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Marga

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Everything posted by Marga

  1. Hi, We are booked on Anthem for 11 nights in September. My husband wants to take some Spinning classes onboard. In the Cruise Planner there are 3 day class passes and unlimited class passes. We are curious is there is an advantage in price to booking a pass ahead of boarding or not? Ideal situation would be to first see the class schedule and then decide on which pass to take.
  2. I looked at the Explorer of the Seas but decided against it because the ship reviews weren't great. I have been on the Symphony itinerary twice. I loved the ship and the route. All stops are great except maybe Palma de Mallorca which we dont care for. It is a very port intensive cruise and I would recommend adding some days to your trip in Barcelona. Also I never hear many Americans on this blog about it but did you know you can relatively easily see more of Spain by train? Or alternatively take the high speed train to Paris and add some days to your trip and fly back from there. The Greek Isles cruises are lovely but you will mostly see touristic villages. Beautiful don't get me wrong. But something completely different from the Symphony Cruise.
  3. I use ICruise.com best pricing for the cruises we booked. Also not every travel agent accepts European clients.
  4. What phone number do you use? When I call I always get a menu but whatever number I choose they are always closed.
  5. Can't find it on my Anthem cruise in September unfortunately. Sound like a great deal.
  6. There is no need for tipping here in Europe. At least not like in the US. Also there are ATM's everywhere so you can get easily once off the ship. Mastercard and Visa are accepted almost everywhere. American Express not so much.
  7. I always call and reserve the Deluxe for my husband and for me the refreshment. Never a problem. If they give you a hard time just tell them it is for medical or religious reasons.
  8. We are taking a cruise from Southampton to the Canaries. As a souvenir we would like to buy a bottle of wine in each port and bring it home with us. We don't want to open them on the ship. What is the allowance for this? And how does it work? If we turn them in somewhere, is that safe or do a lot get lost? Will we pay taxes on them upon arriving back to Southampton? We are from mainland Europe.
  9. I am on a RCL cruise from Southampton in September. We are trying to decide between either parking at the cruise terminal or booking a hotel with parking facilities for the duration of the cruise. Very important to us is that on the last day of the cruise, we are able to get to our car and leave quickly due to a ferry in Dover we must catch at 11.00am (check-in). Can anybody share their experience with this? I was planning to book AB Parking at the terminal but the Google Reviews are saying that it took 1,5 hours to get off the parking lot due to congested traffic.
  10. This is a hard question, because London has so many highlights! I would recommend taking a tour from the Yeoman Wardens at Tower of London. We really enjoyed this because they give a lot of information and do it in a fun way. Really enjoyed that a lot. If you are into museums the British Museum is one of the best in the World. It is very very large, so if you go either plan a full day or do your research and decide on the parts that are most interesting to you. If you just go 'wandering' around you will feel totally overwhelmed. They have a great Egypt collection. For Harry Potter fans there is a tour of Warner Bros Harry Potter studios. If you like the movies I would highly recommend going there. Prices are high and reservations are required well in advance. If you don't like Harry Potter, skip this one for sure Please go eat and drink a beer in a local pub, this is really fun. In the evening you could go to a West-End show (compare this to Broadway). There are websites that offer last minute tickets if you are not to particular about what show you want to see. There is also last-minute booth a Picadilly Circus. Buckingham Palace has a large fence around it and you won't get anywhere close to the palace. This might not be the romantic spot you are looking for. There are always a lot of crowds around the gate. Down by the river near Tower of Londen en London Bridge would maybe be quieter for this. Also nice is Westminister Abbey and Notting Hill is very nice and romantic to stroll around. The whispering gallery at St. Pauls Cathedral is also a special location to whisper romantic things to each other (albeit from a distance). London Globe is a theater made exactly like in the time Shakespeare was alive. They give tours of the theater and also perform Shakespeare plays. The plays need to be reserved well in advance. London is a very very busy city, so be prepared for this. Buy a London Travel Card for multiple days so you easily can get around with the subway. Outside of London: Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey) is really fun to visit if you are a fan of the show. This is also a romantic location maybe? Parts of the year the Castle is open for visitors and you can stroll around where the series and movies were filmed. As fans of the show we really loved this. It's about 2,5 hours from London though. Out of the box thought: book Eurostar train to Paris as a surprise and propose there again. I think it's only 2 hours with Eurostar to Paris city center.
  11. I would love it if RCL would develop different routes in Europe. Every year it is a repeat of the previous year. Once you've done them all twice, you are done and have to switch to a different cruiseline to see something different. For us more cruises from Europe with multiple stops in Egypt or Jordan would be great. 'Would also love to cruise to Marocco and Tunesia from Spain.
  12. Hi, Since we just booked our summer 2023 Cruise I went online to the cruiseplanner to book our beverage packages and internet. It said there is a 35% sale going on an the Premium package was discounted from 93USD to 68,99USD. Our last cruise was in October 2022, then the normal price was around 70 USD and reduced to 52 USD. Is what I am seeing the new normal? Or should I just wait for a better offer?
  13. True, but when we were on her (9 day cruise), the no kids rule was not enforced at all. It was very noisy there maybe also due to the fact that it is an area people pass trough in stead of being at the far end of the ship.
  14. Hi, On the board today to get some advice. We have been on 4 cruises so far all with Royal Caribbean. We went on Symphony and Wonder which we liked. We went on Jewel which we didn't like because of the lack of a Solarium. We went on Odyssey which we loved the most out of all of them. We want to book a cruise for the summer of 2023. Our preferred destination would be a Croatia cruise since that is the only one in the south of Europe we haven't done. We have done the Mediterranean twice and that was enough. Also did Greek Isles and Holyland. Flying is not an option. From Venice to Croatia are a lot of jice ports but the ships there all seem to be very old and not to our liking. Looking at Royal Caribbean that leaves us with Anthem of the Seas from Southampton. We are looking at British Isles cruises or the ones to Iceland. We are hesitant to book because we are unsure what cruising is like in an area of Europe that is not warm and sunny all summer. What we like about cruising is not only the ports but also the cocktail / swimming pool experience. So I would like to hear from people who took a cruise in this part of Europe and wondered if you liked or disliked it? Were there mainly British people on board or was it the usual mix of passengers? Any tips are welcome. Also, recommendations for other not-Royal Caribbean ships that have a kids-free Solarium would be welcome as well.
  15. I went on this cruise, plus I live in Europe. Everything on that itinerary is easy (and safe) to do on your own. If you have any specific questions you can DM me. Going on Wonder again next week (same itinerary) Tourist trap: all those websites and on-site sellers who sell you 'skip the line' tickets. For all attractions you can just go to their own website and buy tickets in advance. This is as 'skip the line' as it will get and much cheaper. Especially in Rome there are a lot of fake sellers out there. They even show you an ID so it looks like they are 'official'.
  16. I wouldn't buy him alcohol if you suspect he is an alcoholic.
  17. I don't know about the Caribbean, but can comment about ship choice maybe. Our first cruise was on Symphony and we loved the adult-only solarium. It was very quiet and peaceful. Our second cruise was on Jewel. We expected the same peace and quiet in the adult-only area of that ship, but that was not the case at all. Mostly due to it being in the middle of the deck so people (and children) would walk through the area at all times. Also the 'no-kids' rule was not enforced by staff. So maybe take into consideration the location of the adult-only areas on the ship you choose.
  18. Nobody is saying anything about not taking a test or using somebody else's test results. These are legitimate and official testing facilities in the countries we live in. Video testing is not available in my country.
  19. I've heard from many using this kind of test and getting on board just fine. As long as the document doesn't state it was a diy test you should be fine. There is no way that Rcl knows exactly how and where each test was taken. Especially for us from Europe with all of these different countries and test centers. I am taking a at home test that is on video, but not a live video. You tape yourself. I am not worried at all about being denied boarding.
  20. Did get an answer, but took so long I had forgotten I even asked a question.
  21. Mine is now on 'validating' status for 3 weeks and counting. I sail the end of June.
  22. Hi, I keep reading posts on this forum saying Emed is allowed or this or that brand is now allowed. Just wondering : isn't any brand allowed that meets the requirements of what should be on the certificate? I am from Europe so over here there is no Emed or other American or Canadian test. I was just planning on taking a video test in my own country. The certificate meets all Te requirements. Or am I missing something? Getting worried about this.
  23. If you take the "Civitavecchia Express" that is offered by the port you can go by train from the port to Rome for 15 euro's per person (return trip). This train is a special train for cruise passengers. You need to reserve a seat in advance on the website of Trenitalia Local trains are also only around 10 euro's. On our first Med Cruise we paid over a 100 dollars to Royal for a train that did the exact same thing.
  24. I sailed this ship in Greece in 2020. I did not feel that it was worn out. We had a great cruise. One thing that did bother us and I wouldn't sail her again because of it: the adults only section of the pool was extremely loud as it was a passage area to other parts of the ships. Also the 'adult only' part of it was ignored by some and Royal staff didn't do anything about this. For us that was a deal breaker. Of course that might not be the case for you.
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