NewlyRoyalBuckeye

We just got back and I was also very impressed by the Puerto Plata port area. Very nice bars, pool, and lazy river. A bunch of shops and some gorgeous macaws and parrots.

Thanks for these tips! We are in a 2BR suite so I will book the 2 reservations for 4 and ask the concierge to merge them when we are contacted.

We are sailing on the Odyssey in December as a party of 8 with 2 linked reservations. I was hoping to book a night at Giovanni's but am finding that I cannot book in advance for a party larger than 6. Is this typical? Any suggestions for how to book this in advance or should I just wait until we board and try with the concierge or at the restaurant then? TIA!

My December 2023 Odyssey trip has never shown any dining packages. Some of the restaurants (Teppanyaki and Wonderland for sure) allowed individual reservations recently but others (Giovanni's Italian Kitchen) don't. It's very strange that some would be there and others not.

What shore excursions did you book and do you recommend them? Any other tips on the ports? We have the same itinerary in July. Thanks!

We found the Key to be worth it. It was only a couple of dollars per person more than buying the Surf and Stream, which we had planned to buy anyway. Also, we booked late, after online checkins had already started, so getting the Key meant getting on a couple of hours earlier. The Chops lunch and disembark breakfast were great. We didn't use the seating at the shows but my son did the Flowrider one morning and that was nice.

Good to know there are some 1 train options from Venice. We are doing the opposite of you. We decided to fly into Bologna the day before the cruise and take the train from there to Ravenna (airport train from Bologna airport to central station and then a 1 hour train ride to Ravenna that leaves almost every hour). Our hotel is close to the train station and they said we can easily get a taxi to port around 15 minutes away or take a bus. After the cruise, we are spending 2 days in Venice and have booked a private transfer from the cruise port in Ravenna to our hotel in Venice.

There are lots of people trying to figure this out for the 2022 sailings from Ravenna that start next month. RC offers a shuttle from the Venice airport, but some have been told it is only for same-day arrivals and departures. Others have been told there is a shuttle from the Venice bus station. Ravenna is about 3 hours away by train with one change of train. Some are booking private or shared shuttles although those are more expensive. Since you are travelling in 2023, I think you will see much better information here in the coming months. You might check on some of the roll call boards for this summer for Brilliance of the Seas and Rhapsody of the Seas.

I believe as long as you have had the 2 shot series and booster, you are considered up to date even if your booster was outside the 270 days. I think they are trying to say if you are outside 270 days, you should have the booster in addition to the 2 shot series. RCs wording on this is a bit clunky.

The patch does not work for me. I am very sensitive to medication and it just makes me feel dizzy and miserable. Bonine works way better than anything else for me. Contact the ship's medical staff and they will help.

We've been investigating the same thing. Since my flight home is not until the next day, the earliest shuttle they would offer to the airport was at 12:15. I don't want to hang around the port all morning since I would then have to get from the airport to our hotel in Venice (another 30-40 min) we would basically lose the whole day in Venice. I was going to just give them a different flight number that leaves the same day we disembark, but because I booked with a travel agent, they would not let me book the transfers myself or even tell me what times are available. I'm sure there are earlier transfers for people who have earlier flights. RC does offer a shore excursion that visits Padua and then drops off at the airport, but again, we'd have to get from the airport to our Venice hotel. I have read that the train to Venice involves just one change of train, but I don't want to deal with our luggage on the train (we are not packing light since this trip is at the end of my daughter's study abroad so she will extra baggage from that). We are looking at a private transfer now.

Royal Caribbean gave me a price of $45 pp for transport from the port in Ravenna to the airport in Venice as others here have reported (we are only looking for return transport since we are flying into Bologna and spending the night before the cruise in Ravenna). We are spending the night of our disembark day in Venice. Since our flight is not until the next day, the shuttle time leaving port is 12:15 pm. I'm not thrilled with that option since we will lose time in Venice with that delay plus having to get from the airport to our hotel, so we are looking at other options.

We would like to visit the Greek ruins on Delos during our stop in Mykonos this summer. However, I see that there is a 30 minute boat trip each way involved. Unfortunately, I get severe motion sickness. I'm ok on cruise ships with medication, but even that doesn't seem to work for me on smaller boats, I am usually miserable unless the waters are very calm. Has anyone taken an excursion to Delos? What was the boat experience like?

We're traveling on the Brilliance on a cruise out of Venice (Ravenna) this summer. After we disembark, we are flying out of the Venice airport the next morning. Before I figure out what sort of transfer from Ravenna to Venice we will book, I'm trying to determine what COVID tests are acceptable for our return to the US (aware, of course, that policies could change). I'm hoping the proctored Binax Now tests will work for our pre-cruise test, but I'm confused about what is acceptable for return to the US after the cruise and where we can find tests in Venice. It looks like we might need PCR tests, in which case I'm worried about getting results back in time for our flight. The website for the Venice airport says that they have these available: "At the car park P4, about 400m by feet from the terminal, the drive-in and walk-in antigenic swabservice is available from 7:00 to 21:00, 7/7.The service is available for everyone, even for non-travelers. QUICK SWAB: €35,00 and results in 15 minutes QUICK SWAB - THIRD GENERATION: €45, results in 15 min. PCR MOLECULAR SWAB available from 8:00 to 12:00, results after 20:00 on the same day €112,00 PCR MOLECULAR SWAB available from 8:00 to 20:00, results after 20:00 on the following day €102,00 BUNDLE QUICK SWAB + PCR €132,00." Any advice is appreciated!!

I tried calling RC to book transfers from the port in Ravenna to Venice and after being on hold for over an hour, was told that a different department handles that and they would transfer me. I was hoping to ask whether I can return to Venice city rather than the airport as it seems some people are reporting that as a possibility. If that's not available, it still seems it would be cheaper to take the RC transfer from Ravenna to the airport in Venice and then find transportation from the airport to our hotel than to book private transportation from Ravenna to our hotel. But I got disconnected Does anyone know what RC number to call to ask about transfers for Ravenna specifically?