rg123

Thanks, biker19,  I’ll try that!

Thank you, but I couldn’t seem to find this listed anywhere on the app

Can anyone confirm dining times on the Liberty of the Seas (New England/Canada)? I believe late dining is at 7:45, but does anyone know when early dining and anytime start? Thanks

27 minutes ago, Anyislandwilldo said:

Thanks everyone for your valuable input.  I have absorbed it all and hopefully I'm able to make the right decisions when I get to the airport. 

Good luck! Hope your airport experience goes well for you. Safe travels!

3 hours ago, Snaxmuppet said:

Probably because of the time difference... 🙂 

Could be. Thanks!

4 hours ago, Aulanis said:

I did a dummy booking and it seemed to work ok for me?

Maybe try using VPN?

 

 

Thank you very much for your suggestion, but my problem has been solved! I popped over to the trip advisor forum board and found several people had the same problem I did—booking date was showing 1 day early.

 It was suggested to download the app and booking was a cinch after that. No problems at all. Thank you again for taking the time to respond.

Finally decided to book the Premier Inn Southwark Station. Am trying to book a Monday-Wednesday (May 13-15). It shows me the rates, but then when I actually try to reserve it says I’m checking in May12 to May 15.

(If I look for dates 14th-16th—which I don’t want—-it shows check in as 13 but with higher rates!)

Has this happened to anyone? 

On 1/23/2024 at 8:46 AM, John Bull said:

Waterloo / County Hall is great for direct trains to Southampton (from Waterloo station) or Dover (from Waterloo East station) - quick, cheap (by buying advance tickets from about 8 weeks out), and only a short walk from all hotels in that area, including those Premier Inns and Park Plaza and Marriott.

And great for numerous sights on foot plus Tube for more-distant sights.

 

But not convenient for public transport from Heathrow.

There are a number of options, I stand to be corrected by a Londoner but I reckon the best balance between cost & convenience is Piccadilly line tube from LHR to Barons Court tube station, easy cross--platform switch to a District line tube to Westminster tube station, then - depending on your hotel location, your energy levels & the weather - a walk or taxi across Westminster Bridge to your hotel.

LHR is the start of the line so no problem getting seats together and room for your luggage, Barons Court is an easy change, I don't know how crowded the District line will be.

Alternatively a Londoner may suggest the new Elizabeth line - again one switch of trains, several stations where you can make that switch and you need a Londoner to tell you which is easiest with luggage.

A pre-booked private transfer car from LHR to those hotels would cost in the order of £50 to £55 

 

Victoria is a little more convenient from LHR. Frequent, direct & cheap (but slow) National Express coaches from LHR to Victoria coach station, that same Barons Court change by tube, a private transfer should be just a few £ cheaper. Cheap direct Nat Express coaches to Southampton or Dover from that coach station, or direct train from Victoria train station to either (but the trains to Southampton follow a more circuitous route than trains from Waterloo - 2.5hrs vs 1.5 hrs).

Broader range of hotel prices.

But a little less convenient to sights on foot.

 

You won't find anywhere convenient to LHR + central London + Southampton or Dover by public transport - wherever you choose, one of those will be a little complicated.

 

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/standard-tube-map.pdf

https://www.nationalexpress.com/en

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

https://www.londontoolkit.com/ .............but their private transfers are expensive. Well, someone's got to pay for that excellent website 😏

 

JB 🙂

Wow! Thank you for all this information, John. Not as simple as I had hoped. Thought the tube would be the way to go, but perhaps the train is best. 
Or will look into a car service that is not super pricey for 2. 
Once again, thank you for taking the time to write. I truly appreciate it.

First timers for London! We’ve been leaning toward the Premier Inns for a couple of nights based on recommendations on CC. Wow! There are a lot of locations, but it seems County Hall and Waterloo are mentioned the most as being in great spots and close to the metro. Also saw the London Victoria on Eccleston Square which looks to be in an ok area?

County Hall has Premier Plus rooms for our stay, but the Waterloo only has standards. (Victoria has both). Besides having a fridge, are the premier plus that much better?

Oh, and one other thing—-would we be able to get to these hotels fairly easily from Heathrow Airport using the metro/ tube/whatever? We’re a little timid, but would give it the ol’ college try.

Thanks for any thoughts. 

I think the food does vary ship to ship. We were on Odyssey a couple of weeks ago and found the prime rib as well as the steaks to be wonderful. They were perfectly cooked (medium rare), tasty and tender.

Our experience regarding the side vegetables matches others though. Other than a few spears of asparagus one night, broccoli and carrots made an appearance just about every night. Not a green bean, corn, pea, Brussel sprout to be found. I love broccoli and carrots, but it got to be a real joke amongst our table mates on our 13 day trip. Ridiculous that Royal can’t be a bit more creative.

They must have been pretty desperate for seats as they were very generous in their offer. Enough for my husband and I to make two separate visits to Austin to see our grandbaby who will be arriving in March! 😊 We have a year to use them.

Good luck with your travels!

Hoping that our experience at FCO will help others. We were a little nervous about our 11 am flight out having read so many things about such a tight time frame from leaving the port and getting to the airport. But it worked fine for us and we had plenty of time!!

We were booked on flight from Rome to IAD on Sun Oct 15. We took our luggage and disembarked at 6:45 am. Our 7 am pickup with CabRoma was already waiting for us. We got to the airport around 8:15 (?) and used the kiosks to print our boarding passes/luggage tags.
 

Went to the United desk to check our bags and the woman asked if we would like to volunteer to give up our seats. (We were originally booked for 11 am to Newark with an arrival time of 9 pm). She said we could be on a Lufthansa flight leaving at 10:15 am and get home at 4:30 pm but we would have to walk about 7 min to another terminal. She assured us we could make the flight. They offered hefty compensation travel vouchers as well so we said yes! Win-win!
 

Walked to the other terminal, checked in with Lufthansa and then used our fast track pass for security (we had a printed copy with a QR code). It was a breeze and we were still at our gate by 9:15 am. Great day and we got back 4+ hours than originally planned. 

 

I’m back to report on my FCO experience for an 11 am flight. We were a little nervous having read so many things about such a tight time frame.  But it worked fine for us and we had plenty of time!!

We were booked on flight from Rome to IAD on Sun Oct 15. We took our luggage and disembarked at 6:45 am. Our 7 am pickup with CabRoma was already waiting for us. We got to the airport around 8:15 (?) and used the kiosks to print our boarding passes/luggage tags.
 

Went to the United desk to check our bags and the woman asked if we would like to volunteer to give up our seats. (We were originally booked for 11 am to Newark with an arrival time of 9 pm). She said we could be on a Lufthansa flight leaving at 10:15 am and get home at 4:30 pm but we would have to walk about 7 min to another terminal. She assured us we could make the flight. They offered hefty compensation travel vouchers as well so we said yes! Win-win!
 

Walked to the other terminal, checked in with Lufthansa and then used our fast track pass for security (we had a printed copy with a QR code). It was a breeze and we were still at our gate by 9:15 am. Great day and we got back 4+ hours than originally planned. 

 

2 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

If you need a medical fridge it would be best to request ahead of the cruise, my understanding is there is limited number of them per ship.  

Bed splitting is no biggy for room steward to do once onboard.  

We requested a medical fridge prior to our last cruise and it wasn’t in the cabin upon arrival. Luckily our attendant was nearby and was able to help us out. 
 

We are sailing again in early October and have made the same request. Hopefully we’ll get one without having to bother our attendant when they’re so busy that first day but we shall see

On 8/23/2023 at 8:15 AM, doccide said:

I had arranged for Cabroma to pick us up at the port at 7am for a 1030 flite to Boston. The ship arrived @ 430am.  We carried our bags off and got in line at 615.  At 625 we were allowed to get off the ship. We carried our bags off , it took about 10 minutes to walk  to the terminal.  Our car arrived at 650 and off we went to FCO.  There was little traffic.  We arrived at FCO about 50 minutes later.  It only took 5 minutes to check our bags.  I had purchased for 7euro each the fast track pass.  The regular line thru security had about 150 people.  There were 2 people in the fast track.  We went thru security and passport check in no time.  At 810 we were sitting in the Italia sky lounge.  My recommendation is to spend the 7e for the fast track pass!

So glad you posted this information! This eases my mind a bit! Thank you.  We have booked with CabRoma for a 7 am pickup as well for our 11 am flight and we  had gotten a fast track pass just in case. 

17 minutes ago, Super Curly said:

When I was there 13 years ago, we did not get a guide and I regretted it. Maybe the signage is better now, but we will get a guide or use a Rick Steves Audio tour.

Thank you. I think I will keep our guided tour!

7 minutes ago, marazul said:

You can do it on your own. There are good signs. It would be good to read a little bit (or a lot) about it before you go.

Thank you for your thoughts!

Trying to figure out if it’s best to get the combo ticket from the website or whether to keep the tour that we already booked. If you just get the combo ticket I assume that there is no guide involved. Is it best to book with a guide or is there enough signage and information at the Acropolis that you can really do it on your own?

Also would there be a place there to rent an audio guide?

Trying to figure out if it’s best to get the combo ticket from the website or whether to keep the tour that we already booked. If you just get the combo ticket I assume that there is no guide involved. Is it best to book with a guide or is there enough signage and information at the Acropolis that you can really do it on your own?

Also would there be a place there to rent an audio guide?

We just received our Radiance colored crystal block by FedEx today. We have been waiting since September 2022. Filled out paperwork on board, visited the loyalty ambassador on 2 subsequent cruises and made 3 phone calls. Seems like they could do a little better, but at least it arrived!

18 hours ago, lovelife said:

Enjoy - it's quite different.

In a good way I hope?

2 minutes ago, lovelife said:

I love a peach daiquiri!  BTW, I'm just down the road in Martinsburg. Were you on Odyssey last March?

Hi Neighbor! No, have never been on the Odyssey, but will be in October!

3 hours ago, Greygooser said:

 

Just wanted to thank you for sharing your experience and the accompanying details. We've got an early direct flight to the US and this is extremely helpful. We are still going to purchase the Fast Track Passes, but it's good to know about a possibly even shorter line. 

Just for interest-Where are you headed? We have an 11am direct flight to Dulles on United on Oct 15

8 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I visit Rome often and have been going there for many years, so most sites I've done on my own. The catacombs on Via Appia all offer their own guided tours that are included with admission. They offer tours in English throughout the day (usually alternating with other languages). 

 

Getting to the Via Appia isn't as easy as getting to locations in the central area of historic Rome -- but it's not that hard, either, if you do your research. The area around the catacombs is served by various local buses. You can take a bus (or combination of metro and bus) to the area and then once you get off the three major (open) catacombs are within walking distance of each other: Domatilla, San Sebastiano, and Callixtus. You can also visit the nearby tomb of Cecilia Metella, a very imposing ancient Roman tomb and see other, smaller tombs.

 

Not all of the catacombs are open every day, you'd need to check the hours for each. Also keep in mind that the best time to walk the Via Appia Antica is on Sundays, when it is closed to most traffic other than pedestrians and cyclists.

 

The Capuchin crypt is within the city, not on Via Appia. It's not hard to get to via public transportation or taxi or even walking, depending on where your hotel is located. You do need to make a reservation, however.

You have been so helpful and I truly appreciate all the tips and the time you spent explaining things.  You headed me in the right direction and I will certainly do some more research, but I think we can forgo the somewhat pricey tour and venture out on our own. Thank you once again. Rita

30 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

Both of the tours cover the two main different types of catacombs found in Rome. The first type are the ancient catacombs, first used by ancient Romans for burials and later by Christians -- these are covered in your tours by the Domatilla and Callixtus catacombs. 

 

The other type of catacombs are those created by monks starting in medieval times, famously by Capuchin monks. They arranged the bones of members of their order who died into various decorative designs that were meant to serve as a reminder to anyone viewing them that death is the unavoidable end of life.

 

The Capuchin crypt is the same in both tours. Whether the Callixtus or Domatilla catacombs better represent the ancient catacombs is up for debate. I've been to all of the ancient catacombs on the via Appia Antica, and I would probably recommend Domatilla over Callixtus as I found the frescoes in Domatilla much more evident and interesting. 

 

On the other hand, I think the part of the Callixtus tour that includes some other sights on the Appian Way and Aurelian Walls sounds more interesting than the San Martino basilica. I wish they were more specific about what those sights are, however. 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the wealth of information you provided. May I ask if you actually took organized tours or went on your own? I read that you don’t really need a tour guide, but since the catacombs are outside Rome and we will be without a car, I thought it might be the simplest way.