katsmom1

The Travelon crossbody bag I have is a little heavier than a normal crossbody bag but I can't feel feel the cable in it.

In this video you can see them painting people on 1m:11s:

 

 

I've read about Dollar Store but it seems to be something from America, I'm from Europe. :)

Sorry about that; I shouldn't have presumed that Dollar Stores were a common thing. I don't know if I'm going to buy any glow items ahead of time. I think I'll just make sure to wear something white. Then I'll "glow" without spending any money on it.

do they have someone painting your face etc. as well? Is it free of charge?

 

How much are the sticks? Any idea?

I would be surprised if they painted a person's face since, from what I've read, it begins later at night (10:30 or 11:00 p.m.) and is geared towards adults. There is no charge to go into the bar/nightclub since the only difference from any other night is the black-light. I don't know how much the glow items cost but they are probably a lot more expensive than the ones that can be purchased at the dollar store. If you do a search on cruise critic, you'll be able to find a bit more information about it.

One thing to keep in mind is that places that offer the discounted services don't automatically know you get a discount. I went to the spa, then looked at my bill the last day and the 10% wasn't included. So I called guest services, and they had to call up to the Spa for them to retrospectively apply the discount. So make sure you ask

Can a person get a receipt at the time of purchase to make sure that they were charged correctly and that the discount was reflected on the bill?

Scroll down to the bottom of the national park page and you'll see the trail map. Most of the coastal routes are still closed but things change: http://www.parco****onale5terre.it/sentieri_parco.asp?id_lingue=1

I got an error when I clicked on the link above, but I found the site you listed.

If I'm looking at it correctly, it looks like the only one of the four main coastal trails that is open is the trail from Vernassa to Monterosso.

Does anyone know which Cinque Terre trails are currently open? We will be in La Spezia next week and would like to hike one of the trails.

I have read Palma Nova is closest beach.

Is it easy to get a taxi back to port there?

Bathrooms, food, drink, chairs, umbrellas available??

Thanks

Kerri

Palma Nova is not the closest beach but its supposed to be one of the nicer beaches. The closest beach is Can Pere Antoni, which is only about 1 km (an easy walk) from the cathedral.

http://www.mallorca-beaches.com/can_pere_antoni_beach.htm

But...I have my own pet peeves. One is when I see people write "of" instead of "'ve", as in "should of" or "could of", rather than should've or could've.

That is a pet peeve of mine too. I've realized that, at least in the area I live, kids are no longer being taught sentence structure so they write what they hear instead of realizing that "of" is incorrect because its a preposition, not a verb such as the proper word "have". After reading and grading the umpteenth college freshman paper with this mistake, I sometimes want to pull my hair out (or have a strong drink:)).

Back on topic: I love the idea of using a pencil box for a first aid kit.

 

. and another question from one of the responses: what's the glow party?

 

A "glow party" (which is also called a white party) is where you wear all white and they sell glow stick jewelry and such and the have a black light dance party at one of the bars or clubs. I've read on cruise critic that some of the Royal Caribbean ships have it one night during the week.

What about the glow party? Would that be appropriate for preteens?

Instead of the train, you may want to look into a bus transfer to Rome. It would require less walking for your mom. I've been considering:

http://www.civitatours.com/en/roma-in-liberta.html

Their prices seem very reasonable, especially since it looks like the price includes round-trip. It leave Civitavecchia at about 9:45 a.m. and drops off near St. Peters. The time and drop-off location are the only hesitation for me because I want to get to Rome very early and I'm planning on being on the other side on Rome near the Colosseum. But if you are flexible on time and want to be near St. Peters, the Vatican, etc, this may be a good option for you.

I've read mixed reviews about their tours but read generally positive things about their "Rome on your own" bus transfers from Civitavecchia to Rome. The negative I read recently was about a couple being left behind in Rome because they were not at the meeting place at the scheduled time. But, if you make sure that you are on time, I don't see that being an issue. Check tripadvisor or cruise critic for reviews.

I think that the round trip shuttle for 5 Euro was a real bargain. Well organized. The Allure was docked very far from town. The shuttle left us near the Cathedral, was running continuously and the last one was at 2.30PM. It is an easy walk to the center.

We also walked back to the shuttle.

Just to clarify, did you mean that the last shuttle back to the ship was at 2:30? If so, would you happen to know how busy/crowded the shuttle got? I'm planning my activities and trying to figure out if its better to plan on getting the "next to last" shuttle back to the ship in case they get filled.

I use a closet hanging shoe holder, something sort of like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-Configurations-Organizer-20-Pocket-FG3F20DWNATUR/dp/B000JF5R3G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434068981&sr=8-1&keywords=Rubbermaid+Configurations+Shoe+Organizer&pebp=1434068990342&perid=7A1511352702408C9A1C

I like that this one can be used either hanging in a closet or hanging on a door.

I have something somewhat similar to this under-seater carry on:

http://www.amazon.com/Samsonite-Wheeled-Underseater-Small-Black/dp/B00F9KE5UC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1434030241&sr=8-2&keywords=under+seat+carry+on

Its not very big but can fit a couple of days of clothes in it.

They have separate adult and children classes. If I remember correctly the cost was $22 for the adult class. We did it and it was so much fun. It is not at all "just learning how to ice a cupcake." We made the cheeseburger and fries, while other classes made the dog. I did see some adults helping the children in the classes, but I do not know if they had to pay or not.

Yes, for the adult class the cost is $22 and the children are charged $15.

I know that Royal Caribbean sells gift certificates but I'm really surprised that they don't sell gift cards, the kind you can easily pick up at a store. I'd think that it would be a good money maker for them, especially around the holidays. The easier it is for someone to buy a gift card, the more they'd sell. I also think that people would buy more things on the ship (I know I would) if they had a gift card "burning a hole in their pocket", so to speak.

Yes, the order did affect my experience. The very first cruise we took was a 100 passenger Windjammer Barefoot cruise. The ship was very small, had sails and had the look of a pirate ship. There was only one place to eat and drink on the ship, and only a few food choices. The cabin was so small that all that was in there was a full size bunk, a porthole, a few shelves, and a bathroom so tiny that there was no separate shower (the whole bathroom was the shower, and everything got wet). There was no tv, no phone, and it was before there was internet. But we went to wonderful islands and the whole cruise was extremely relaxing. The next cruise I went on was on Voyager of the Seas which, after my first cruise, seemed like the largest, most luxurious cruise ever. While I thoroughly enjoyed my first cruise while I was there, after going on Voyager and other big ships, I don't know if I'd ever go back to something so small or lacking amenities.

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I will get some of the apps mentioned. I also love the idea of using a PDF of a google map on my phone.

I am going with two other ladies and we need the beds separated. Are the beds normally twin or do they have them put together? When I cruised on Princess we had a choice of how are beds were arranged before we arrived on the ship. How does RC do this?

You can go online, under your cruise information, and select that you want the beds apart.

I'm just curious. When you're in port, which do you tend to use, paper maps or map apps? I'd going to be in the Mediterranean (Allure) in a few weeks and would love to avoid having to buy several paper maps, but I'd having trouble finding good map apps that work offline. If anyone has any recommendations for either good offline map apps or even good inexpensive paper maps, the info would be greatly appreciated.

I'm just curious about whether there is anywhere on Allure to get crushed ice (or even pellet ice) on the Allure. I'm not planning on getting a drink package or buying many beverages, so I thought that having crushed ice in my lemonade and ice tea might make them a little bit more enjoyable.

For those who have taken the adult class, do you think that you learned enough to be able to duplicate your efforts back home? Some of the designs (frog, hamburger) seem pretty detailed.

I would question the TA about the price difference between the $1000 that they are quoting you compared to $200 that you are seeing on the website. If you haven't passed your final payment date yet, you should be able to cancel your current booking and then rebook the cabin that you want.

The following is the link to the current Cinque Terra train schedule between the villages.

http://www.cinqueterre.eu.com/images/stories/Cinque-Terre-train-timetable.pdf

Thank you for the responses. It makes me feel better that its not unusual wording.