Host Jacquelyn

Aqua show can run to 11 pm and are very noisy. Something to keep in mind if the kids' bedtimes are earlier.

Boarding in Barcelona is definitely easier, but I would board again in Rome if it were more convenient to. If everything was equal, I would recommend Barcelona.

I really liked staying in Mestre since we were traveling with several luggage and getting around in Venice would have been a challenge. Mestre train station appeared to be safe, as usual be on the lookout for pick-pockets, but it was a large enough train station. Hilton in Mestre was super safe, and we took the bus from Venice back to the hotel at night and it was safe too. I did not walk around Mestre other than getting from the bus back to the hotel, so cannot comment. Is the hotel you are staying at on the bus line? If so, it is really easy to get into Venice, however the bus does get very crowded at times. 38 days traveling on 3 cruises sounds like a dream!! Enjoy your amazing vacation.

Hi Marshall, I am so happy I was able to help! I have always received such great advice from people on these boards 🙂 In Venice, we stayed at the Hilton in Mestre. They offered a shuttle to the airport for around 16 Euro, and it dropped us off near Arrivals. It could not have been simpler. I suggest taking a taxi or hotel shuttle, and asking them to drop you off at Arrivals. I am not sure where the bus lets you off, or how convenient it will be. Re: Civitavechia Shuttle Express in Rome: - At the port in Civi, they let us off right at the boarding Terminal. Literally right by the door to enter the terminal where RCCL reps were waiting to guide us. - Upon pickup after the cruise, they met us just as we exited the secure area with a sign. - They dropped us off right at our hotel door. - We also used them to the airport - They picked us up at the hotel and took us to Rome FCO Departures. It is not faster nor easier to catch a train from Civi to Termini as you still need to get to the train station in Civi. It wasn't even that much more expensive to use CSE once you factor in the train tickets for 2 plus a taxi from the ship to the Civi train station. If you are traveling light, you can walk to the train station, but it is still a couple of miles. We did the reverse - A train from Venice (Mestre) to Rome. Beautiful scenery!

Thanks for posting the updated info. I saw on the website that stated $5 pp, but then saw a YouTube video with the new prices posted above. Looking for a good beach option near Royal Dockyards for the last day. Plan on doing Horseshoe the first day

The RCCL shuttle from Venice to Ravenna was very smooth, the only hiccup was needing to provide fake flight info. Hopefully that is something they rectified In Rome, we used Civitavecchia Shuttle Express to and from the port. Since you asked, the rules say that I can recommend. They were easy to deal with, very responsive to emails (and even WhatsApp), and above all ON TIME. We had prior experiences in Rome, and the services were unreliable. CSE was great, and the prices reasonable.

1. We want to get the shuttle from venice to Ravenna. What is the procedure of booking it? Is it done through a live RC representative or on their site or through TA? I booked direct with Royal, so I went direct. I suggest calling your TA first if you used one 2. Do I do research and find a direct flight # into Venice for the day of the cruise departure? Do I pay and get confirmation when I place the call or go on the RC website? I did it live on the phone with the rep. She needed the flight numbers, departure time, arrival time, etc. Any detail you could think of. I found a flight as I was talking to her. I believe the charges were added to my cruise invoice, and I paid once I paid my final balance 3. We are staying two nights pre-cruise in Mestre. Where do we pick up the shuttle? Do they ask for flight information upon boarding shuttle bus? There are 2 places to find the shuttle - either in Venice or at the airport. I heard it was confusing to find the location in Venice, but I am sure someone can give you instructions. We just went back to the airport from our hotel (we also stayed in Mestre). The arrivals hall is very small and it was easy to find the RCCL rep. There were many of them walking around with signs. 4. Does the shuttle drop you off at the ship? What is the cost? Yes, the shuttle drops you right off at "the ship" - there were people right when we got off the bus directing us to the check-in queue. Price was reasonable compared to private shuttle, around $50 per person, per direction 5. Post-cruise - we are leaving from Bologna. Is there a RC shuttle from the ship to Bologna? Yes, I heard them advertising it onboard. You can probably buy it in advance as well. 6. Some people have said that there is now a shuttle that goes from Ravenna train to ship. Is this now easily accessible both pre-cruise and post-cruise? Someone else can probably reply as we went back to Venice

Hi @80sGal We have been to Greece in mid May and in late June. There is certainly a HUGE difference in temperature. When we were there this year in May, the temps were low to mid 80's, but no breeze and sunny skies. It definitely felt hotter. In late June, temps were mid 90's and scorching. I don't mind the heat, but it was too much for others. Of course, you can always get a heat wave earlier or a cool spell later, but if you are concerned about the heat I suggest booking a bit earlier

Were were in Venice after Brilliance, and it was much easier to Rome via train then to Barcelona. Very convenient.

It was disjointed in the sense that there was no first day excitement, rather that came on Day 3 of our cruise when the Barcelona guests joined. The app also didn't work for us, and we had some issues with our D+ benefits, but neither of those were huge deals. I am sure the Barcelona guests did not have the same experience, as I would say 3/4 of the pax boarded there. All said, I would certainly book an interport cruise again as the flexibility of being able to board in Civi outweighed any downside

Sounds like they are getting their act together, which is good. I hope they fixed their process so now anyone can book from the airport!

Yes, that's exactly what we did, and so did almost everyone else we spoke to. It's awful, no one wants to be dishonest, but their system is very ill-designed. Not only that, we needed DIRECT flights. The system rejected flights that were transferring in Europe in either direction. I am sure the is not a RCCL requirement, but rather a coding bug in their software that hopefully will get resolved for future sailings.

There's a very long story here... short story is that we took the RCCL shuttle to and from the airport. We stayed in Venice for a couple of days pre and post cruise, so we just needed to make our way back and forth from the airport to the hotel on our own. Let me know if you want the longer story, as logistically RCCL did not officially allow anyone to use the shuttle unless their flights were day-of. There was pandemonium in Ravenna as people could not catch cabs from the train station. I hear RCCL is now starting to run a shuttle. I spoke to a passenger who lives in Ravenna, and he said the town only has 10 taxi drivers. I assume more will be popping up!

I am very curious about that as well. Last month in Europe, my 19 year old got full benefits including the alcoholic beverages (drinking age 18) and the picture. I was wondering whether she would still get the picture in the US

Pool bar bartenders were the worst, and the crowds didn't help. They needed more staff. Another thing I found was that there was no place to get a glass of water by the pool. On Brilliance, there was an outdoor part of the Windjammer you could access from the pool area. I remember on Harmony a few years ago the bars would have glasses of water off to the side that you could take.

We had reserved late dining, so we did not need to make reservations. For the shows, we didn't bother with reservations since we arrived just before the show started. We saw both the aqua and ice shows twice. Both are spectacular. We ended up standing at the back once for each show, and still had a great view. I suppose you can book your shows early on Sunday / Barcelona and get first pick.

That's a good question! I did not notice whether there were any shallow pools. Lots of kids in floaties in the main pools, and of course there is a huge kids' water playground

I would say that you could use your kids' vouchers for coffee, mocktails or soft drinks.

I believe around 11. You select your time slot when you do online check in a month before. We spent the night in Rome, so we only checked in around 2:30.

That's amazing!! I will be sailing with one over 12 and one under 12. They will be so excited if they can get D+ drinks and especially internet 🙂

I heard that both were around 70% capacity. The only time the ship felt full was on Sea days, especially on Brilliance. We spent over 30 mins trying to find a chair across all 3 decks. Lots of towels on empty chairs, it was frustrating. Other than that, we never had issues at bars or the Windjammer. There was always a good amount of people - not too crowded, but not at all empty. I found the overall vibe friendlier on Brilliance. Not sure why, maybe because more groups were sailing on Wonder and they tended to keep to themselves. Brilliance was also way smaller so maybe we saw the same people more often. The bartenders were miserable on Wonder, it was so odd. I think there were too few bartenders vs so many people with the drink package, they just did not even try to be friendly. By contrast, the bartenders on Brilliance really made the effort to get to know you and seemed really happy. There was obviously so much more to do on Wonder vs Brilliance, but it seemed much colder.

Hi @karl_nj, Boarding in Italy for Wonder was the easiest and smoothest ever. There is a huge new terminal, and most people board in Barcelona. I heard only 800 boarded in Civi. We arrived around 2 pm, and it was only us and another family in the terminal. No lines, no waits at all. The ship was also empty, since most of the pax were off on their excursions in Rome. That said, you are correct that the app did not work for us. We needed to "find another sailing" and enter both Barcelona departures. We were then able to see the daily Cruise Compass activities, but our excursions and charges were not linked. To review our charges, we needed to use the Smart TV in the room. I recommend doing that as well, since we were charged for a number of Diamond drinks. There was no fanfare at all boarding in Civi. We almost felt like we were boarding someone else's sailing. Most of the pax were at the end of their vacation, and there was none of that first-day buzz. By contract, the ship was electric and full of excitement when the new batch of pax boarded in Barcelona on Sunday. Note of warning for Barcelona excursions - you are stuck leaving in the same queue as those debarking. We had previously been told there is a separate line for people leaving vs people off on excursions. That is not correct. You need to leave via the same queue and wait in the same taxi line as folks departing. Be sure to give yourself extra time in the morning if you have tickets for Sagrada Familia or Park Guell.

I recall in the past kids were not entitled to Diamond or D+ perks, but recent threads make it sound like kids are now able to get these perks. My D+ teens would love free Cokes and internet days. Are these benefits extended to them?

They had on Brilliance and Wonder in May. Never a wait.

Any questions, let me know! Both cruises were spectacular. I found Brilliance more friendly, people were talking to one another and the overall vibe was very warm. Wonder seemed to have more groups, and people kept to themselves. Covid on both ships, I think it is unavoidable. I would be glad to answer any questions.