Kylomom

In previous visits, we have used Bob's Limo's several times and been quite pleased.

https://www.romelimousines.com/

Hi, Lonedaddy - I can't comment on 2 & 3 with relevant experience for that hotel.  I can say that if there is a shuttle, the hotel typically lists that as part of their amenities on their website, otherwise I would email or call them to get confirmation. 

Regarding 1, you will want to get tickets in advance for the Vatican so you can skip the line.  There is a lot to see in Rome.  We have been several times.  We've done a couple of different things to see as much as possible.  The first one is a Hop-On/Hop-Off (HOHO) bus.  The HOHO takes you to many of the common tourist sites and is a good way to get familiar with the city.  You just get off where you want to and then get back on when you're ready.  We usually ride the entire circuit and then go back to where we want to go.  The other option that is more personal (and more costly) is a golf cart tour.  It was, by far, one of the best experiences we have had in Rome.  They can zip around the small streets, get you up close and personal to what you want to see and the guides are highly trained.  Ours was actually a history teacher and had visuals to go along with tour. 😄  I'm not sure exactly where your hotel is, but if it's close to city center, they may even pick you up at the hotel.  Certainly worth the ask.  Hope you find this helpful!

UPDATE:  I looked at your hotel website and found the shuttle info - 

SHUTTLE BUS TO VIA VENETO

8.30* / 9.30 / 10.30 / 11.30 / 12.30** / 15.30 / 16.30 / 17.30 / 18.30 / 19.30 / 20.30

SHUTTLE BUS FROM VIA VENETO

9.00* / 10.00 / 11.00 / 12.00 / 13.00** / 16.00 / 17.00 / 18.00 / 19.00 / 20.00 / 21.00

* Available April-October, but not on Sundays or Bank Holidays.

**Service not available on Sundays or Bank Holidays.

Please note that the Rome Cavalieri shuttle bus will arrive/depart from the sidewalk between Via Bissolati n°25 and n°31 just off of Via Veneto.

Highly recommend doing a golf cart excursion in Rome.  It was a good way to cover a lot of ground quickly.  If you do it the first day, you can use it as a ‘guide’ for where you may want to go back to see at a more leisurely pace.

We did not do an excursion in Rhodes when we were there.  Just walked over from the ship and enjoyed the day walking around and having lunch.  Sorry, don't know about transportation to Lindos.

Check out the Rick Steve's video on You Tube about Cinque Terre.  We went there a couple of years ago and it was amazing. 

You have pretty much described what Celebrity already represents. The lack of bells and whistles generally draws a more mature crowd. We rarely see children on the Celebrity cruises. Could count them on one hand.

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Thank you for letting us know. I had always worried about that, so have made it a practice to contact my TA 3-5 days before the due date to make final payment. Just curious - what happened with your deposit?

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There is a big porthole window next to the couch. You can see out the balcony from the couch because the room is large, but not that large. you are not sitting next to it like you are in smaller cabins where it is next to the door. I like to lie on the couch and look out the porthole. We always book the S1 aft suites since we had our first one.

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I don't think there's a printed menu, you have to google images:

 

http://foodietales.com/2013/01/royal-caribbean-cruise-line-allure-of-the-seas-free-eats/hot_dog_sign/

 

No sure if this helps with the mustard question though. They list "American Mustard" whatever that is.

I would interpret that as yellow mustard and not the spicy brown.

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I suffer from Passport OCD on travel day. I check before we leave the house. I check when I get in the car to go to airport. I check when we get out of the car. I check when we get to the airport. I check once we get through security. I check before we board the plane. You get the drift. I keep them in an easily accessible place so I don’t look too nutty.

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Not even the pier is complete yet, the park is a year away.

Looks like most things are planned to be open by May, 2019. Here is a link that talks about the plans.

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Very helpful. I didn’t even know the ships did this rotating passenger thing. Thank you.

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That’s a little unfair.

 

I don’t have any physical problems that make hiking difficult but I do enjoy to have a hiking pole handy.

 

I rather like having something in my hands. And while I don’t have any physical limitations, having a hiking pole at hand makes stepping up or down on rocks or shelves much easier. But, I also like to use a handrail when going up or down stairs.

 

You can get a retractable hiking pole pretty cheap at Walmart. They are decent poles and it would give you an idea if you like it or not. Being retractable, you can try several different height settings. Some people like a tall pole like a walking stick reaching up near their head, some people like it Low like a cane. I like mine so my arm is about a 90 (ish) degree angle (depending on what kind of hiking I’m doing.)

 

Hiking poles also come in handy when you need to poke something with a stick. You know, like that dead animal... you know the one! Or that weird looking bug! Or to knock down spider webs or to hold aside spiky vines or tall grass. Or to fish your hat out of the water when a big gust of wind blows it in.

 

There are just so many things to do with one besides just lean on it!

 

 

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Who knew? Lol. Thanks!

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We sail the Infinity in Sept.....what are the odds of getting a discount if we don't pre-book?

We did not book until we were onboard and got the discount. We did have a large group - 14 of us total. I just asked for the discount. I’m not sure if smaller parties would have that much influence, but it never hurts to ask. :)

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I agree with sippican. We also always pick those S1 aft suites. Be aware though that it is a long walk from the elevators and the balcony may get a little sooty. The room configuration is more like a square hotel room than a narrow cabin. And you get a porthole. Who doesn’t love a porthole? Be aware that on one aft deck level, I can’t remember which, there is window washing equipment that might be considered an obstructed view. It doesn’t really bother us and have found it to be little less expensive for those cabins. Hope this helps!

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Following

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We love the aft rooms b/c you get a porthole view and the balcony view. That’s all we book anymore. And the room is configured more like a square room (hotel style). You do want to book as high up as you can get though. There is one of the Sky Suites that will have window washing equipment that kind of blocks view, but that has never really bothered us. Plus, those may be a little less spendy than the ones without. Some other considerations - the walk from the elevator is a long one and sometimes there is soot on the balcony. Again, this doesn’t bother us either. Lastly, there is a pole in the room. Depending on your cabin, it can be close to the bed. You get used to it and eventually don’t notice it. Hope this helps!

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Saw tons of these on our recent (last month) Celebrity cruise. Has anyone actually used them? Are they helpful or just one more thing you have to keep up with, like an umbrella?

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Best speciality dinning experience I have had on any ship has been on Celebrity. If you book a suite, you get 2 complementary bookings in their speciality restaurants although gratuities are not included.

Hi, just wanted to clarify this. If you book a Sky Suite on Celebrity , you do not get the 2 nights of specialty dining any more. At least not on Reflection or Eclipse. You do get Luminae which, for us, is enough reason to pay the extra $ for the suite. You can also go to Blue which is the Aqua class dining room, but we never do.

I couldn't agree more! Murano and the former Ocean Liners equivalents on the M class ships are the only specialty worth the upcharge to us. Q-sine was a 1 and done, Tuscan is neither true Italian, nor a true steakhouse and not worth the price (although the view and service are nice). From my perusal of Le Petit Chef menu and video display, I would maybe try once for the novelty (or not), but that would be it. I also don't see why on earth it would be charged at a higher price than Murano. When sailing M-class, we don't do specialty dining at all since Ocean Liners was removed, and instead prefer Aqua class for Blu.

We did LPC on Reflection earlier this month. It was fun and the food was good. I did switch my soup for French onion soup instead of the Boullibase (sp?). I do agree that it is a ‘one and done’. Also, I would recommend holding out for the discount.

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We didn't upload a photo prior to our cruise last week on the Harmony, they took our photos for us like before during check in.

 

 

 

Karen

Last year out of NJ, they didn’t like our self loaded pics and has us retake. In other words, no big deal if you do or don’t. And I chose not to be offended that my own pics were that bad. :D

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We are definitely doing CT by ourselves.... So what time train did you catch, and it seems that you went to the furthest town and 'hopped' back... how frequent were the trains between the different towns and what time train did you catch back to make it back in time.

 

Shame about the Wonderland aftershock - it is fabulous .... and those eggs...yum,yum yum!

We just did the train bit in La Spezia. Trains run regularly enough that we didn’t have to worry about timing. However, as per previous poster, buy your tix in advance. We got to the station around 10am and just barely caught the 11am train. In other words, we stood in line almost an hour.

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Because of the reasons you say you are no longer interested in RC. In our mid-50s, we cruise both still, but prefer Celebrity for it’s appeal to a mature crowd. It does not have rock walls or ice rinks or any of the ‘novelty’ stuff that we don’t use. We rarely go to any of the shows, which typically get slammed in reviews, but rather find fellow cruisers to hang out with and enjoy. People just seem to be friendlier in general. We also prefer the longer itineraries. I will say that if the Schooner bar is your thing for the singalong piano player, there really isn’t a true equivalent. However, if you like it for the social part, then we have found the Martini Bar on Celebrity to offer that. Hope this helps!

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It was an engineering joke that apparently fell flat. I knew better than to try that here, so my bad.

 

 

 

The expression "it's a feature not a bug" means something that appears wrong (Day 6 menu presented on Day 5) but actually is done intentionally, by design, without prior explanation. :)

I got it too. And we always call it an ‘undocumented feature’. :D

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Smoking on the balcony. Oh and this only happened once, so I’m not sure it qualifies for peeve status. We were at the buffet and I had gotten my food but hubby was lagging behind. I sat down at a 2 top but it was pushed next to another 2 top. Plenty of other tables though. Pretty soon, this man comes and sits down diagonally across from me. Didn’t ask if I minded. Just sat down and started eating. Didn’t even acknowledge my presence. My hubby shows up and I get up and we move to another open table. I’m not sure what that was about, but it was truly annoying.

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