MicDay

Another vote for Rick Steve's, I have his book too. Plus I DVR'd all the places we are going that he has shows on, it's a great tool to help guide you on what interest you (and family).

We are doing this cruise May 10th, 2020 but on Allure. I haven't finalized our excursions but once I do I can share if you want me to? We are arriving 2 days before our cruise to explore Barcelona (first time for all four of us) If you want me to I can report back after our trip I can. We are super excited fo this trip We booked it on while cruising on HOS, we loved Harmony, that's why we picked the Allure.

We did the Escape room on the Harmony ($20 one) and had a blast!! We highly recommend it. We had 4 people in our group and they paired us with another family of four, apparently another couple was suppose to be there too but they never showed.

We will be the first one’s on the Allure after they have refurbished her, so that could happen.

Thank you jticarruthers! I'll tuck that away and deal with it if happens. I won't waste time fighting it, I'll spend the time making it work for us.

Read a previous poster had me thinking, can they dump you? What if you took the advice I gained here (thank you!) and booked our next cruise a year out. I booked 2 Spacious Interior staterooms that have room for 6. We have specific room numbers. Its just me and my daughter in one and my husband and daughter's boyfriend in the other. Can Royal Caribbean change it?

I hope if you have a specific room number you don’t get bumped!?

Thanks Guys!!! This is such a port intensive cruise, 6 out of 7 days in port. We are not really going to be enjoying the ship like we do on a Caribbean cruise with more time on the ship. I'd be ok with somethings not finished as long as it's not my staterooms and a place to eat. Cancelling the sailing would suck! I knew you guys would calm me down with facts. Thank you #ptod and #twangster

Thanks!!! first thing I read this morning, put me in a slight panic!

Hey guys My family and I are on the first sailing for Allure after her major refurbishing 05/10/2020. I’ve joined a roll call for this sailing over on CC. So I know to take everything with a grain of salt. Someone just posted this: “I was booked on this sailing and then found out about the "Royal Amplification" aka. MAJOR refurbishment this ship was undergoing right before this sailing. I decided to bite the bullet and cancel and switch to another sailing. My travel agent brought up the recent "Navigator of the Seas" boat from Royal Caribbean, which had undergone the same exact major refurbishment but ended up getting delayed and cancelled the first sailing out just TEN days before! Not only that, apparently on the second sailing, almost half of the stuff on the boat was still closed and being worked on! Cruise critic recommends not sailing on ANY boat for at least one month after dry dock. “ Please tell me this is not the Norm, I know things can happen. I’ve already bought our plan tickets and I do have travel insurance. What are your thoughts? Has anyone had a similar experience or the complete opposite?

leaving a note so I can find this again. There is great information on this that I'd like to refer back to it. Plus I will know who to ask questions about our upcoming trip Thank you!

I think you made a sound choice. We are sailing on the same sailing just in May 2020. We are balcony people (love to try a suite someday) and I booked two large interior staterooms for the same reason, this is a very port intensive sailing. You have 6 port days and one sea day which is the last day. I figured we'd either being sleeping in big time or checking out the cruise ship we haven't had time to really see. Either way the room just needs to have a bed and shower and we are set. Use the $5000 for some excellent excursions!!

WAAAYTOOO, that is what our attendant did too, she said the actual toppers would not help me. I should've made that clearer on my original post, thanks! If you have issues, talk to your attendant, they are so helpful!!

We sailed on the Harmony of the Seas, the mattress for me was horrible. I do not like very firm mattress. Because of this site, thanks guys, I knew I could ask for a mattress topper. Our room attendant ended up putting two toppers and I was fine. My daughter who shared the same bed was fine.

Thank you! I appreciate your feedback, it really helps with the planning.

Thanks Guys! I've got my crew giving me a list (1-3) their top must see's in each port. Once I get that I'll be able to narrow down what excursions fit us. If any of you have gone this route, which excustions did you pick and why?

LEAVING FROM:Barcelona, Spain onboard Allure of the Seas VISITING:| Palma de Mallorca | Provence (Marseilles) | Florence/Pisa (La Spezia) | Rome (Civitavecchia) | Naples (Capri) |

Mediterranean Cruise May 10, 2020 on Allure Me (48), Hubby(49), DD (21), DD's Boyfriend (21) Me, Hubby and DD have been to England, land trip in 2016 Researching excursions and I'm torn on wether to book thru RCC or 3rd party We are season travelers in the States but very new to Europe but can read a map/sign We have experience using trains/buses/metro but no way experts Researching how far the cities we want to explore from the port makes me hesitate on 3rd party I like the options 3rd party gives vs RCC cattle drive What do you think?

Same with us, we were on the Harmony of the Seas and it was very quiet. We were on Deck 10 by the elevators and did not have any issues. We are booked on the Allure for next May and I picked rooms by the elevator again.

People bring their dogs everywhere now. Just was at Lowes and a family had their poor hot poodle in the shopping cart. He couldn't get comfortable sitting in the front of the cart, his paws were too small. My husband was getting pissed, it was very hot and you could tell the puppy was hurting. I've even seen someone take their dog into a movie theater??!! On the Harmony in May there was a guy with a little poodle, carried him around everywhere. I have two dogs, I love dogs, but what is a poor dog suppose to do on a cruise ship? My fur babies would be miserable stuck like that. If you can't vacation without them go places that are pet friendly, I don't think a cruise ship is it. Totally my take on it.

Wow, I thought I had a lot. Compare to you guys I'm doing ok. I've been with my company for 18 plus years At 22 years you max out with 6 weeks vacation I get 5 weeks vacation, 10 plus days sick/personal (anything over 10 gets paid out at end of year) All major Holidays and every weekend. Husband had to change jobs (loves this one) He's been there a year and has 2 weeks and a "birthday" day off He sets his own schedule so he can work heavy early in the week and take a long weekend off.

We are cruising out of Barcelona too, going three days before hand (one day flying) This past cruise was the first time I've booked excursions thru the cruise line, past four other cruises was private. We have only been to Europe once, 3 years ago to London. Thank you for your insight it is very helpful.

nblobstr Thank you we are doing a Med cruise next May, on the flip side, which was your favorite excursion ?

Our May 2020 sailing is a European sailing and we got it for $16.36 too. We are gold and got my email late morning.

I booked it, like Matt said "You have to play to win" We don't even drink but love the refreshment package and the deluxe was way cheaper (if I got to keep it) My daughter and her boyfriend will be 21 this trip, so IF they would like to try a drink or two (or more), this is the way to go. I will not be mad they cancel it, just checked still there, but would be nice if they got a better IT team. Let the big complainers go, less on the boat to deal with!