bryan.l.dawson

It is not an uncommon request but you should make sure you have the agreement in advance from your cruise line to do it.

 

 

 

Also -- don't forget to bring your passports with you as they are required to be presented upon check-in at hotels in Italy.

Yes this was definitely the case!

As an update to this in case someone reads it later.

We paid $65 to royal Caribbean back in March to get the downlink approval emailed me to us to get off in Rome and come back the next day in Livorno.

I was assured that the crew would be informed of our request approval and that’s what I was paying for.

When I showed it to guest services on board they looked at me like they had no idea what I was talking about and kept assuming we wanted to get off for good in Rome. All the paperwork they sent to our stateroom gave the impression they though we were NOT returning.

Our stateroom steward was shocked that we weren’t getting back on board. We made every effort to clarify to him and his boss(just happened to see him in the hall at the same time) that we were returning the next day in Livorno.

I took the paperwork back down to guest services and they said they had to call their own manager to make sure it was fine. The manager said it should be okay and that the security team would be informed. We had to leave our passports with guest services the night before Rome and pick them up before we departed in Rome.

The security guy saw our cards were deactivated and thought he needed to take our sea pass cards. I said that we were getting back on board tomorrow and we needed the cards to get through security and that we should have new ones waiting on us (this is what guest services told us). He called because he had not been informed of our situation and after a quick call he handed me back my card and wished us good luck.

Now. Rome. Was totally f’ing worth it.

Because of our new flexibility and prepurchasing of tickets we were able to quickly get into Rome and headed into the colosseum and went to the lasagna church before walking to the pantheon, having a look around, into another church to see Michelangelo’s Moses and then walking to the Vatican. We had reservations at 3 for the Vatican and got the audio tour. The Vatican was not as packed as i had been led to believe but still very busy. We were able to check out a few areas and then decided to make our way to the Sistine chapel( our goal) we stayed in the Sistine chapel for about 45 minutes and just took it all in.

Afterwards (while everyone else was headed back to civitavecchi) we went to this awesome pizza place with a 30 minute wait(was insanely well worth the wait) got amazing gelato and went to check out the trevi fountain before heading Back to our hotel.

We walked 13.5 miles that day. Never felt rushed though and got to have an awesome dinner surrounded by friendly Romans and woke up the next day refreshed and headed via train to florence. The train was about $150usd for the three of us. And we got into florence before the people from our boat could get there so we took in the sights in relative comfort and again got amazing gelato from the Lindt store near the Duomo.

Afterwards we took the train to Pisa because my son wanted to eat pizza in front of the leaning tower. And then headed back to Livorno to meet the boat.

We took a taxi from the Livorno train station and made it through almost all security and when we told them we left yesterday and came back. They had no friggin idea what we were talking about. And again they had to call and get new sea pass cards made for us. They were not waiting for us and no one was informed to expect it like we were told. But they did their best to listen when we had to explain it (which we did a few times) and were impressed that we made it back to the boat. Lol.

So all in all if you want to do it. It seems possible. Just bring your paperwork and be calm when explaining it. It all worked out and none of them are mad at us for leaving. And then night we were gone was comped gratuity wise which basically covered the extra fee we paid.

It was 100% worth the extra 15 minutes total of hassle with security to get it done.

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I’m going to investigate notifying RCI

It is doable as a couple did this on a cruise I was on - just make sure to inform your cruise line. I'm not sure what you mean by "taking an hour train in the morning to Florence" as Florence is about 1.5 hours away by train. You could take an early morning train and be in Florence before the cruise hoards arrive. :)

Yes you’re right. But the idea of being their early is very alluring. So would I just inform them once on board?

We have a cruise coming up this summer and on 19th we are in Rome and 20th we are in Florence .

Since neither port is directly at those cities we thought about just not getting back on board on the Rome day and taking an hour train in the morning to Florence . Then heading back on board our ship at the end of the Florence day.

Is this a bad idea? It is a shorter train trip over (vs Livorno to Florence)and would give us the ability to see Rome in the evening. However I’m worried about the not getting back on board for one night. Would the cruise ship be upset with us or fine us?

We could secure lodging for the night in Rome and I am aware of the extra cost but the freedom would be worth it.

Where are you flying to and what time is the earliest flight? I have numerous friends who fly to Scotland on the same day but they never go for anything too early. Technically, yes the ship docks and we all disembark early (but not 6:00 a.m. if you are on P&O). However in recent years we've been delayed for a number of reasons including thick fog in the English Channel, a technical problem and heavy seas. In two cases this was by less than a couple of hours but on one occasion it was late morning when we arrived.

 

If we're getting the train back as we do sometimes (I don't fly) we book the 9:46 but we know there may be an occasion when we miss it and have to buy tickets on the day. If you're prepared to chance that, book an early flight

The flight would dock in Amsterdam and Fly back to the states.

One of the flights Im looking at leaves at 9:30AM from southampton, but doesn't leave until the NEXT day at 5pm from amsterdam. We figured we could book a hotel for the night in Amsterdam and make it like a little quick stop during the 22+hour layover. So worst case scenario it would seem that we may miss the first part of the flight and have a day to figure out how to get to amsterdam to get home.

but this information about disembarkation is really helpful.

Stax of folks fly out same-day as disembarkation - most of them via London's Heathrow and Gatwick.

And everyone flying out of Southampton would do likewise unless they had a very early flight or wanted a post-cruise break.

 

Yes, most ships arrive in Southampton around 4,30am to 6am, while passengers are still in the land of Nod.

But disembarkation is normally from around 7am unassisted (haul your own bags from the cabin), with the first tranche of assisted disembarkations usually at 7.30.

 

Yes, it's about 20 minutes to Southampton airport by taxi , but add another ten minutes during commuter time.

Taxi about £22 from the rank at the pier, or about £18 pre-booked. (by bus or train are also options but for most folk the time and hassle isn't worth saving mebbe £10 - £15).

 

There are no long-haul flights out of Southampton, just domestic and European flights.

For long-haul from Southampton you'd need to go via a European hub like Paris or Amsterdam.

Because it's a small one-terminal airport & short-haul flights, last check-in at the airport for most airlines is 35 minutes or 45 minutes ahead of flight time. You can check-in on-line & cut it tighter, but since you'll have luggage you'll have to meet that deadline for the luggage-drop. No long walks, usually very quick thru security.

 

So ignoring any major problem like a very late docking you can feel pretty confident with a flight time after 9.30am, or about 8.45am with unassisted disembarkation.

 

JB :)

The flight I was looking at does dock in Amsterdam, and we would only have Carry on backpacks so that helps a little bit.and wouldn't leave until 9:30AM, might be cutting it close, but as I posted in a different reply the connecting flight doesn't leave until the next day at 5pm, so we have a day to figure out how to get to amsterdam if we miss the first flight. either by train, car, or paying the exorbitant fees to fly there....

The risk seems potentially moderate. but the reward would mean that we get to spend another 7 hours in amsterdam versus taking the later flight out of southampton (leaves at 5-ish pm)

not sure what P&O is, it would be through Royal Caribbean. Thank you for all the information!

We usually book our departure flights a day after the cruise has left, but I wanted to know from those that have flown out of Southampton Airport (Not London or Heathrow) the same day as arriving.

What the earliest flight departure time you would recommend for a boat arriving at 5:30AM (likely cleared for passengers at 6:00) if the passengers carry off their own luggage (backpacks) and grab a taxi from the port?

Again this is for the Airport that is 20 minutes away, not in London.

Thanks again everyone!

Northstar is the ONLY vendor who does the extended trekks. Did you happen to look at the level 3 booking independently? Maybe a little cost savings booking direct. That extra hour is significant- 2 hours is too short of a time in my opinion. You barely get out on the ice, when you have to start heading back. Biggest problem is the group only going as fast as the slowest person. The level 3 tours- mostly attract similar trekking people, with the extra costs weeding out some people.

 

 

 

Just a suggestion. When I go out glacier trekking- I go for at least 4 hours, and that time simply flies by. :)

Haha. We might be near those slowest. In shape but not hikers really. Some good points raised about time and limits.

It seems like it'll be done by 530 at the latest. And a 20 minute cab ride to mendenhall.

So if the shuttles stop around 7 then we might try the hike (if we are feeling up for it.) good to have all the info about the park not closing. But what is a CTA?

And thank you budget queen. You are a godsend on these boards

We booked it through the cruise line. But I think north star is the vendor. It is level 2. And it dawned on me as I clicked submit if it would be possible to just go from excursion point to the glacier. Good to know about calling or arranging a cab in advance.

Our US att service should be fine in Alaska right?

We are sailing to Alaska this July and we will be in Juneau from 12-9pm

We have a glacier trek scheduled at 1pm. It says it will last four hours. So worst case scenario we are back at the port around 530.

1. If we take the shuttle or a taxi to mendenhall, would this leave us enough time to visit around and possible hike to the falls?

2. If yes to 1. How hard would it be to get a taxi back to the port around 8pm? This would be after the visitor center closes.

Same. Got the extra $100 and booked last week. Same price and cabin

Golf shorts

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Bowties

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3 horribly long days. :)

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Just called and checked through some of the agencies on cruise critic here and their prices were the exact same as the carnival website. I mean down to the cent. Zero discount. I'm booking my next cruise on my own. Can't say this is typical as I hadn't ever called a TA before today.

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