First cruise

[Hosum]

We are doing our first cruise in May (me,dh, dd14,dd3) with royal Caribbean from Rome - any tips? Is the VIP pass worth it? We are thinking dining isn't worth it?

Royal Caribbean always charge for tips (gratuities). However, you may have paid these up front when you booked your holiday. It’s approx $15pp per day.

Plus you pay tips on top of every drink you buy whilst onboard.

it doesn’t make any difference whether you’ve booked in the UK or embarking from a uk port. The gratuities will definitely be collected one way or the other.

as pp said, you can get them removed once onboard, but that’s not really the done thing.

Hi - yes I had the option when I booked to pay the daily gratuities up front around £400 (so not in the price for the stateroom) or to pay them at the end. I paid upfront as timing didn't really make a difference to me. The drinks ones I'll have to pay at the end.

Now trying not to be sucked into bidding on the upgrades.

@Hosum what stateroom(s) have you booked?

RC will definitely try to extract as much cash from you before you get off the ship! They have so many inventive ways to make you part with your cash!

Watch out for overpriced tours and shuttle buses. Local taxis are normally much cheaper, especially if there are 4 of you.

We do love cruising, and our kids still choose to cruise above all other types of holiday. But you do become wise to their up-selling after a while.

We've booked guaranteed balcony but we don't know where so could be neighbourhood or ocean anywhere.

We just wanted somewhere to be when DD3 crashes.

Counting down but every hidden cost is adding up!

Pisa is easy to visit by train if you dock at liverno, you can use the Trainline app even. Other ports are also fairly easy to arrange independently but always aim to back at the ship 90 mins before all onboard time, not worth the risk. I've not been on RC but have been told drinks are very expensive.

P&O have no tips. Cunard have tips. RCI have tips. MSC have no tips. Fred Olsen have tips. Saga have no tips. Marella have no tips. Celebrity adds tips. Princess adds tips. NCL adds tips.

Always check brand by brand, even within the same group.

Thank you - we've gone for Florence over Pisa as we only have 1 day and booked the ship excursion as we are leaving DH and DD3 behind and he was a bit worried about being stranded if we didn't get back!

As far as I can see Naples is walkable from the port (we've booked a transfer to and from Pompeii but that was pretty reasonable) and ditto for Barcelona re walking. Palma/Rome I am questioning - Palma we just want to go to the beach but lots of the blogs warn that taxi there fine but return not reliable and Rome -- I think we are better doing under our own steam as disembarking day anyway and we are staying overnight in a b&b.

As far as I can see I can book tickets for the colosseum (although not yet) and we aren't going to trek to the Vatican unless someone says it is super easy and I can also 'scream' in the Sistine chapel.

Screaming in the Sistine was a hoot of a thread.

you’ve made the right decision between Florence and Pisa. We didn’t rate Pisa at all. Last time we did Rome we just took
a taxi from the Port to the City. There is a train too that I think it quite reliable.

You've done the right thing with Naples @Hosum . It's a bit of a "gritty" city, so if you are doing the transfer direct to Pompeii, it will no doubt pick you up right in front of the ship (there is a huge car park/taxi pick up zone right in front of the terminal). It's not somewhere I would like to go for a nice little wander, especially the port area!

I would recommend you get a tour guide to take you round Pompeii, you can ask when you are buying tickets at the kiosk, it's quite normal, and you will be added onto another group to make up the numbers. It's fairly reasonable price-wise, and makes the most of your visit. We've done both with/without a guide, hence my recommendation!

Barcelona has a blue tourist shuttle that takes you fron the ship to the bottom of Las Ramblas for a few Euros each, or just hop in a taxi, we found that to be approx same price because there is 5 of us.

Palma - I think a pp has mentioned that Cala Mayor is the next bay, and has a lovely beach with nice restaurants etc. If returning taxis are scarce, there are public buses that run right past the port entrance heading towards Palma. We normally dock at Porto Pi, which seems to be approx 2.5km from Cala Mayor beach, so not far at all.

Rome - the trains are cheap, but too much faff for us with luggage. We always book a shared transfer, but the drivers are absolute maniacs. Definitely book ahead for Colosseum. It's great skipping the queues. Plus you get free entry to the gardens that you can go later/the following day if that suits you better.

If you have booked a Guarantee cabin, the cabin number may be showing online now. Have a look on the app.

That massively sets questions to bed re Palma. Rome the train is about the same for 4 of us as a transfer so we'll do it that way.

Noted re Pompeii the is Dd14 big ask so we want to make it as good as an experience as possible (bought for good Latin grades through this year).

Naples - we thought if we got back from Pompeii we could walk into the city from the port or not recommended?

No number yet - imagine they are banking on the 'upgrade auction'. Tbh if this works as something that meets DD3 and Dd14 then I will be vvvvv happy. Other holidays to date cater for one above the other. Last one with friends with ds 5 and ds3 was not a highlight for my older daughter.

It depends where you dock in Barcelona, I’ve been a few times on cruises and got a shuttle to one end of Las Ramblas.

@Hosum We have docked at Naples loads of times, but always go elsewhere. Pompeii, Sorrento etc. There is definitely a HoHo bus and plenty of public transport. There are loads of “taxi” touts hanging about outside the cruise terminal. It’s not a very pleasant experience if I’m honest.

I’m not sure how far it would be to walk from the port into the more touristy areas. Sorry. Its definitely a working dock area, so you can imagine it’s not the prettiest area. Have a look on CruiseCritic. There’s loads of info on the forums. Google map the route and “walk” virtually. You will see if you think it looks doable (or enjoyable). Don’t let me put you off tho!!

We have a 7.5 year age gap between oldest/youngest and I think this is why cruises work for us. They were always at different stages of their life so RC really catered very well for each age group. They are still cruising now and have introduced their partners to cruising, so they obviously enjoyed the experience!

it’s nice to hear their DP weren’t fussed and had preconceived ideas of what it would be like, and now love it and they also now have the cruise bug.

Naples main shopping street isn’t too far from the port, 10 or 15 minute walk , usual shops on one long street . We just followed the crowds walking into the town. It’s a straight route up from port. Watch crossing the streets, the drivers are a law unto themselves!
We did Rome on our own , got the train but on the walk to the station we were constantly asked about taking a taxi, one taxi followed shouting out the window at us! To be honest it was a rushed day to be fair so your probably better on a ship tour. Florence is quite a drive away so you are right to go ships tour for this one.
Would also recommend a tour guide in Pompei , we didn’t organise it before but luckily when we turned up one was getting started , it really adds to it coming alive.

We've done that itinerary twice on RCI, on Wonder and Symphony.

La Spezia (for Pisa) is a beautiful place, we've stayed there both times and not bothered with Pisa.

Rome - easy to access by train, subway easy to navigate.

Naples - I would suggest booking to go to Pompeii.

Palma - we got the bus to the beach the first time and a taxi the second.

Sorry, just saw you are embarking at Rome so ignore above.

We've done that itinerary twice on RCI, on Wonder and Symphony

Those ships look great, would you recommend them?

In Naples I’ve gone to Pompei, took the ferry to Capri, walked into Naples, made pizza and explored underground tunnels, gone to Sorrento. The bay of Naples is one of my favourite sites.

Thank you we are 38 days to go....

Brilliant ships. I'm not a huge lover of the massive ships but can't beat them for things to do for the kids and activity options.

We got home yesterday from the same cruise with a 4 and 6 yo so happy to answer any questions @Hosum .

we didn’t have the ‘key’ (not sure what that is) but did buy the drinks packages and both children LOVED the kids clubs! The main dining room and buffet was excellent but we did eat at the rib restaurant one night for a friend’s birthday and as we were part of a big group, they did a family sharing table which was delicious. I have lots more advice if you need it, particularly re excursions! Top tip- Majorca is VERY short on taxis and we nearly didn’t get back to the ship on time!

la Spezia- stunning! Don’t bother with Pisa or Florence as it’s a fair trip on the train. Take the speed boat trip for a spin around the beautiful islands and have lunch there. It feels like you’ve stepped into the setting for Disney’s Luca.

barcelona- we did the open top bus trip but with 5 little ones, 2 hours was a little too much and we didn’t get off due to it being a Sunday and not much open.

on sea days the ‘fair’ next to the carousel is lovely. It’s at 1pm- lots of music, cupcakes, games.

the aqua show is amazing!

have a great time!

So many questions!

Mallorca - the trips are just so expensive but it sounds like there isn't anything you can do without a taxi?

What sort of cabin did you have - currently we're allocated one of the neighbourhood balconies overlooking the aqua show bit worried about how noisy or how cluttered if we have 3 big cases!

Was the kids club ok for availability - if we get on to find fully booked (we aren't checking in until 1 I think I might cry).

I've never been on a cruise - closest is the cross channel ferry where I was vvv sick as was my eldest did you take any motion sickness stuff for the kids?

On the last day how long does it take to get off? Are there set times??

The kids club availability will be fine. We were on Oasis in March during the US Spring break with seemingly 1000s of kids and the ship was at full capacity. My kids went to the club whenever they wanted (they were in the 3-5 and 6-12 clubs) with no problem or waiting.

You'll love the ship. My youngest must have gone on the carousel 65,000 times and the shoes are amazing.

The shows!

Any tips vvvv appreciated - does it feel ok for Dd14 to wander around (with her phone and Apple tag) on her own? We are London so I wouldn't let her go into London on her own (with friends fine) - she is seeing this as an independent adventure when we are on the ship she doesn't need to be with us - I am more the ship is the size of a small town!

We've booked the solarium bistro most nights - as the food choices seemed better for the kids - would you recommend the main windjammer over it?

Whatever you do, don't link to the maritime network onboard a cruise ship. Turn on airline mode or you may have very expensive bills

DD started wandering around RCI ships alone when she was 13 without a mobile phone. We used to leave messages for each other agreeing a time & place to meet up.