Morganno

All checked in, ready to go. I think I may be even more excited now 😂 check in opened at 11 last night (midnight on the ship), so was in there quick! Paranoid I won't get decent dinner times for the specialty restaurants, so got the earliest time I could. Roll on July 10th!

I bought little patches you put behind your ear for travel sickness. Never been on a cruise ship, but I'll struggle with the shuttles from the ship to port, so ideal. Got them on Amazon

We've managed to convince another 4 people onto the cruise one gets sea sick so I hope the cruise to Mykonos is smooth.... Looking foward to it. Only 48 more diet days to go. 

We've managed to convince another 4 people onto the cruise one gets sea sick so I hope the cruise to Mykonos is smooth.... Looking foward to it. Only 48 more diet days to go. 

More chance to get a royal up bid accepted lol. Although, a lot of the excursions have sold out! I have my countdown going, got my magnetic hooks and other tips purchased and ready to go. It's ridiculous how excited I am, but we haven't had a holiday just for us since 2008 so I'm ok with being a big wean 😂

The first thing I did coming off the ship was a telehealth appointment to get Paxlovid. There are some medications that can't be mixed with it unfortunately. I think it helped me and would make the same decision again. I hope you feel better soon. 
As for where I think I slipped up, I think it was at dinner in the main dining room. I started out masked walking around, and stayed masked at trivia and a show in the theater.  I was not 100% on that though and I should have been. If I cruise again, I will definitely choose a ship with an outside Windjammer and go at least crowded times. 
 

Unfortunately things seem to be going backwards in Pa. Two school districts outside of Phila just reinstated mask policies. Our county now has high transmission rates according to CDC. We were at low three weeks ago. 
Wife is on Plaxovid so hopefully that helps. Thanks for everyone asking about her. 

I have booked with Royal Caribbean directly in the UK. I have booked my flights with the airline separately.
Air2Sea has never given the best price or options. And as i say I fly into airport 3 days before cruise day.
The arrival area is far from exclusive to those arriving I have watched videos of Marco Polo airport and seen other operators direct people to bus pick up point where coaches are waiting. This is done much in the same way as most European holidays I have taken.
Because we don't want to carry our cruise luggage all around the lagoon in the days prior we will take advantage of the left luggage facility in the arrivals area. 
This FAQ explains that transfers are available to anyone.
UK - https://www.royalcaribbean.com/gbr/en/faq/questions/port-arrival-travel-options
USA - https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/port-arrival-travel-options
As I said their booking system demanded a flight number arriving: 'the day of departure ' before it would add transfers to booking.

We're (my husband and I) boarding this journey as our first cruise. We were planning to fly over on the 9th, but it looks like we need to have a PCR test done within the last 24hrs of boarding, so not sure how that will work? We'd be flying out of either Edinburgh or Birmingham (trying to get a direct flight) early on the 9th, so we would be outwith the 24hr period?

Can anyone give me more information on how you are meeting the 1 day COVID testing requirement if you are staying in Rome before the cruise?  We are coming in early as well but saw that the testing requirement is 1 day prior to the boat leaving. 

We are going on this cruise with family 4 adults 2 teens (17-19) we are also staying in Rome from 8th July. (Party of 3, party of 2, and solo traveler.) 
We live in Ireland and Belgium and we also have 2 other couples coming along on the same cruise from England and Ireland so we will be 10 in total at some point. 
Been on Independence, Explorer and Harmony before so this is our first Quantum class ship, looking forward to the port stops and to hearing what others are doing.
With less than 3 months to go we will probably have to test somewhere in Rome before our cruise so also wanting to hear of experiences regarding this. 
I'm starting to look at excursions now it's getting closer I will post here if I see anything interesting. 
Happy sailing all,
John
 

Hi, sure no problem.
That's correct; we are on the 7th of May sailing.
We are staying two nights in Rome pre-cruise and are booked at the Hotel Lancelot https://www.lancelothotel.com/. We booked this particular hotel because it's in walking distance from the Colosseum, which we plan to visit during our stay. We have not stayed there before but the reviews are good, the price is reasonable and the owner has been very responsive, sending us all sorts of useful information. We had to provide a credit card to guarantee the booking but we don't actually pay until we arrive and we can cancel without penalty up to about 3 days before.
Since this is going to be your first visit, and especially if you are planning on visiting the Vatican, you might want to choose somewhere a bit closer to that. While I was doing my own research, I came across numerous recommendations for people to stay around the Piazza Navona, which appears to be in the historical centre, midway-ish between the Colosseum and the Vatican. Two hotels in that area which I have seen recommended repeatedly are the Albergo Senato https://www.albergodelsenato.it/, which is a more upscale place and the Hotel Smeraldo https://www.smeraldoroma.com/en/ a more modest option. Usually breakfast is included in the price or you have the option to add it on at a supplement. People don't really go out for breakfast in Europe, so unless you only want a coffee and a pastry from a coffee shop, hotel breakfasts are usually the best option.
I have read of people using Airbnb in Rome but I have no personal experience of it so can't give you any advice in that respect.
As far as transportation is concerned, I have not done it but it apparently is fairly simple and reasonably cheap to get from Rome Airport to the city centre and from the city centre to Civitavecchia by train but (and it's a BIG but), it means lugging your bags on and off the trains, so it depends a lot on how much stuff you're bringing, how able-bodied you are and how willing you are to put up with that particular inconvenience.
Alternatively, there are various transfer companies with good reputations that you can use and it's just a case of weighing up how much you want to pay for the convenience and comfort. We are planning on using transfers rather than trains but I haven't actually booked anything yet as we have not finalised our flight arrangements.
We have previously used Bob's Limos https://romelimousines.com/home/ and were satisfied with the service. On that occasion, we flew in the same day as the cruise and arranged for them to meet us at Rome Airport and transfer us straight to Civitavecchia. We also arranged for them to pick us up again at the port at the end of our cruise for the return transfer back to the airport and, again, that all went well.
Other companies that I have seen frequently recommended and which provide similar services are:
Rome cabs: https://www.romecabs.com/
Civitavecchia Cab Service: https://www.civitavecchiacabservice.com/
Rome in LImo: http://www.romeinlimo.com/
It's just a case of looking through the websites and seeing which one you feel offers the most adequate service for your needs. A couple of them offer shared shuttle services and they all offer private ones at different price points, and with or without sightseeing tours.
Hope this helps.
Have fun with your planning. 🙂
 
 
 

The drink package pricing should not change.

Had to do this to get my drinks package for my July 2022 sailing they had discounted drinks on select European 2022 sailings. Took 3 goes before I found someone that knew the codes to get this deal. The other two even denied such a deal existed. 😂 If you don't get anywhere try again. 

This is old advice but I'll repeat it here anyway......
When dealing with an issue where I made my reservations through the website myself, rather than with a TA...I expect to spend quite a bit of time on hold while the agent checks with their 'colleague' or supervisor. So I schedule my call accordingly...and use speakerphone. 
But the best advice I have (which, by the way, I learned on these forums...thanks, guys!) is to always call back and speak to another agent when I don't get the answer I want. It is time-consuming and can be frustrating but usually I end up satisfied with the result. Good luck...and I hope you can get the result you want!

Hi there,
We booked direct with RCI (bad experience with our two previous TA's so decided to go direct) and I want to upgrade from inside to Balcony as a surprise for my wife. We agreed an inside to save money but I have some savings squirreled away and want to surprise her when boarding. 
I don't see any buttons on my reservation to upgrade.
Also is there a good time to hit the upgrade button (if there was one.) ?
I understand there is a Royal Up bidding programme but would like to guarantee and pick my own cabin spot. 
 
Many thanks for any assistance fellow cruisers. 

You get on Allure of the seas 3rd July 6 nights balcony for 3 for 530$ pp
cheapest cruise in Europe on a similar ship in the summer is around 1300$ pp
If it’s supply and demande then they need to start supplying more ships to Europe as nearly 3300$ usd balcony for 3 for a 6 night cruise is too expensive…..

I'd say go on a European cruise where she would be treated like an adult at 18 😉

I'd say go on a European cruise where she would be treated like an adult at 18 😉

driving means multiple stops at roadside facilities. I'd rather fly for a day that visit these lol joking aside longest drive i've ever done was 8 hours and never again..... 

Tie a rope and chain to your Invicta and use it for a boat anchor!

They do have a whole section dedicated to passengers booked in Grand Suites and higher.  Even though this is an Oasis Class ship when you look at the deck plans you will notice from deck 6 through deck 14 there are no Grand Suites, no Owner Suites on any of those floors like you would find on every other Oasis Class ship.  Outside of Junior Suites the only suites you will find on decks 8-14  are Aqua Theater Suites, all other suites from Grand and higher are located on decks 17 and 18 on Wonder of the Seas.
I would suggest people look at the deck plans for Spectrum of the Seas (a Quantum Plus Class Ship) and compare her deck plans to Odyssey of the Seas another Quantum Plus Class Ship, the one thing you will notice is the placement of Grand suites (not the lofts the suite only) and the Owner Suites on Spectrum are all located on decks 15 and 16.  Again there are far fewer Grand and Owner suites on Spectrum than there are on any other Quantum class ship.
Keep in mind both of these ships were built for the Chinese market Spectrum went directly to China via the Suez Canal.   Wonder was supposed to go directly to China but for now China is not allowing cruising to resume.  Now because of everything going on the ship is coming to both North America and Europe, who knows when she will make her way over to China.  The deck plan layout is the reason I don't think Wonder will stay in the US/Europe, I think the moment China reopens and allows cruising to resume within a few months Royal will send her to China, she doesn't have enough suites to remain in the US/European market.

Every cruiser has they’re own itinerary 😊I’m not here for the ports that’s for sure lol 
 
weathers been decent though. 

From reading a thread over on CC, it seems very likely that a positive test result would result in being stuck in Barcelona for at least 10 days in hotel quarantine. It's on the Royal Caribbean board; look for the thread called "Denied boarding for Harmony of the Seas from Barcelona- due to Covid positive result at the terminal". It appears that under Spanish law you cannot simply head home, so my previous comment about Royal perhaps just getting you straight back home is probably completely wrong. 😞

First off let me include my gratitude for all the wonderful updates you have provided to us with future sail dates. It helps ease some of the stress of the unknown. I have some follow up questions of my own.
1. For daily temperature checks, I was under the impression this was for only non-vaccinated guests. Are you confirming that all guests regardless of vaccination status had to have daily temperature checks?
2. For testing it is my understanding that no test has to be taken before arriving to the terminal. That the only test you had to take or show evidence of is the negative result taken at the terminal. Basically asking do I need a negative test before arriving to the terminal?
3. I was wondering if you took home copies of the Cruise Compass? If it would be possible to share in this forum we would all be appreciative of this to see what activities are being offered. I think I saw on the August 15th cruise there was no musical. But have seen crew hired for a Grease musical that may not have started yet.
4. The other thing that I found surprising on the August 15th cruise compass I saw was that there was live music, but a disclaimer that there was no dancing. That you had to listen to the music and remain seated in your chair. Can you confirm if anyone was up dancing, or was it only chair swaying during the music.
5. Can you advise which excursion you went on where you didn’t go into the church, and not required to “cover up” was that the one in Florence. As that disclaimer was on the tour we booked as well, and we assumed it was because we were going into the Duomo.
Thank you again in advance for the wonderful help.