Va4fam

Our vote would also be for Symphony of the Seas. Our first Oasis class ship, everything was modern, clean, and still had that "new ship" smell. Great mix of open spaces, places to eat, and shows. Love those Piano stairs on the way to the top deck.

We went on 2 cruises and had the opportunity to see CATS numerous times...........but never went. I've heard it's THAT bad!

Can we count the Aqua 80's show on Oasis?!!!! If not, We Will Rock You on Anthem was great. Least fave...............Spectra's Cabaret?

We just had this happen on our cruise at end of May. Some of our tags said Diamond but others were labeled Platinum. It was not a big deal and luggage made it to our room. Our sea pass cards were all correct!

Maria....we used Get Transfer(s) to book a private transfer from Venice to the cruise port. They offer longer transfers if you want to stop at the beach or other places on the way.

We didn't take the shuttle to the airport but were quoted $45 and $55 per person during our research. We went to Ravenna and rode the train to Munich.

We used Get Transfers for our trip from Venice to Porto Corsini. Very nice Mercedes van and driver helped with all of our bags.

We booked our tours in Dubrovnik (Game of Thrones walking tour), Mykonos (went to Paradise beach on our own), and Split (Blue Lagoon 3 island tour), plus we booked a Royal excursion in Santorini (Oia and Fira plus winery bus tour). If I could do it again, we would have gotten off ship early to walk the city walls in Dubrovnik, done the GOT tour, and then rode the cable car up the mountain for late lunch. Walking around Mykonos is amazing but also very confusing. We didn't have much time at the beach after spending a lot of time in town. The Blue Lagoon was okay (bring beach shoes) but the small fishing village we stopped at for lunch was our favorite part. Our Royal Excursion for Santorini worked out great, Santorini is somewhat spread out so we saw a lot and still had time to explore on our own and ride the cable car back to the tender.

Yes, we were on the May 29th Brilliance cruise out of Ravenna. We booked with Get Transfers from Piazzale Roma (Venice bus station) to Porto Corsini. Communication was a little disjointed but we found our driver and made it to the cruise an hour earlier than expected. At end of cruise, we planned to take a cab from Porto Corsini to Ravenna train station but during the cruise the Cruise Compass advertised shuttle bus transport to the train station for $10 per person. We signed up for that and everything worked great. It took less than 5 minutes to walk off the ship and wait in the shuttle bus line. Please let me know if you have additional questions.

There can really be only ONE song that we can't get our of our heads.....................

Yes, we have done this multiple times with no issues.

Which ship and ports are you visiting? We just completed a 7 night Brilliance Greek/Croatia cruise and saved all of the cruise compasses if anyone needs them.

We definitely hit the 140 point milestone during our Brilliance cruise. The block arrived after the top tier event. It definitely says Symphony! Not really a big issue for us. Might be a supply and demand issue. The gift shop was out of the cruise ship Christmas ornaments (said they sold out the first day).

I thought I was using the "right ship" strategy too and thought we were earning our first block on Brilliance last week. But the actual ship on the block is ......................SYMPHONY!?!?! We did recently sail her and she is one of my favorite ships so it's not that big of a deal. Has this happened to anyone else?

That is awesome. news. Would have been even better news last weekend when we flew home from Italy but definitely will make future travel plans easier.

Looks like that will work. We found a great adaptor plug at WalMart that has US, EU, and other plugs and 3 USB slots that worked great on our last cruise.

Different ships can be fun. We sailed a different ship AND class of ship for our first 6 cruises before 3 straight Oasis class ships. Right now we are prioritizing itineraries but we did book Odyssey for next year so there's that. Seems like you can't go wrong with either choice as long as you are cruising.

@Pattycruise...I think you are on the right track and totally understand the comfort of having the tests completed before boarding the plane. We are located in the same time zone as you and our biggest concern was what date the lab/test results would display. UTCtime is 4 hours ahead of NYC/DC time, so the earliest we could test would be after 8 pm on a Thursday night for a Sunday cruise departure. In your case, it wo uld be a Wednesday night at 8 pm for a Saturday departure. Make sure your phones and test reflect the right date.

Our flights from Washington DC departed on a Thursday evening at 10:30 pm. The cruise started on Sunday. I planned on moving our phones to UTC time which is 4 hours ahead of East Coast time, which meant we could take the tests after 8:00 pm Thursday (UTC time 12:00 AM Friday). We found an empty gate area at the airport and did our tests. I realized I forgot to change our phones to UTC time but the EMed test report showed up with the UTC time and Friday date anyway. After the cruise, we did the tests at our hotel the night before our return flights back to DC. We saw testing sites at the Venice airport as well.

Just got back from our Brilliance of the Seas cruise from Ravenna, Italy. Great ship and crew. Here's a quick summary: Ravenna-Dubrovnik-sea day-Mykonos-Santorini (tender)-sea day-Split-Ravenna. Myself, wife, Daughter (22), Son (20). >We took our covid tests at 9:00 PM est about an hour before our flight to Venice but forgot to change our phones to UCT time. Thought I had wasted the tests but the emed report showed using UCT time anyway. Crisis averted. >Spent a day and half in Venice. Beautiful city even though it rained a lot. Doge's Palace is a must-see and walking the streets of Venice is a real pleasure. Great food and gelato. >Booked private transfer to Ravenna from Piazzale Roma using the water bus to meet our driver. No issues. >Arrived at Porto Corsini at 11:20 AM and were strongly encouraged to check in and board the ship even though our check in time was 12:30 pm. Eating lunch in the outside portion of the WJ at 11:35 am. >Bags were waiting outside our rooms by 1:30 pm. >Booked 2 Junior Suite cabins on deck 10 and they were spacious and very nice rooms. Covered Balcony was a plus. Rooms were 90 second walk up one flight of steps to WJ/Pool. >Cruise felt empty except on sea days-every pool chair was "hogged" and gym was packed solid. Lengthy wait to get in for My Time Dining the 3 nights we went. >The majority of cruisers appeared to be from the U.K. and we celebrated the Queen's Jubilee on our last sea day. >Able to attend my first Top Tier event, nice music, champagne, and a few words from the officers. Loyalty Ambassador said there were 550 C & A members onboard, majority were Gold. Top Cruiser had 1800+ points. We also received our first Glass Block the day after the Top Tier event (the ship on the block was Symphony!) >Captain sped up and we were able to port in Mykonos instead of using tenders. >We booked a Royal Excursion to Santorini and it worked out well. Other port days we booked our own excursions. >Entertainment was decent but limited compared to the Oasis class ships we had been on. Magician, Tenors, Dance Show, etc. The CD and AD did an outstanding job of keeping everyone entertained and the Centrum was hopping most nights. First cruise I've been on where they had difficulty finding enough couples for Love and Marriage. >Royal provided options for transportation back to Venice airport/city, and Ravenna train station. Let me know if you have any questions about Brilliance, the itinerary, or the transportation logistics of getting from Venice to Ravenna.

Our family of 4 brought 12 tests for our cruise. 8 were in our carry on bag and 4 more were sent in checked luggage. One test box was smashed and did not survive the journey (luckily we didn't need the extras and will save the smashed kit for an at home test).

My 22 year old daughter purchased a fanny pack in Venice last week.....and LOVED it. She said most of her friends use one when they travel. Who knew fanny packs were cool again?

We were on Brilliance last week with 1800 passengers (capacity is 2400). It felt empty except for the pool and dining room.

Check your provider. I have AT & T and it costs $10 per day only for the days that I use it. The rest of my family has Xfinity/Comcast but they charge $10 per day starting the day you activate it (whether you use it or not). SIM card/burner phone would be another option.

Following along, thank you for sharing your trip and photos. Our cruise next week will take us to Mykonos and Santorini and your report was very helpful.