maluhia87

Nine nights in Italy

We've done both, and I recommend it as a land trip. It gave us time to explore without needing to rush every day to see everything. We rented a car and drove from Venice > Florence/Pisa > Rome > Pompeii/Amalfi > eastern coastline > Venice. We spent our last few days in Venice but ditched the car at the airport.

NYE are inflated prices to begin with, and Charleston is generally more. That price is probably since it is a very popular sailing time and two months out. We have a NYE booked over 1.5 years ago during the 50% off sale.

We did the ship version of Oia, Winery, and Thira. We stopped at the winery first and had as much wine to drink as we wanted, along with snacks. In Oia, the guide walked us into the square and then let people wander, we just had to meet back at the bus by a certain time. In Thira, we were given cable car tickets and set free for the afternoon. The line for the cable car became quite long, and I think we waited 1 1/2-2 hours to get back to the ship. There was an NCL ship in port with us that day and it sailed late because of the line. I think Carnival might have sailed late also, but not as late as NCL. Santorini is definitely a place I would never visit again as a cruise stop because of the issues from that day.

Only if they are there at sunrise 😉

Isn't the sailing after yours the TA back? I think either way would work since they will be back to using USD soon.

$1.7, but it was won yesterday by someone in California.

Just make sure it is a reputable ATM (connected to a bank), and your bank has been notified you will be withdrawing in a foreign country. We tried to pull money out of an ATM at the metro in Budapest and it ate his card. Luckily mine was still active and I was able to withdraw in Prague as planned.

I just thought of something else that I'm not sure was mentioned. In Italy, fountains are available throughout the cities of public water (refill your water bottles). It usually is cold and tastes fine, even in Pompeii.

And good wine is much cheaper in Europe. We did sail aways with wine on the balcony before dinner.

Rest as much as possible during your sea days. The remainder of that itinerary is brutal with sightseeing. Someone else mentioned pickpocketers, but I wanted to add that they are in the Rome airport also. Start paying attention as soon as you are off the plane.

Always pick the currency of the country you are in. You will get a better rate when it posts on your credit card. No international fee means they do not charge when it gets converted back to USD by the cc/bank.

Not sure when it exactly starts, but last year, we arrived around 11:15 and went through embarkation with no lines. We opted to take a shuttle instead of the train due to previous headaches with that system. I believe a number of people had issues, and someone's luggage did not make it with them.

Ricardo Coconut Rum

The virgin option might not be quite as good since part of what makes those delicious is the coconut rum they add in addition to their rum. You could probably order without the Watlings rum and not have the harsh rum taste. The coconut rum (cannot get in the US) they use is so good I bought 4 liters one of the times we were in Nassau.

Don't airlines generally have dress code standards, such as it must be clothing?

Didn't you have to add in your September cruise to hit the platinum status? If so, you will not have anything showing that until after you finish that cruise.

Hopefully, you didn't land in terminal 5 and have to go to one of the others. It is a cluster$% in that terminal.

We had an excursion to get off the ship in Santorini, which made that part easier, so I cannot answer that question. Our problem was 4 ships in port trying to get cable cars back down to the ship. We stood in line for over 1.5 hours, mostly in the sun.

I highly recommend getting a mesh clothespin bag, very small for packing. I got some on Amazon, and they hold two full-size shampoo/conditioner and a fash wash.

I've had a cc stolen and didn't find out until our first port stop. Luckily I could contact the CC without incurring additional charges, and we had enough other zero transaction fee cards for the trip.

This depends on the airline you book. We currently have Fly2Fun reservations for our Australia trip with Delta. I can see the reservations on the Delta app and picked seats.

No limits. Pretty sure I brought four bottles of wine and a bottle of liquor in my bag since we had two sea days first.

We bought wine at every port last year when we sailed.