jerseygirl3

8 hours ago, Pomc99 said:

Was this the bridge that was too low to allow larger cruise ships access to the port of Baltimore?
 

If so, build a new bridge taller to allow the larger cruise ships out of Baltimore. 

I'm sure that, given the fact that at least 6 people are missing, their thoughts are with those poor souls and their families, and not building a higher bridge for cruise ships🤦🏻‍♀️

So when we go to Rome next year, we will be spending 3 precruise days in Rome.  Since we've seen most of the sites in previous visits, we considered doing the high speed train to Salerno and then the ferry to Positano or Sorrento.  Given that it'll be October, we're concerned about the seas impacting the ferry schedule.  So we're thinking of switching to a day trip to Bologna.  Thoughts?  Any input on switching Bologna for the Amalfi Coast area?  I know Amalfi is beautiful, but I'm thinking logistically. 

On 2/21/2024 at 11:34 AM, euro cruiser said:

Also, be sure to check both high speed train operators to find the best combination of timing and pricing for your trip.

 

You can save quite a lot on the price of the tickets if you purchase in advance but note that discounted tickets are difficult or impossible to exchange or get a refund on if you change your mind later.  Consider, for example, if if was pouring down rain on the day you planned to go to the coast.  Would you still go?  If so, saving the money with the advance purchase ticket may make sense for you.  If not, you might want to wait and pay the higher price but preserve your flexibility.  It is extremely unlikely that these trains would sell out, the worst thing that is likely to happen is that you can't get the class you want, or you can't get seats together.

 

If you do purchase in advance, buy directly from the train operators (links below), not from third party sales sites.  Also note that there is no financial benefit to purchasing both tickets from one operator, so find the two best train times for you, regardless of who runs them.

 

EN - Trenitalia

 

Italo, italian high-speed train | Book no service fee | italotreno.it

 

For the longest possible day on the coast, you would take the 6:00 Italotreno from Rome Termini to Salerno.  This allows you to catch the first ferry from Salerno to Positano at 8:40, arriving just before 10 AM.

 

At the other end of the day, assuming you've moved on from Positano to some of the other villages, the last ferry from Amalfi to Salerno departs at 19:10 and arrives at 19:45, which would allow you to get the 21:28 Italotreno back to Rome.

 

Of course there are earlier return options, but those are the two that give you the longest day on the coast, about twelve hours.

Thank you so much for that info.  I will print it out!  

On 2/21/2024 at 10:26 AM, cruzsnooze said:

Insurance was what you needed and you got it. My point is and was that not every one needs it. Check out what you may already have before you may the decision.

  I hope you've recovered and are looking forward to many more cruises. 

Thank you.  I have recovered as well as can be expected.  Fortunately those who survive a brainstem stroke (according to my neurologist, the survival rate is quite low...approx. 5%) typically only suffer from lifelong balance issues.  That is my only lingering problem.  I just take my time and am careful.  I did a TA from Rome this past October (a bit challenging, but I felt a sense of accomplishment having done it) and we just got back from 14 days on a Caribbean cruise.  I won't let this hold me back.  Covid already stole too many travel years, I don't want to give up anymore.  At the age of 68, I know my traveling years are becoming more and more limited with each passing birthday!LOL

I think people are confusing rhinovirus and RSV.  Although they share some similarities, Rhinovirus is typically nothing more than a cold, except for people who are very immunocompromised (i.e., cancer patients).  RSV is a more serious illness, especially for very young children and the elderly.  

1 hour ago, time4u2go said:

This is so true.  People should first check to see what their existing medical insurance covers before deciding anything about buying additional insurance.  I suspect that many people overinsure.

Most health insurance does not cover you out of the country. We always get travel insurance. Last year we were due to leave on a European cruise, very pricey as it included a precruise stay in Italy, a 6 day European cruise,followed by a transatlantic cruise. One week before departure I had a massive brainstem stroke. Out of nowhere. No known health issues except very mild hypertension controlled by med. Hospitalized for a week and subsequent hospitalization for closure of a hole between the chambers of my heart (apparently born with it but never knew, no symptoms). Thankfully we were fully reimbursed by our travel insurance. Just thankful it didnt happen when we were in the middle of the Atlantic on our way back to the States. 

23 hours ago, cruisekitty22 said:

Just read celebrity  will let   kids under 16 in  the Solarium  on cold itineraries from 5-7  pm!  Thoughts on this??  To  me, it defeats the purpose of the Solarium! There goes the peace and quiet! 

This could quickly go down the rabbit hole. Who determines the weather is too cold. A lot of Alaskan sailings are quite warm during the summer months. We rarely use the solarium, esp at that time frame,so I really don't care. Imust see this ooening a can if worms. 

16 hours ago, marazul said:

@jerseygirl3

Well, it can be done easily.  There are frequent high speed trains from Rome that take 1.5 hours.  The ferry pier is by Piazza della Concordia, about a 10 minute walk away from the train station.  If you work the connections right, you could be in Positano by 10 am. Spend time there and then take the ferry to Amalfi if you wish. Then ferry to Salerno and back by train.  You can easily be back in Rome by 7 or 8 pm.  It is a long day, but it avoids all the road traffic if going by car.  So, why not?  

Thank you for that info!  Really appreciate it!

15 hours ago, euro cruiser said:

When is your TA?  It's an easy day trip, after all you can nap on the way down and back if you need to.  I don't know if I would bother if your TA is deep into November, much along the coast will be closed down by then.  However, if it's an earlier crossing that would allow you to make this day trip in late October, go for it.

Our TA starts Oct 22 so this would be a couple of days prior 

8 hours ago, Lost in Italy said:

As we will be flying into Bologna for cruise out of Ravenna, I am seeking hotel recommendations for Bologna. Thinking of booking near Piazza Maggiore.  Also interested in walking food tour. 

Hotel Cavour. We were booked but had to cancel one week prior due to medical emergency, but my  friends stayed there and loved it. They also said it was a great location and rooms verynice. 

We will be in Rome next year for 3 nights prior to boarding a TA.  We've been to Rome several times, so we are considering a day trip to Positano.  We'd most likely take the high speed train to Salerno and then the ferry to Positano.  To anybody who has done this as a day trip, was it doable?  Exhausting?  Not recommended?Thanks!

10 hours ago, Ethanol95 said:

That’s what I’m saying. It may be that she might have her plans switched up and not do her normal summer Europe season. 

We just booked the Odyssey TA from Rome October 2025.  So it's definitely doing a summer in Europe that year.  

On 12/6/2023 at 6:32 PM, Cabana Girl said:

We are still having a random doggie cough, but not much. It is possible that the 2nd dog coughed today!  Ugh. Overall it is still a possibility that we can go if these two super healthy knuckleheads will stop with the random coughs!
 

We booked thru an agent and it is apparently part of a group booking. It is very hard to contact the agent and only thru email. Never again.  Talking to RCCL loyalty desk and group bookings….there may have been some possibility of a resolution if we booked directly with RCCL.  We’ll never know. 

Have your dogs been seen by a vet?  BTW, my travel insurance covers not just family members, but also family pets if they are sick or suddenly pass before our travel.  I had no idea that our plan covered this; I found it quite by accident and, thankfully, have not had to use it for the dogs.  I'm the one who got sick and had to cancel a very last minute transatlantic cruise last year (stroke) and the day before we cruised this past Feb, we had to cancel when hubby got Covid.  

Good luck!

15 hours ago, PAllinson said:

We booked a cruise 1/21/23 on the Infinity, leaving Barcelona on 12/9/23 and used Flights by Celebrity to provide our air on KLM. Today at 1PM I received notification from KLM that our flight from IAD to Barcelona was cancelled, Flights by celebrity was unable to find any flights to take the place of the cancelled flight. I then called KLM and they found a connection flight from DCA to JFK to Barcellona and booked the 4 of us on the flights. When I wnet tto the airline website to fill in the passport information and obtain seats, I could only get 3 of the 4 seats  on the DCA to JFK portion as the flightg was oversold by 2 people. I am trying to drive to JFK and lose the DCA to JFK portion but so far no luck, being told that we have to fly out of the washington area airorts and not JFK since our initial ticket was out of IAD.  Any help and suggestions appreciated

Celebrity Air screwed up our flights 2 years in a row. One year at 3 weeks prior to flight Philly to Rome they cancelled my husband and I ( we had booked Business Class). Worst part was they never notified us. A friend questioned me if we had cancelled our flight because our seats were now showing as a available (they were seated right behind us). . It was a nightmare getting it straightened out. But the following year, because of what had happened the previous year, I kept an eye on our flight. One week prior to flying i saw they changed my seat from row 3 to row 1 and cancelled my husband entirely!  Celebrity was useless in helping us. Both these flights were on American Airlines. We wound up having to drive to the Philadelphia airport to get  it straightened out. The flight was oversold so we had to change and fly a day earlier, which wasn't the end of the world, but it did mean an extra night hotel. And we had  to alter our plans for my Mom's caretaker arrangements since my Mom had Alzheimer's and my husband and I lived with her and took care of her. Despite better pricing it wasnt worth the aggravation and havent booked through cruiseline since. 

14 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Having lost our 17 year old Coton de Tulear just a couple of months ago, we know how upsetting this is and hope that all will work out for your dogs. Is there any possibility of hiring a dog sitter? 

I'm so sorry about the loss of your Coton. We have 2 Cotons. Tiki will be 14 in March and Coco Chanel is 11. I dread the day we have to say goodbye. I could never leave one of them if they were sick. 

We have a policy that includes cancellation in the event of a pet's illness. 

I will be on a Celebrity cruise next month. I know I can book a Royal Caribbean cruise while onboard. But can I purchase a Next Cruise Certificate for Royal Caribbean to be used on a future, as of yet unnamed, cruise?

We already booked the Connie TA from Rome 10/31/2025

Just now, Maid Marion 2 said:

Hi,

 

We were in cabin 6905 on Celebrity Infinity.  This is directly below.  Our cabin was larger.  So handy for the Elevators  Would book this cabin again.  I have attached a few photos of our cabin.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the photos! 

Just now, rj59 said:

Celebrity has very good-size interiors on their ships, with usually a loveseat or big chair. I've been on many on deck 7-8 and that's my favorite spot, since on Decks 2-3 you get noise from atrium music (you can also get it if an upper-level cabin is near the atrium). Eclipse going from Barcelona-FLL on Oct 30 2025 is actually $400 or so, $30/nt for an inside, so I booked that last night, as well as going from FLL-London in March 2025 for $35/nt. I'm going solo, and they actually were giving a rare reduced single supplement, so it ended up $650-750 for the cruises. What I like about Celebrity transatlantic cruises, apart from the Sky lounge and protected Solarium, is the shorter itineraries with fewer consecutive sea days, usually 4-5 max between stops. 

That's a great price, but we're doing Oasis from Barcelona 10/2024, so we prefer leaving from Rome in 2025. 

Just booked Constellation TA from Rome 10/31/2025. Snagged interior cabin 7905. I hear it's a larger than normal interior. Anybody have knowledge of this cabin?

On 9/17/2023 at 9:07 PM, Floridado2020 said:

Yes my parents have called multiple times and  I even tried calling myself today with my dad . All they say is that they have no access to that information , that all they can do is email the ship again and await response  . Maybe we will wait a few weeks to see if we can get any response . We can’t even file an insurance claim because the charge is listed as a guest service charge 

thank you !

I would file the claim with the travel insurance.  Although it says "guest services", with the accompanying documentation that the insurance company will require (hospital paperwork), it will surely support the claim.  Might take a bit longer, but that should do it. The insurance company can see that if your dad was admitted to the hospital, threre is no way the dates coincide that he could have finished the cruise.  And you could print out info on the Jones Act to support it,

On 8/19/2023 at 5:42 AM, Rustyman said:

I’ve done the survey.

Please let us know how the Beyond goes as we’re booked on it and the Ascent next year……….at the moment!

When I spoke with the Captains Club about the poor food and said I wanted reassurance that the Beyond isn’t the same, the lady told me she had a good experience dining on the Beyond, however that was before the new food regime under the new CEO.

I would hope there would not be a difference in the quality of food based on which ship you sail.  

This topic has been discussed ad nauseum 

On 4/24/2023 at 1:55 PM, PTC DAWG said:

Do a lot of people still take a covid test when they get the sniffles? 
 

I’ve taken two in my life, both times to board a cruise.  Glad that’s over. I think I have two of the proctored tests still taking up shelf space. 

Of course people still test!  My husband had symptoms this past February, and for 2 days he tested negative.  He decided to take one more test on day 3 (the day before we were due to leave for the cruise) and he was positive.  I called Royal immediately and cancelled our cruise.  Was he sick enough not to be able to cruise?  No, but we weren't comfortable with possibly infecting someone on the ship who wouldn't be able to "fight" the virus as easily as my husband.  BTW, 2 days later I was symptomatic and tested positive.  We would do the same if one of us tested positive for Influenza, RSV, or had norovirus.  It's called caring about your fellow human!