dzcruisers

We will be on a Celebrity ship in late November. Do you know where we will dock? Thanks!

How would we set up a private tour to see Rabat?

We enjoy the snacks & drink that we get...I use the baskets to store small stuff in my bathroom. Thanks for the welcome gift. We are pleased to get it.

Train station in Civitavecchia

If you plan to walk from the ship to the train station, count on an hour and a half or more.

The train station is a 15-20 minute walk from the Port Entrance. The port is huge and confusing. There is a free shuttle bus that runs between all the ships in port (remember there will be other ships) to the Port Entrance. It runs every 30 minutes, and it takes 15 minutes to get to the Port Entrance alone.

So, after you spend 10-15 minutes looking for your luggage in the mass confusion, 30 minutes waiting for the shuttle, 15 minutes riding around the port, 15 minutes walking the streets dragging your luggage to the train station and 5-10 minutes buying your train ticket - you're now up to about 90 minutes after you stepped off the ship but it didn't cost a cent.

An alternative is to take a taxi from the Luggage Claim to the Train Station. It's a 15 minute ride. Make sure you tell the driver "Stazione di Civitavecchia" - otherwise he's going to make believe he doesn't understand English and take you to Rome. Better yet, write it down and show it to him. They will try to convince you that taking the train to Rome is not a good idea. They may even tell you the trains are on strike today. His goal is to get you to commit to an expensive ride to Rome. If you only want to go to "Stazione di Civitavecchia", insist that he uses the meter ("taxi metro"). That'll be the lowest fare.

The FR5 commuter trains ("Treno Regionale") run every half hour or so but are not luggage friendly. Seats are un-reserved. Through trains from the coast are more expensive, run about 90 minutes apart but have luggage racks.

Buy your tickets at the window or by the vending machine ("Biglietto Veloce") with multi-language directions. Best way to buy at the window is to write out, in Italian, exactly what you want. A problem with Trenitalia not accepting non-Italian credit cards seems to have been corrected since November, 2010. All UK and US credit cards (except Discover and a few other oddballs) should now work. But you do carry two different credit cards, don't you?

Make sure you validate your ticket in the yellow printer as you enter the platforms BEFORE getting on the train. The conductor will verify that you have done this. There are consequences if you don't. What depends on the conductor.

Beware there are two track number ones in Civitavecchia. "Binario 1" is for through trains, "Tronco 1" is for trains terminating in Civitavecchia. Same goes for "Binario 2" and "Tronco 2". Those dead-end tracks are on the side of the station, the through tracks are on the back of the station. Regional trains make many stops and take 80 minutes to reach "Roma Termini". The Intercity trains take about 50 minutes and have two classes of seating, "1" for first class and "2" for second (economy). See the photo above, it shows a second class double-decker car.

Palazzo Vitelleschi - Tarquinia, Italy

If you've been to Rome before and are doing a B2B, leaving the same day, consider taking the train up to Tarquinia, Italy for something different.

So don't underestimate the time it takes to get off the ship and get to the Civitavecchia train station.

Thanks kite wizard!

If you are young, fit and can get all of your luggageand carryons, pocketbooks, etc. up or down 13 steps. take the train.

We shared a great driver guide suozzi.nicola@gmail.com. He can take 6 and is quite fluent in English. He is very reasonable also.

The one idea that I really like in all these replies...the use of DUCT TAPE! I'm going to do exactly that...it sounds like the kind of material that will be annoying to wrap (several times) around the bag, and probably REALLY annoying to remove from the bag...but, that's the idea!! I have something called a luggage belt/strap (bought on ebay)...haven't used it yet, but it seems like it might also be one of those things that might have some deterrence for someone trying to make a very hasty entry into one of my bags.

They make all kinds of fancy duct tape now called duck tape. We always put two luggage straps on our luggage and we make sure they don't match so we know it is ours.

I don't take my wedding rings when we travel. I bought a lovely fake set on QVC and that fills the bill. Everything I really need, our RX, jewelry, personal items, cameras kindles and such goes in our carry on.

We were on a cruise to Bermuda with a sixth and that's what they had for luggage. They were both well dressed all the time. I checked that out when I saw how little luggage they had.

Five words.

 

Travel lite, travel carry-on. :D

 

 

Hi

I copied this from another post as i found the information very helpful for S class ships.

Being on the aft part of the hump there was virtually no wind issue to deal with. We got sun when we wanted it, and shade if desired as well. Due to balcony depth there were no privacy issues related to the angled shape.

There are 58 +/- cabins with the same size balcony we had - they are the largest: This is the corrected version!

Resort Deck: 2105, 2109, 2106, 2110

Penthouse Deck: 1547, 1552, 1601, 1605, 1606, 1610

Sky Deck: 1075, 1044, 1231, 1243, 1247, 1108, 1120, 1124

Panorama Deck: 9155, 9192, 9209, 9215, 9237, 9241, 9266, 9270, 9292, 9296

Vista Deck: 8197, 8160, 8257, 8253, 8279, 8283, 8226, 8230, 8252, 8256

Sunrise Deck: 7159, 7206, 7215, 7219, 7241, 7245, 7260, 7264, 7286, 7290

Continental Deck: 6155, 6156, 6209, 6215, 6237, 6241, 6210, 6214, 6236, 6240

Most of these are on the hump, but some are forward where the ship starts to indent. The rooms run the range from Category 2C, 1A, C1, or AQ (with the exception of 6209/6210 which are categorized as 07 Obstucted Balcony - great balcony at a small price!). There are also many cabins adjacent to the ones I listed that also have oversized balconies that are about double the size of normal ones, but I would go for the triple sized ones first .

On X and RCI they do take roll call and the person that is not there or late becoimes "hated";):rolleyes: for everyone has to wait until they are found and get to the muster drill.They announce their names and ask if anytone knows them. Sometimes it's someone not paying attention who forgot to check in.(the man behind me)

We did a TA in 9241 and were quite comfortable. Huge balcony, bed by bath. It's a C2.

I believe 9237 is the same but is a 1A. Difference in cost. Same cabin and basically same location.

Would you please send me a copy of the spreadsheet? dcztravel@aol.com Thanks.

Thanks for putting together such a comprehensive list. We have booked the premium package for our upcoming Silhouette and after reading your post I know we have made the right decision. :D

 

Just one question though.... where do you get the at 8.30 in the morning. Sounds delicious. I am presuming it must be Cafe al Bacio?

Don't forget you can get sodas in the can and fresh juices and bottles of water with dinner or to take back to your cabin. He left out a lot of extras besides alcohol that it includes. We always got big bottles of water to take when we went ashore.

I just hit quote and then removed the quote marks at the beginning or end. I don't think it will let you edit though.

It's been a while since this chart was updated. If anyone is back from a recent sailing, please post any news of transfers, additions and skuttlebutt about your favorite ship and staff assignments.

I had no problems. You do have to have a prefix for your name or it won't let you submit.

And only with the premium package if you buy something that costs more than $12. you only pay the difference, a $15. glass of wine costs $3. more. They changed that not long ago! It was that if you bought anything over you paid for the whole thing.

We grabbed a big bottle of water when we were leaving the ship. It includes so much more than alcohol. It gives being able to relax and not worry about what you are spending if you want another glass of wine, etc. because it's already budgeted. It includes soda also as well as a multitude of other things.

Happy Anniversary!:);):D:)

Your videos are wonderful! Best of all it's really fun to see such a happy family!

Thanks for letting us go along!

Amazing again! I'm enjoying being on your cruise with you!

WOW!!!! You do such a great job of making us all feel like we are there! Thank you!

Jo, I am sure everyone wishes you had a better tour but the reason for so much concern is to get Celebrity to fix it for others in the future.

Love your videos! and your blog.

Loving your posts!

Please tell customer service about the tour or maybe the excursion desk. They can't fix it if they don't know. Thanks.

Even in the USA, proper etiquette is to wait until everyone has finished the course to clear. And to wait until everyone is served to begin eating. Probably the same in the UK.

Well, I'm surprised it took 12 hours for someone to lecture us all on how much they think a porter makes (who are not the top-end longshormen). But God forbid someone have a decent salary. :rolleyes:

And I like to have my luggage on the same ship I'm on on the same day!

We used Ricardo in May and he gave a great tour. Be specific when you book him that you want only him as your driver guide. ra@amazingtours.se

Thanks Jack! Another great entertaining review! As my grandkids would say you da MAN!

Click on the post # 25 top right and you can print only this.

Hi

I copied this from another post as i found the information very helpful.

personally LOVED my C1 hump cabin #1243 - about triple the size of a standard balcony - it was HUGE!!!!! Literally the largest non-suite balcony on the ship! The balcony was great for hosting cocktail parties - we had 25+ people out there one day! Being on the aft part of the hump there was virtually no wind issue to deal with. We got sun when we wanted it, and shade if desired as well. Due to balcony depth there were no privacy issues related to the angled shape.

There are 58 +/- cabins with the same size balcony we had - they are:

Resort Deck: 2105, 2109, 2106, 2110

Penthouse Deck: 1547, 1552, 1601, 1605, 1606, 1610

Sky Deck: 1075, 1044, 1231, 1243, 1247, 1108, 1120, 1124

Panorama Deck: 9155, 9192, 9209, 9215, 9237, 9241, 9266, 9270, 9292, 9296

Vista Deck: 8197, 8160, 8257, 8253, 8279, 8283, 8226, 8230, 8252, 8256

Sunrise Deck: 7159, 7206, 7215, 7219, 7241, 7245, 7260, 7264, 7286, 7290

Continental Deck: 6155, 6156, 6209, 6215, 6237, 6241, 6210, 6214, 6236, 6240

Most of these are on the hump, but some are forward where the ship starts to indent. The rooms run the range from Category 2C, 1A, C1, or AQ (with the exception of 6209/6210 which are categorized as 07 Obstucted Balcony - great balcony at a small price!). There are also many cabins adjacent to the ones I listed that also have oversized balconies that are about double the size of normal ones, but I would go for the triple sized ones first

When you buy a next cruise certificate you only have to pay $100. and buy it for one passenger. When you use it you pay the other $100. and still get all of your benefits. We just tried it and it worked. I had read this on cruise critic but had to try it for myself to believe it!

Thanks for the great info, Patti!