KiwiGal117

I know there a loads of great hotels in Venice.  We have only been once and stayed at the Hilton Mulino Stucky.  It is in Giudecca across the main canal from St. Mark's Square etc., but they have a dedicated boat that goes back and forth.  It is a Hilton, but is very much a unique space.  It included a fabulous breakfast and the views were spectacular.  It also has a rooftop pool which is unusual, but very much appreciated as we were there in August and it was hot.

My understanding from research I have done on here is that if you book the excursion through the ship, the tender boats take you to a different dock, where tour busses are waiting (so no walking up the hill or waiting for the cable car).  If you don't book a ship excursion, the tenders take you to the main dock where you can transfer (by foot) to the cable car or alternatively take the donkey ride or walk up the hill to Fira where there is a bus station, taxis etc.

The "on your own tour" drops you in Oia where you can walk around as much or as little as you wish for the period of time you are there.  I do not know if the tour bus returns you to the same dock upon return - there seems to be differing experiences on that.  I suppose you could try to call your cruise line to check that, although often the agents on the phone don't have that level of detail.

The notice you quote above seems like a pretty standard warning about the uneven streets, cobblestones etc found in most European cities and towns.  And I am sure there would be hills, just given the terrain.  Might be worth seeing if you can find a YouTube video showing Oia to see whether you think you'll be able to manage it.  Good luck in your research!

Thanks for sharing the financial side.  People do say it's not polite to discuss money - but I think it is very helpful for others to see this!  It's easy to think that "ohhh... the cruise is only $X, plus the airfare."  It's easy to forget or downplay the additional costs.

Typically Civitavecchia requires passengers to board a bus at a central location (within the port) and will drive you to your ship.  The bus will have a sign with the ship's name.  If you are taking a cab, it is likely the port employees manning the gates will direct the driver to the appropriate pier.  This was our experience anyway - others may have more/better info.

3 hours ago, PORT ROYAL said:

Walked?  Is the Taxi Rank outside the Station no longer in existence?

We walked from our AirBnb which was closer to the first shuttle than the train station. I assume there is still a taxi rank there, but don't know this personally for this year.

 We walked from our AirBnb (which was pretty centrally located) to the place with the star.  There was a shuttle bus there that then took us to the other shuttle (where the picture of the bus is) which took us to the ship.

If you are a group of people (or could get a group together through your Roll Call), it may be worth arranging a private transfer.  We have a private transfer booked going from our Rome hotel to Ravenna in September, using RomeInLimo.  Because we are a group of 6, it was only slightly more expensive than a taxi to the train, switching trains, and the transfer in Ravenna to the ship, and of course infinitely less stressful than navigating the train stations with our luggage, especially with some folks who are a bit older.

5 hours ago, wanderlust1219 said:

After seeing a recommendation on this board for Rolling Rome golf cart tour, our group of 7 (ages 50 - 86) booked the evening tour on their website.  All 7 of us agree that it was the highlight of our vacation. The driver, Emmanuel, was so fun, and he was able to customize the tour for us.  Thanks to the person who mentioned it in previous post!

Thanks for taking the time to post this!  I'll look into it for our trip in September!

Thanks for a great review!  Entertaining and also informative as we will be on Explorer in September.  Safe travels home.  And this is probably too late but if you come across the Lays Olive Oil potato chips - oh my!  Buy them all... so good.

We were in Argostoli as a last minute switch out for Athens, due to a strike in Athens.  We took the bus (at the end of the pier and to the left IIRC) to a beach.  The bus driver was super helpful - he told us what time to come back and how often the busses ran.  We were able to rent chairs and umbrellas at the beach.  It wasn't far from the port -maybe 15 minutes.  We came back in time to have a late lunch in Argostoli on a patio before reboarding the ship.  One of my favourite ports of all time.

If you have time, it may be worth asking someone on an earlier cruise (same ship, same ports) that may have The Key to see what their experience is like at that embarkation location and on that ship.  You could watch to see if anyone is doing a report, or start a new thread detailing the ship etc., and I am sure someone will jump on to answer!

Keep in mind too that RC is making offers to people on oversold cruises - no one is getting cancelled against their will.  So unless they offer an alternative to you and you accept it, you will be on the cruise.

1 hour ago, DandDM said:

 

 

 

This! Thanks for sharing.  We are on Explorer from Ravenna in September, and I had been researching these options!

We brought our old WOW bands with muster station on Symphony and they swapped them for new ones.

3 hours ago, Marken said:

Try looking into a private transfer service.  There are 6 of us doing an RCCL cruise and booked a transfer from our hotel in Bologna to the ship in Ravenna.

 

Thanks - yes I ended up doing that and booked through RomeInLimo.  While slightly more expensive than the train, it is much more straightforward and less hassle as they are picking us up at our hotel in Rome.

On 5/2/2023 at 1:48 PM, ajtaylor29 said:

We're cruising out of Ravenna this September, and only discovered after we booked the cruise that we were 2 hours away from the port when in Venice?!?

After researching myself and asking lots of questions, we figured out that RCCL DOES offer a shuttle service (via bus) from either Venice airport, Venice town center area (near train station) or Bologna airport. You cannot book this online tho - you have to call RC to reserve your seats OR let your TA do it if you're using a travel agent. I believe it's about $60 per person each way.

We decided to fly in to Venice and spend 2 days pre-cruise there, then fly home out of Bologna (it's only an hour away from the port).

Hope this helps!

Do you (or anyone else on this thread) know what time the shuttles leave from Bologna airport to go to the port?

On 5/2/2023 at 4:55 PM, little britain said:

The coach goes from BLQ but there is a high speed rail shuttle between the train station and the airport. 
 

There are very few taxis in Ravenna 

Thanks for confirming.  I had a feeling that would be the case!

We're booked on a cruise in September as well.  We will be in Rome for a few days first so we were planning to take the train to Ravenna (I think it goes through Bologna), my only concern is trying to get a taxi at Ravenna on a day where there is a ship turnover. Especially as we will probably need 3 taxis.  I will look into the coach transfer from Bologna as that may be easier.

Enjoy everyone!  I will be living vicariously through you this week!  And not getting much work done in all likelihood.  Have a MaiTai for me.

About 10  years ago, we did a cruise that took us to Kotor.  We made the grave error of taking a "hop on hop off bus" which went up into the hills to see various things.  It pours rain up there most of the time, which we didn't know, and there was no inside part to this bus.  We were given very thin plastic rain covers, but they were wholly ineffective.  We sat for ages at one spot and were not told what was going on.  I eventually asked the tour guide when we were leaving as I was getting concerned about getting back to ship on time.  She shrugged and said "okay we'll leave now".  There were people waiting for ages along the route who were so relieved when the bus came along.  I have a very bad view about Kotor because of this experience, which is too bad as it is a beautiful location.  Note to self: don't do the HOHO bus here.  Also - I know, I sound bitter...

On 3/7/2023 at 12:06 PM, teddybear231 said:

We always try to board as early as possible to take full advantage, it's almost like an extra day on the boat! We were just on the Freedom in November and had The Key. We were on the ship by 10:43am, and had a drink in hand by 10:55am! We took full advantage of the drink package. 

 

I see what you're saying about lunch in Rome, but one thing you should note is that Italian lunches/dinners are more laid back and not a quick in and out like you get here in the states. You could easily have a 1.5 hour lunch (if not longer). I feel like this would add to my stress trying to get to the ship. I would have a small breakfast at a cafe and maybe grab a slice of pizza or a panini before leaving Rome. As many others have said on this post, traffic in/out of Rome can be horrendous at times.

We stayed in Civitavecchia at an AirBnb the night before our cruise.  This allowed for a leisurely breakfast and little stress in getting to the ship as we had already located the port bus stop.  While it's not Rome, and nothing really to write home about, there are some cute restaurants and piazzas to hang out in and start your day in a leisurely way.

We did a Mediterranean cruise on RCI Harmony of the Seas in 2016 - RCI is great for kids, and there was plenty for them to do. Our son was 12 at the time.  We tried to mix in fun kid stuff with sightseeing.  That included hanging out by the pool, letting him do the zip line, and during our days in port we did a pizza and gelato making class - things like that.  We were gone 2 1/2 weeks, with time in Italy before and after.  We were all ready to come home, but the last full day we were at St. Peter's Basilica and my son threw his arms around me and said "thank you for this amazing trip".  So, I would say that yes, there were ups and downs, but on the whole it was an amazing experience and I am so glad we did it.

We are booked on the Sept 24/23 departure of this cruise - same changes received.  Disappointed about missing Mykonos, but I am sure we will have a great time nonetheless.

We board on the 21st (also in an aft balcony). We were booked on the Tracey Arm excursion but received an email a couple of weeks ago that it was cancelled due to ice conditions. Disappointing, but we quickly booked a small group whale watching excursion.

We are going on our first HAL cruise in September.  So far, based on this thread, my embarkation day lunch is looking like:

Lido Salad

Peanut Butter Pie

Key Lime Pie

Bread Pudding...

I feel like all the food groups are covered here... right?🤣