Jimjamz

We did our own way on the train which is completely doable but you need to be the slightly intrepid traveller type and have good scheduling/planning abilities and enjoy walking. We used the BIRG ticket (from the info centre at the train station). Covers cost of return train and metro in Rome and costs 12 E per person. The excursion ticket to get tour bus to and from Rome was 50E pp and didn't include any subway/metro rides.

Would definitely plan on more time to get back from Rome due to unexpected delays and the way the port is set out now it is not user friendly at all for getting from the ship to the train station as the shuttle from the ship goes in the opposite direction than where you want to go. We got off our ship at 7.20 and made the 9am train by a few minutes (by the time we waited in queues for shuttle out of port etc). Check the timetable too - the trains are not nicely evenly spaced at regular intervals. Our ship was in for 12 hours (7 to 7) and we made sure we were on a train out of Rome by 3pm.

Love the idea of a day trip to Orvieto. Civita di Bagnoregio would be highly recommended too and is a little bit closer.

There is a lovely free beach about 5 mins walk from where the tenders arrive in (with the sea behind you, on the left of the port area). Lots of restaurants etc across the road from the Port area too.

If you are looking for a different view then try the MDR if it is open for lunch as your table is allocated more like a regular restaurant and so is different with a different view each time. When we sailed we did a few lunches in the MDR. You could order off a paper menu or there was also a buffet set up. I think almost the same food as the buffet upstairs in the buffet restaurant but with a quieter, slightly more refined feel about the dining experience.

Another bonus of the Cinque Terre card is that at a number of the train stations it gives you access for free to the bathroom :-).

I would suggest heading to one of the prettier villages first such as Vernazza. Then you get to enjoy it without all the midday crowds. Our least favorite was Monterosso - does not have the charm of the others.

We were on the Fantasia which is pretty big and at #12. In a line with a Costa and a Disney ship. Check train times and then give yourself about 45 mins before your desired train to leave ship, take shuttle to port entrance , then take next shuttle to train station (2E pp) and then buy your train ticket. They haven't made it simple or quick at this port to get to the train station.

Definitely a big mix of cultures on Fantasia however we have noticed that all the signage etc is either only in English or in a number of languages that always include English (eg signs in the buffet) so it is reasonably easy to know what is going on. I am on Fantasia at the moment (had same decision to make and went for the more interesting ports of call).

Being given tap water free of charge is standard practice in NZ too. I hate having to pay for it and I also dislike that it is another plastic bottle being used each night at dinner instead of just a reusable carafe/jug of water on the table.

Looking at a port map online we were all docked in a row along the really long dock. The map says 'Roma cruise terminal ' and it was around dock 12 area. The bus just drove past the Fort.

Cruisemom is correct . Was there today and it was as she detailed. 3 ships in - MSC, Costa and Disney and was same for all of them. It is a pain - you should allow up to 45 mins to have time to get off ship and get both shuttles and time to buy ticket at train station. Check the train timetable carefully as trains NOT evenly spaced over the hour and mistiming could result in up to a 45 min wait at train station (on BIRG ticket which is great value).

Coming back from The Vatican will take a minimum of 2 hours with walking, train and 2 shuttles (assuming you have read timetable and arrive at train station 10 mins before train). Anywhere else in Rome I would allow at least 2.75 hours.

I agree. We did it last weekend. The lift was working for our train platform and there were escalators from the station also. About 10 mins walk to the main port building. There were 2 MSC ships in and ours was the further away one so had to walk another 400 along a flat board walk to get to it. Certainly a doable walk if you are fit and healthy.

I'm currently on a Med cruise and am non American. We have to pay for water in the MDR but it is free in the buffet (tap + ice). Cost 2.90 euro plus 15% service for a one litre bottle.

I'm a British citizen who is permanent resident in New Zealand and you have described our experience entering the USA via San Francisco airport to a tee. They herded us off the aircraft after a15 hour direct flight and we had to stand for 90 mins with no bathroom before we even got to the main hall whilst the booths for US residents were not even being used.

 

We watched the attendants in the US side sit there idle until someone had the great idea to open both sides to foreigners - then there was a mad stampede!

 

In all it took us over 2 hours to get from the plane into the airport itself and no bathroom! We asked for the bathroom but they said we weren't allowed to leave the queue!

 

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Have to agree with this - Arriving in LAX is a nightmare. Standing in a slow shuffling line, eventually get sent to some computer to get finger prints scanned etc but that not working so back to another slow shuffling line for it to be done manually.. Took us 2 hours to get through to the point we saw our luggage again which then had to be dropped off at a transfer desk and we went through security again for our continued flight.. And the flight we were on (Sydney - NYC) stops at LAX for 2 hours for entry into the US (and probably refuel) so effectively we are meant to get on the same plane again. Last time they had to hold the plane 30 mins for us as we took so long with all the inefficient rigmarole.

We were in Orvieto last week. Lovely hill top town and good for a day or two but not sure about 4 days if reliant on the train. Some other amazing hill top towns are near Orvieto such as Todi and Civita but may need to do a day tour or hire a car.

Naples has heaps to offer that a train can get you there (currently in Ercolano, 10 mins from Herculaneum as I write this). There is Pompeii and Herculaneum on the local train line (though both destroyed by the volcano, they are reasonably different experiences). You can get to Sorento and then take the public bus around the Amalfi Coast. Another good day visit is Reggia di Caserta (it is a 30 minute drive so can't be too long on the train) - absolute massive royal residence (train from Naples arrives at its doorstep), amazing royal apartments, huge gardens to look at too (have seen them featured in garden shows on TV) and the interior has been used for several movies (Naboo palace in Starwars). Good underground train net work to get around (and the stations are like works of art) and lots of museums etc in Naples itself which are very uncrowded.

We found the queue's to be different that at home, we are used to very orderly queues where everyone eyes everyone else and people know exactly what order they are in and woe-betide if queues don't work orderly. We found the need to be a bit more 'assertive' when in a queue on the ship (even had to encourage the 6 yr old to use his elbows a little in the waffle queue as he would always end up missing out). We have a German girl living with us at the moment and I asked her if it was true about the German stereotype of leaving towels on sunbeds for hours to book them and she hung her head in shame!

Thanks - we did one 5 years ago and we didn't come across anyone else who spoke English first language until the last day when they had the meetings for disembarkation (and I thought that this would have been great at the beginning so we could have met a few people). Our kids were younger then so we didn't go to any activities - they are naturally quite shy so both didn't want to do kids club as were terrified that they would be the only English speaker there and as they fell into different age groups they would have been apart (and MSC wouldn't allow us to put them in the same kids club group. Fortunately it was very port intense so we spent a lot of time on shore so not too noticeable.

Would be good if there was some easy mechanism to meet up with others who want to speak English on board.

Any other information from other cruisers welcome.

I'm assuming that we will receive the English translation of the Dailies on an upcoming Mediterranean cruise. Is there anyway of telling from looking at all the activities happening on board, which ones will be conducted in English? For example, there is no point going to a quiz if it is in Italian. Or do you assume that if it is listed then there will be English on offer at the activity? Do they have any particular events at the beginning of the cruise so English speakers can find other English speakers to meet?

I'm completely unaware of the MSC cruise critic M&M events. Do they have them on all sailings or just the ones out the the US? How do you find out about them?

We mainly do our own as I enjoy the research. Can be considerably less in cost (particularly when we travel as a family of 4). Have done ship excursions before. Eg Port of Bari trip to Matera inland. Time was tight and it basically took up the whole time the ship was in port, with a ships excursion they will wait for you if there is a delay getting back to the ship whereas on your own, you are on your own (saw the ship sail off without someone in Corfu, who arrived ship side about 3 mins after it started to push off (ship had actually delayed leaving for 20 mins waiting for this person but I wouldn't guarantee that ships would do that). Rep called a Tug, person was uploaded from dock to ship via tug. Fantastic entertainment for all of us on the balconies that side of the ship, much cheering. No doubt he would have been billed for it.).

We caught a taxi from the port into town. Cost of taxi there and back for our family worked out to be half the cost of the cruise boat shuttle. Taxi took a fixed euro price (which probably meant that it was generously in their favour but it was still half the price of the cruise ship shuttle so a win-win all round really).

We walked the wall which we really enjoyed. Great views and informative displays that show what damage was done during the war. Take a water bottle with you (there is a large water fountain at the main gate city gate where you can refill it too).

We used the left luggage at the train station after getting off a ship and having 5 hours to fill before our train to Florence. Checking it in early in the morning was no problem. Come middle of the day to get it out again it was abysmal. We arrived to pick it up 90 mins before our train left. Queue was long but not ridiculously long. However the wait was. Made our train with about 5 minutes to spare. (Fast train with reserved seats). Never struck anything so inefficient in my life. (This was about 4 years ago - sounds like there are some alternatives out there).

There are also some water spouts in Pompeii in the ruins which you can use to refill your water bottle as you go around which are very useful.

Back to my original questions - we booked directly with MSC. There was no option to choose table size or anything to do with dining beside whether we wanted to request first or second sitting. (I think the booking sites are different for different countries). If one was to talk to the Maitre d' do you do it when you board the ship (eg make a beeline for the MDR once on board) or wait for when we first head to dinner. I will try ringing them too though have found the staff on the phone rather variable on how much they can assist you.

I think my concern is to actually get some table companions besides my children. Our previous cruise (this is only our second) we were seated at a table of 4 of just our family (would have liked to have been seated with others as a good way to meet new people but didn't know anything about the process to change it). I would like to be seated with more than my two children. How do you get to see the Maitre d' ?

We are sailing on the Fantasia in July on the Med. This is part of a 7 week holiday in Europe. Unfortunately a work project has come up which has meant that my husband has to return to NZ early and so will miss the cruise which is near the end of our trip. It will just be me and our 2 children (11&14). Whilst I love my children dearly, I wouldn't mind a broader conversation at meal times with some other English speakers on a ship that will very predominantly be non-English speakers. I have requested the early dinner slot (which is the most popular dinner slot - early or late?). How do I go about putting in a request that we get seated with other English speaking people for dinners? What the are chances of it happening?