it because we were able to see a lot of cities/countries in a short period of time.

The only issue I found was one day (towards the end of the cruise), the OJ in the Windjammer was a little watered down, but after asking if it was possibly running out, they refilled it and brought me a glass to my table. :-)

I forgot to add, we were in Cabin 8013, which was wheelchair accessible. Although we were at the front of the ship, we did not hear any noise from the pool deck above or from the cabins next to us.

The My Time Dining option was fantastic! We reserved our dinner times online through RCCL's website and based it upon when we would be back on ship (on port days). The service and food was the same as the main dining room - in fact, the My Time Dining is the 2nd floor of the Aquarius Dining Room. We were waited on hand and foot!

I preferred the My Time because sometimes we did not make it back to the ship for the early dining and/or did not want to wait until the later reserved time.

We ate breakfast most days in the Windjammer, and lunch if we weren't in port. The food was good and more down to earth than the main dining room. If you are not an adventurous eater (which I'm not), the WJ buffet has better selection for more "normal" food. :-)

Just came back from the 12-night Barcelona to Venice. It was the most amazing trip ever! I've only sailed on Enchantment and one of the Carnival ships. Vision was by far the best! The shows were amazing, the crew was friendly and helpful (always!), the dining room staff remembered not only our names, but also what we drank each night, and brought us hot tea with our dessert, before we even had to ask for it.

We had dinner with the Staff Captain (we won an auction for Make a Wish Foundation) and it was incredible. He was very personable, and the steaks at Chops Grille are out of this world.

We had a handicapped accessible room on Deck 8, but it was just one cabin down from the elevator, so very convenient for getting around. I never heard noise from either the other cabins or from the pool deck above us.

I visited the Accademia last November in a wheelchair (manual). They take you in through the exit and I think there is just a small lip there. I don't remember it being a problem. We reserved the tickets in advance on-line (there was a fee for the reservation, but not for the tickets). When we got to the museum, they refunded the reservation fee. The same thing happened at the Uffizi.

Thanks so much for the information. I wondered if they would refund the fee if we purchased online.

Thanks Darcie. I do think that I've read that there is a ramp, albeit steep one.

I'm bumping this up in the hope that someone will know that answers to my questions.

Did you get answers to your questions and/or have you already cruised? We are leaving June 21st.

I'll keep following. We are on the Vision June 21. Great post so far.

We are on Vision June 21st as well. I am really looking forward to some current information about the ship, ports, etc. Our itinerary is a little different, but hoping to get good information anyway. :-)

I'm planning my 14 day cruise and want to know how much Euros I should bring for my trip. I would like to buy them before I leave. When I go to the Caribbean I always make sure to have at least $100 a day. I do not use an ATM card, so that's out. Also, which credit cards have no Foreign Transaction fees and no annual fees?

I am also planning a 14 day cruise in June. In regard to your question about credit cards - I found that my Capital One Quicksilver card has no foreign transaction fees. I planned to take $300 (USD) in Euros and use my credit card as needed for the rest of the trip.

Hi Cath! I was so excited to find your posts about the 12n Med Cruise from BCN to Venice and back. We are booked on this same itinerary June 21, 2015 and I have been trying to find information about the ports.

My traveling companion (cousin who is like a sister to me) is in a wheelchair. Will there be specific challenges in any of the ports? We are still trying to figure out whether to book tours through RCCL (but they don't have very many that are labeled wheelchair accessible) or private tours.

Any advice would be wonderful! :-)