TheHawk1

This. I don't see how you could enjoy your day of touring knowing that you could possibly lose the only document that will get you back home. Hmm... dealing with a surly Italian policeman for not having ID vs not getting on the plane with no passport. Tough choice.

A passport is the most valuable document you own. It never leaves the ship safe (or hotel safe) when I'm traveling abroad. I will take my chances with a photocopy thank you..

Their website Helpdesk offered two suggestions for using North American credit cards, Nexi or Intesa San Paolo. I used the first one because it had the lower transaction fee. You could try the other one and see if that works?

Do you need more than one eSim card if you're traveling to multiple countries? Our cruise will be in Spain, France and Italy and then I'm flying to U.K. after the cruise. Will one card cover all those places?

There are a lot of recent online reviews that their customer service has gone way down in recent years and people are noticing a lot of incorrect transactions on their PayPal account. I tend to trust my credit card company more for online purchases.

Here's an update, in case anyone is checking this question in future searches. I emailed the Italian Ministry Helpdesk and they responded. There is an option on the payment screen to change the ecommerce provider before you process the credit card. I changed from the default setting to "Nexi", which is a Visa card provider and it worked. The instructions on the web site are not self-explanatory, but the option is there. Perhaps MamaLovesRome should update her otherwise excellent advice? I have my tickets now and won't have to stand in line!

Interested in how you completed the transaction online? Their web site won't take U.S. (or Canadian) credit cards and I don't use (or trust) PayPal.

Ugh. Thanks for the update.

Now if only that attitude would carry over to all of RCI's lines. Unfortunately, over on the Celebrity boards, the fashion police there would be having an absolute fit at even the hint of Celebrity dropping their "no shorts in the MDR" dress code. That's one of the reasons I still cruise mostly Royal.

The poor guy in shorts should be getting royalties for the number of times this photo has been used on these boards to illustrate how Royal no longer enforces a dress code in MDR. Which I support btw.

I disagree. Even though it was just a form letter, I was surprised to receive a "thank you for your business" from the CEO of Celebrity when I first started booking cruises. Quite a difference from my usual Royal Caribbean experience. Building relationships with your customers is the best way to keep them from looking elsewhere. I think the new head of Celebrity must have missed that class in business school.

None of those dates were available on the web site when I first posted my question. They must have just updated the site for the month of October. You're right about not being able to process a North American credit card. Tried two different ones. Have had no issues in the past with online ticket purchases for Vatican, Colosseum, etc. Don't know why the Italian government can't figure out how to make this work. Spent all this time waiting to buy tickets and now still have nothing.

There are two types of advance tickets you can purchase online… one for the 5 Euro entrance fee which, just came into effect this year as you said, and another one for a guided tour or self audio tour. However, the tour tickets are of no use unless you have the entrance ticket first. That’s the one I’m looking to book now.

It's odd because tickets for September were bookable back in August, but there is nothing for booking October now, even with just a couple weeks to go. I will be there on Oct. 5 and our ship leaves Oct. 1, so was hoping to book something in advance. I know we'll get in, but would prefer not to wait in line if I can avoid it.

I tried purchasing Pantheon advance tickets online for early October, through the official web site, to avoid having to line up for tickets when in Rome. For some strange reason, they are only selling tickets up to September 30, with no advance tickets for October or beyond available for sale. Just wondering if anyone has visited recently, e.g. in September, and could comment on how long the lines were at the Pantheon to purchase entrance tickets? There were many online comments during July and August of people waiting in the hot sun for over an hour to get a ticket. Hoping that has changed now that summer is over?

Yes, that's true. However, with Carnival in the Appetizers and Entrees section, there are 2-3 selections each that caught my attention almost every night... sometimes it would be difficult to choose. To be presented with that much variety on Celebrity would be a pleasant surprise.

Someone posted a recent SOTS Compass and it listed a show called “Perfect Couple Show”. I’ve never seen that before on Royal.

That’s correct. I couldn’t find much info on the actual Trenitala web site but found this article after a Google search when I noticed the button for Check In on the ticket email wasn’t active: https://help.raileurope.co.uk/article/43563-italian-regional-train-mandatory-check-in

Could I ask them to hold the pretentiousness while they're at it? Just call the food what it is please.

Trenitalia has changed their advance purchase policy for regional train tickets as of September 30, 2023. Regional tickets now require mandatory on-line check in on the day of travel. I only discovered this after I purchased the tickets on their web site. Since I do not plan on using my phone and paying international mobile rates, I have no way to validate the ticket on the day of travel on my cruise the first week of October. I pre-purchased tickets online last year with no issues, both the regional train to Rome in the morning and Frecce express the same day back to Civitavecchia. This worked out great. Now I've wasted 9 Euros for two advance tickets when I could have just purchased them at the train station on the day of travel.

I am also docking in La Spezia first week of October and noticed the ferry has a reduced schedule after Oct. 1. I'm sure it will be fine, but probably means you have to carefully plan your return route to get back to the ship on time.

On Oasis class ships, there are a number of two-top tables by the glass railing overlooking the other floors, that have some privacy and where you're not sitting shoulder to shoulder with other diners. I always request those, even if it requires an intervention with the dining room manager to ensure that's where I'm seated.

I would agree. Was on Wonder in Sept. 2022 and I thought the MDR food most nights was 8/10. Am going back on the Symphony this September and am now concerned by all the comments that the dining experience a year later won't be nearly as good. Yet the price is higher, so go figure.

The Rome in Limo website looks pretty self-explanatory. Using a Naples tour for exampe, you hire a minivan that holds up to 6 people for 600. As a couple, I would end up paying that full amount (essentially 300 per person) unless I can find 2-4 other people to join me and share in the cost. With Italy Tours, the cost is 100 per person and the company then waits until 6 people have booked to run the tour and each person is billed separately.

If there are only two people looking to book a tour, one difference I've noticed is that Rome in Limo charges you for the full cost of the tour (min. of 4 people, up to 8 based on the vehicle size) and then you need to find additional people on your own if you want to split the cost with others and reduce the per person price. Whereas ItalyTours will attempt to match you up with others looking for the same tour date and then charge each person individually. I've only used Italy Tours, but for that reason.