wordell1

Also note that it is 2 to 3 hours each way from LA Spezia. I love Florence, but that is too long to spend on the road. I would look at going to Pisa, Lucca, or Cinque Terre as alternatives. I chose Cinque Terre and have a post describing our day.

The tours to accedamia are limited to small groups due to Covud restrictions still in place. That is why they are not offered by Royal. You can get tickets on the accedamia website in advance for specific times and then take the "Florence on your own" tour through the cruise line. You may want to find out through Royal the times you will actually be in Florence. You could also book a private tour through a 3rd party. Search cruise tours from La Soezia in Google. These are expensive but may be worth it.

Now you tell me....

They were described in several guides as easy to moderate. There are 500 steps up, some of which are very steep. As I said above, I would highly recommend the hike, but it was not easy. I can easily walk 5 plus miles at home (flat) and I was definitely winded a few times.

You can definitely cancel onboard, but switching will depend on availability. I would have a backup planned.

For me it is one that never let's my water glass go empty. I am on Wonder of the Seas and Joseph has been on point all week. He doesn't even let me get to half full.

I should note that we could easily have done all 5 towns, even with the hike. The hike took us 1 hour 30 minutes.

Manarola

Vernazza

More hike. We are approaching Vernazza. You would not get this view without doing the hike.

The trail. My wife actually wanted to do more than one of these hikes today. She changed her mind pretty quickly into this one. You can see where we started in Montessero.

Montessero. The hiking trail starts from the beach.

I visited Cinque Terre today from our stop at La Spezia. We took at taxi to the train station and then took the special train that runs both ways, and stops at each town. We elected to start at the farthest town (Monressero) and work our way back. It took less that 1 hr to get there. First of all, this place is beautiful. You really have to see it to believe it. We took a little time to explore the town and then started the hike from Montessero to Vernazza. This is a 2 mile hike but you need to be in pretty good shape to make it. It has over 500 steps up and the trail is rocky and narrow at times. I have no regrets about making the hike, but I am definitely feeling the effects. The views from the hike are spectacular. Vernazza was very crowded so we grabbed a quick panini lunch, and explored before taking the train to Manarola. In Manrola we again explored and had a Gelato break. We then elected to get back to the ship as this is our last day and we need to pack to get off in Rome tomorrow. I highly recommend this as an alternative to the 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive to Florence. It was fun and inexpensive. We had no issues with the train. I had read that it could be difficult to get on at times because of the crowds. Maybe it was because we started at the farthest town, but we never had a problem. I will post pictures in a follow up post.

I used Viator for several tours in Rome. They are a clearinghouse for several local your companies. You get a good idea of what tours are available and at what prices. One thing to note is the size of the tour, you will get more our of a private or small group tour, but it will cost more. For me, the extra expense was worth it.

I love key lime pie and prefer it to be "tart". Usually it is if made with real key limes it will be how I like it. I did have it this week on Wonder and it was delicious.

Pre Covid, all shows on Liberty were first come, first served. No reservations. They did add reservations during covid that could only be made upon boarding. I'm not sure they have been completely removed, but most shows will not have reservations.

It's not capacity restricted. I usually try to get there early to get a good spot. I love Paradise Beach, we tried Mr Sancho's last time and will be returning to PB for future Cozumel visits.

I believe the Chops lunch is just on the 1st day, not every day. Also, it is cheaper for a family to buy a single internet plan, with multiple devices. We cruise with my son and I pick the 3 device plan. It's much cheaper than 24.99 per person.

You may have to go yourself to sign them out of Adventure Ocean and into the teen club. It is mostly allowed based on posts here. I was able to do this back a few years ago on Liberty. As stated above, the teen group is unstructured. They can come and go as they please and participate, or not in whatever activities are planned.

Suites are rarely a bargain. They are a pure luxury purchase. Are they worth it? It depends completely on you.

I believe the policy states it must be in carry on. They sometimes check to make sure the seal is on it. If you check it, it would likely end up in the "naughty room" as the scanners would catch it. You could probably talk them into giving it to you, but it's easier to just carry it on.

Yes, it was a bus style taxi. We had the same one for both trips. We were coming and going at popular times so that's probably why.

There is no such thing as a silly question, especially when it comes to cruises. You will enjoy yourself more if you have a good idea of what is offered on the cruise and what the rules are. Àsk away!

Mine got smashed a little and the proctor gave me a little pushback about it being opened. In the end he accepted it, the inside package was unopened. I had extra but it is a legit concern.

Now the Marella Discovery. In port of Naples this morning taken from my balcony on Wonder of the Seas.