Moon Orchid

Hello, is there a good hotel next to Smeraldo ? We booked 3 night at Smeraldo for August .My brother wants to stay there too but the hotel is full for those nights. Thank you.

Thank you , I changed my mind and booked the 9 nights Greek Isles cruise for August 25 instead. Same ship, just a little bit longer. Now I have to research for what to do in Athens and Chania. What company did you book the excursion for Naples ? TIA

Did you have a good room on this deck ? Had been searching for cruises on Icon and Star for next September and rooms on deck 14 always available. I was wondering if these room are okay.

Thank you so much. I forgot about the Roll Call ( We have our little grandson with us because his parents got Covid , it's a joy to have him all week ,but my mind is not that sharp ☺️.) Thanks to all wonderful experts on this board, Edinburgher,Marazul,CruiseMom42,Kohanfam,Euro cruiser , Benny Bear, Hlitner and Touchstonefeste. My list of what to do , where to go is almost complete. I just need to go get some Guide book like Marazul suggested.

I hope I'm right, I saw something from Reddit ,it said "The reservations open up 30 days in advance at midnight Rome time "

Yes ,it's a 7 nights cruise. At first we want to do the 7 nights on Oasis depart from Barcelona, but changed to Odyssey because it has 2 sea day to relax , and we want to have some extra time in Rome . Thank you for all great suggestion . I appreciate it.That will help us a lots with the planning.😀

Thank you for your suggestion. I have this plan out when we're in Rome. Please feel free to give me more advices 😊. Day 1,early morning after check in the Albergo Santa Chiara hotel we will take it easy because of the jet lag. - Lunch at Labottega Pastificio - Visit Pantheon,Piazza Navona,Campo de' Fiori market ( if we're not too tired ) - Dinner at Armando Al Pantheon Day 2, Vatican Museum. - Quick lunch at Pizzarium Bonci or ( Ristoran Pizzeria dei Musei ) -Dinner at Locanda Di Piereo Day 3, walk to Trevi Fountain after breakfast - Then maybe do the Colosseum museum late afternoon -Dinner at Armamando Al Theon or Locanda Di Pireo again. Port : Santorini, I plan to take Royal excursion to avoid the cable car. Ephesus, Turkey ( No plan yet ) Mykonos, walk around the island Naple, Italy ( No plan yet )

Agree. Her clients they did lots of lands vacation, so it's different than us cruisers .That's why I let her monitor the airfare with the suggestion that we need the flight that get to Rome early. That will make her happy because she wants to takes over my planning ( but have no clues😁) I'll research all other things like what to do for the 3 day in Rome, and at other ports ,then get together to discuss which one to do. This will be the third time we travel together, I feel bad to say no when family ask to tag along☺️ I have same problem the last time on Harmony cruise 7 years ago. We're a group of 13 people .We agreed to use SAS transportation from FLL hotel to Miami port and back to FLL airport after the cruise. After the cruise, while we were waiting for SAS shuttle to come, she told everyone to get on 4 taxis because they offered her a cheaper prices and we don't have to wait. I told her" We've already paid SAS roundtrip. If you want, go ahead and take the taxis. But did you know with that price, they will take you to Miami airport, not FLL." She said " Oh, I didn't know".

Thank you so much for everyone great advised. We got hotel booked, will book flight soon when the price goes down a bit. So excited and exhausted at the same time. Caribbean and Hawaii cruise are much easier for planning☺️

No, like I said she doesn't like to do any research, so she will never visit this board 😋. She is a salon owner so she got all the ideas from her customers. And it's doesn't matter if she see what I posted. I told her all the time to calm down🙃

Is it the norm to pay $300+ for a double room mid September at Albergo Del Chiara ?

She is the type of people who doesn't like to do research because some people they knows everything😛☺️. Like she said we should fly in FCO around the check in time at the hotel, I said people on Cruise Critic advised that we should fly in early and check in, have the hotel hold the luggage, that way we will have extra time in Rome. She didn't like that. I like to travel with family, but some time, it's pain in the b**t😁. I might have to do the way you guys advised me, meet them at dinner, that way everyone is happy.

Thank you.☺️

I tried to book the Albergo Santa Chiara hotel but it looks like it bring me to simplebooking.com. Is it from the hotel or it is the third party website. Weird, I didn't go through with the reservation.

Thank you very much for your great advices.

Can't remember the name of the three cities that she showed me on her phone, but it said that it would take 6-7 hour to drive from there to get to Rome and Civitavecchia port.

I talked to her this morning ,told her the same thing. She said' Oh no, we will follow you guy because we don't know anything about Europe". I told her " I will do the research, then let us all decide where to stay ,what to do. But please don't try to change the plan later just because some one you know mention to do this or that". She said okay. Hopefully we will have a smooth trip 😆.

Thank you, I'll do that.

Thank you. I agreed with everything you said. When it comes to planning I take time to research and asking for people advices. With only 3 days in Rome I need to pick tours or do stuffs that fits into those 3 days, not to try to do everything because that's impossible. Like you said, it's not easy to satisfy everyone. My husband and my brother they are pretty easy, just his wife she is already drive me nut with all of her own ideas even though she has never travel to Europe before. I'm trying to look for a good hotel , well located like Mom42 said. But my sister in law has no patience and keeps suggesting hotels in Civitavecchia Port, or told me that we should go to her time share 6-7 hours away from Rome 😔.

Wow, thank you so much for the great advised.

Thank you very much.😊

Hi all, my husband and I and another couple ( My brother and his wife ), we decided to take 7 nights Greek Isles cruise on Odyssey ,depart from Rome September next year. We will fly into Rome early and will need a hotel for 3 nights. Then go to the port the boarding day. Please advise what hotel to stay .What are the must things to do in those 3 days. I saw an article show 25 best thing to to in Rome, Italy. But I doubt it that we can do all that. Lol Our ship will stop at Santorini , Ephesus, Mykonos and Naples. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much in advance 😊( I have done some research since this morning but need more fresh ideas ).

Thank you I will do that more from now on. I heard that us cruisers will have to board the ship at a new terminal at Tarragona cruise port in 2024. It's an hour away from Barcelona. So here is my question ,is it better to take a cruise depart from Rome now ? I though it's easier when cruising from Barcelona but the new cruise terminal changed everything ?Don't know how you experience cruisers do it, I was just started to look for the Europe cruises and already feel exhausted ☺️🙃

Thank you for asking question about this. I was confused when searching for Oasis Europe cruise next year.😊

I have never cruise to Europe before. Can some one please explain this to me ? I was checking on Oasis Of The Seas Europe cruises for September next year and noticed something weird. Royal have 7 nights Western Mediterranean Cruise depart from Rome, September 5-12 and September 12-19. Then same ship depart from Barcelona , 7 nights Western Mediterranean Cruise. September 1-8 September 8-15 September 15-22 September 22-29 I messaged Royal on Facebook asked them about it and this was how they replied to me: "Hey there. I apologize for the confusion. On Day 3 (September 15th) people will be boarding from Barcelona for their 7-day sailing. The itineraries overlap. Then I asked " So the sailings on September 1st and September 8 will be depart from Rome or Barcelona ?", Royal said " The September 1st sailing departs from Barcelona. Day 5, September 5th, the ship will stop in Rome and guests for the September 5th-12th sailing will board" I guess I am dumb, still don't understand how this work 😊. I have only cruise with Royal 17 time , mostly Caribbean and Hawaii cruises so I guess Europe cruise are different ?