dritan

Thanks - I think I'm going to switch from the set time dining to the Select. Think I just got put off by my recent RCI cruise. And I believe I did reserve which restaurant on which night but could rebook or just stroll up if I liked. Glad to hear it runs smoothly.

Hi all I was on the Apex last summer and enjoyed it so much that I've booked it again for October. However last summer there were only 450 passengers on board so I really enjoyed the flexibility of Anytime Dining and picking my option on that evening. Recently we had a pretty horrendous experience with Anytime Dining on the Brilliance of the Seas with queues up to 40 mins on formal night. In the end, we spent most evenings at the buffet due to the hassle. Does anyone have recent Apex or Edge experiences on a busy sailing? Did you have experiences with delays? We currently have an 8pm set dining and whilst I'm aware we can request to move around if we like, I'd prefer Anytime if it runs smoothly? PS: we just booked the Edge restaurant and was very pleasantly surprised to see that my daughter's dinner only cost £8!! A great deal - I'm, of course, assuming that she will have the full menu rather than the kids menu from the MDR;-)

I've always been surprised how few cruisers actually do the train journey as opposed to private transfers - even on really busy days. In the past I've never been on a crushed bus from the station and would guess they were about 20 mins apart to take you to that intermediate bus stop.

This is fantastic as I have a Civitavecchia embarkation cruise in October. Perhaps I have a slight masochistic streak in that I enjoy sailing from Civitavecchia but have ended up just getting a taxi direct from the train station to ship the last few times. Just couldn't face the two bus scenario with kids and heat. This is an absolute Godsend.

Thanks I've had success at last! Based on your comment about cookies I decided to just try on another device and it worked first time. Now have my reservation and email. Thank goodness. I think I had looked up this pricing so many times in the last week that my google chrome must have got itself into a right state.

No because at the end of the booking all you get is a Thank you, we look forward to seeing you on the Celebrity Apex and a message that a confirmation email has been sent to my email address - but it didn't. If I didn't know better I'd think it was a dodgy website as I really did expect to see a reservation number after submitting my payment details. So no, don't have even a reservation number and as the lines are shut for the UK, it looks like I'll have to wait until the morning.

Hi Gone into a slight panic as I've tried to book a cruise on the UK Celebrity website - but whilst it looks ok at the end, the payment hasn't gone through and I haven't received an email. I wondered if I had stupidly click off the website before the final step when nothing came through after half an hour so did the process again and double checked. But nada - no pending payment on my credit card online and no confirmation email. Is this a known issue or have I just got caught out with some system gremlins? I don't want to try again as I'm worried there are now a number of my attempts stuck in the system?

HI We received a letter in our cabin mid way through the cruise which outlined how to order a return shuttle to the station. There were several time options - if I remember correctly they were at 8, 8.30 and 9. So you can select the best one. I would say that the time of the shuttle didn't bear relation to the actual time of the shuttle as ours was for 9am but it ended up leaving at 9.25. So I would go with an early option just to give yourself plenty of time. Your luggage tag will be based on which shuttle time you select. Our shuttle left at 9.25 and we arrived at the station at 9.40 -the stop was about 100 metres from the station so a little bit of lugging of suitcases but not too bad.

We were on the same Brilliance cruise. WE caught the 10.15am train from Bologna which was great and had no crowds, there were a small number of cruisers on that train and we were so thankful to see the RCI shuttle outside the station as we had been planning on seeking out a local bus. But crikey that experience on the return really made me re evaluate doing a cruise from Ravenna. With the train strike we had to wait two hours for a train and there were only 3 taxis in that whole time - people were really desperate to get to their flights.

Just been off the Brilliance of the Seas and our Cruise Director was Jamie Fentiman. As a Brit, he put together a great Jubilee celebration on our sea day with activities all throughout the day. I wonder if it drove some of the other nationalities on board crazy, but it really was a lot of fun. I rarely take note of the cruise director but find that you are more aware of them on smaller ships as they tend to be the "performers" who are effectively part of the entertainment crew.

An update to my update. I thought I'd share our experience at the end of the cruise. Due to not being able to get reasonably priced flights from Bologna or Venice, we flew back from Milan - originally Linate but was shifted to Malpensa by Easy jet several months ago. Well what fun we had lol. We took the $10 per person RCI shuttle bus to Ravenna station but found out there was a local regional strike and our 9.44 train to Bologna was cancelled, as was the next one at 10.44. This left about 100 passengers stranded at the station ( most had flights to catch from Venice or Bologna). There were literally 3 taxis that came along during the next 2 hours. At this rate I thought we had a 5% chance of catching our 5.30 flight. Thankfully the 11.44 was running and at Bologna we ran to catch the next train which unfortunately was a slow train to Milan. We had to stand for that journey and then ran to catch an airport bus at Milan Centrale at 3.30. Arrived at Malpensa at 4.30 and found out our flight was delay lol! At least it gave us a chance to relax and eat. Got to Luton for 8.30pm and after that palaver, the 40 min delay to get stairs and a further 1 hour for luggage was the perfect end to the day. But at least we got home which is more than many experienced this week. My lesson learned was to probably avoid Ravenna embarkations - or at least make sure your flight is from Bologna.

Thanks folks - pleased to see that the non alcoholic package is available to adults as well as children.

Also just off the Brilliance and not surprised by this. A generally good cruise but the MDR management was chaotic at best and was the main reason we only ate there twice during the cruise. I'm assuming they just haven't had a chance to "bed in" due to them only recently taking on passengers again.

Sorry that you weren't able to change. But just a word of encouragement, we are just back from a family holiday with the 4 of us in a balcony. We are 2 adults and a 14 and 11 year old. In saying that both children are "fully grown" but are at that "constant bickering" stage. We managed perfectly well. We just naturally stagger bathroom times as dad gets up early for a coffee and cigarette, then me and finally the kids. Like others have said, we tend to just use the room to sleep in. Was wondering if we had got to a stage where we would need a second room - but no, we're still fine with a 4 room cabin.

Hi I wonder if anyone with a current booking could let me know how much it costs to add a standard My Drinks package after your booking is made. I'm trying to work out if it would be cheaper for me to NOT book the My Drinks package. I'm looking to sail with 2 kids and 1 other adult who doesn't drink alcohol. I saw from an earlier posting that I replied to that there are 20 and 40 drink non alcohol packages but wonder if there is a general non alcohol package and what the cost is for the children's version as well? Many thanks if anyone can help out.

Just to update. When we got off the train at 11.15 today, there was a RCI shuttle outside the main entrance. This costs 10 dollars per passenger and is charged to the cabin account. In the end this seemed easier than searching for a taxi company. So we went for this. There appeared to be a taxi company but it was on the other exit of the station. Hope that helps someone else

Thanks for this as we are embarking on Sunday. We are catching the train from Bologna to Ravenna and will either get a taxi or local bus to the port. There had been a suggestion that the port has put on shuttles from the train station in the past. I wonder if you'd seen these about?

Yes - unfortunately this has come through too late for us to change our appt to the Friday when we could do it at home, as we will be flying to Bologna next Saturday morning. Already had confirmation from Medicspot that they have no slots left on Friday ;-( So we have a stressful morning of travel and getting to our appt in time for a 1.30 appointment via our mobiles. Not only that but cut down on our time in Bologna too. Which it had come through sooner.

Thanks to both of you for the info and the links. I'm going to add them to my research. There have also been some good (BBC?) documentaries about Akrotiri and the impact of the volcano that I will refresh my mind on. Sadly no trip to Athens this time but potentially in October and have yet to make it to the archeological museum - I think it's one of those places I need to go by myself ie: no moaning hubby or kids to placate.

Hi all We have been to Santorini on many occasions and somehow I've not managed to get to the ruins of Akrotiri yet. So my next cruise is my chance! I'm not too interested in taking a shore excursion as RCI lump it in with the pleasant Oia - but I've been there a few times. I'm considering taking the family on a local bus and walking out to the Red Beach ( we've done this before) and then I can escape and spend an hour or two at the nearby ruins. My question is whether there are any on site guides or even audio guides that would help illuminate the sight - or if my only option is to wander myself and read any plaques? The official website is very short on detail. Would love to hear what to expect? Thanks

Yes - I just found some reference to it. I think we will decide on the day - and as there are a few Ravenna cruises just before ours, someone may be able to provide an update. Thanks for the reply.

Hi I'm conscious that a few Ravenna related thread but nothing that addresses this question. We are a family of 4 and sailing from Ravenna at the end of next month. We are flying into Bologna and staying overnight and getting the train to Ravenna station the next morning. For our return journey we are getting the train from Ravenna to Milan ( not as awful as it sounds and was the only economical flight back to the uk). There seem to be 2 options for getting from the train station to the cruise port - a local 90 bus and a taxi. I've priced the taxi and it seems to be 50 euros which seems very expensive. . The local bus seems to leave you close to the port but google maps implies that it's a 1km walk. Does anyone have experience of this as it looks to me that the Cruise terminal is actually just about 100 metres from the bus stop? On the day in question we might just bit the bullet and get a taxi but then again there could be a lot of demand. Does the port offer any shuttles from the station to the cruise port of RCI?

I think this might be our best option ( DocHq). I started to do a dummy booking last night after reading this thread but couldnt' see when you select a date. I'm going to hold out to see if there is a relaxation of the 1 day pre cruise rule from Italy after 1st May and then book this option if it doesnt change - just don't want to leave it too late.

Just to say as well, that I am holding out until after 1st May to see if the Ravenna based protocols change. I'm aware that there will be a further relaxing of restrictions in Italy on that date, so am hoping that at the least we can move from a 1 day to a 2 day pre cruise test rule. ( as Spain currently has).

Hi We are sailing from Ravenna next month and with the current rules we have to do our test 1 day before the cruise, but we will be in Italy the day before. So the Lloyd's pharmacy option wouldn't work for us, what options are others going to Italy looking at? I'm worried about trying to find a pharmacist in Bologna after we arrive on the day before.