southerngirl8

Our friends used Rome in a Limo for their excursions as this company is all over Europe. They said it was excellent and while everyone from the cruise was being herded around, they had a small private group and could go places in their van that the tour buses could not get to

 

 

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I totally agree! in 2013 when we could not dock in Florence due to the weather, we got a refund on our tour from RIL. Very professionally. If you go to Rome, you can even use RIL to simply go into Rome for transport and back to the ship. A bit more expensive than the train, but they pick up at at the dock and drop you off at the ship at the end of the day. Apparently a few years ago there were some changes at the Port and now you have to walk 20 minutes or so to the shuttle for the train.

They have tons of different types of tours. We have always kept the # to 8 and it is a great number. If you go to Pompeii, ask RIL to arrange a private guide. They will be waiting for you and the additional cost (on a group of 8) was 12.50euro a person but SO worth it.

And I reserved an aft balcony - so I'm very excited!

First time ever travelling to Europe. First time on Jewel.

We are going September 9, 2018 on the Italy/Greek Islands 9 night. Any advice? Recommendations?

Is this the one out of Rome? I have booked the same cruise leaving May 30th, 2018. This will be my 3rd Med. Cruise and my first on RCL. I did one on NCL and one on Carnival.

Rome in Limo. Remember them! They are amazing. They offer tons of tour options. Use them to get from Rome to the Port. It may be a bit more expensive but they will pick you up at the hotel/airport and drop you off at the ship. Otherwise you could spend 20-30 minutes walking TO the ship with your luggage. RIL can get you right up to the ship. As this is a working port- you have to have a special permit to get in the port. You have plenty of time to save for those extras- why ruin your vacation to save a bit of money on something this important! They have great tour packages too. In Naples do the Positano/Sorrento and Pompeii tour and ask for Giovanni as your tour guide. You won't be disappointed!

In Athens- if you are doing the Acropolis, get there fairly early- and go to lunch at the outdoor cafe right there are Acropolis. An amazing view and the food was great. Not busy either. Can easily take a cab back to the port. They are some great little shops. Take a cab to the Plaka Hotel and use that as your starting point. Great little area to shop. Keep your phone CLOSE to you, my nephew had his swiped off a table by 2 little girls. The scam is- they place a map on the phone and mumble for directions and then they take the phone and the map!

Rhodes- go "outside the wall" after you walk thru the "wall". Great shopping. Rhodes is a great wonder around stop.

yes- If you do the Rome in Limo tour - Naples, Sorrento and Positano you will get to lots of shops after lunch in Sorrento for Limoncello. This is an amazing tour- ask for Giovanni as your tour guide and you will have a fun filled day of laughs too. If he mentions lunch to the place "on the corner" say YES!!! He makes reservations and the food is AMAZING- been there twice.

I wasted by Royal that the Caribbean sailings should be out 3/15 or 3/16. But they said last week, too, and that never happened.

My friend called and they said the 20th of March

We stayed at the Hotel Gaudi right across from the Gaudi House or museum. It was just a 2-minute walk to Las Ramblas. Very reasonable price.

I have also stayed at the Hotel Gaudi - great little hotel. Decent size rooms- if you can try and get one of the 2 rooms on the top floor! GREAT terrace.

I have also stayed at the Hotel Colon. AMAZING HOTEL. I got an amazing upgrade to one of the rooms with this amazing terrace. I could have stayed there instead of going on the cruise!!!

I have to agree with the Plaka hotel!! Stayed 2 nights there May 2017 pre cruise. We had a CC "pre cruise"party the night before we boarded on the roof top bar- they hotel was amazing and accommodating. They totally rocked and everyone at the party was jealous of our hotel. Great morning breakfast selections too.

Plaka Hotel:

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g189400-d197721-Reviews-Plaka_Hotel-Athens_Attica.html

 

Really central location; very nice staff; within walking distance to the Monastiraki metro station and to Syntagma Square for buses.

Hi all. I am so glad I found this thread, my "cruise pal" and I (we have done 3 Med. Cruises, one on NCL and one on Carnival) we are seriously thinking of this same cruise in May 2018. My cruise friend is a very loyal Carnival person, and has only done one "non Carnival" cruise. We currently have one booked on NCL but are still considering other cruises and may change. We really like this itinerary and all ports will be new to us- which is why we want to change.

I do have a few questions if you don't mind? How does MSC compare to either NCL or Carnival, or does it?

Is there only "set dining" times" or can you eat when/where you wish?

How is the food? How would the cruise be for several 18-22 year olds (her 2 sons (and one son's fiance) any my niece and nephew?

I see you can get drink packages for $45 per person/per day, has one done this? Is it worth it?

How are the cabin sizes?

Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

Does anyone know what the exchange rate is with Carnival? Thank you

I have a US Dollar Credit card and I booked my cruise on that and I have a US Dollar bank account all thru BMO and pay it off that way. I can always go to the currency exchange and get better rate on the exchange and convert money that way and pay off my CC in US cash. You can manage the exchange rate a little better this way. I can "buy" US cash when the dollar is better and keep in my US Dollar account. On my 2013 cruise was charged on my Canadian Credit Card in US dollars- but at that time the dollar was at par so it did not matter.

Alaska Cruises leave out of Vancouver (or Victoria) BC, Canada and and often have a stop IN Vancouver or Victoria, BC Canada

No blanket rule here. Carnival will respond according to the requirements of the countries included in the itinerary.

 

Carnival has precious few itineraries that even require a passport for a US citizen.

Not all Carnival passengers are US Citizens and not all cruises are "closed loop Caribbean" . I would never chance traveling on a passport that expires within 6 months- you can be refused. It is not just about the cruise line, but also where you fly in/out of. As I have only cruised the Mediterranean, it will be huge deal. Bite the bullet and get it renewed.

I heard rumors that photos on the cruise ship will Be done digitally and that they will offer a package where you can get all your pictures taken for the whole cruise for one price. Can anyone confirm?

Also, my family will be in 3 cabins but all our kids in the other two cabins are under 21. Can anyone confirm that all three cabins pictures can be added to the one package fee?

Hopefully this is true!

You can either bring a USB stick/card and they can down load onto that OR yes, can be downloaded to your phone via the Hub app. I had them downloaded onto my phone via the hub app and got them immediately

On our vista sailing we stoped there and im soooo glad we did. Not only was it safe but it was super clean, people were polite and weather and scenery was awesome. Cant wait to go back

It was one of our highlights on the Vista. One of my nephews (20 yr old) was most impressed with Ephesus. He thought that was one of his highlights, he enjoyed it more than Pompeii. But we also had an amazing Tour Guide. If you do plan on going into Kursadasi, my suggestion is to contact: Suzan - Ephesus Shuttle <suzan@ephesusshuttle.com>. We did the "relax tour on your own" and we got to do exactly what we wanted at a great price. Ask for Emmeri as your tour guide, you won't be disappointed.

We're booked on a 8 day to Aruba, Curaco, DR and GT in a Havana Interior at just over 900pp, for April 2018, were also booked on the Magic for April 2017. I always wanted to go to Europe it's on my bucket list but what's airfare prices like? We would probably catch it in Barcelenoa would you make the switch and I imagine the Havana interior we've got will be more and how much do you usually spend on a med trip?

 

 

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I did the Vista May 24th Athens to Barcelona, my 2nd cruise and 2nd Mediterranean Cruise. I LOVE the Mediterranean cruises. My flight from Van BC to Athens and Barcelona to Van was only $899 US dollars- my 2 nephews flights from Florida and NC were about $1000 each. Well worth it. In MHO- I would switch in a heart beat!!! I am planning on being on the Horizon when it sails the Mediterranean!

Hi,

 

We are cruising on Aug 6, on the Freedom out of Galveston. I just saw about this Carnival Hub App. Has anyone used it? Do you need a Wifi package to use it? I see it has a chat feature. That would be really helpful communicating with my family while on-board. Any thoughts?

I used it on the Vista May 24th sailing. It was a life saver. We had 3 cabins and 7 people in our group initially. As we met people on board we wanted to do things with we added them to our contacts. It was great to be able to communicate and make plans on the fly. It was well worth the $5 per device.

IMO, if you are going to pay the $20 for the MDR selection, you might as well spend the extra $15 for the whole kit and caboodle. The service, ambiance, appetizers, desserts, and sides are worth the extra $15.

 

The only caveat would be if you would be uncomfortable dining in an upscale environment by yourself.

I have and had not problems dining alone at all. I was never made to feel as if I was any thing less than a welcomed dining guest while dining solo.

I was wondering if the Steakhouse is worth the $35 (I an traveling as a solo & don't drink wine)? Would I be better off ordering a steak off the "Steakhouse" portion of the MDR menu for $20 and consider it a win?

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When I was on the Vista (May 24th sailing) I did the MDR and ordered the $20 upcharge for the steak- WELL WORTH IT- I got a 9 OZ Filet that was butter knife tender and cooked perfectly. The rest of the meal was the sides/starter and dessert from the MDR menu. Same steak as the Steakhouse and again worth it.

The steak on the MDR menu is a crappy 7 oz "flat iron" steak. I am a huge foodie and you get what you pay for.... "included" MDR steak vs upcharge... hhhmmmm! I would not do it every night, but the MDR menu was often hit/miss-

thnk you. How can I set up my dining time? need to wait for my check in? if I get an specific hr. it means that if i miss it, i wont be able to dine in that rest?

You can do the "anytime" dining, which I recommend. This way you can eat whenever you and your family wish. On very port intensive cruises, I recommend this. Otherwise, you do have to go and eat at a certain time each day in the main dining room!

I was on the 3rd sailing (May 24th) and I totally LOVE the Med. port intensive cruises (this is my 2nd one). I traveled with my 2 nephews - we did the MDR on the anytime dining, we did the Steakhouse one night, the Buffet one night, Ji Ji's Asian one night. We did sushi too, Guys burgers for lunch (or afternoon snack for the boys). We did late night Pizza quite often.

The Havana Lounge ended up being our "go to hang out" at night. The Mambo band was AMAZING!!! There ended up being a large group of regulars there nightly and it was great to go there and relax and hang out. They played every night except Sunday. Sunday the place was very empty! We were up every night til at least midnight, (my nephews in the early 20s and I am in my 50s) and often I stayed up later than one nephew, the other nephew was up very late, he usually ended up at the Casino! We loved going to the Serenity Deck to soak in the hot tub and have a cocktail between our day in port and dinner.

The DJ was great- usually we would end up at the Liquid Lounge late night (or where ever the DJ was playing). Serenity Nights was great, the parties on the Lido Deck were also great fun. One nephew would end up at the Pizza place late night most nights.

I did not do any of the comedy shows, one nephew did, one did not. Both had a great time. I did some of the trivia games, one nephew did the beer pong and games in the Brewery.

My nephews had a great time as did I. We were up late nightly, and often we would not get off the ship in the morning til after 10- we only had to be off early 4 days, the other days, we took our time and had lazy days in the ports. We had a great mix of activities on board and were never in a rush to get up and off the ship on the "non tour' days. We are all ready to go again!!!! One nephew said, he can sleep when he gets home, but he wants to experience as much of the ship and ports while he is there.

I will add my review to Amy's link... as we traveled together and as much as we did together, we did equal things apart, once I am feeling better! I got sick right after I came home!

Just back from the Vista and used RIL on 2 tours- Naples and in Florence. We once again had Giovanni in Naples and once again he was a great tour guide and we had a great day. In Florence we had Maria Clara as a tour guide and she was just as spectacular. Our days were great thanks to the wonderful tours set up and the great guides.

I am 100% definitely getting off the ship. If there was still any doubt in Carnival's mind the port was unsafe, we would not be stopping there!

Hi

Thanks for info, have downloaded a couple of guides, yes i agree a lot of work but thinking maybe will get to see more on our own as we can decide to how long we wish to stay at each attraction instead of being ushered along with the crowds.

Cheers

Kerrie

Have you gone to http://tomsportguides.com/. This is a great source of information.

I am doing RIL tours for Naples and Florence, using a `transport`only into Rome from the port and plan on doing my own thing in Rome. Have a half day tour for Ephesus and all the other ports plan on DIY.

I sail in 22 days on the 3rd sailing May 24th!!!!!

The VAT on drinks is only 10%...so it's not like it's super drastic.

 

$1 on a $10 drink.

 

Although, yes, it will hurt pictures etc. Carnival isn't happy about that either but that's the rules, and it is what it is.

 

Really no reason for everyone be stressing so much! Everything will be fine and you will have an amazing time. :)

 

 

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I agree- on my last Med Cruise- the VAT was nominal- you really won't notice. I did not even try and claim any back at the end. Any purchases you make in ports - that's where you could get dinged the most if you purchase expense items- BUT you would pay in ports regardless if we went to Izmir.

Dropping the port of Izmir is all about the safety of the crew and passengers and as tough as the decision is/was- the crew should not suffer from any deserving gratuities from a job well done and them going above and beyond for the guests as it was not the crew who made the decision.

That's what I plan to do, half in cash and half in traveller's cheques (to be cashed at the purser or ashore, even).

 

My credit card offers currency conversion better than my bank, so that's another way to "buy" Euros.

Travelers checks have gone by the wayside. Will be a waste of your money to plan on using them. Get Euros before you go, my 2 cents worth. One less thing to worry about. I can go to the Bouillon and Currency exchange here in Vancouver and get my Euros with no fee. I plan on getting all my Euros before I go.

Make sure you have a chip credit card- even if a chip and sign card.

In Europe you may not be able to use your Debit only card at a retailer for purchases- different banking systems. I know I can not use my debit card at a retailer in the US and I live in Canada. If you have a "Debit/Credit" card you are fine as long as you use as a Credit Card.