mduffy1834

Go to thepointsguy.com - he just did an extensive article on all ports around the world.

We do the rapid test at Century Link Stadium in Fort Myers - free and quick.  You have to make a reservation a few days in advance, but it was easy peasy.

OP - look at Florida's dept of health site to find a drive in site near you.  Good luck

Thanks for the review - boarding on Sunday, fingers crossed.

Have a great next couple of days

wish they would extend this to my cruise - lol!  having to lug monitored tests to Venice/Trieste and then securing reliable wifi for test is going to be a pain.  But...................it will get done come hell or high water!

thought you were responsible for pre-cruise covid tests now?  not sure when that takes effect.  For my May cruise, I will do test 2 days prior.

Usually, they reimburse any port fees/taxes, but nothing else.  Any shore excursion booked through the ship would also be reimbursed.  Don't look for anything else.

Depends on the ship, location, and size of balcony.  We've had ottomans on a couple and none on several.  What ship are you on?

Love, love, love the sunset verandas!

You could get a (probably) balcony room that has a sleep sofa.  Twin beds pushed together to make large bed; sleep sofa approximately full/queen size.

If you need a higher toilet, you may need an accessible room - had one once (booked a balcony guarantee and was given a huge handicap accessible room)

follow up - can reservations be made before hand or do you have to wait until you board?

would like to do it for our party beforehand, but also would love to use the discount if I can

It won't show on your on-line reservation details, although you will see any onboard credit associated with it.  The invoice should have all that info.

We are currently booked on the Reflection TA - looking forward to our second TA.  I love the sea days - so relaxing and we had such beautiful weather.  Lots to do during the day, if that is your thing.  Check out our roll call for more info

Can't wait to read about your adventure................we have to wait until January to be on board the Odyssey.  Love Nachi - so glad it is still open.  Have a great cruise

lol.....I can read it, if I squint

Most carry ons are 21 or 22" so you should be ok

Did a mock booking - no option to pre-pay gratuities.  So, no, you probably can't use the fcc.  That would be too simple and convenient.  

Good luck

BTW - my mock booking was almost $3000 more that what I paid (FCC plus extra) for my 10 day Venice to Barcelona on the Star for next May.  Wow!!!!!

Going to summary on my cruise, one of the options is to pre-pay service charges. It shows after I did the booking.   Haven't done this yet but plan to do so as the cruise gets closer (May, 2022).

Would do a screen shot, but don't have that much technological expertise - lol

Thanks for the info - we are travelling with 2 other couples, but we are the only ones that are D+.  If we book in advance, will they credit us at dinner?  My group likes to book everything beforehand.

can you pre-book or do you need to wait until you board?

It depends on the ship and the staff at the specialty restaurant.

My hubby has worn a nice pair of shorts and nice shirt a couple of times - no problem.  But, he usually wears chinos and a nice shirt to these restaurants.

On one cruise, my brother in law was turned away wearing shorts - but they were well worn shorts and the top was a nice tshirt - lol!

Let him dress as he chooses - worst scenario would be that he needs to go back to your room to change.

or have the TA that booked it re-price it for you.  

We asked for an extension for 10/12/22 - repo from Boston to Fort Lauderdale.  First rep said ok, so we booked.  One week later, we were told no.......................  They gave us the full deposit towards at TA from Fort Lauderdale to Rome - good for us, bad for us........................Looking forward to the TA

Thanks for all the fantastic tips and suggestions.  

The TA has stops in the Canary Islands, Spain, France, Italy, debarking in Rome.  So, maybe no customs(?).

Think we will take to train from Roma Termini to Venice.  Will need to arrange transport to the train station in Rome, or we can take a taxi to the train station at the port and take the train directly to Termini and transfer to train to Venice.  I think time wise we will be ok.  I can book the train to Venice right now, but the local train from the port to Termini is not available to schedule right now.

In Venice, we will walk from the train station to the Hotel Arlecchino for one night.  It looks like a pretty easy walk from the train station and is right across the street from the People Mover.  We know the area from our last visit, so we are pretty comfortable.  Never done the People Mover before, but it should be ok.

Will check with our CC roll call to see if anyone is scheduling a transfer from the port to Rome.

Again, thanks for all the suggestions.  Any further input is always appreciated.

Thanks for the quick responses......we are actually on a TA on Celebrity, so we will be leaving from Fort Lauderdale and landing in Rome.  So, probably customs (?).  No big deal.

Leaning towards the train - think the station is near where we stayed before, which is convenient.

Can't wait to cruise again, and this will basically be 24 day cruise (on 2 ships/lines).

We will be debarking on Celebrity Reflection on 5/2/22.  We need to get to the airport or train station (still up in the air about that) to get to Venice for one night before we embark on NCL Star on 5/3/22.

Three questions................

1.  Air or train - flight is only one hour, but will cost about $150+ pp with luggage.  Train is 3 1/2 hours for about $75pp.  Anyone done both, or one with comments.  Train is at 11:50am; Plane is at about 1:00pm - are both doable? 

2.  Any hotel recommendation?  Maybe near train station if taking train or near airport (and train station that will take us into Venice for quick tour and dinner).

3.  Does Celebrity offer transfer from port to airport?  Can't find it on their website.

Thanks

We will be cruising on RCCL Reflection from Fort Lauderdale to Rome, transferring to Rome airport, flying to Venice for one night, then embarking on NCL Star on 5/3/22.

We have been to Venice once and absolutely loved it (land vacation).  We would like to stay somewhere near the airport (?) and train station into Venice.  

Once at the train station in Venice, we are pretty sure we can get around for a quick tour and dinner, then back to hotel.  We are not picky and are able to walk and carry luggage on our own if necessary.  Most of the hotels on this board are nearer to cruise port, which may also be an option if we can get there via land taxi or water taxi.

We stayed at the Carnival Palace Hotel on our last visit, which was lovely and convenient.  The tour that we took arranged for all our transportation to the airport so I have no idea what that would cost.  It was great on our morning flying home - private taxi right up to the hotel and dropped us off at airport.  Guess I didn't pay much attention to the comings and goings to see what would be convenient to the port area (wherever that may be in May 2022).

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

thanks

Update.................contacted the loyalty desk last week and explained my situation.  Rep put me on hold and came back and told me that the FCC would be extended until 10/31/22 so I could use on my 10/15/22 repo cruise that I had booked.  Tried to apply the FCC a few days later and kept getting an error message.  After several tries, I called the loyalty number again and explained once again what was going on.  Her response, after discussing with her supervisor, was that the first rep was wrong and they are not extending the FCC.  My best bet would be to wait and see if Celebrity does extend them or try to book a cruise in late September - although none really appeal to me at this time.  Ugh!!!!!  I'm soooooooooo done with this!