Lovetocruise2002

Good point. But I think OP is sailing Quantum so snacks a La Patisserie would be included for Star.

Nothing official, but someone on another forum posted that they were able to L&S Quantum sailings only past April 2022. They did it just this morning.

Yes. The upcharges that are not included with Star is the wine pairing at Chef's table and any other premium liquors and wine that are not included in the Deluxe beverage package and that might be it....How bad is it that it has been so long I cannot remember? lol

I hate to say it, but I am pretty sure you will not have to worry about that. I would be shocked if Canada allowed in cruise ships this year.

Same as what @WAAAYTOOO said, it's included in the regular tips but we always tip extra as well.

It is the regular suite gratuity that is included with star class. If it gets added onto your invoice at booking, they can take it off. It is very important to note that the gratuity for the Genie is not included with the normal gratuities that are taken off.

And the Panoramic Suites (Category VP, and VT) are too. I always knew about the VP being refundable but I was surprised to find out that the VT is as well.

Glad it all worked out without issue.

Happy to have you here @sammy79 ?

Not much further than the Renaissance. Will have to keep an eye on this one!

I love it! Where about on 17th Street will it be? If it's not close to La Bamba, then it's a deal breaker. ?

Great point! @HeatherPNone of those places on 17th Street are beach places. But they are super close to the port and have restaurants and Publix/Walgreens within walking distance.

To add onto what @Matt said, the Holiday Inn Express right next door to Embassy (also on 17th Street) is fine for a one night stay. They recently renovated so while it's still a Holiday Inn (nothing fancy), it's more fresh looking than Embassy. Hyatt Place on 17th street is also right next to these two properties. It's all suites, so if you have a larger group, this might work better. It's comparable to the Embassy and Holiday Inn. We also really like Renaissance on 17th Street. The downside is that they don't have complimentary breakfast which the other ones do. But it is actually closer to the port than the other 3 (even though none are really that far). I like the Renaissance if it's just Hubby and I but with the kids, I usually pick Holiday Inn Express or Hyatt Place.

If you have more than 4 people, +1 for Cortrans. They have fantastic reviews and feedback and their pre-cruise communication is awesome. If you have 4 or less, I would probably uber/lyft.

Doubt it. When the did the first extension to April 2022, @Matt mentioned in his blog post that there was no need to do anything on our part, they would all just be extended automatically. I assumed it would be the same with this extension. @Matt or @Sharla have you guys heard otherwise?

That is really strange. The only times I did not receive the FCC directly is when my TA (the one who I no longer use for many reasons) did not enter the correct email on the original reservation. And I know this because when I called asking where my FCC was, they said they sent it and I asked them to confirm the email address and both times it was the wrong one. All other times, the FCC has come straight to me. The email comes from "Royal Caribbean International" and it is titled "Here's Your Future Cruise Credit".

They should come directly to you and your TA gets a copy. But they belong to you, not your TA.

The fact that Royal sails from Ravenna now is a huge deterrent for me to take one of those sailings. Pre-cruise in Rome already solves some of your dilemma then of worrying about not enough time. Florence/Pisa can be done in a day (it’s busy) but you can see the major things. Other ports like Naples, Provence, etc. just choose the excursions carefully and try to not let price deter you. We went with the mindset that we would likely not be able to do this again for a long time, and now, even almost 16 years later, we are glad we did.

Yeah, those little red things don't count...? And is the Fairmont in one of your pics? I did take a look at that property, but I think we are going to Whistler instead.

Ask for the post cruise department.

We did a 12 night on Brilliance many years ago (in 2005). It left from Barcelona, overnight in Venice (at the time ships were still allowed to sail into Venice), and went to all the ports that you listed and a few more. It was busy, we woke up early, stayed out all day to maximize our time, we were dead tired, but it was by far one of our most favourite trips ever, if not the most. We have zero regrets about taking that trip, and zero regrets about how we did it. Basically, our strategy was to stick with ship excursions because as you noted, many of the ports are a bit far from where you dock (mainly Pisa and Rome). For Rome, because we had so many things on our list that we wanted to see and only one day to see it, we booked a transport only through ship excursions that would guarantee our return back to the ship in time, and we did it on our own. I researched Rome like crazy (even easier now as there are many "How to See Rome in a Day" type things online), and mapped out the fastest and most efficient way to see everything before we went and we got it all done and lots of videos and pictures to remember it by. We even had time to spare for a gelato lol. For the other ports, we picked the excursions very carefully and chose the ones that allowed us to stay out the longest and see the most. We spent more on excursions for that cruise than the cruise fare but it was well worth it. In retrospect, do we wish that we would have done a land vacation through Europe instead? For Western Med, definitely not. I still believe that the cruise is the best way to see it. We don't like to worry about finding new places to sleep and have dinner and I hate packing up every few days to go somewhere new. There are some places in Europe, Paris for example, which probably deserves a land vacation, but for the Western Med, the cruise is going to get you to the most place for the best value. I truly believe that. We haven't gone Western Med in many years now, but it's on our list in about two to three years. We plan to take the girls the summer that my oldest graduates high school. The only thing I would probably do different is I would spend more time in Barcelona (pre-cruise), assuming the ship leaves from there.

You might have to call them. Out of the 6 cruises that I lost that I was supposed to get FCC for, 2 of them I had to call them and ask them to send it. Probably fell through the cracks.

100% with you on that one too. We going in a different direction this summer if cruising is really a bust. Heading to the mountains.

I feel your pain. I have 3 this summer that I will likely lose. ? One of which is Oasis, which I have also tried to sail 3 times now since post amp.