jslev9

The Mrs. and I have a pretty varied eating schedule so it isn't uncommon to have early or late dinners, just depending on what we're doing that day. That said, we're being a bit indecisive as we think about making dinner reservations for our first VV sailing. Is there any noticeable difference/recommendation between eating early and seeing the second showing of a performance or seeing the first showing and then doing a late dinner?

My wife is sailing with a four-cabin bachelorette party on the Gem in mid-February and I've been roped in as the unofficial travel agent. The bride-to-be *really* wants to do Teppanyaki one night so I know I'll need to book it as soon as reservations open on 10/19 but I can't figure out what time they open. Is it midnight EDT? Thanks in advance!

I'll also be on the same sailing. Got an email from HAL ~ a week ago that our check-in time had been assigned and our boarding passes were ready. Got another email a couple days ago that our boarding time had changed (moved one group/20 minutes later) so be sure to remember that it can change up until the day of embarkation!

Thanks, everyone! We opted to each make a reservation our our cruise reservation for the same time and we'll go to PG once we board on embarkation day to ensure we can get sat at the same table.

My wife and I are sailing with my in-laws on the Eurodam later this month. We're booked in two cabins and all four of us have HIA. We're looking do redeem our free speciality dining portion of HIA together at Pinnacle Grill but can't figure out the best way to make the reservation in advance of embarkation. Should we each make a reservation on our own cruise reservation and then go to Pinnacle as soon as we embark and ask to sit together? Or should I book a table for four on my cruise reservation and then figure out the refund after the fact (since it the website requires payment in advance for those who aren't redeeming a HIA entitlement)?

Care to share the number to the inventory department?

@victory2020 - availability will depend on if you're flying out the same day that your cruise returns to Barcelona (when there will be a mass of people all trying to get tested at the same time) or if you're at an off-peak time. For example, my wife and I are on the Carnival Pride's May 19th sailing that returns to Barcelona on May 29th. We booked an airport test a couple weeks ago (when Carnival said it would cost $100 to test at the port). Looking at the availability now, there are zero appointments available on May 29th between 8am - 11am (when most people flying out the same day would need to be tested). You can look at availability at: https://flycovidtestcenter.com/en/book-appointment/

Carnival Corp. built the new terminal so it's open to all eight of Carnival's lines that sail to Barcelona (especially important since six of Carnival's lines used Barcelona as a home port for some or all of the year when the new terminal opened in 2018). This is actually Carnival Corp.'s second terminal they own in Barcelona. Source: https://www.ship-technology.com/news/carnival-opens-cruise-terminal-port-barcelona-spain/

Airbnb Experiences looks like it has a bunch of options, most are highly recommended. Here are the first five I found: https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/804024 https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/934834 https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/141985 https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/52965 https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/123725

I think we're on your sailing, got the call, and debated the same thing. We ended up deciding against it because of how port heavy the sailing is -- yes, there are three days at sea but there are seven days that are *full* days in port. We felt like we'll be doing so much sightseeing that we'll be exhausted when we get back on board so we couldn't justify the pricy upgrade. If this was a Caribbean cruise, though, I think it'd be a different story.

I booked a one-way ticket (used frequent flyer miles to fly to Barcelona and Fly2Fun on the return back to the USA). I booked it online without any issues.

Thanks, @SoccerMom#3 and @erby2283! I bought tickets as soon as they went on sale this AM -- can't wait to see it a month from now!

For those of you who did the "Best of Rome & The Vatican" tour, did you do the optional Colosseum add-on? Part of me really wants to see the inside of the Colosseum but the other part knows it'll be a huge chunk of time to get through the security and entry lines, taking time away from other things we could be visiting.