berkeleykel

Per the link above: "This is a whole new perspective on some of Europe’s most legendary shores, onboard the region’s first Quantum Ultra Class ship. Scope out Santorini’s seaside cliffs from 300 feet above sea level in the North Star℠. Or gaze at crystal blue Mediterranean waters through the panoramic two-story windows in Two70 on your way to Ephesus, Athens, Mykonos and more." Depending on the ports for the 7 nighter I might cancel my Allure 2020 med sailing and switch to Odyssey in 2021. I like the idea of Rome as a home port much more than Barcelona. Rome as a 1 day stop on a cruise seems like an exhausting day with it being so far from the port, so it would be nice to embark from there and be able to add on a few nights before the cruise in a hotel in the city.

Maybe I'm in the minority on this but having only lived with my son in a city without a car, relying on buses and other public transportation, I wouldn't bother taking a car seat on a bus. Also I assume you couldn't guarantee that you would end up on the same bus back from the excursion as on the way there, such that you couldn't leave it stored on the bus during the excursion.

You will need the cabin attendant to make up a pullman though with 3 kids.

I ordered chicken wings twice around midnight on Rhapsody. I'd estimate it took 20 - 30 mins each time.

Uno never gets old

Cheapest rates are almost always to be had from withdrawing euros directly from an ATM once in the EU. Use euros in the ports; on board you can use dollars, for instance the casino is dollars only and I wouldn’t hesitate to tip in dollars if more convenient for you. Fyi if you need to break euros on board you can do so at guest services

Random observation but it's because all of the other letters in Manitoba besides "b" are used in US state abbreviations!

I wouldn't feel the need to tip in pounds just because the ship departs from the UK if the stops are otherwise mainly EU. The crew may not get much chance to actually venture off the boat in the UK since turnaround day is so intense. Just don't tip dollars (except to crew) while in ports in Europe! I see dollars in tip jars sometimes and it's cause for major eye rolls.

There have been a few recent live blogs for Med cruises: Agree that you wouldn't want to fly all the way to Europe from the States (if that's where you are) just for a 7 night cruise, but if you add a few days for a land vacation then I think a 7 nighter would still be worth it. I recently did a 7 night Greek Isles cruise on Rhapsody (Venice, Kotor, Corfu, Athens, Mykonos, Argostoli,1 sea day) and liked it a lot. I thought Venice was worth at least 2 extra days, probably 3. Also agree that Oasis class isn't necessary on a Med itinerary. We had plenty to do on a smaller ship (not that I've sailed Oasis class to compare).

That’s generous. My kids would be taking turns sleeping on the floor!

I think there are some promotions offered on-board, particularly for the first day and for booking multiple treatments at the same time. Not sure how much the price differential actually was though. Some of the specials offered on-board were extra minutes, like pay for 50 mins but get 70, etc.

Today I just did Stay Awhile on the Rhapsody out of Venice and wanted to report back on the details, as it seems like this program is a bit different depending on local authorities and ship. By the second to last day of the cruise, we had to go to excursions desk and tell them the number of “checked” bags we planned to have and paid $6 for each of them. We were given Stay Awhile tags for each and told to place these outside our stateroom by 11 pm the evening before disembarkation. The fee is apparently charged by the port of Venice to store the luggage throughout the day in the terminal. On disembarkation day, we had to check in with the temporary Stay Awhile desk (set up in conf room C right off the Centrum on deck 4) by 8:30 am. We could leave any carry on luggage that we didn’t want to cart around stored in the conference room for free until we were ready to depart the ship. Per the requirement of Italian customs/immigration, the only times you could leave the ship were 1 or 3. You had to choose this time in advance. Then 15 mins prior to our chosen time we had to meet back at the conference room and everyone with that time departed the ship together (we were 3 mins late and were paged over the intercom, so be on time!). Once off the ship we picked up our checked luggage which had been roped off in a separate area of the terminal. We were able to combine Stay Awhile with a bus transfer to the airport organised by Royal Caribbean (guest services rep told me this was not possible but I knew he was wrong so concierge worked it out for us). We left in the 1 pm Stay Awhile group and booked a transfer that left the port at 1:30, so the timing worked out well. We were allowed to go to any public places on the ship. There were no periods where we had to leave from/go to a specific place because of cleaning or anything. I’d estimate there were about 30 or so people doing Stay Awhile. It was a little weird at first because the crew was busy cleaning and all of the food/drink venues were closed. No entertainment, live music, etc. The crew were working flat out cleaning and prepping so didn’t have time for formalities. However, this was short lived because by 10:30 am everyone had their game faces on again as new guests were boarding (fyi, the last call for guests from our sailing to depart came at 9:40 am, so there was only a very small turnaround time before new guests boarded). I was one of the first guests at the poolside bar with a lovely Tequila Sunrise around 10:30. We mainly stayed in the pool area, benefitting from an empty pool and first choice of sun loungers. We then grabbed a Windjammer buffet lunch before departing (including some of the “welcome aboard” cake which we felt a little guilty about). The main pool and hot tubs were closed in the early morning but opened up between 9:30 and 10. Never more than 5 people in the pool (including us) from then until we left for the Windjammer at noon. We had had a port intensive itinerary with only one at sea day, so it was nice to be able to take advantage of some extra relaxation around the pool deck, which had been hard to squeeze in during the cruise itself. I think it was a good choice and would do it again. It was also nice to bookend the cruise with lunches at Windjammer. lt felt like we came full circle on the trip rather than being rushed off first thing in the morning.

Rude much

@Jason12 thanks for this. Was your baggage just sitting unattended in the terminal? Had a nightmare vacation once when my luggage was inadvertently picked up by someone else...

Wow. I've had to put in a lot of effort just to get my husband to agree to a pair of slacks and a button down. For ONE of the formal nights.

I'm doing this in a week! Based on past cruise compasses for similar itineraries it looks like the 3rd and 6th nights assuming 7 nighter. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/rhapsody-of-the-seas/sat-2019-06-29-0000 https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/rhapsody-of-the-seas/sat-2018-08-25-0000 @Traveler may be helpful for this question as well.

Thanks, I didn't realize there was a specific suite-related penalty. But I knew I was still very much undecided when booking so booked under a UK offer with only £75 deposit.

Still works for me; just opened it on desktop and iPhone no probs. It's a PDF so maybe its a PDF reading issue @JoSmith

This is something I've been thinking a lot about as I'm trying to make a similar decision. Actually have the same suite booked for one of the October Med sailings for Allure. I've been debating switching to two connecting balconies because it would allow us to move the sailing to a warmer month (due to small party size we can't book the 2 bedroom grand suite in the prime months so am stuck with Oct for now). One thing that I've been thinking about (to try to convince myself to give up the lovely suite) and you may want to consider is the fact that you could buy the Key and still get a lot of suite-like benefits. However in your situation I'd take the 2 bedroom due to the separate living/dining space, better balcony space and ability to have room service dinners. Of course I have no actual experience except the fact that I've been googling this for two weeks straight!

Thanks for this! “Be patient, their site sucks...” So true! ??

But the next sentences contradicts that. Very unclear. They need better lawyers.

Thank you! It would have never crossed my mind that we would've been sat with others on MTD. Will email dining. Haha well some may question my parenting skills but I live in a city without a car so I'm used to chancing it in taxis etc so I'm not toooo worried, although some of these places the roads look to be a little rough so I may regret it. Thanks! Loved your trip blog. You inspired me to get some new sundresses! We've signed up for the Delos excursion through RCCL and we've decided on a private tour guide for the Acropolis. I think it will be a bit rough on him and he's so lazy when he wants to be Kind of hoping that he takes well to AO so we can leave him behind, but we'll bring the carrier if not. Fingers crossed!

Thanks, @Matt . One of the first things I noticed about this board that I think is fairly unique is the fact that no new topics go unanswered. You seem to make a real effort to help everyone. Appreciate it.

Very European. Both my flats have had this. I'll take it any day over a shower curtain though. I don't think I can ever go back to that.

I just booked the same itinerary for next year. It's not showing up in my cruise planner right now, which I think is odd because for my upcoming Sept cruise on Rhapsody from Venice I'm pretty sure it has been listed in the cruise planner since the beginning of time.