Brilliance - May 22nd-29th (Italy, Montenegro, Greece)

[blondcat]

So back to our rooms after 10 min queue to get back on ship. Had a voice mail from shore excursions saying they had flogged the beach break for a cheaper price and would honour that and refund it to our account. We got quite a bit back I think ! 
 

went to pool, was so hot on deck - no issue getting lounger. Lots of waiters. 
had a cheeky cocktail myself :))

 

Dinner in main dining room and a flutter in the casino. Ended the day 5 euros up, LOL and feeling chubby after all this food! The rib of beef was bloody good 

[mapleleaves]

On 5/26/2022 at 10:56 AM, infoseeking said:

Thanks for the info. I called Royal Caribbean today and they told me the transfer from the ship in Ravenna to VCE is currently wait list only.

 

The agent couldn't find the transfer to Venice City center as an option to book.

 

I don't want to risk not having a transfer since I will have kids with me, so I reserved the combined Padua excursion and airport transfer. It is spendy!

 

Hoping once on board I can switch that to drop off in Venice city center. Otherwise, I guess we'll see Padua. It just cuts into our Venice time.

I'd be surprised if RCI didn't add another coach if they have a wait list !

Is the train not an option for you?

 

The Padua option is definitely spendy. 

I had contacted the Ravenna Tourism Authority to get info on private transfers and Taxi service ( for a friend's elderly parents... they couldn't manage a train).   

 

The taxi company said 250-280E for the ride.    Radiotaxi Ravenna (taxidiravenna.it)

 

I didn't follow up on the car service but here's the company info if you want to pursue it. 

HIRE WITH DRIVER OF RAVENNA - Ravenna - Rhaama Service - About Us

 

Please post with the info if you contact them.  I'm sure others would like to know.

Good luck !

[infoseeking]

We haven't traveled by train in Italy before so weren't sure how manageable it would be with kids and luggage.

 

It's good to see some recommended private transfers. When we were initially looking online, it was hard to figure out which companies were reputable/reliable. Some companies had good reviews from before the pandemic but recent reviews complained of the driver not showing up. Not clear who might be having hiring shortages. Didn't even think of getting a recommendation from the Ravenna Tourism Authority.

 

For now we'll keep the excursion/transfer combo through Royal Caribbean. It's easy, can book through the Cruise Planner. I wish all the Royal Caribbean transfer options could be seen and booked that way.

[bclittle]

Thanks for posting! What beach excursion did you do in Mykonos? Was it through RCL? 

 

 

 

[blondcat]

9 hours ago, bclittle said:

Thanks for posting! What beach excursion did you do in Mykonos? Was it through RCL? 

 

 

 

It was the Elia beach transfer. And in hindsight I’m glad they refunded the difference as 99 bucks is outrageous for a 15 min coach and bottle of water 

[blondcat]

So day 6 Argostoli and another beach break. Loads of people (including us) decided to switch out cave excursion to another beach break. Mykonos has been so lovely and we heard argostoli was better and it didn’t disappoint. Was no drama changing at shore excursions and they refunded us the difference. 
 

prompt disembarkation to the coaches and much more reasonably priced - I think 30 usd or similar ? Didn’t include the loungers and umbrellas but they were 12 euros for 2 - reasonable! Costa costa is the beach club if you want to google - cheaper than Mykonos. 
 

No one wanted to leave at 2pm (last boarding was 530pm that day so bit of a shame really!) 

Some pics and day 5 & 6 compass passes 

[blondcat]

Day 6 night and we followed roughly the same routine. When we boarded the ship headed up to pool for a few hours. Then got ready for drinks and dinner. We’d get ready for 715, go up to the concierge lounge and get our freebie drink - the nicest bar tenders. We tipped them 60 dollars in the end - no idea I’d that I’d good or insulting but felt about right (we had 1 drink each a night and they were so good remembering our order and names).  Really liked it in there and chatted to the same other guests each night. 
 

then headed down to the Trivia game at 2000 in the schooner bars - I fared better at 80s music than mum did at 70s! Then dinner in main dining room 2030 which was good food but very average service.

 

We lost mums 20 euros in the casino on day 6 but she absolutely loved playing all the nights. For anyone interested it’s cheap minimum bets with 1 euro chips at roulette (5 euro minimum per spin). Makes it easy for newbies to play. But was quite busy and they didn’t open up the other table. 
 

Day 6 done!

[blondcat]

Day 7 sea day and motoring up the Italian coast to Ravenna. Queue at guest services was ridiculous. My app stopped working so I wanted to check my final bill (which was around 800USD for 2 x internet packages, chefs table, giovannis, tips, and a few drinks here and there). We asked about departure and they said they’d be a letter in our stateroom.

 

Mum popped down from pool at 1230 and it was there with the wrong details !! Argh!! We had luggage tags which were for Venice airport not Bologna. How that happened when it was an RCL airline booking is beyond me. Another 40 mins in guest services line before Montserrat saw me and rescued me (tbf she was helping lots of folks in the queue).  She said don’t worry and gave me luggage tags for Bologna (0745 departure) and said she would escort us off the ship the next day. 
 

I found this all a bit stressful to be honest and in a strop was going to ask them to remove my gratuities for the last day because I’d spent 2 hours queuing but didn’t bother. 
 

we enjoyed the rest of our day and packed in the evening. We were taking our own luggage off anyway so that was quite chilled. 
 

I was a bit motion sick on last night from the choppier waters and Montserrat gave me some anti sickness tablets which worked a treat. The motion woke me in the night several times - I’m very sensitive to it I think! We arrived in Ravenna on time 

[blondcat]

Day 8 - disembarkation 

 

Montserrat showed up at 0720 and escorted us off the ship. We had to wait 20 mins before boarding the coach (they had 3 for Bologna) - plenty of space for everyone. I’m remembering now an email that came before we left England asking about transfers. Seems everyone got what they wanted in the end. 
 

we asked Montserrat about ship passenger numbers and she said 75% of capacity for those asking.

 

we had a really lovely cruise and really wouldn’t change much. Perhaps:

 

1. figure out how to keep the queues down in guest services 

2. usual towel reserving pool Lounger shenanigans- that’s every holiday you go on though!

3. Make the beach breaks longer 

4. wifi - I know they do their best but it’s rubbish in the staterooms for 130 quid a week

5. get guests disembarkation luggage tags right - super stressful  

 

some really good stuff

 

1. alcohol free beer in the pub (my bf is sober 3.5 years so I always look out for that).

2. Montserrat was amazing (we tipped her of course). 
3. barman and free drinks in concierge lounge 

4. The royal suite was as you would expect - fabulous. But balcony was weird kind of divided in 2

5. Pools were lovely on board 

6. shore excursions easy to deal with (pricey though)

7. Casino & pub were great with football playing (premier league matches last week and champions league final last night)

8. food was great - chefs table excellent 

9. apart from the hour wait to disembark in Montenegro - the rest was fine and well organised 

we had a lovely week and they made my mother feel really special which was the main goal for me - for her to have a good time and hopefully realise the devastating loss of her beloved sister doesn’t mean she can’t travel and have fun :)) 

[sgmn]

Thank you @blondcatfor a great blog. Glad you and your mum had a good time.

The beach photos look fab and has got me rethinking our stop in Kefalonia.

I agree I wish the beach tours had longer at the beach 

[24acorns]

It has been lovely following along on your journey, thank you for taking us along with you.

I'm sure your Mum had a wonderful time, your photos looked great.

Hope you have a good journey home.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

Thanks for letting us all follow along. Some really good information there for those who are travelling soon. 

 

Stay safe and safe trip home

[Sarah1974]

Thank you for your fabulous blog

[bclittle]

19 hours ago, blondcat said:

It was the Elia beach transfer. And in hindsight I’m glad they refunded the difference as 99 bucks is outrageous for a 15 min coach and bottle of water 

 

Thank you! I was debating between the two beach excursions and went with your suggestion! Plus it was cheaper! I got it for only $24 a person, I am glad that you got some of your money back, $99 would be WAY too much. 

[momo35]

Thank you for this great Blog.

Do the coaches  all start 7:20 am on disembarktion day? We want to transfer to venice and stay there, so we would not need to leave the ship so early . Thanks in advance for your answer.

[Tlbecker1]

On 5/31/2022 at 12:00 AM, momo35 said:

Thank you for this great Blog.

Do the coaches  all start 7:20 am on disembarktion day? We want to transfer to venice and stay there, so we would not need to leave the ship so early . Thanks in advance for your answer.

We were also on this cruise.  The buses leave starting at 7am every 30 minutes.  We booked rough guest services for $10.00 a person.  We booked it to get to the train station.  Keep in mind if you do take the train to Venice there is a elevator at the Ravenna station but not at the stop where you have to switch trains.  You need to be able to take your luggage up and down a few sections of stairs.  If we do it again I would definitely take the bus transfer all the way to Venice and not mess with the train.

[Pushkin]

23 hours ago, Tlbecker1 said:

We were also on this cruise.  The buses leave starting at 7am every 30 minutes.  We booked rough guest services for $10.00 a person.  We booked it to get to the train station.  Keep in mind if you do take the train to Venice there is a elevator at the Ravenna station but not at the stop where you have to switch trains.  You need to be able to take your luggage up and down a few sections of stairs.  If we do it again I would definitely take the bus transfer all the way to Venice and not mess with the train.

Thank you for this information.  Did you change trains in Ferrara?

[Tlbecker1]

7 hours ago, Pushkin said:

Thank you for this information.  Did you change trains in Ferrara?

Yes, we did.  It wouldn’t have been so difficult if we didn’t have so much luggage.😀

[GoldenGirlsFan]

Our family is doing this same cruise leaving July 31.  I have a question about getting on/off the ship at each port as it relates to COVID.  All four of us had COVID in November 2020 and were vaccinated in 2021.  My husband and daughter have been boosted so are considered "up to date" by all European countries.  My son and I have not received the booster shot. Will we have to test before we get on/off the ship at each port?  We're fine with getting tested. Just wondering about the process and how easy it is.  

[Biker19]

18 minutes ago, GoldenGirlsFan said:

Will we have to test before we get on/off the ship at each port?

Welcome to CC.

 

The RCI web site has the rules listed by port.

[George C]

On 5/29/2022 at 1:30 AM, blondcat said:

Day 8 - disembarkation 

 

Montserrat showed up at 0720 and escorted us off the ship. We had to wait 20 mins before boarding the coach (they had 3 for Bologna) - plenty of space for everyone. I’m remembering now an email that came before we left England asking about transfers. Seems everyone got what they wanted in the end. 
 

we asked Montserrat about ship passenger numbers and she said 75% of capacity for those asking.

 

we had a really lovely cruise and really wouldn’t change much. Perhaps:

 

1. figure out how to keep the queues down in guest services 

2. usual towel reserving pool Lounger shenanigans- that’s every holiday you go on though!

3. Make the beach breaks longer 

4. wifi - I know they do their best but it’s rubbish in the staterooms for 130 quid a week

5. get guests disembarkation luggage tags right - super stressful  

 

some really good stuff

 

1. alcohol free beer in the pub (my bf is sober 3.5 years so I always look out for that).

2. Montserrat was amazing (we tipped her of course). 
3. barman and free drinks in concierge lounge 

4. The royal suite was as you would expect - fabulous. But balcony was weird kind of divided in 2

5. Pools were lovely on board 

6. shore excursions easy to deal with (pricey though)

7. Casino & pub were great with football playing (premier league matches last week and champions league final last night)

8. food was great - chefs table excellent 

9. apart from the hour wait to disembark in Montenegro - the rest was fine and well organised 

we had a lovely week and they made my mother feel really special which was the main goal for me - for her to have a good time and hopefully realise the devastating loss of her beloved sister doesn’t mean she can’t travel and have fun :)) 

Great info , very entertaining, I agree suites should have free WiFi , surprised you went to guest service, normally concierge can take care of any issues .

Edited June 4, 2022 by George C

[blondcat]

For those interested in the transfers this might help