Royal Caribbean Med Cruise 2011 - hints and tips

fluffykins13

Hi all, I've just booked our first ever cruise for June 2011. It's with Royal Caribbean and it's their 14 night Italian Med Cruise (Gibralter, Provence, Florence/Pisa, Rome, Corsica, Seville, Lisbon and Viga). We have a balcony room on the 9th deck and we've opted for my time dining. I know it's a long time away but I'm so excited since it's a holiday of a lifetime for us so I was just looking for any hints and tips you could give me for either on board the ship, excursions, what to do before trip etc.

Any help would be appreciated.

vivatifosi

Hi fluffykins,

I'd have a look at the Cruise Critic website as it has an RCI forum with people asking questions about the cruise line. There's also a section to the forum where you can look to meet up with other cruisers to share the cost of excursions etc. This can save big money in places like Rome where excusions can be costly. It's often also fun to meet people from all those different places.

You've got some lovely stops on your trip with some interesting options for excursions. You'll also have an opportunity to pick up duty free in Gibraltar (particularly good if any of the party smoke). You'll find in each port that some people will go on the ship tours, some will book private excursions in small groups and others will tour independently. I've done all three and the key for me is to work out what suits you. If there's a tour which looks fantastic, take it. If there's somewhere you're happy to get off and just have a look around, do it. If you have a specific idea of something you really want to do, find a private company to take you. Everything is possible with good planning!

Have a wonderful trip.

bellajack

For Florence and Pisa you'll probably dock at Livorno. RCI;s tours can be quite expensive so we negotiated with a taxi driver to take us into both cities for a good price. We teamed up with some others on the quayside (another 2 couples) which kept costs down. Driver gave us about 2 hours in Florence and about an hour in Pisa. I seem to recall the cost was 70 Euro per couple in a very comfortable car. If a tour seems too expensive, look at other options including local public transpost. Have a great time!

ailuro2

We're going on our first cruise this year, and have found cruisecritic very useful.

If you ignore all the posts about rum runners (plastic flasks used to smuggle drink onboard) then there's a wealth of information there.

We just bought a roll up hanging toiletries bag as an adaption of the shoe organiser methos most cruisers use. Little tips like that to make life onboard a little easier.

Ginger tablets for seasickness is the most commonlt recommended remedy for those who don't want to take bonine (a US drug for seasickness)

I believe in being prepared, if you're the same then it's a good site to read up on, and you can register and sign up to your roll call to get to know fellow passengers from your cruise before you go.

dexter_fan

We did this trip last year (Independence of the Seas) and had a great time. I was really sea sick the first day (Bay of Biscay) so would recommend sea sickness tablets if you are prone (there are available free on the reception counter). Google all the ports and see what you want to do. Some ports we were happy just to walk around by ourselves, and others we opted for the tour (although expensive we wanted to make the most of the stops). Americans are really geared up around 'tipping' but you can buy vouchers so that you can distribute your tips around lots of good staff. You will really have a great time

poet123

We did this trip too last year, and my advice would be to do the shore trips yourself. Livorno is a fair way from Florence though, and we hired a car, it was waiting right by the ship when we docked and had sat nav which the hire chap programmed for us to go to Lucca(we had already been to Florence)and we left it parked at the ship on our return. Cost 80 Euros as compared with about 80 euros pp for one of their trips.

Gibraltar, the port runs a bus into town, and then you can get a taxi tour upto the rock for a lot cheaper than the ship tour.

In Lisbon the hop on bus stops outside the port.

In Rome, the port runs a shuttle to the entrance,(you are not allowed to walk) then walk out of the gate, turn left and straight on for 300 yds and there on the left is the station, buy your ticket at the news kiosk (not the ticket desk) for 9 euro pp trip,the takes 90 mins. The ship charge 50 euros each for this trip and all they do is escort you to the train.

We had already been to Seville so stayed in Cadiz, but had we wanted to go again, I would have hired a car.

Vigo is a pleasant city to walk around, nice shops and promenade and the old town is quite picturesque.

I cant help with Corsica as our son was ill and we did not get off the ship, and our route did not stop in Provence.

Make friends with a bartender we got friendly with Rendell in the top bar, and he was very attentive and made sure we had great service, our waiter was fabulous too. We loved mytime dining and as you are on that you will have paid all your tips upfront, but you will still get the slips to distribute on the last night to show you have paid. we also put in a bit extra for those we felt had gone the extra mile, but it is not required.

Food was wonderful, if you like wine/soft drinks buy a package on day 1 it does save money.

Get to the port early, it says 2pm I think, but people are boarding at 11am, by 2pm the queues in the dock are horrendous. If we were going again I would stay overnight in Romsey, a lovely little village just outside the city.

Hope this helps

MrSmartprice

If you are on an RCI ship then bear in mind that you will be hit for gratuities at every turn. You get a daily charge on your on-board account for waiters, cabin staff, etc, plus a surcharge of around 15% on the already pricey drinks. That's the downside of an American cruise line.

If you want to do Pisa from Livorno, it's easy. The port bus will take you to the bus station. Hop on a bus to the rail station and the train will take you to Pisa in around 20 minutes for about 3 euros return. The sights are walkable from Pisa station. It really isn't worth spending a fortune on excursions.

You dock at Civitavecchia for Rome, and again it is easy by train as someone has already posted. We did Rome, Pisa & La Spezia in November, along with Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Cartagena and Gibraltar.

Lisbon is a wonderful city. We have been several times before but are going again on a cruise next week. Get a good guide book and see it yourself, it's easy to get around and there is plenty to see.

In Gibraltar the best way to see it is by one of the 8-seater taxis on a tour costing about £20. They can be booked in the terminal when you disembark. Don't book a coach trip on board ship! They are double the cost and the coaches can't get to the top of the Rock like the taxis can. (When you see the roads you'll see why!) Also, bear in mind that Gib is not in the EU so you have very small allowances of goods to bring home.

poet123

The IOS does not levy the extra 15% on drinks, but other RCI ships do. If the OP has already booked Mytimedining they will have paid the tips upfront as it is a requirement of booking that type of dining.

daveyjp

Vigo depends what day you arrive - it's virutally shut on a Sunday, the shellfish stalls just off the port will be open and worth a visit for oysters.

Be careful if you go to the castle which overlooks the town and bay. Quite a few unsavoury characters about and there was evidence of drug taking including discarded needles.

doelani

As others have said check out forum on cruisecritic.co.uk they have their own section for Royal Caribean and you will find lots of info.

We went on first RC med trip last year, going again in 3 weeks and have booked one for 2011 :rotfl: