Officiallyjohno

So, agree regards Rome. Would highly recommend a Royal excursion on that port day. The port is quite some distance from the city, and inevitably the big attractions (colosseum in particular) have long queues if you do it yourself. You don't want to get left behind. Barcelona we did ourselves, but was slightly hectic. Tourist bus around the city gives a good overview of the city and we had pre-booked the Cathedral (which is spectacular). Florence again, I remember being a drive between port and city. I did a Royal excursion which was essentially a brief tour and then 3 or so hours of free time.

It's interesting viewing this as a UK resident and (full disclosure) a doctor. How RC deals with this now they are given ownership will be interesting, as undoubtedly it's going to demonstrate a commercial view rather than political, or health view on the pandemic protocols. Even if Covid is viewed in a similar was to Norovirus etc., you would still expect quarantining to exist on board. The predominance in the population currently, might mean that screening remains an effective tool commercially to maintain the confidence of passengers. Arguably antigen testing is currently around the £15-20 mark in the UK ($20-30) and I do wonder why they don't just bundle the cost in with your trip to remove the financial concerns. Where RC finds the balance will be interesting!