Tin can

Thanks for that, we are going to stay in Bologna after our cruise and this would be great as I believe there is a shuttle into the city from the airport that only takes 10 mins.

Hopefully it doesn't curse our trip 😀 but I am really looking forward to the train journey and seeing a bit of Italy out of the window.

I have read that this is the case and that a tour of the mosaic sites is a must, we are really looking forward to visiting.

We had the same answer in May unfortunately on Anthem, maybe they are only available on US sailings.

I pretty much gave up on the fairy 😀 but from reading the posts here it seems there may still be a bit of luck required with RoyalUp. I've no chance, I can't even pay top dollar for my upgrade 😂

All these success stories with minimum bids...... after a good business month I thought I would surprise the family and put in two maximum bids for our cruise in May and lost both. The upgrade fairy has never visited either...... I'm getting a complex 😀

We are on Explorer next year as well and flying to Venice for a couple of days. We have booked a hotel near the train station in Venice and we may be mad 😀 but everything I have read seems to indicate that the train is very straight forward from Venice to Ravenna with just one change.I may live to regret it but I prefer the idea of the train as opposed to be being sat on a coach transfer for 3hrs. The station in Ravenna is quite close to the historic area ad the mosaics so we will travel early and stay the night and I understand that the RCCL shuttle to the port leaves from the station on the morning of the cruise. All looks good on paper of course but that's our plan.

Loved this review thank you, never managed a Canaries cruise so must definitely look into it.

Fully agree about the smaller ships comment. In defence of Ravenna though, Bologna airport is only an hour away and the train from Venice is straightforward but an hour longer at 2hrs 20m(ish) than Rome to Civitavecchia. It does make me smile though that Royal calls Southampton (London), Civitavecchia (Rome), Venice (Ravenna) and probably the worst Le Havre (Paris).

We have a booking on Explorer for August 2023 made 10 months ago and one on Harmony for March 2024, just my opinion but fares are only going to go one way. You folks in the US are lucky as you get price match so my tactic of early is a bit of a gamble but I haven't seen anything drop until after final payment date for a long time.

We had a similar decision for next year, either Odyssey or Explorer for the Greek Isles. Explorer was considerably cheaper being the older ship but there are rumours of a mini 'amplification' coming in January which may have some basis to it as prices have recently increased quite a bit out of Ravenna in 2023. The ports of call on that 13 day Holy Land cruise look superb though and I would be on that one.

I can't help thinking that on a ship with 4000 - 5000 people on board that you are going to get the full cross section of society. This would possibly also include unfortunately a very small element of the less honest when presented with unattended valuables.

We were on Anthem in June and it was quite difficult to book a time on North Star even on charged sea days so it seems that people are more than willing to accept the cost. I'm sure though it was always free but perhaps I'm wrong.

I've seen people turned away from both the MDR and speciality restaurants many times although it was for sailings from the UK and Europe. Perhaps not relevant to the discussion here but as a cruiser from the UK who has sailed many times from US ports it seems to me peoples desire to dress up and the expectation of the staff seem way higher from your North East ports than it does from Florida ports. Same country and cruise line but different local market expectations and rules between the ports, I have a bit of sympathy with the staff with no real clear ruling on this.

Something that we also noticed on Anthem in June, almost universally observed.

Sounds like a mess up but we had a very different experience with the only time we went beyond final payment date. We are UK based and lose our deposits so didnt think to actually cancel when our plans changed. To my surprise we received a call from Miami (bearing in mind we are UK based) asking if we had missed it in error and would we like to pay, this was two weeks after the payment date. Like someone else suggested an email to Michael Bailey seems to get passed to a department who sort things properly.

Very useful thank you.

Thanks for that, interesting that apart from Joff its different officers from our June cruise. I don't know why but I assumed it would be the same Captain, Hotel Director etc for the UK season.

We asked in May at reception and they didn't have one either, not a big issue but I enjoy reading about the officers.

We often have a quick breakfast in the Diamond Lounge on early port days and grab some fruit to take with us. As the comment above though some ports you are not allowed to take food ashore.

I'm probably going to go against the general consensus. Its the Anthem itinerary for me, Stavanger and Kristiansand are nothing special in my opinion on Jewel and Anthem goes to (again in my opinion) the best Fjord ports Bergen, Olden & Gerainger. Anthem offers a lot more on board if that's a consideration. All opinions of course 😀

The Fjords are stunning, one of our favourite cruises with Royal and you are visiting some of the best on that itinerary.

Our experience is that isn't always correct for non Florida departing cruises. The cruise compass actually said no shorts in the MDR on our May Anthem cruise in the UK and I actually saw people turned away in them. It wasn't that long ago on an Royal Asian cruise that we wouldn't have got anywhere near the MDR on formal night if you weren't formal and our Dubai cruise with Royal a few years ago people were wearing tuxedo's even in the Windjammer and it was formal in the MDR every night even when the cruise planner said casual. I'm not fussed either way with dress but there is no consistency from Royal, maybe because they tailor the 'rules' for want of a better word to the local demographic and their expectations.

Thanks for posting, we were on the 29th May sailing to the Fjords. Had great fun with the staff in Boleros.

It was great and was 7 years ago, our son is 12 now. Many more cruise since them and all with him with no concerns or problems. You will have a great time on yours, beware though cruises are very addictive!