NCteacherlovescruising

We had considered it at one point, but frankly this plan has taken in a life of its own, getting longer and longer as plans have constantly changed. So the overnight idea has been put aside but I am very pleased with where we are. Now if dh were to bring it up again I certainly wouldn’t say no, but I don’t see that happening. This is all new for us. I hope we will be able to return someday, but as of now I’d be surprised. You never know though, perhaps he will fall in love with it.

Economy tickets are $1629 or 68.5k miles Premium economy is $2289 or 127k miles Business is $4585 or 167k miles We have about 140,000 miles between the two accounts, and I would transfer mine to his. Would it be worth it to use 127k and then buy a second ticket? Buy two economy tickets with our miles? Or try to talk dh into splurging and buying enough miles to get one free business class ticket. This is one way clt to Barcelona. We are using the cheap cruise air to get home.

We are there overnight so there is no hurry back. That's another reason I don't want to book one of their excursions. Of course, I haven't looked at the train schedule to see how late they run or how easy or difficult it would be to get a ride from the train back to the ship.

Oh my goodness! I bet I didn't even think to check Naples with Aegean. Thanks so so much!! 😘This will be so much easier for us. I went ahead and booked the Royal Continental. Can we bring all our luggage on the ferry? That would be the cheapest, wouldn't it? About what I assumed. We are still undecided on how we are getting to Florence. Perhaps someone in our roll call will share a tour or taxi or something.

Now that I’ve got the major planning done, I feel like I could relax and read some of this book. All hotels have been booked, although @marazul has me considering moving by the airport instead of the train station. It would make it easier in the morning. Just waiting on plane tickets to open and a few excursions left. It feels good, except I’m a bit over budget. 😜 We are going to carry on and deal with it. Overall, I’m quite pleased with our plans and know we will have the time of our lives!! 🙂 I’m sure there will be! I actually knew about the face cloths because I cruised with MSC and apparently they don’t put them in your room outside of the yacht club so it was a thing for some people. I will bring disposable wipes although I don’t like them. I mean, I’ll be on my dream vacation, I’ll get over it.

I just booked Venice Times Hotel from this list. Thanks! No canal view, but I can keep looking.

Oh, thanks! Salerno it will be!! I already booked the Hotel Colosseum for the 30th, but it's a refundable rate so I can certainly look into your suggestion. Thanks! I will look for these. I'm on Amazon on a daily basis. lol We are taking a Celebrity excursion to Capri from Naples, using OBC.

I'm sure it will! We tried booking 6 but it wasn't available. I think that's why he gave us a discount. We were able to take 5 nights in a row when he had that room open.

This is our flight to Athens. Btw, the hotel you suggested is already booked up in Venice for our date(s), as is the Hotel Rialto. 😞 It's the only place I've been unsuccessful in getting what I wanted.

The heat wave prompted a completely new itinerary, a month earlier. The one I initially wanted but said absolutely not! We ended up with 5 nights at AdS. 😁

Thanks for the link! We booked the Hotel Colosseum, which is apx. a half mile from the train station. Thanks for the link. I assume it's similar to the states, where we need to arrive at the airport a couple hours prior to our flight or does it take longer there?

Thank you! I hadn't even considered yet how we would get to the airport.

I see a private transfer would cost a fortune, which I don't want to do both directions. Would taking a ferry to Salerno and then a train to Rome be the best option for us? Or perhaps a ferry to Sorrento and then a train to Rome. If we do the second, would there be a place to store our luggage so we could do some shopping in Sorrento for a couple hours?

We booked a Superior room at Albergo del Senato June 22-27 (a superior wasn't available the other end of the week) and the Amalfi Coast from the 27-30th. We need a room for the 30th for a flight out the morning of the 1st. Is there a budget friendly hotel either near the airport or just another part of Rome we may miss earlier in the week, that will allow us a 1 night stay? It doesn't have to be fancy or have a view, just clean and comfortable.

When looking online, we couldn't get a Superior room at Albergo del Senato so I emailed them. I woke to their reply this morning. I was searching for 6 days on either end (June 22-July 1). They couldn't accommodate us for that, but did offer us a superior on June 22-27. It's not ideal, but we took it. They gave us a discounted rate so it was too good to pass up, although we would have preferred staying at the tail end since we're flying out of Rome! I just booked the Hotel Residence Amalfi June 27-30. That could give us plenty of time to explore Amalfi, Ravello, and Positano. But now this leaves us needing a room in Rome on the 30th because we have a flight out of Rome on the 1st to Athens. We won't be picky and may stay near the airport. I assume the Hotel in Amalfi will hold our belongings if we want to hang out a bit before heading to Rome. According to google it's about 4 hours. I don't know if that takes traffic into account but we won't be in a rush. It's all coming together and I have a several on these boards to thank! 😍 I don't want to name names because I'm scared I will forget someone.

I assumed that's what it was, but wasn't sure. What book would you recommend? I bought Rick Steves Mediterranean Cruise Ports but it is so big I found it a bit overwhelming and never read it. Perhaps I will try to read the introduction this week, as well as some of the ports we will be visiting. Thank you! Yes, we will certainly go to Ravello as well! Thanks you!

I found affordable, nice hotels in Amalfi and Praiano. Is one location better than the other? I see Praiano is closer to Positano but Amalfi is supposed to be a beautiful town as well and it looks like it’s next to Ravello, which I also heard is top 3. Both have sea views and good ratings on Trip Advisor.

Pricing hotels and I’m a bit confused. Is the above 1,335 euros? So apx $1,498?

We booked a cruise while onboard. However, we have since changed our mind about taking that cruise. It seems like we were told and given a paper that said we could change the sail date within 12 months. I think that’s what it said. Does anyone know the details on this? We booked a cruise for July 2024. Can we change it to anytime between now and July 2025?

Just checked them again and now our dates are showing. Much cheaper than ITA. Booked. Thanks!

Thanks! We are booking from Rome, so we will be doing the Amalfi Coast first. The flight from Naples is twice as long and has a plane change for apx the same amount of money.

Nevermind. It’s FCO. ITA has flights available now. We either have to pay a premium to fly in in the AM or fly late at night but then we wouldn’t have access to a hotel all day, which I wouldn’t like. Oh and the luggage. If you want to bring anything at all, it costs more. Lol Is that a reputable airline? I assume it is since you recommended them.

This is what I wanted to do originally, but dh said no. I absolutely love the itinerary!! We will be gone a little over a month because the first cruise starts in Barcelona on the 13th. Our plan is to fly there on the 10th, arrive on the 11th. That hotel is booked. Cruise ends on the 22nd and our NCL cruise isn’t until July 3-12. We plan to fly out of Venice on the 13th. With the extreme temps over there now, dh agreed to this itinerary if we could cut back on some expenses with excursions and hotels, which I have done. Bye-bye to the canal view hotel in Venice and hello to rooms by the train/bus station, and most likely an interior room in Rome. I still want a sea view on the coast. 🤪 I will check the airlines you mentioned for our flights to Athens. Thanks! We will fly there on or around the 1st. Which airport do I select?

This sounds like it may be the easiest. When time gets closer I could check my roll call to see if anyone would want to share a taxi to the train station. This sounds like a pain and as you said, time consuming. I don't see a transportation only round trip bus on our excursion list. They have some excursions, which of course are much more than diy, and our "free time" in Florence is limited to 3-4 hours. I don't think that's enough to hit the sites we want to see. Here's the options that are possible. I could always cancel one of the other excursions I booked and replace it with one of these: Do they get some compensation for taking us to this leather factory or something? Would that be a good place to buy leather goods or a tourist trap? I can't check for our date yet, but can check again at a later date.

That's disappointing. Without a shuttle, what's the best way to get to the train station? Or should we just book a tour bus? I would like to maximize our time in Florence.