claireruth

47 minutes ago, PhotoFlo said:

We will each have one 25" rolling luggage and backpack.  Are there steps or escalators to get to and from the platform at Termini or Civi?  And once we arrive in Civi, is it easy to get to the port? 

It's a flat walk at Termini, but it was pretty far.  The platform for the Civi train was one of the last ones, so give yourself plenty of time to get there.  When we got off the train in Civi we were on the street side, so that was easy.  There are buses, shuttles, and taxis at the train station that will take you to the port...I don't remember if they were $4 or $6 per person, but we opted to walk thinking it was close, but it was really far, especially with luggage.  I don't recommend it.  We took the shuttle to the train after the cruise.  Leaving Civi the train we needed was on the far side of the station, but there was an elevator to go down to a walkway underneath to get to the correct platform.

There definitely are morning trains because we took one two weeks ago from Termini to Civi.  I think they left around every 30 minutes.  We had to be out of our Airbnb at 10, and from there we took an Uber to the train station, got our tickets, and made the 10:42 train.  I think the next was at 11:12 or something like that.

I've read on here to download the app before we get there, which I've done.  If we have the guided tour do I need to download the audio guide that's in the app, or will the tour cover everything that's in the audio guide?

Thanks, @edinburgher!  Now that you mention the sail-in I remember reading somewhere that it's quite a sight to see, so I appreciate the reminder!

Someone sailing on the Grandiosa a few weeks ago graciously posted bar menus for me when my husband and I were deciding which drink package to get.  She shared this picture from one of the bar menus, but from what I could tell they were the same at all the bars.

Our Mediterranean cruise has a stop in Valletta, Malta, and we were wondering about doing a boat tour of some sort.  It's in mid-March so I'm not sure it would be warm enough for a snorkeling/swimming type tour so more of a tour where we'd see Malta from the water.  Curious if anyone has a recommendation for one they've done and enjoyed?  Also would we need to book one before we go, or are there ones you can just walk on once you're there? 

How funny, I had just said to my husband this morning that I wondered if our only breakfast option would be the buffet on our upcoming Med cruise.  Good to know!

I can't find it in my YouTube history, but I know I watched a video where the woman showed the main dining room menu each night.  Maybe try searching there?

3 hours ago, fbgd said:

 

Besides the cringe factor of treating your kids, literally, as second class citizens, usually all passengers on the reservation have to be in the same classes of travel, same flights etc. Is there a separate PNR for your children's reservation?

 

It is certainly possible that the agent was correct. Some passengers, typically those with status or on more flexible or full fare tickets, may be able to pre-assign seats at booking or further ahead. Booking codeshares, consolidator tickets and such can add extra complexities that may prevent certain services being fulfilled.

They're getting to go to Europe and on a Mediterranean cruise for spring break as teenagers...I don't feel bad for them that they aren't in business class with us!  

I've never had a problem booking code share seats on other airlines, so I was surprised this was giving me trouble.  Thanks for being judgmental instead of helpful though.

We're flying on ITA from MIA to FCO in March.  My husband and I are in business class, and our kids are in regular seating (they're 14 and 17).  My husband and I have seat assignments, but we can't seem to add seats for the kids on their website.  Some seats are taken, so I presume there's a way to do it.  My husband tried calling yesterday and was told that you can only reserve seats 24 hours before the flight, but since some seats are occupied already we wonder if the person he spoke with was wrong.  Should we just try again and hope we get someone that knows how to do it?  We booked through Delta, and Delta said we have to do seats through ITA.  We are using the ITA confirmation number, not the Delta.

When I try to do it online, this error message comes up which has to be something wrong with their website:

5 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

This is more appropriate for the Cruise Air board, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/77-cruise-air/

 

It sounds like you have booked a "codeshare". You booked through Delta, but the flight is actually operated by ITA. This means you are subject to ITA's rules, not Delta's. ITA may have rules on paying extra for early seat selection...I don't know.

 

Usually, you need the ITA booking number (a 6 character identifier for your reservation) (NOT Delta's, but ITA...you may have call Delta, or dig around in the Delta booking and/or website to find it). Once have it, go to the ITA website and follow directions there on finding out your flight status, using the ITA record number and your last name.

Oh, thanks!  I didn't realize there was a board for that...I'll repost there.

Yes, it is a codeshare, and we have both booking numbers, but I keep getting that error I included in my post.  I can pull up the flight, I just get that error when I try to do anything.

We're flying on ITA from MIA to FCO in March.  My husband and I are in business class, and our kids are in regular seating (they're 14 and 17).  My husband and I have seat assignments, but we can't seem to add seats for the kids on their website.  Some seats are taken, so I presume there's a way to do it.  My husband tried calling yesterday and was told that you can only reserve seats 24 hours before the flight, but since some seats are occupied already we wonder if the person he spoke with was wrong.  Should we just try again and hope we get someone that knows how to do it?  We booked through Delta, and Delta said we have to do seats through ITA.

When I try to do it online, this error message comes up which has to be something wrong with their website:

ATL and DFW are two airports that I will never have less than an hour layover...I don't know why they even suggest flights with short layovers at either of those airports.

Hi all, I was wondering what time we should expect to be kicked off the ship on our disembarking day. 🙂  This is our first time on a cruise where people get on/off at each stop, so I wasn't sure how it worked compared to everyone embarking and disembarking at the same time.  Our embarkation city is Rome if that makes a difference.

I've been curious about this, too, if there are any testing requirements required before boarding.  Our cruise is in March, and I'd rather not waste precious pre-cruise time in Rome having to get covid tests done.  I wonder if it says in the check-in documents anywhere.  I haven't done mine yet as I'm waiting on my passport renewal.

Semi-related, are masks still required anywhere in Europe?

Hello!  We will be in Barcelona from 9a to 6p on our cruise stop.  I figured we'd start our day at Sagrada Familia as it's the top thing we all want to do there.  On their website the first tour available is 9:45...is that doable if we get off the ship at 9 and take a taxi there?  The next after that is 10:30.  Also, does anyone know approximately what taxi fare would be for that?  Would we be better off taking the metro?  TIA!

7 hours ago, mnpurple said:

We were in Malta recently and just hired a couple taxis for our group who helped us tour the area (18-24 year olds in our group). We went to Blue Grotto, which I highly recommend with teens. We took awhile for lunch, so didn't have much time for Mdina, but we did see it briefly. You can customize where you want to go and it was not too expensive.

@mnpurple is it worth going to Blue Grotto if the weather isn't going to be warm?  We'll be there in mid-March, so I presume it will be on the colder side.  We live in AZ, so generally anything below 70 degrees is on the cold side for us. 🙂

How did you make the taxi arrangements?  Are they waiting outside the port, or did you have to coordinate it ahead of time?  I like this idea for sure.

3 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

@claireruthJust spoke to a server in Master if the seas pub & she told me all the drinks offerings on the bars are the same (apart from YC & buffet). That is because there are no cocktails or champagne in the buffet. 
So…..that ends my pub crawl! 😅😂

The YC has premium level drinks as standard rather than ‘Easy’. 

@ConnieTact I was wondering if that was the case as the most recent menu you posted seemed the same as a previous one.  I'm going to show your post to my husband and see what he thinks.  I so appreciate you taking the time to do that for me!! 🙂

How long was the Malta tour you did?  If you were back on the ship for lunch, it must have just been the morning?  We'd like to see Mdina while we're there, but our two teenage sons will be along and not sure they'd be as interested.

Thank you so much for the drink menus!!  Life has gotten in the way, so I haven't been on the boards to follow along on your trip!!  I saved the pictures to show my husband so we can figure out which package to get.  Looks like you're having a great time!

Are drink package prices the same when you get on the ship as they are if you purchase online ahead of time?  We have $400 OBC, so I was wondering about waiting to get it once we're on the ship and put that towards it.

On 1/9/2023 at 9:05 AM, Nunagoras said:

A good start point in this subject to consider is reading this official EU website right away:

 

Guide to VAT refund for visitors to the EU (europa.eu)

 

Do note though that; each country will apply this regulation its own way. If you want more specific information on other people's experiences, I encourage you to submit a post on CC ports of call section where a larger audience than what the relatively small CC MSC boards has will probably help you. To consult the countries in questions official authorities websites could to be handy as well.

 

Hope to have helped a bit!...

Thank you so much for this link!  I will read through it and see what it says.  Also one of the port boards is a good idea...I wasn't really sure where was the best spot to post originally.

13 hours ago, Stockjock said:

My GF didn't want to mess w/it further, but I mailed the two receipts to two different addresses, one in Poland and the other in Slovenia.  I think postage cost me about $2.65 per letter, but she got back $60-something dollars.
 

This is good to know.  We fly in and out of Rome, and I was reading somewhere that airport can be a real mess, so just in case I run out of time to wait in a line I'm glad there's a mail-in option.  Thanks so much!

16 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

Thanks Claire

Yes, I will post the drinks menus for you. We’ll be in YC but I’m sure we will be out and about in the rest of the ship too! 
It’s always hard to know what to do regarding drinks as sometimes we haven’t broken even! Is there anything you particularly like to drink? 

I know, and since we'll be off the ship most days and there's just one sea day that makes it hard to decide which to get.  We like wine and cocktails generally, so I'm mostly curious about prices of those to determine which drink package would be best.  We also have a total of $400 onboard credit, so we could also use that towards drinks instead of buying a package.

Hi there!  I'm hoping to shop for some luxury goods (purses, perfumes, and possibly shoes) while on a Mediterranean cruise in March.  I'm just curious how the VAT refund works.  Do I need to make any purchases in the city where we get on and off the cruise ship since it's my understanding you get the VAT refund at the airport on your way out of Europe, or since all the countries we're stopping in are EU does it not matter where I buy the stuff?

Also kind of related, are prices pretty standard across countries for brands like Gucci, Chanel, and Dior?  Or would I get better prices on Chanel and Dior in France and Gucci in Italy?

Excited to follow along!  We're on the Grandiosa for spring break in March.  Would you mind posting drink menus?  We're trying to decide which alcohol package to get.  Since we won't be on the ship a ton we aren't sure if it's worth the top package or the bottom or middle would be sufficient.