Baby_Bear

Papaflamingo, we just got off our Greek Isles cruise yesterday, and we had an early morning flight leaving FCO at 9:55 am. We made it with about an hours extra cushion! Should be no problem at all for you. I posted the link to that thread below, which I had started to reassure folks that had an early flight. Let me know if you have additional questions.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2253946

Well said! You have the right idea - just see what your on board drinks spending is, and after a couple of days, you'll be able to judge if you need the package or not. They'll be able to accommodate you either way. RC have beautiful suites, you will have a blast. We had a GS on our cruise that just got over yesterday and I'm already missing it!:D

For a 10:50 flight you have plenty of time. You could even consider changing your transfer time to 7 am. Rome airport is not exactly brimming with facilities and around the gates, seating is in very short supply, so why prolong your stay at the airport? :)

Yes we had a wonderful time, I'm sure you will too. It's pretty hot so pack lots of light clothes, hats and sunscreen. Enjoy your trip!

sorry guys, but it is really hard for me to understand why anyone that was willing to pay the 2x or 3x premium for suite over a balcony would worry about the <1k cost of a drink package for 2.

 

its JMHO but if you have to worry about the cost of a drink package, do you really need to be in a suite, there are cheaper ways to cruise that still are not living in the bowels of the ship.

 

sorry if i offend anyone, but again just my opinion, and being from the USA i feel I am entitled to it, again not trying to offend with that comment either

 

ps. if you can teach me how to get my future cruises to display side by side it would be appreciated

I'm sorry but I don't see the point of this argument. And I'm from the US too, though not sure how that applies and we usually travel in suites. It's not a question of what you can afford or not afford, it's a question of what you want to spend your money on. We just returned from a 7 day Med cruise and were in a GS which we thought was well worth the money. We didn't get a drinks package as we are light drinkers and were happy grabbing a drink or two each night in the Concierge lounge. On the rare occasions when we wanted something later, we just ordered a la carte drinks. No need to waste money on things you're not going to get a lot of use out of. The money saved there, we used on private tours at every port, which again we felt was well worth the expense, vs. ship tours or even small group shared tours. Just because we were willing to spend on certain things like the cabin and tours doesn't mean we were going to go crazy buying unlimited everything. And that sounds like what the OP is trying to do as well. It's good to be a smart spender.

Hi, just returned today from an awesome 10 day trip to Europe. We were in Naples for the first three days and then drove to Civitavecchia to catch a seven day cruise to Greece and Turkey. We had an early flight out of FCO on the return trip and I thought I'd post my experience here. We were on the United flight from FCO to Newark, departing at 9:55 AM.

First off, make sure you have a reliable car service. We used Roma Shuttle (http://www.romashuttle.com) for three major transfers during our trip - from FCO to Naples, from Naples to Civitavecchia, and finally from civitavecchia to FCO. Roma Shuttle really came through - we were a party of 2, so had sedans (brand new Mercedes) on all three rides, drivers were always a few minutes early and drove very safely and reliably. It really took all the stress out of making transfers! Whichever service you use, make sure they are licensed to take you right up to the ship and collect you at the ship at civitavecchia as taxis and certain car services are not. We saw many people on embarkation day being dropped off just inside the port gates as the taxis were not licensed to go into the secured areas. Whereas our driver showed his accreditation to the security guys and was able to take us literally to the point of check in with no hassles.

Now, as to debarkation day - our ship was supposed to arrive at 5 Am. She actually docked early, at around 4:30 am. I was expecting Royal Caribbean to make some sort of announcement at around 6 am that she had been cleared by customs but surprisingly they didn't, and the first inkling we had that people could leave was when we saw people walking off the ship from our balcony (actual pax and not crew). People started leaving around 6:10 am. We left our room at 6:15, took about 10 mins with our luggage to get down and walk thru the customs terminal. Of course, we were carrying off our own bags due to the early time. There were no additional checks as we walked thru the terminal. Roma Shuttle was pulling up as we exited the terminal and we had our luggage stowed and were on our way by 6:30 am. At that time of the morning there's minimal traffic and we reached FCO by 7:15 am. North American flights are checked in at T5 but depart from T3 - the arrangement is baffling but oh well it's Italy! T5 check in was relatively fast but the passport control and additional security checks were slow. We were then shepherded onto a bus to go to T3 which caused a hold up of around 5-10 mins as they wait till the bus is filled up. The actual ride to T3 took all of 3 minutes. United doesn't have its own lounge so we used the Alitalia Giotto Lounge. We were in the lounge by about 8:10. The good thing was that the lounge was literally next to our gate. Boarding for the flight was supposed to start at 9:05 but actually began at around 9:20 AM.

So for those of you that are considering early flights, I'd say while there are always risks, it's perfectly possible to comfortably make the early flights. We actually had almost an hour of cushion time from when we went to the lounge to when boarding for our flight was supposed to start which would have been sufficient to absorb any delays in case the ship was cleared late, etc. So if you have a flight that works for you, go for it but I'd say no earlier than 9:30-10 am. Just make sure you have a good car service lined up to take you from the cruise port to the airport and you should be set.

Sigh.... It would have been awesome to get the drinks vouchers! But I agree, it sounds like a mistake.

Tgnorton - Well said! But I wouldn't worry - the poster you referenced seems to specialize in throwing out nasty, snarky comments with zero useful information. Doubt if anyone will pay any attention or be detracted from asking questions.

I had a follow up question - for our upcoming Rhapsody cruise which leaves on the 23rd, I sent an email to the concierge yesterday, with the couple of requests we had. Should I expect him to reply confirming that its all done, or do they usually not answer but just take care of the requests?

On our upcoming cruise our TA gave us prepaid gratuities (we are staying in a suite so its higher, plus they confirmed they would cover them at the higher rate which became effective earlier this year) plus a $200 OBC. When I got the cruise docs, I noticed $50 was coming from the cruise line. I asked the TA and they said it was part of a promo RCL was running and the other $150 was from them, plus the prepaid grats. I always shop around before every cruise and you should do the same - that way you have at least a couple of data points. A couple of the online TA's seem to have the best deals and if you don't need a lot of hand holding, you should benefit.

Generally, the higher the price of your cabin (base tariff before port fees and taxes), the higher the OBC you should get.

Blue plastic sinks don't apply if you are in an Ocean Suite or Grand Suite on Carnival and you said you would be in a GS. I've sailed on the Carnival Breeze (sister ship to the Dream) , Valor and Freedom, always in either OS or GS categories. The bathrooms are really nice, with granite counter tops, double sinks and nice bathtubs. GS bathrooms also have a bidet if I remember right. I've been on one RCL ship - Vision - in a JS and the bathroom was nowhere near as nice as the OS on Carnival.

I've been on 4 Carnival cruises. Prior to trying them, I too was apprehensive. Someone posted once that people have this perception that Carnival is just this party boat cafeteria line. And having done 4 cruises, all longer ones, that's just not true. Based on my limited experience with RCL, I think maybe RCL has prettier ships and better entertainment, but the food and service have ben every bit as good if not better on Carnival and their suites are very nice,albeit no perks except for priority boarding. Their suites are also reasonably priced.

I'd give it a shot if I were in your shoes. You will likely be pleasantly surprised :D

that you have zero CL access when you get on the ship.....:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

And this adds what exactly to the discussion?! :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

The OP is right - some people on these boards really need to chill. He/she was asking a perfectly simple question about lounge access, got answers and thanked the people that responded. The way some people are reacting, you'd think he/she was asking how to commit murder or at least grand larceny on the ship.

Perspective, people! We're all just trying to learn more about cruising, different ships and different lines....

Gordo, you echoed my thoughts completely! On my previous Med cruise there were so many options to join up with others on small group tours. Nothing on this one, so we just booked our own. For 2 people its a lot more expensive but I was unimpressed by the ship's tours being offered. It's just been such a different experience that I was surprised. I was looking at a couple of roll calls for cruises after ours and some have been very active. Guess it all comes down to individual participation.

As a New Yorker and someone who likes to cruise, that's my perennial complaint as well! I actually think the tri-state market is deep enough to support more cruises out of NYC in the winter. I think people would understand that it would be more an indoors kind of cruise particularly if it was crummy weather in the northeast, but hey its still a cruise! When we went to Alaska in 2011, it was the second half of August, supposed to be great weather and guess what - we had rain almost the whole week and Juneau was freezing! We had a lovely balcony and barely used it, but we still had a great time and loved the ship and the experience. I think the cruise lines would also attract a lot more locals to cruising this way.

Ok I have a question that's not strictly RCL related but I know people here have tons of experience cruising in general so you may know. I'm curious as to why roll calls can differ so much cruise to cruise and maybe even line to line. My previous Med cruise was in 2012 on the Carnival Breeze. She was a brand new ship at the time, ours was just her eighth voyage. I remember we had a super active roll call going and also a Facebook page. Between the two, we had 100+ participants and tons of people were organising small group tours at every port. Carnival threw a bash for us on the first full sea day and it was so crowded, they literally had to limit how many people could be in the venue at the same time. We loved our private small group tours, I could never do the big ship tours after that.

Now on our upcoming Rhapsody cruise, it's been much more limited participation and no discussion of any tours. I know its a 7 day cruise whereas the Breeze was a 12_dayer but still, I would have thought there may have been some interest in small group tours. Nothing really. We are more experienced cruisers now and I'm more comfortable booking private excursions everywhere but it definitely is more expensive. I was wondering if RCL cruisers just preferred ship tours or took the DIY route? Or is it just our roll call that's quiet? I have to admit I don't participate too actively in roll calls for Caribbean cruises as we just like to do our own thing, but I had assumed the Med (and maybe Asia, Middle East, etc) cruises would be different.

11 days to go!

Which airline are you on? Generally, if you're on a North American airline, all incoming flights land at T3. If you are on Alitalia or KLM, it could be T1.

On the return flight, all North American airlines depart out of T5.

On my first ever cruise on Holland America in 2011, we were invited to a party for suite pax where the captain and officers were present. We were chatting to one officer, and he asked if we were experienced cruisers. We told him it was our first cruise and he said that one of the don'ts was NOT to leave the balcony door open. Apparently, the HVAC systems were linked for certain sections of cabins (no idea how many but it sounded like it was at least 15-20) and if the door was left open in one cabin for more than a few minutes, it would cause the air to go out from all the cabins in the section. Ever since then, I've always been super careful never to leave the balcony door open for more than a couple of minutes. I don't know if all ships' HVAC systems are designed the same way, but I assume there are more similarities than differences.

I've never done it on a ship, but I've sometimes dozed off on my balcony in my apartment! I have great river views and its so relaxing on a summer evening to sit out. If the weather is good, try it! You can always come back in after a bit.

Thanks Bob! :)

Thanks to both of you for posting! We have a slightly different itinerary but some of the ports are the same and I read through the compasses with lots of interest. Appreciate you guys taking the time to upload them!

Thanks guys for the info. So, for Rhapsody, the email is RH_Concierge@rccl.com right? I was looking at Bob's post re: another ship and it looks like its the first two letters of the ship.

I had the exact same question. We are boarding the Rhapsody in Rome on Sunday two weeks from tomorrow. I did have some requests for the concierge.

If I don't get an email from him by next Sunday, should I go ahead and email him?

Question - I know some of the RCL ships have reserved seats pool side for suite guests. Does anyone know if Rhapsody does that or is it just the bigger ships?

We are not big sun worshipers but if we did want to hang out by the pool a couple of times, it would be nice not having to deal with chair hoggers. If not, we may just go and get drinks at the bar and hang out on our own balcony :D

I'm so sorry to hear about all your problems, none of which you had any control over. You really have the patience of a saint! I am amazed that RCL could not figure out that the specialty dining reservations were for the person who had the cabin booked before you - this happens all the time that people upgrade and change cabin categories. I hope that didn't mean that all the other people on the cruise who had changed cabins had similar problems! The attitude at Guest Services also sounds very disappointing. After hearing your story, I will be diligently checking our account balances during the cruise to make sure we don't get charged for things we didn't order. And if there are problems I hope GS will be more competent at sorting it out - if they are not, I will have no problem making myself heard.

Really sorry that your first cruise was so problematic. I've done six cruises so far and it really is such a fun way to travel. I hope you will give cruising a chance in the future. Maybe try another cruise line!

Le Meridian along the Ramblas. Great hotel.

I was on a cruise in 2012 that sailed out of Venice and it was magical. If I recall right, we left at about 6 pm. The ship sailed slowly through the lagoon and we had the most amazing views of San Marco Piazza and the Rialto Bridge - against the setting sun! To this day, if I'm showing anyone the pics from that trip, they ooh and ah about the Venice sail away pics! It really was a once in a lifetime experience.

If you didnt know already, for sailing out of Venice, pick the port side. Starboard if you are sailing in. Since you are doing a back to back, maybe you can pick one on each side. Enjoy - we had 3 days in Venice pre cruise and it was definitely a highlight. We were sailing from Venice to Barcelona so for us, we had to pick port side as we were only getting the one opportunity to see the sailaway. :D