bigpete

It seems as if Royal is repeating the itineraries they’ve done for the past few years (one-ways and a round trip from Seattle). However, as per other cruise lines, carnival offers a round trip from Seattle and a round trip from San Francisco. (Which may be more appealing depending on your location). An example San Francisco itinerary is as follows: (10nights) Juneau, Alaska • Skagway, Alaska • Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), Alaska • Cruise Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska • Victoria, British Columbia let me know what you think!

I like it, however the ship is probably going to feel crowded. The ship is a lot smaller than a ship like Oasis and holds 6,500 maximum.

The 12nt Northern Africa/Canaries is so nice, yet so expensive ?

Add this to the thread: A friend of mine is on the CCL Pride and there is an engine problem... They can only make it to one port in 7days because they can barely move. They were offered $50 credit and apparently a “free cruise”. It seems as if $50 is their sweet spot.

Since the 2020 summer Europe itineraries will be released soon, what are your predictions for which ships will be where? Feel free to add you own suggestions, but here’s mine: Jewel of the Seas (replacing Serenade) departing Copenhagen and Stockholm Brilliance of the Seas (replacing Vision) departing from Barcelona (12 nights) Vision of the Seas (replacing Brilliance) departing from Amsterdam Allure of the Seas (replacing Oasis) departing Barcelona (7nt. cruises) Liberty of the Seas (replacing Jewel) departing Rome (7nt. cruises) ^^seems feasible if Oasis moves to Galveston. Let me know what you think!

80 in Athens is incredibly pleasant... on my stop there, the feel like temp. was over 98! (in July)

252 for me.... ?

A bunch of good gelaterias too... gracchi, the original near the Castel Sant’Angelo (also visit) gets their pistachios from Mt. Etna in Sicily. Trattoria Cadorna, in the more Northeast part of the city, has an exceptional turkey dish as a “Secondo”. Don’t fall into the tourist trap places, especially ones that promote things such as an English menu. Frigidarium (gelato) and Il Fornaio - bakery (translates to ‘the oven’) are close by to Piazza Navona and worth a visit. At Il Fornaio, I had a chocolate raviolo topped with powdered sugar... absolutely amazing. If anyone from New Jersey is reading this, Old Bridge Gelateria is very tasty and right near St. Peter’s Basilica. (Old Bridge is a town in central Jersey) There are tons of churches sprinkled around, but for people there for only a day or two, the four major Basilicas (St. Peter’s, Santa Maria Maggiore, San Giovanni Laterano and San Paolo fuori le Mura) are exceptional. Every church has exceptional art!

@twangster , what job do you have that you can go on all these cruises? I hope I could have the same travel like as you do in the future!

@ellcee if the price for a personal driver is too steep, the transit system in Rome is very easy to get around. A one or two day transit pass will get you unlimited use of busses, subways and trams. As of today, the 48-hour pass is 28Euro per pass. Both times I have been to Rome, this was the route I’ve taken. If you would like amazing dinner places/pastry shops/gelato shops, please let me know. I have about 20 on a list!

Does anyone know where the shuttle Royal offers in Marseille from the port to the city actually drops you off at? The description is vague on cruise compasses.

How long are you in Rome for? Where is the hotel? From this I can suggest things that are close by that are really amazing and I can link some photos too. To get from the airport to the hotel, there are plenty of options. We used "Roma Cab", but there are plenty of options that can be found by doing a quick search on tripadvisor.com.

The Ritz is a beautiful property right near the airport, so you see/hear some of the planes, which for some people, is enjoyable. The Condado is older, newly renovated and has a pool that overlooks the ocean. As for room towers, I can't help you there.

Hello all, after being aware of this website for a few months I finally found this forum. I’m Peter, I got the nickname Bigpete from a teacher and from my YouTube channel... I may be the youngest on here, still in high school. I have a burning passion for cruises and sadly, I only go on one a year. I used to be a Carnival Cruiser only, but found the Royal brand interesting as well this past summer. In the future, I want to work for Royal in their marketing department! Thanks for letting me into the blog and I hope I can contribute information!

Although they stopped a while back, a Mexican Riviera cruise would be nice. It’d be great to add to a land portion out west (Grand Canyon and Cruise.. oh my!) and then to take a cruise.

Another added concern.. because after all, I love my pizza! Is pizza served in the windjammer on Oasis or is it only down at Sorrento's? Is it at other places too like the Solarium Bistro and the wipeout cafe?

Night Before Embarkation: Fast-forward three nights, Rome, Italy: Earlier in the morning, my family, as well as another family we took on the vacation with us, traversed the beautiful Vatican Museums (pictures below, although pictures can not nearly show the beauty of the museums. PRO TIP: if you want to go to the museums without waiting in lines for hours sweating, either 1) have a connection to someone who can have tickets for you or 2) be on a tour that allows you to cut the line. For a normal admission, a line wrapped along the wall of Vatican City for about half a mile.) After the museums, we did two things, the first of which was eating gelato.. at 10AM. yummy! we made our way to the top of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica... nearly 500 steps. AMAZING to say the least, and well worth it. Following this, we tried to seek shade (the temperatures were brutal, almost reaching 95 by noon). That night, after getting refreshed and all, we walked around some more and went to "Fontana di Trevi" or as most tourists know it as, "The Trevi Fountain". Also, insanely beautiful! Lastly, we went to dinner at "Le Tavernelle" and walked through a few public squares before retiring to our hotel for our last night in Rome. Day Five of Trip - Embarkation Day! Our driver to the port of Civitavecchia, Domenico, was promptly at our hotel doorstep at 11:30 and from there we were driven to the port. About an hour and a half later, we arrived to a beautiful ship and were from then shown the way to board. It was a really easy process - we dropped off our bags and showed some documentation and went through a very small security line. I had my doubts and felt like I would meet no Americans on board - but boy was I wrong! (more to come). Within 10 to 15 minutes we were on one of the beautiful scenic elevators with a family from Pensacola, Florida. Even more surprising, within 10 minutes of being on the ship, our luggage was already outside of the room. However, we put off packing and went to the Windjammer to try out Royal's food. Although there were no Guy's burgers or Pizza Pirate (both carnival restaurants I have become accustomed to), there was a day for all the Canadians on board for Canada Day! Overall, I was pleased with the design and layout of the buffet and after eating a quick slice of pizza and some french fries, I went to the mini golf with my brother and tried that out. Before we knew it, the PA went off and told us to meet at our designated musters. After a short drill, we were cleared for departure and left the Italian harbor 20 minutes early! A World Cup game was on the pool screen, providing excitement to all the Russian and French families onboard. From this first glance of the ship and its' occupants, I was totally aware that this cruise would have been memorable. That night, my brother and I went to Fuel, the teen disco, and met people who lived in the town over from us - how crazy! I never thought I'd meet people that are 10 minutes away back home, 5000 miles away in Europe! The next day was a sea day as the Jewel travelled from Civitavecchia to Santorini, Greece.

Hello! This is my first post as a blog, but I still vividly remember the trip (of a lifetime). I live in 'central' New Jersey, in between Philadelphia and New York City, so our flight to Europe out of Newark Liberty was convenient. The ship itself left out of Civitavecchia (roughly translate to old town), about an hour and a half from center-city Rome. I've been reading a lot of live blogs lately and was inspired to write a recap of my outstanding trip... In fact, this was my first Royal Caribbean cruisers. We are generally fans of Carnival, however, after this trip, it may be hard to swerve back over to Carnival. Day 1 - Portugal and Rome We flew overnight to Lisbon, Portugal and had a 7 hour (approximate) layover before our next flight to Fiumicino, the major airport serving Rome. The city of Lisbon is rich with culture and has amazing pastries, statues, monuments and history. Besides the airport being confusing, we navigated through the city with no problem and made it back in time for our flight to Rome. Landing at around 4PM, the peak rushhour time, it was a hassle for our driver to navigate the narrow streets of the countryside and to our hotel. If you were driving in America, with a 3 lane highway, the Italians would find a way to make it 5 lanes. This was our second time in Rome, the first being five years ago. The food, like last time, was out-of-this-world and after dinner, we retired at our hotel for our first sleep in over 30 hours. If anyone is interested in seeing further Rome sightseeing, drop a comment and I could share some images. This forum is for cruises so I will be posting cruise information in the coming hours/days. Please let me know if you are interested in reading more about the trip or the Rome pictures!

I’ve been doing some research for my Western Med. Cruise next year on Oasis and I am concerned now from reading about long lines at Windjammer and the problem of finding a seat at the pool. Is this a big issue or is this a typical case of over exaggeration?

Indy had an 8 night at the end of August I think, and Explorer has a 9nt next May. They are few and far between, but they still go.

They sail to Norway (fjords) on Indy and Explorer. They also sail there on Serenade, but the ports in Norway are capable of a bigger ship. Athens could hold a big ship, but the Adriatic Sea ports (Venice, Dubrovnik and Kotor) most likely can’t fit a ship bigger than Rhapsody or Vision.

Alright, thank you. This would be for summer purposes only

My family is a big fan of the radiance class - cruised Jewel OTS to Greece in July this past year. For two young adults (age 16 and 18) and two adults, would the vision class be suitable for our needs? (We LOVE mini golf, so I feel like its an automatic no). Also, any information on whether or not many younger Americans (older teens) take Baltic Cruises or do younger people stick to Mediterranean Cruises? ...impatiently waiting for the schedule release. Please let me know any tips or input!