Choozin Croozin

We just spent 3 wonderful nights at Hotel Smeraldo the end of October, pre-cruise. @cruisemom42had recommended as a more budget friendly hotel, so I took her suggestion. We loved everything about it and have booked it for next year pre-cruise, again. We had a balcony room in the main bldg and looked down at the line to get into Rosciolis. lol - The balconies are tiny but I loved it just the same. We were on the 4th floor and there was a terrace just down the hall (used by smokers) but nice just the same. Up one floor was the bar/restaurant which was delightful. It has curtains that can be closed if weather is inclement and then the rest is open air. Yes our room was very small and wish I had taken pictures but I didn't. I expected small. It had a wardrobe area next to the bed with open shelves, open hanging spaces, a safe and a place to store luggage. There was also a desk at the foot of the bed with a built in luggage rack. It was a little challenging to open the door all the way with a medium suitcase there but we didn't really spend any time in the room but to sleep. Bathroom was a bit tight too, but our wants and needs are not much. It was clean, the staff was most pleasant and helpful and it is in a great location - except quite a long bit to the Vatican. We did not have any housekeeping service during our stay. We prefer to not have people in our room when we are gone. So you can form your own opinion.

How might I find out who that is? Curious minds would like to know.

I thought I would follow up to let you know what happened. It was today lack of communication. We were given different instructions by different people up until we departed the ship. We ended up just being able to walk right off the ship on to a ferry within about 1/2 hr of being cleared and took maybe about 15-20 min of a ferry boat ride. Arrived in plenty of time for our 8:15 tour. No tickets. They supposedly were going to hand out tender tickets after 9am.

Yes, I think we'll just have to make sure we are in line early and hope for the best. Hopefully the tour guide is flexible. Ours is picking us up at the port.

Thank you!!

That is very helpful! Thank you. I hope it is the same this year!! Happy Cruising.

We were hoping to get off for an 8:15 tour. Now I'm beginning to think that isn't going to happen. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Exactly! I have a tour planned for 8/8:15 and not sure that will work

Anyone done this lately? I was just wondering how Royal handles the tendering. Is it just a wait in line until you manage to get off the ship? Do you line up the day before for a tender ticket for a time? Does it take a long time to get off? ANy information is welcome. Thank you.

@roger bour tour is done at 6:30 and we depart at 8p, so not a lot of time.

I am doing a tour with no frills excursion to VALLDEMOSSA & SOLLER that was organized by someone else on our ship. It is a long day so maybe we will just want to go back to the ship and collapse after, BUT is there any place to eat or relax that isn't touristy near the ship that we could visit. We will have missed our dinner time on the ship so might as well try some local food if possible. I apologize if this has been asked. I scrolled through this post but there are a lot of questions about the train and beach and with a search too, couldn't find anything. Thank you so much.

I too am booked at Hotel Smeraldo this October. Someone just posted on the other site that we’re not allowed to mention that they had a great stay there so that was another reassurance. We are using “Shared Shuttle” to get from FCO to the hotel and from hotel to cruise port. They are comparatively reasonable

You have a good point about the translating in our heads. As I watch my 3 yo gd as she has learned to speak and repeat everything I say. It seems so easy. Good luck. It is so much fun. There are some great videos on You Tube too.

Friends stayed here and really enjoyed it. To quote them "quirky little 5 room bnb, clean, quiet and relaxing with a view out over the water" FWIW.. Might be worth a try.

I totally agree!

Yes, I am using Duolingo and Busuu which I almost like better. They are both great but my retention at my age is not great. That’s why I started, off and on a year ago. Still have 5 mo to cram some more in.

So the e at the end of tagliatelle is not pronounced? Trying to learn some Italian for fun and travels but my old brain takes a lot long. Italian is difficult but every so often something sticks. 😆

I will look into it. Thank you. I'm excited to try it. Emma is very close to where I am staying in October. I am excited to try it.

I see Brunello mentioned a lot here. What is special or unique about it. I am trying to learn what I may like to order as far as wine goes. I know nothing about Italian wine. Thank you.

Well these are hardly worth it either. The Hibachi is $45.99 and $49.99. The 3 night pkg comes to $44.44 and then you have to pay $15 on top of it. Ha..

Fortunately I saw @Biker19s post. I can't tell you too much about the shows. Our granddaughter was with us and she was the show until bedtime. Couldn't stay awake until the late night. There was one show that I saw a portion of: a guy on a unicycle and another guy throwing him swords etc. Doesn't sound like much but what I saw, they were pretty funny. The Atrium band was amazing. My gd loved dancing to them when they performed. The problem was, they weren't consistent. There were others and game shows (some better than others) etc, in between. They usually performed at some time, it just varied. Second entrees no problem but you got served one at a time.... same with apps. We ordered 3 at a time sometimes, they did serve two at a time if there was an odd number. We had an amazing waiter and we were a family of 5 so it might vary a bit. I do not like the Windjammer. Don't like the chaos and I'm a germ-a-phobe. With that said, they had a nice variety. What i missed may not bother you. It's all subjective. The salad selection lacked the "greens". Lots of "white lettuce". I had a burger one day and it was really good! and I loved the fries! I got the made to order eggs every morning and oatmeal (love the cruise ship oatmeal). I am also a huge fane of the pizza in the Solarium Cafe? There were things that maybe weren't like they "used to be", some things I miss, but all in all, I was on a wonderful cruise, out in a beautiful ocean, surrounded by outstanding people there to make my experience amazing, and I didn't have to cook or clean. I've never appreciated a cruise more than post COVID.

We just got back and our ds, dil and gd came with us. She is 2 1/2 so totally different than your situation. There is nothing for these little ones under 3. I had read a suggestion to bring one of those little blow up pools and a small hand pump. You can fill it up with the outdoor showers. That way you can enjoy the pool deck if you'd like. I would almost think a 1 yo would be easier than the 2 1/2 yo. She was very active and seemed to be overstimulated by all the new things (she was born in 2020 so has been quite sheltered). They brought a lot of food pouches and pre-packaged snacks. Hopefully your child will sleep in a stroller as that will help you out a lot. They ordered a crib but one was not in the room so they flipped the couch around to form an enclosed area. Not sure how that would work with a one year old. It was a lot of fun and she had a ball. Mom was pretty exhausted running after her.

We just returned from Labadee. Loved our day there and never even thought about it being unsafe. The vendors are very pushy if you go to the individual shops. The market people I think are just unfriendly, but I always go in there and buy some of their metal art. It was a beautiful day.

Just got off the Jewel March 11. That was the one thing to me that was lacking. I love vegetables and usually eat a lot with dinner. Every night after dinner I would say to myself, tomorrow I am going to order extra veggies, every night I forgot. 🤦‍♀️ lol Especially when they had fresh spinach. You can get fresh veggies and dip from the kids menu. My granddaughter got those every night. Good luck. I'm sure it will be fine. I hope I will remember in Oct when I take my next cruise.

Just got off the Jewel on the 11th. I personally thought everything was wonderful. I have no complaints that come to mind. The staff was amazing. Unfortunately for the cabin stewards, our sailing was the beginning of the once a day cleaning (we got to choose morning or evening service) and Royal doubled their rooms. So instead of 6 rooms, they had 12. If you are lucky to be on deck 9 aft and have Ryan, you are in for a treat. He was such a pleasant young man. Some of the CS were really stressed by the change. Change is never easy. A lot of people do not like the new menu. I loved it. Some items were better than others, but there was always something that looked interesting. I can't comment on the activities because I really didn't participate in them. If you have any specific questions, I will be happy to try an answer. BTW- boarding and if you have time to wait a little, getting off the ship was a breeze. My son couldn't find his car key so we got off the ship closer to 9 and walked right off. There wasn't a soul around. They used facial recognition and no customs. Those that left around 8 or so were struggling a bit with the elevators. A lot of people kept their luggage for some reason.