lynncarol

Am a little confused. Do you intend to fly in and out of Italy from Bologna? If so, I would suggest a train from Bologna into Venice pre-cruise and spend 3 nights. Then, back to Bologna via train and on to Ravenna for your cruise ship. When the ship returns to Ravenna, you could store your luggage at a Ravenna hotel, and spend the day visiting the mosaics. Over-night in Ravenna and then back to Bologna for flight home. If you are taking the train, I would suggest overnighting at NH Ravenna (where my husband and I stayed last September). It is an easy 3 block walk from the train station, reasonably priced with comfortable quiet rooms and a nice breakfast. The mosaics of Ravenna are wonderful, but 3 days there is a bit long IMO especially when you compare it to all the splendors in Venice. Of course, if you are flying in and out of different cities, that opens up more possibilities.

My husband and I told our three grandkids in 2019 we would take them on a trip of their choice. Two of them chose South Africa while the oldest (age 23) wanted to see France. I asked her to come up with suggested sites to visit in France, but she was 'too busy'. So I suggested a river cruise along the Seine with Vantage which included 3 days in Paris. I told her she would be probably the only young one there but we would get her a single cabin. We all had a fabulous time. The other (and much older) passengers kind of adopted her. We would be walking along some street and in would come a text (with photos) to our grandaughter from other passengers about something they had seen in a local shop she was sure to love. They even took videos of her line dancing late one evening onboard to show us, since we were, of course, sleeping.

Re Kristiansand....my husband and I were there in 2016 as part of a transAtlantic cruise and loved the place. Where our ship docked, it was just a short walk to the Odderoya Peninsula. This former military base, is open to the public. The paved trail to the tip of the peninsula as one of primarily forests and rocky ledges with spectacular overlooks. Abandoned canons, ramparts and other armaments can be visited enroute and the edge of the trail had wild blackberry and blueberry bushes laden with fruit. At the top is a cleared area abuting some ruins, overlooking the fjord and a wonderful spot for a picnic. From there, we walked back into the vibrant, flower bedecked town for afternoon refreshments. Our original plan next was to walk from town to Ravnedelen Park, which we heard was very scenic. However, it is a fairly long walk and even though we eventually could see the park's entrance in the distance, we were out of steam and returned to the ship. If we had two days in that port, I would definitely return to see Ravnedalen Park.

Our cruise was in and out of the Tampa airport. Since we were carrying our own luggage, we got off the ship by 7:30. We had arranged roundtrip private transportation, so phoned the company when we disembarked, were picked up in 10 minutes and at the airport by 8:00. No problem at all. I should also mention the Tampa airport has a large enclosed open-to-the-sky space with tables and chairs where you can sit and await your departure which is nice if you are trying to avoid virus exposure in public places. (Can't recall if it was before or after security).

Glad your experience was better than ours. Fifteen years ago we were booked on Celebrity flights from Pittsburgh to Philly where we were supposed to meet my elderly parents to fly (also a Celebrity booking) to London for our Baltic cruise. Because of weather issues we missed the Pittsburgh to Philly flight and thus the flight onto London which meant we also missed the cruise ship departure. Naively I expected Celebrity to take care of this, but NO! I was told since it was weather related, we had to get the airline to reschedule us. Problem was we now needed a 3 leg flight to get to the next port in Oslo. But since it was a weekend, nobody at Celebrity flights was able to authorize this extra leg. I begged them to at least notify my parents, who didn't have a cell phone and would have no idea what happened to us. The agent promised to do so, and also said their port agent would be waiting to help us in Oslo. Thank goodness the airline ticket agent was able to resolve all of this and we eventually landed in Oslo. No port agent to be found. Also, when we finally caught up with the ship, my frantic parents had never been told what happened to us. So, as for me, I will NEVER book a flight through Celebrity again.

its' been a number of years, but when we were in Florence, I had purchased timed tickets for the Uffizi but not Academia. While waiting in a non-moving line in front of the Academia, I noticed a shop across the street selling (current) timed tickets for an extra 5 euros. Best money I spent in Italy.

My husband and I took one of our daughters and a grandchild on RCL last November. Our grandaughter is a vegan and the head waiter (who was from India) rose to the challenge beautifully. For each evening meal, he presented her with a different selection of Indian cuisine which was so tasty, he ended up bringing the rest of us appetizers of the same food.

That's what happened to me years ago. I had always booked our own cruises, but an old friend of mine, who is a travel agent, strongly hinted that she would appreciate it if I used her services instead. So I did, only to find online10 days before final payment a huge drop in price that was only good for 24 hrs. I frantically called her, numerous times but it always went to voice mail. I tried calling the cruise line, but was informed only my TA could initiate these changes. By the time she finally got back to me, we barely made the deadline and I was trying (not very successfully) to hide my aggravation. We decided not to use her again and it cost me our friendship.

I am assuming your previous tour of the Ephesus site included the Terrace Houses. If not they are definitely worth seeing.

I have never been on an Oasis size ship so can't comment on their speed of disembarkation. The two incidents I mentioned occurred on one of the lines 'smaller ships". Still, when that entails 2000-3000 people, things don't always move that quickly. I am well aware that on small ships I wouldn't encounter this problem, but I freely admit, their cost scares me off. (exception was our Black Sea cruise in 2014 with Vantage where the vessel only had 36 cabins and thanks to Russia's recent annexation of the Crimea, prices were rock bottom),

I have never been on an Oasis size ship so can't comment on their speed of disembarkation. The two incidents I mentioned occurred on one of the lines 'smaller ships". Still, when that entails 2000-3000 people, things don't always move that quickly. I am well aware that on small ships I wouldn't encounter this problem, but I freely admit, their cost scares me off. (exception was our Black Sea cruise in 2014 with Vantage where the vessel only had 36 cabins and thanks to Russia's recent annexation of the Crimea, prices were rock bottom),

I have read through all these posts and nowhere did I see this topic mentioned. Although my husband and I almost always do excursions independently, I have noticed a disturbing trend by the cruise lines (at least on Royal and Celebrity) to allow ship excursion passengers to disembark before those who are on their own. Once in Bar Harbor, the earliest tenders were ONLY for ship excursion folks...the rest of us forced to wait to they got off. Another was in St Petersburg, where they hinted that unless we were on the ship excursion, Russian authorities would not allow us to enter. When I confronted them with evidence to the contrary, we were told all private departures had to congregate first on one of the upper decks, on the opposite end of the ship from disembarking point on a lower level. When I refused to do that, the woman caved and said, "You don't need to congregate there, but don't tell the others"

Not necessarily. While disembarking from our 11 day cruise this past April, the captain over the intercom said several passengers had tested positive but all contacts had been notified. Although I had not been notified I decided to test when I got home despite having NO symptoms. Very strong pink line on test, so definitely positive. I notified my doctor and did not leave the house till testing negative one week later. Never did have symptoms.

I recall walking right into the water. There is also a shelter with tables in the area where you can grab something to eat or drink and relax in the shade.

Absolutely, if possible spend the night in Ravenna. This was our fourth trip to Italy, but first to Ravenna and those mosaics are incredible!! Our flight landed in Rome and we caught the Leonardo Di Vinci train (starts right inside the airport) to the Termini (main station in Rome). From there you catch train to Bologna (runs frequently) and then transfer to local train to Ravenna. Only tricky part is the local train in Bologna leaves from a platform up two escalators. From Ravenna station, an easy two block walk to our hotel, the NH Ravenna. FYI, my husband and I are both in our mid seventies and easily confused, so if we could do it, you can too.

My husband and I haven't checked a bag in years, and this includes numerous cruises and weeks of independent land travel. We always take a carryon and a backpack, which includes a small special pillow for my arthritic neck and a set of foldable hiking poles. The trick is to hand-wash along the way. Long ago I purchased an expandable rubber clothes line which helps a lot. Also, all our clothes are non-wrinkel and easily rolled. Only problem is (as my sister-in-law pointed out) all our travel photos always show the same outfits.

oops...I see if forgot a letter in the email address. Reservations@blackhattours.com

Been to Cozumel three times and always use Mr. Crecencio Lopez. He now has his own agency, BlackHat Tours and I highly recommend them. (reservation@blackhattours.com) On our second tour with him, my father, unknown to us, was experiencing a heart attack and when we returned to the States and dad subsequently died, Crescencio upon learning of this tragedy, sent us photos, with Dad in it, that he had taken during our tour. This meant so much to us. Just a very nice man who has always lived on Cozumel and will create an excellent tour for you at a very reasonable price. You will really need a tour if that many ships are in port.

Interesting. Five of us were on the Constellation in March. Ship was probably 1/3 full. The first night while sitting in a bar enjoying pre-dinner drinks, we were approached by one of the crew to purchase a meal in the Tuscan Grill. We picked lunch for a day that we didn't arrive in port until 3:00. The day before my husband attended a free steak-grilling demo in the Tuscan grill and garnered a $5 coupon off for each of us to use at that lunch. All five of us thought the food there was good, but not much better than that in the MDR. So, I wouldn't feel too bad if you can't get reservations.

I too am a very light drinker. If I have two drinks a day that's alot for me. My husband may get three at most if he is feeing particularly festive, so we never hit our 4 voucher limit. When we travel with underage grandkids we use our extra drink vouchers to get a soft drinks for them..