Girr

Which brings up another issue-make sure you don't pack up all your clothes when you put the luggage out the night before. I've heard some really funny stories about people who forgot to leave out clothes for the next day and had to pick up luggage in a robe. Also, keep out your passport and meds!

Early next year there's a rare opportunity to do this on NCL's Joy due to a recent dry dock decision. It leaves out of Miami headed to Southampton (11-21 January), and then 13 February it heads back to Miami. Both ways are strictly sea days.

Haven guest, latitude reward status (gold or above), and I believe CAS.

As you're not rushing to get to the airport, I'd put the luggage out the night before. It can be a real zoo trying to get elevator space or using the stairs. Also, keep an eye out for disembarking tags for your luggage. Depending upon the color you get will determine (approximately) when you'll disembark if you don't have priority. If you end up getting one of the later times, you can always contact your car service - just about all will communicate with you thru email or WhatsApp.

The ship requests you're out of your room 8 to 8:30, but you still have time to go do breakfast and wait for the initial surge/crowd to start getting off. I requested our car pickup for 9:30. Around 9:10 the car service notified me they were at the port, and I just headed on downstairs. As we had priority disembarking I knew our bags would be ready for pickup downstairs. Headed downstairs, grabbed our bags, and we were off.

I used Rome HABI Cabs, and highly recommend. Yes, the booking was done all on-line, but I'm sure you could call them. They were on time, and were good on responding to my messages, and pro-active in sending me reminders about both trips. The did not require a depot, and method of payment was cash at time of service.

Should be plenty of time. Just make a best guess calculation to start your trip: 1. Go to EN - Trenitalia to look at train timetables. I put in a random Sunday and saw five trains during the 9 o'clock hour, none for 10, and two for 11. Train ride varies between 15 to 20 minutes. 2. Pisa Centrale is 1.1 miles from The Field of Miracles, so a 15-to-30-minute walk. 3. Calculate an estimated time to get off ship, wait for shuttle, walk 1.6 miles to train station. With an early morning start you'll have time to walk around Pisa. Just remember, you'll have walked almost three miles even before you start up the tower. A nice warm up!

I'm not sure what LAM BLU is, but here's my experience from this July: 1. A shuttle will be at your ship and takes you to Piazza Municipio. As already mentioned, it may be paid for by your cruise ship. If not, it's 7 euros per person round trip (offered by the city of Livorno and they take credit card or euros). It's not allowed to walk thru the port at Livorno. 2. Piazza Municipio is about 1.5 miles from the train station. You have the option to walk or wait for the city bus (around the corner) to get to the train station. 3. At Piazza Municipio there are bus excursion companies that will take you directly to Florence, Lucca, etc. 4. Taxi. Occasionally, and occasionally needs to be stressed, you can get a taxi to take you directly to Livorno's train station. For the most part taxis don't want to do this short/cheap fare. (Someone recently reported here they also couldn't get a taxi at the train station to the port late in the day.) They are looking to take you directly to Pisa. It's my understanding the taxi fare to Pisa is between 60-75 euros one way. Perhaps CynBeth6 can come back and give a better idea of the cost she negotiated for a round trip. 5, When I was there (it wasn't a Sunday) Avis was set up under a tent renting cars next to the ship. You might see if they open just for cruise ships. Keep in mind Italy does require an international driver's license, you need to know about ZTLs (trust me I've got my share of tickets), and you need to take out insurance. 6, Okay, this is strictly my opinion, and I don't like it because for the most part I always DIY. But by the time you mess with the free/not free shuttle then make your way to the train station, you've already wasted the better part of an hour. This will also be the case coming back. If your plan is only to go to Pisa, no biggie. However, if you're planning on going to Florence, I wouldn't waste the time. Sometimes it's worth the cost of taking an excursion to save time. Check to see if there's a roll call for your cruise and look to see if anyone is looking to share a private or small group excursion.

Yes, I would hope the living room sofa would be made up.

Every ship may be different, but I know in the Epic Haven the bed in the second bedroom was made the first day on our July cruise, and they continued to leave it out the entire cruise. Cabin attendant did come by later in the day and made sure we had towels (even did a few towel animals), but overall the second service was cursory. Considering how many cabins the stewards have I wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. I'd be interested to hearing from others who've recently sailed in a two-bedroom suite to hear their experience.

Everybody is different. Dad was in the military, and we spent two wonderful years in Verona, Italy starting when I was seven (a long, long time ago!). My sister (a year younger) and I still have wonderful memories of the times as we travelled throughout Europe. My brother was only two when we moved there and has no memories (okay, he claims he remembers when we lost him in Venice!). Several years ago we returned for the opera in Verona, and it was like stepping back in time for us. These years have instilled in us a love to travel. The thing I will concur is after so many historical sights it can be a little tiring for children. I'd dedicate some days to less history to more fun things. It might mean not spending a day getting to Florence, but spending a day in Livorno at the aquarium (something I've never done, or have a desire to, but I'm "old") or a day or two at the beach. As already mentioned, the med cruises are very port intensive (my last one had only one sea day), so the lack of amenities wasn't that big of a deal.

With one (or two) extra pads it's not bad. The downside is with the once-a-day attendant service they're leaving the bed out 24/7. It makes the room a "little tight". However, if they're using it only to sleep, it's not so bad. I haven't used the sofa bed in the living room, but I would imagine it's similar in comfort as the trundle. DH and I are sailing Epic this December and have booked a two-bedroom family suite as we like to have the second bed made up for nap time. The room stays nice and dark.

They will put you on a waiting list - it's not like the restaurants where they reserve some sittings. I imagine you'd have priority (moved to the top of the list), but unless someone cancels or there's enough interest to get the vendor to add additional transport you're out of luck. Most excursions are limited based on number of seats.

Having travelled with tweens and teenagers who were supposed to "appreciate it", I'd take an infant anytime. Just my opinion: Leave the stroller at home. I believe you're travelling in the off season, but it can be crowded-very crowded. Plus, cobblestones make the going miserable. Between the crowds and cobblestones my husband packed up his wheelchair after the second day. Besides he just ached all over from the jostling. Since you're hikers, I'm sure you already have a backpack. This will make it much easier, plus as mentioned above it keeps your hands available. This January in Brugge I was on a tour with a couple with two-year-old twins and she had a backpack that allowed her to carry both children, and she could rotate it from her back/front or to her hips (don't even get me started on where dad was in this process!). This woman was a super-hero! After watching her I believe a stroller would have been an impediment. Europe isn't the most accessible: lack of elevators, lots of stairs, sidewalks without cutouts, etc. However, Europeans have managed very well without! And yes, they have children!🤨 Research your ports - you don't say what ports are involved but many require an hour+ travel to get to the main historical sites. Just about all offer public transportation, but you need to do your homework. As most med cruises are port intensive, I wouldn't worry so much about activities on board the ship for the baby. Most first timers are so exhausted after a long day sightseeing trying to see it all they get back to the ship, dine and off to bed. I wouldn't worry about packing portable swimming pools. Do as my mother did, dip their toes in the Med (unless it's too cold). Pack extra baby stuff. (Okay, this goes against my usual recommendation to remove about half of what you've laid out.) Everything we have in the states is available in Europe; however, you don't have the option to pop out just at any time. The ships store has very limited basic supplies. Even in port it may be difficult to find (brand names different, what we consider over-the-counter medications only available in pharmacies, etc.). For years I travelled with a roll-up make-up bag (goes over the door so you can open real easy) filled with "what if medications" for the young ones. They're now in the 20/30s, and just this year I decided to forgo to save some space in my suitcase. Guess who needed cold medicine mid-way thru the cruise? Yep-me. The medicine bag is going back in the suitcase (okay, a smaller version). 😁

And "finish" work on the way back.

I recommend you go over to the Europe board where these ports are discussed daily, and excellent suggestions given. To answer your question in the short form: Florence and Rome over an hour away from port with no free transfers. In Barcelona, and Palma transfers for a fee are available. Cannes in a tender port, and you can just disembark, but most travel on. Naples and Messina are cities you can just walk off, but again, most travel on.

Too late to edit but need to add for breakfast and lunch you have the option to eat in Cagney's where they'll have a Haven type menu. Cagney's is opened at these time only for suite guest. For your evening meal you'll eat in the MDR or one of the specialty restaurants - you are not given extra specialty restaurant credits to make up for the lack of the Haven restaurant

Concur, all too often our snacks go untouched and sometimes more than one source is delivering snacks daily. Often we'll return to the cabin to find the afternoon snacks, then food item from the GM (or other department), and sometimes even a third source. Mid cruise we returned to not only find three "gifts", but the fruit basket had been replenished! My experience in the past the butler was a little more responsive to our request to minimize food; however, on our last cruise the butler was the invisible man and didn't respond well to our request.

Suite life on the Star is different from the thread posted above as there is no Haven, thus no private area or restaurant. With that said though you still have butler and concierge services (afternoon treats, ability to have meals delivered to room, primary boarding, etc.).

The set fee is 50 euros from airport to city center for a taxi. You will find some taxi that seat 4, but the amount of your luggage can make it a tight squeeze. Below is a website answering questions on cabs, and also provides calculator/booking for private car service. Rome Fiumicino Airport Taxi fares - Rome airport: Fiumicino (FCO) & Ciampino (CIA) airports (rome-airport.net)

Ugh, I hate when my fingers and brain don’t communicate. 😏

As already mentioned, I'm not sure if you're wanting to visit St Paul's Cathedral or the Vatican Museum. So here goes: St Paul's opens at 7 AM. There are no tickets, it's a queue with a security scanner. Not sure when you're going, but the line can be long (or short) depending upon the time of year. Keep in mind the Pope's outdoor mass is scheduled for Wednesday's. It's been years since I've been there for the mass, but if I recall correctly everything was shut down until after noon. Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel opens at 9 AM. Do not plan on getting tickets there, you need to prebook with a defined time entry. The official website is (www.museivaticani.va) Vatican Museums – Official Website (museivaticani.va) You may see the dates you want "sold out" unfortunately, but if you go to a third-party they will be available. An option to get into the Vatican earlier than 9 AM is there's a Do Breakfast at the Vatican option, which is scheduled for 7:30. Again, probably not available the Vatican's website, but doable via third-party.

I'd recommend you use google maps (or similar) to get an idea of the lay of the land. I just pulled up Piazzale Roma to Hotel Olimpia and see it's less than a four-minute walk with one good bridge (if you drop the yellow "person" icon on the lower left of the map you can even "walk" the route!). With just one day staying in Piazzale Roma really makes the most sense. Without all your luggage it's really easy to go to/from, and as mapleleaves stated it gives you more time to tour without wasting a lot of time getting your luggage "settled" in. The next day it will be a snap getting a taxi. If you do elect to stay closer to St Marks or Rialto than I'd prebook a water taxi for both ways. Not all hotels have private docks, but the hotel will give you the nearest public dock.

Not necessarily so. I often find multi-leg air fare just as cheap, if not cheaper! We fly into one city, spend several days there, then take local cheap airlines or train (very easy even when traveling with DH who has mobility issues) to cruise port. At the end of cruise sometimes we even go onto another city or two prior to flying home. In using multi-leg flights I get to see a lot more and don't have to back track to original airport. When we cruised Norway several years ago, we flew into Copenhagen, at the end of the cruise we took one of the cheaper local airlines for a flight to Frankfurt, spent a couple of weeks touring and visiting with friends, and finally flew home from Frankfurt. This year we flew into Florence (great little airport!) for a week, then took train to Venice for a week, and then back on the train for a week in Rome before the cruise. After the cruise we flew home from FCO. The airfare flying into Florence and back from FCO was cheaper than roundtrip to just FCO! (I believe the taxes for Florence are less.)

In the suites the fresh flowers have been deleted, and a live plant substituted. So I'll second it looks like the flower option is gone.