shorehaven

We were on Wonder in July and had the UDP. We ate in - Chops (twice), Giovanni’s, Wonderland, Hooked (twice) and 150 Central Park. Difficult to choose a favourite they were all very good in their own way and although quite busy were not crowded. This was our first time with a UDP and would definitely consider it again. Did not try Mason Jar for food but the bar was our favourite, great bar staff and excellent live country music trio.

If you are flying into Rome Fumicino airport (FCO) terminal 3 there is (or at least there was three weeks ago) a test facility in the terminal for around 20 euros. We did not use it but were aware it was there in case we had to use plan ‘b’. There were some helpful comments on the European Ports - Italy pages about it and getting tests in Italy in general if you want to check it out.

We were on the sailing before you, it was full of children too, I’m sure it was said that they were expecting over 1000 on your sailing ! Glad you enjoyed Chops as we felt the food and service was not up to the usual standard. We have eaten in Chops at least 30 times previously and always enjoyed it. I asked for thousand island dressing on my king prawns in place of the horseradish sauce on the menu. The prawns appeared with the horseradish then about 10 minutes later he thousand island dressing appeared. The waiter apologised for the delay and said they had had to send someone to another kitchen to get it as they didn’t have any. We didn’t complain but during conversation with our waiter in Giovanni’s the next night told him this. He spoke to his manager who obviously contacted the head waiter from Chops as before we had finished our meal he appeared at our table, never asked what our concerns were but immediately offered us to come back for complimentary lunch on the sea day which we did. The service was much improved, no doubt because we had been flagged up but the food was still mediocre and we actually changed our last nights reservation to Wonderland.

If you are leaving the UK within two days of joining the ship I would suggest you book tests at your local Lloyd’s Pharmacy. They can only be booked online and you can cancel free of charge should you need to. At least this way if you test positive you are still in the UK ! If this is not possible and you have to go down the road of video testing we have also used Medicspot. They are a UK based company and operate through a zoom meeting. You pre book an appointment and then join at the appropriate time where they talk you through the process and email a certificate almost immediately. I had never used zoom before but had no problems. RCI accepted both these companies certificates from us. Hope this helps.

At Captains Corner on Odyssey this morning Capt. Per stated he was going on leave on Sunday (17th). Last week on Wonder our Capt. was Henrik Loy.

Most Lloyds Pharmacy branches In UK do proctored tests at the chosen pharmacy for GBP 29.00. Takes approximately 20 minutes and you get fit to fly certificate. No need to worry about reliable WiFi connection etc. You have to book online and do not have to pay in advance. Sorry don’t have the link to the booking page.

Thanks for the info, have looked on the site and will register nearer the time.

Thanks for your input. We will try and get at test at FCO on arrival.

We are flying into Rome on 28th June to join Wonder on 29th and had tests booked at a Lloyd’s pharmacy but British Airways have now cancelled our original flight. Managed to get rebooked on an earlier flight but now don’t have time to take the test in the UK and can’t take one earlier as Royal’s current protocol is one day before boarding. Does anyone know how easy it is to get supervised tests in Italy, we are two fully vax’d and boosted adults, or should we just try either a DocHQ or Qured test at our hotel once we arrive in Italy? The hotel is booked in Fiumicino as we were originally arriving late evening. I appreciate that the rules will more than likely change before June but would really like to have a plan or even a plan B in place.