Peter D

We did this cruise in May 2023. If you are cheap like me, you can also walk into the port no problem (about 1 mile from Forte Michelangelo). There were walkways all the way into the port. At that time, Odyssey was third ship in, but from not a bad walk at all. We took the train to and from Civitavecchia. and walked both ways to the port (about 1.5 miles from port to train). It was reasonably priced both ways. Outgoing was no problem but the return trip to Rome was crowded. If you are taking the train back to Rome, I would recommend buying your return trip ticket early, because the train station is super crowded for the return and trains sell out.

If I were going to book flights from EWR to YVR and SEA to EWR. I would try to book airline flights refundable if possible or I'd try to book with airlines that allow you to cancel without fee and funds go to a 'travel bank'. The problem with travel bank is that you would have to use them on a future flight (probably on Air Canada). Either way, you are able to take advantage of price drops. Alternatively, if you do not mind driving, you could fly from EWR to SEA, rent a car, and drive (approximately 2.5 to 3 hours) to Vancouver. I did this last year and it wasn't a bad drive at all. The advantage with this is you are able fly 'roundtrip' only on domestic flights and if you end up doing the whole 'travel bank' thing, it easier to use. The cost of the rental car needs to be figured into your budget, but it's an option. As for booking the flights now or not, it's really impossible to predict if flights will go up or down. You might find though that not all airlines have posted their flights to these locations right now, so as more flights become available, the price will definitely react. According to Expedia, flights on May 8th at 6pm is Air Canada only. So the other major carriers have not yet published flights. Hope this helps.

Yes. I believe that was it. When we were ready to go back to the ship, we had to wait for the ferry to dock... unload everyone and everything.... reload... and leave. Still was better than the other tendering port.

In my opinion, the easiest thing to do is take the water taxi over to Philipsburg. The beach there is decent and there are plenty of places to eat and shop. The potential downside is the cost of the beach chairs (but not needed if you like) and the beach vendors (people peddling stuff, but will take no for answer). I'd also recommend the 'Yoda guy' museum in Philipsburg as alternative to beach day, but it might not be that interesting to 3 and 5 year old.

We just got off Odyssey in May and we opted to do the 'Best of Santorini' Santorini tour included visit to Oia and Akrotiri tour with a pretty good luncheon with Greek Wedding vibe. The biggest benefit I saw with the best of Santorini was that the tender took us farther away from the usual port to catch the buses and used it to return to ship. In hindsight, this was very valuable to me. We were able to completely avoid the cable car with its 12 euro cost and wait times (excess of 1.5 hours) and the 'donkey trail, which sounded very treacherous from all the stories I heard on board. The tour also went straight to Oia which probably lessened the crowds as there were 3 cruises in port that day.

We just got off Odyssey in May and we opted to do the 'Best of...' versions of Santorini and Mykonos, and the 'taste of Crete'. I think of them all, the Santorini one was the best value and the Mykonos was not worth it at all. Crete was unremarkable, but it was fine. Santorini tour included visit to Oia and Akrotiri tour with a pretty good luncheon with Greek Wedding vibe. The biggest benefit I saw with the best of Santorini was that the tender took us farther away from the usual port to catch the buses and used it to return to ship. In hindsight, this was very valuable to me. We were able to completely avoid the cable car with its 12 euro cost and wait times (excess of 1.5 hours) and the 'donkey trail, which sounded very treacherous from all the stories I heard on board. Mykonos tour was not good and very expensive. The tour takes you to Delos for a guided tour of the ruins which was good, but I think there are plenty of trips and options to do that off the ship, in town. Our tour did not offer any time in the town of Mykonos which was very disappointing. I would not recommend the best of tour at all. If I go back to Mykonos, I will just go to a beach and probably the town itself.

Do they empty and clean these suite hot tubs after every sailing? Do they monitor water quality throughout the cruise?

I just finished my post cruise survey for 10 night Odyssey of the Seas Greek Isles cruise. The dining room staff did mention the importance of the survey, and may have dropped the 10 request, not 100% sure. What is interesting is that the survey did not ask about it. Has anyone else seen that the question was eliminated all together?

Just got off Odyssey for 10 night Greek Isle cruise. We had a JS (9612) and it was a great room with two bathrooms. Never seen that before and it was very pleasant surprise. I am a fan of it and the quantum class in general. Odyssey in particular has excellent shows (Effectors, Showgirls-past present future, and the Book (in 270). Seaplex is a cool places with bumper cars, laser tag and many sporting options. It also has playmakers. Frequently quantum ships will have very good cover bands (DSB, No Quarter etc ) in Music Hall. Food quality is generally good. I agree that the ice shows and aqua shows of Oasis ships are sorely missed. Esplanade vs Promenade is fine with me either way. As a side note, we had Mike Szwajkowski and I thought he was quite good and one of the best CD in my opinion.

I just heard while on Odyssey that Effectors 3 will also be on Icon.

Just heard while on Odyssey that Effectors III will be on Icon as well.

It is true that the pricing makes no sense. The 'we pick' price is only $1388. More fuzzy math.... In any case, obstructions do seem possible. As a slightly off topic, I tried once to book a 'We pick' Balcony on Oasis through Next Cruise. I was informed that the published GTY was for a GTY Neighborhood view balcony. If I wanted a GTY ocean view, it was different (unpublished) price, but I could specify it. It would not have been evident just looking at the RCL web pricing system.

What is interesting is that right now, that sailing shows two options in the 'you select' mode and one is specifically identified as obstructed. That suggests that you can pay for additional quality of GTY to avoid obstruction.

I doubt they can do that and I would not want to risk it. I think you are better off paying the final payment before you leave for your cruise, so there is no issue.

Last year was the first CK experience for us. We dined in CK nightly, but because we had different waiter nearly every night, we opted to tip a few bucks each night.

There is a robust discussion on this thread. This is also the website for Canada admission. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/inadmissibility.html Does not sound very promising to travel to Alaska via Canada with DUI convictions.

I do not have any experience on that itinerary in May/June, but I have done the Canada cruise before. I'd expect cool temperatures while at sea. Barring any storms, the wave conditions should also be pretty good. New England weather in late May is typical in 60s, so I would expect similar or maybe cooler while at sea. The outdoor pools on the ship will likely be pretty cold, but the Solarium pool will be nice. There is always hot tubs.

It is peculiar how it is always dining room staff that mentions the survey and asks for 10s. On Voyager in March, I answered the question 'did anyone ask?' as yes for the first time ever. The head waiter did so over the announcement during 'dance' night. Maybe its a way that dining is trying to get 'disqualified' from the survey results. If there is a top tier event Q&A opportunity, it would be interesting to probe about this question and the survey.

All of our August Juneau excursion have greyed out 'Reserve' with note. "Sorry, we’re working on enhancing excursion options. Check back soon".

On port days, the Northstar goes straight up and then down. One thing about that is it actually goes higher than it does when it swing out over water so the view of a port is quite cool. I have done the over water experience, but not since they began charging for it and I would not personally pay for it. I think the length of the experience is about the same. When it goes straight up, it stays up there for a few minutes.

The mattresses are generally too firm for us, but we always ask room steward for additional topper. They have no problem adding them, and it makes the difference for me. Bottom line, they might be able to improve it for you, so ask.

We were on Voyager in March. They would not serve both entrees at the same time. We did not insist, but rather just rolled with it. One thing we noticed is that each entrée was piping hot. I don't know if it was because waiter went to galley and get the second one when time to serve it or if they had means of keeping it hot in service area. Either way, not sure if that was a result of 'one at a time' or if it was unrelated. In general, all food on this particular sailing was very hot.

All Guests are expected to adhere to the code of conduct. Guest Conduct Policy (royalcaribbean.com)

Do the Quantum class ships no longer offer complimentary iFLY? I remember that they previously offered free versions (about 1 minute fly time) and pay version that had longer fly times. The cruise planner version costs $29 (on Odyssey), but it is sold out.

Does Allure offer All Access Tours? If so, did you consider requesting it from your Genie?