Mimiya11

Yes. Out of Rome.

Thanks all for your responses. We are going to stick to the 6pm Fixed Dining as all 15! of us are linked and know that odds of us at least having tables close to one another are more realistic this way. And if we end up having long port days, we will find other dining options.

Heading on a cruise in August. In planning pre and post our cruise from Rome, we completely forgot that Europeans vacation in August. As a result, the Rome restaurant we had hoped to go to advised us that they are closed for August and now am concerned we may be finding planning more difficult for our post cruise 5 days in the Chianti region. Any advice is appreciated.

A group of 11 of us are currently booked for 6pm fixed dining but.... with our cruise being port intensive, we suspect that will be challenging and 8:30 pm is way too late. The question is Are we able to change fixed dining to any time dining once we board the ship? Chances are all 11 of us will not be eating together regularly anyway but wanted to try it for at least the first 2 nights. Thank you.

Not with our group LOL Our first family trip of 15 together with 7 kids.

Ok so if 15 of us are all linked, I may not need to send an email in advance?

So if our group of 15 has all our reservations linked, we still need to email a request in advance? Glad I saw this post.

Sailing out of Rome, but from what I read, a second batch of passengers will be boarding in Barcelona Thanks for the information!

Very frustrating. Every single time I go on the site using my computer, I have to change my PW as it never accepts the previous one that I had changed a day before? I just tried my app as I had not signed out and it works. What is going on?

Yes I know that! I wanted to see if there was anywhere I can see what was available and when in order to plan in advance as there are 15 of us travelling together.

Years ago while on the Allure, I was able to see which days and times for all the shows well in advance of when booking opened up. So when it was booking day, I just filled in the slots. I assumed I would do that again for our August cruise on the Oasis but cannot seem to find any listings of the shows or their schedules. Any help is appreciated. Please and thank you

While Cafe Al Bacio is the best choice for a coffee, the atmosphere is much better than the coffee. We used to love it there but last few cruises including on the Apex and Ascent, we thought that the "baristas" needed to learn the difference between a latte, a cappuccino and a flat white. Especially in Cafe II near the buffet. No matter what we ordered, all these looked and taste the same. Plus, absolutely you need to ask for an extra shot just to taste the coffee.

Wow. I just noticed this spreadsheet. You are a rock star for doing this. Going on our first Azamara cruise June 2025. Thank you!!!

While our RCI cruise offers a shore excursion to Cassis, it sounds more like a bus transfer and then we are on our own for the day. That is great but not for $133 per person. Prefer not to do the train which I know is an option. Has anyone used a private transfer to get from the port to Cassis? Referrals appreciated. Thank you

We use Viator all the time (which is also affiliated with Trip Advisor) for both cruises and land vacations. Never had an issue, always found wonderful tours (who cares if they are acting on behalf of a company - that is how those companies get marketed and maybe business if they don't have their own social media presence). We always back to ship in plenty of time as these companies want to keep their business. And we don't have to get on a big bus with hordes of people.

I admit it. When we first booked the Apex for a cruise last year, I had no clue that the "balcony" that I thought we chose was an IV and there was no balconies unless you are in a suite. Awful marketing /PR for sure.

YES

So after 3 cruises on an E class ship, first in an IV on Apex, then on Apex in a SS (loved it but it was a TA so barely used our balcony), and most recently on the Ascent back in an IV. My husband was sick in bed for 2 days so not having a real balcony was awful. Closing the partition to have some separation for us was ridiculous and it felt like I was sitting in a cubby. Didn't help that the "veranda" furniture was uncomfortable. So while I love the E ships, am done with the IV concept and suites are way too $$$ now. Interestingly enough, we docked next to a RCI ship which also had IV's and I noticed that their chairs looked way more comfy and they had normal height side tables (not dinky tiny low ones).

Thank you and to clarify cruisemom and marazul - For purposes of this question, we are looking for high quality food. Kids are ages 3 - 13 so pasta and pizza options are probably our best bets. Just trying to avoid tourist traps. And am asking this far in advance so I can make reservations for 11 people. Would never think of expecting to get a large table without a reservation.

While I know there are tons of wonderful restaurants in Rome, am looking for centrally located kid friendly, non touristy places that would work for 6 foodie adults travelling with 5 kiddos. Thanks 🙂

We plan to rent a car from the Rome port to head to Tuscany after our cruise. Recommendations are appreciated.

They only had late seating. Need to work on that. 8:30 is way too late

Thank you for this. We will be on the Oasis in August with kids ranging in age from 3 to 13. We are just wondering that if adults choose to linger over dinner, is there supervision for the younger ones in a camp or babysitting?

Fifteen of us will be travelling together on the Oasis in August (including 7 kiddos). A couple of questions since we have not been on RCI for years. Assume we will be seated at two tables close to one another not one huge table? Is there a specialty restaurant that could accommodate all of us for a special occasion? The cruise is port intensive so suspect that we will not be eating in the dining room on a daily basis. Thank you