John1963 Posted June 18, 2019 Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 Sailing on board independence of the seas this summer, any tips for first timer especially relating to drinks packages which we did not purchase and trips in port especially Rome from civitaveccia,would be a help, any other general tips and advice appreciated , a little apprehensive as hoping we actually enjoy it as it's an expensive outing :,-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pro24 Posted June 18, 2019 Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 Newbie here too. Traveling at Christmas 2019. Did purchase Ultimate drink pkg as I have read and watched (YouTube) too many positives vs negatives. Avoids that big bill at the end of the cruise. And, although we do not drink much, we are on vacation and the last thing I want to worry about is not having enough money to cover the bill and drinking water instead. This is our family vacation that we probably won't take again as my kids are 20 somethings. Also purchased the Key! Will follow the post to see what others say. Have fun !!! JennyB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChessE4 Posted June 18, 2019 Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 Matt has stuff for 1st time cruisers at this link: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/getting-started He also has a video on the deluxe beverage package. Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChessE4 Posted June 18, 2019 Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 3 hours ago, John1963 said: Sailing on board independence of the seas this summer, any tips for first timer especially relating to drinks packages which we did not purchase and trips in port especially Rome from civitaveccia,would be a help, any other general tips and advice appreciated , a little apprehensive as hoping we actually enjoy it as it's an expensive outing :,-) There is information on shore excursions under the Shore Excursion message board. Rome in the summer is hot, so plan on drinking lots of water. There are free/clean fountains in Rome but bottled water is sold everywhere. If you like exploring on your own, RCI has some "at your leisure" excursions in various ports that provide transportation to and from the port. There can be traffic problems during peak season, so an RCI excursion gives you some peace of mind vs. another provider who is $10 or $15 less -- you won't be left behind on an RCI excursion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayley_bopp Posted June 18, 2019 Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 We did Western Med from Southampton last summer and loved it! Not sure what other ports you have but if you're in Livorno and want to visit Florence, I'd recommend doing an RC excursion for peace of mind due to the distance and notoriously bad traffic and also for Monaco. That's not so far from the port of Ville Franche but it is along asingle carriageway coastal road that can also be extremely busy. Our RC excursion was delayed getting back due to heavy traffic and didn't get back until past the advertised time for the last tender boat. It wasn't a problem though and the guide reassured us that they'd keep running the tenders until we were all back onboard. If you share your other ports I'd be happy to let you know tips for any I've been to. KristiZ and Skid 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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