MeHeartCruising

Well... since you asked. I'm in the minority camp (it seems) of people that really didn't get all that much out of the trip. Don't get me wrong. It's a beautiful trip. However, when I took the trip, getting on the train was a mad scramble for seats. There were large groups of people who, naturally, wanted to sit together. Everyone was jostling around to find where they could get their best seats. By the time I was able to get seated, I was in an aisle seat, furthest from the windows. I'm also tall. I'm 6'4" tall. In order for me to see out the window, I had to bend down the entire trip plus look around the people between me and the window. And of course, those people between me and the window wanted to capture every minute of the trip on video or pictures. So their arms were up in the air using their cameras and they were moving around to get their good view. After a few minutes, I mostly gave up on trying to get a good view and just sat and looked around as best I could. Would I do it again? Probably, if no other excursion struck my fancy. But I'd gladly do something else if the opportunity came up.

Entrance to the Basilica is free. However, you must pass thru a security checkpoint/metal scanner. The line for this can be quite long. There is no timed entry to the Basilica. Just get in the security line and move along with it. The entrance to the Vatican Museum is clear around the other side of the Vatican City. It takes about 15 minutes or so to walk there from the Basilica entrance/exit. If you're not arriving until 1pm or so, I would probably just do the Basilica first at a relaxed pace and then finish the day doing something else. And then hit the museum the next day for as long as you desire.

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I believe the one time I went up with a guide, they led us as a group all the way up the steps and on to the top flat area. They then gave us an intro to the various buildings and walked us around. Then they set us free to explore on our own for a while, with a meet up time somewhere. I don’t recall where. I think if you are falling behind, just ask the guide where to meet them at the end of the visit. As the above posters say, the steep walkway from the ticket booth to the top is where you will slow down. Some of the steps are taller than what we use today. So it will take a bit of work to get up them. But it can be done! Give it a try.

If you put the deposit down now and the price goes down prior to final payment due date, you can call to have it repriced to the current pricing. But pay attention to the promo terms. They will reset to match the new pricing.

I would uninstall the app entirely. And then re-install it. My cruises are May 8th and May 14th and both show my purchases nicely.

If you decide to go with the excursion, I would just look up a real flight and pretend to be on it. Write down the airline name, flight #, and destination just in case you’re asked to provide that. They never ask to see a ticket or anything like that. Years ago, on a Royal Caribbean cruise I was on, Royal Caribbean sold a post cruise transfer to Ostiense station. It was not an excursion. Just a straight transfer. I was going to take the train from Civitavecchia, but decided to spend a little more for the transfer. I made that decision during the cruise and purchased the transfer from customer service. Have you called Celebrity to see if they sell direct transfers? Or perhaps you really wanted the Vatican component of the transit.

When you look at your calendar on the app, do you scroll down to see more times? And do you select the day properly at the bottom? I have an excursion and dinner at Chops booked for one day on my upcoming cruise. I see both on the app. The attached screen shot shows the dinner. If I scroll up to to the morning, I see my excursion.

Sailed the Dawn in September for 10 days. Enjoyed it very much.

I would not waste your time walking like you suggest. I would get a cab between sites and allow more time at the sites themselves. Or add another site. Cabs are safe and reasonably priced in Barcelona.

And be sure to notice that the Shuttle bus appears to only operate on Sunday. It won't help for my Monday departure in May. But it might help when we return to port on the next Sunday.

I was on a larger ship (Mariner of the Seas) and docked in Rhodes. Right beside one of the gates into Rhodes Town.

As far as expenses while on the ship, you will need to pay the $16/person/day gratuities that are automatically added to your onboard expense. Given what you state above, the could very well be the only additional expenses while on the ship. However, if you partake of shopping, BINGO, gambling, etc. you will be charged for those things. Have you decided what you are going to do while at your port stops? Those expenses are difficult to estimate, because it totally depends on what you want to do. I rarely spend any money while in a Caribbean port. I usually spend a few bucks on lunch/beverages while in a European port -- more if I'm going in museums and sites that charge a fee. Plus you may need to budget before- and/or after-cruise hotels and transportation to/from the port/hotels/airports. That can add up.

Yes. Santorini is always a tender location. It has no cruise ship docking facilities.

What ports? Greece has many of them. I have not read of any large dock building initiatives in Greece, but perhaps.

Enjoy the cruise. It's a unique ship, for sure. You'll probably either love it or hate it. Most people seem to fall in one camp or the other. I've sailed on the EPIC twice and have enjoyed myself both times. I won't say it's my favorite ship. But, Any negatives about the ship certainly did not impact my vacation in the slightest. As you say in earlier post, it beats staying home. Have fun!

All HOHO buses that I have ever seen in any city simply do a continuous one-way loop on the defined route.

There have been quite a few discussions on this forum. Here's a link that shows the search results for "Pulpit Rock" https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?&q="pulpit rock"&type=forums_topic&quick=1&nodes=116&search_and_or=or&sortby=relevancy

OP, you’re going to be enjoying a hugely beautiful trip in a fjord all the way to Flam and back out. I wouldn’t worry too much if you can’t see the Nærøyfjord.

I’m going to guess that the train will be the Civitavecchia Express. Details found here: https://civitavecchia.portmobility.it/en/new-civitavecchia-express-non-stop-train-cruise-passengers

I’ll join in. The Studios are great for one person. I prefer a full-size cabin, but would stay in a studio again if the situation came up. Do check pricing. Sometimes, depending on when you purchase, a solo can get a full-size inside cabin for less money than a studio.

I'm pretty certain that since they are taking disembarking passengers to the Monument that they then pick up people to take back to the ships for embarkation.

Here is a link to the X80 bus route details. It looks like the daily ticket still shows as €4.10. Although, I guess you could buy 2 single-use tickets for €2.40 if that was all you wanted to use the bus for. https://www.oasa.gr/en/visit-athens/x80-piraeus-acropolis-syntagma-express-bus-line/ Oh, and the last time I was at the Athens port, there was a hoard of aggressive taxi drivers looking for customers. I didn't need one so I didn't discuss pricing or destinations. I walked to the Piraeus Metro Station, which is about 20 minutes walk away, so that's another option for the OP.

I have found that the App can't seem to handle it when they set up the cruises to do 2 locations on the same day. My Mediterranean cruise was fine in the app until they changed our arrival time in Kotor to be 1:00. Royal notified us about this change. To make it sound like a good thing, they added "Sailing Exciting Kotor Bay" (or something like that) in the morning. Well, that broke everything in the App. I see both of these things on the website. But the App shows no hints that we will even visit Kotor that day. It shows a Sea Day. It took them a while to update the Kotor excursions to reflect afternoon times. But in that process, they've done something so that you can't book them at all on the website. You can see the excursions, but you can't click the button that adds it to your Cart. And the App shows no excursions for that day. Because we are "at sea", I assume. If you can see it on the website, but not on the app. I suspect your missing glacier problem is somehow related to this type of situation. I guess I'll ask, how did they previously show 2 destinations on one day in the app?

You probably should confirm with Celebrity where they will meet you. Hopefully others will chime in to give you past experiences. I'm pretty sure in past years, it was at Tronchetto. I've attached a Google Maps photo of the People Mover station on Tronchetto. You can see a large bus parking lot directly beside it. I think it's safe to assume the buses would be waiting there for departure to Ravenna.