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"Retiredonthesea", I wonder if being in a suite had anything to do with your invite. We have never reserved a suite, and generally do not even stay in a balcony. Most of the time, we just stay in a standard oceanview, and occasionally an inside. Perhaps they reserve the invites for only the upper categories??? Just curious....

Thanks to all who shared. We've been on more than 25 cruises and have never been invited to the captain's table, nor have I ever met anyone who had. Guess we travel in the wrong circles! :-)

I'm sure many of us remember the Love Boat, with passengers being invited to dine with Captain Stubing. When I first started cruising many years ago, we often saw the Captain's table with guests dining. I used to wonder who these passengers were, and how they got invited to dine with the captain. However, I haven't seen this in quite a few years. Has anyone ever been invited to do so, and if you have, what was the reason for getting the invitation. Just curious if it is still done, and if the invitations are merely random.

Hi Amy and Mary: Actually, we fly out a week from this Thursday! (Can't wait!). Our cruise begins in Barcelona on May 14th, then we're doing a two-day post stay, back to the States on May 23rd.

I own my own business, so things will be a bit hectic trying to catch up for the first couple days. But as soon as things settle down, I'll put in my report.

Lauren

Julie: The service we are using in Rome is called "Through Eternity." The person I have been emailing with is Angela Ellis, and she has been extremely helpful and quick to respond to my questions. Actually, I even took the liberty of asking her questions unrelated to our arrangements with them (other things about Italy), and she was always willing to answer my questions. The thing I liked most was their willingness to be flexible and accommodating regarding our group. Two examples are that we are taking the train. They will send our guide to the train station and meet us at the track. Also, with the guide's assistance, they will help us purchase the local daily transportation pass. Normally, they utilize taxis, but with a group our size, requiring three taxis (a lot to coordinate, and potentially costly), they were more than happy to suggest using buses and metro. Since they know the city, and the routes, I don't have look up bus and metro schedules.

The website is http://www.througheternity.com. Although we have not yet gone, I did tell her that if their services met our expectations, I would be happy to recommend them to others. So, if you do contact them, perhaps you could drop our name as a reference. Of course, I'll try to remember to give a full report once we return.

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to let me know.

Lauren

Hi Traveljunkie. We're also a family traveling on Splendour. Our sail date is May 14th, and our family is 8 people. Like you, we wanted to keep costs down as much as possible, and won't be taking any ship excursions. Actually, my husband and I did a similar cruise on the Legend back in 2001, and did mostly ship excursions. We feel comfortable this time around not doing so. Since we're leaving in two weeks, I've got most of my "file" complete. I'd be happy to share any suggestions/ways we've learned to cut costs. Below are just a few notes:

We're going into Barcelona a day before the cruise, and staying two days after. Because most Barcelona hotels only allow double occupancy (with a small few allowing triple/quad), plus they're so expensive, we've opted to rent an apartment for both pre and post stays. An apartment for all 8 of us is running about $250/night. Avg. double occupancy hotel is about $150...and we'd need four of them!

We're taking the train in each city. In Civitavecchia/Rome, we're meeting a local tour guide at Rome's Termini Station, who is taking us around the city using a one-day public transportation pass. Train, local transp, guide, admission fees and lunch will run about $100pp vs. ship excursion at about $189.

In Livorno/Florence, we're also taking the train, stopping first at Pisa. No guide (just some pre-researched material and guide books), and lots of self-touring. Of course, we plan on going into the Accademia.

In Naples, we've arranged for a local professor of archeology, who is also a licensed tour guide for Pompeii. We're meeting him at the entrance to the ruins. He charges $150 (E120) for approx. 2 hours....regardless of the number in your group....so bring others to cut the cost if you want.

Villefranche: Same thing....taking the train into Nice, then into Monte Carlo in the afternoon.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask for details....either here, or email me direct if you'd like: lpl@allaboardcruises.ORG.

Happy planning!

Lauren