BarbK

Considering a cruise on the Insignia from Athens to Rome and would love to hear opinions from anyone who has done this cruise. What did you like/dislike about the ship and cruise in general? How was the entertainment onboard? Are you able to have a table for two in the dining room?
Thank you in advance for your help.

dotw

We are traveling on this line in Asia this month I will let you know what we enjoy. I understand that the ships do not ride well

abram

We like the size of the ships (684 passengers) and the itineraries.

We've stayed in both an inside cabin, and one with a balcony. The inside was big enough for us, and we liked having a sofa in both cabins. We found the storage space to be adequate for 14 night cruises.

We think the food is excellent, and we like being able to eat anytime we want, and not having to pay extra for the specialty restaurants. We appreciate being able to bring wine/liquor onto the ship.

The entertainbment has varied--some was quite good, and sometimes we didn't stay for the entire show.

The staff are very friendly, and on our Nov 2005 regatta cruise, some remembered us from our 2004 Insignia cruise.

BarbK

Thank you so much for the prompt replies. I appreciate your responses. We have sailed at least ten times times, mainly on Royal Caribbean which we do enjoy so I'd be interested to know how things would compare.

hawkeye3d

I don't think that there is any comparison between RCCL and Oceania. We've been on about 8 RCCL cruises and one fabulous Barcelona - Venice on Regatta. RCCL thinks that the ship is a destination whereas Oceania is a destination oriented cruise line. I don't miss RCCL's fixed dining times nor some of the people I have had to endure. On Oceania you can bring your own wine/liquor on board. The speciality dining is absolutely great. When you do the math and count in the days at sea that RCCL has Oceania is actually about the same price. On Dover to Stockholm I believe RCCL has 3 days at sea where Oceania has one. With a smaller ship they get into ports that RCCL can't. I recall RCCL in Amsterdam on Jewel where that 90,000 ton whale had to leave after 4 hours to catch the tide. Try Oceania you will be pleasantly surprised

Ziana

I just checked them out...about $4000 p/p is not almost the same as Royal Corribean...but gorgeous and they almost booked

BarbK

We did book our cruise on the Insignia for September. Thank you all for your thoughts. We plan to spend a couple of nights in Rome post cruise. This will be our first time there. We would like to be in a central location and walk to everything if possible. It seems that the most centrally located hotel offered by the cruise line is expensive at $799 a night. Is this what we should expect to spend? If we were to book a hotel on our own, do you have any recommendations and also how difficult and/or expensive is it to go from the pier to Rome. The cruise docks in Civitavecchia. Is that very far from the center? Thank you in advance.

abram

You may want to post your Rome hotel question on the Europe board, as many people who read that one, and may have recommendations, might not read the cruise board.

therenaissanceman

Unless you have money to burn, do not pay $800 a night to stay in Rome. There are many perfectly satisfactory hotel in Rome for less than half that much. I don't remember the name of the hotel we stayed at when we were on a tour there, but check the travel sites and I'm sure you'll find something.
Yes, Cittavecchia is a long way from the center of Rome, but there is a train that goes there from the central Rome train station.

BarbK

Thank you again. I have also posted on the Europe board as suggested. Your help is greatly appreciated.

TravlGrl

My husband and I went on Oceania for our honeymoon (Athens - Barcelona). Wow! Is all I have to say. It really spoiled me for other cruise lines.
The ports of call are incredible.
The shore excursions were fabulous - great guides.
The food was SO good! (I don't usually like cruise food.)
The flexibilty of dining times and locations was the best. You'll love Tapas on the Terrace when the weather is nice. Our favorite meals on the ship were there. You can decide for yourself if you want to sit by yourselves or join anyone else in any restaurant. So nice!
We had a window room, and it was incredibly well-appointed.
The staff was very friendly.
The ship is gorgeous.
The ride is very smooth. The boat has incredible stabalizers. We rode through a freak Mediterranean hail storm with minor rocking.

In fact, the only negative thing I can say about the 10-night cruise was the entertainment was very lacking. It was their first year of operation and I don't normally enjoy the big show extravaganza anyway, so I didn't really care. But my DH was bummed. I'm sure this has changed a lot in the last 2 years!

As far as staying in Rome. I've been there 3 times and I think the best place to stay is near the Piazza Navona. You can definitely find a great place for less than $700/night - that is a crazy rate!
Also, therenaissanceman was right on about the train. There is a station right in Civitavecchia that goes directly into the train station in Rome. Just buy a ticket when you get there! But, when you get to the Rome train station, I highly recommend getting a taxi to take you to your hotel. Don't do any public transport with luggage.
And, just a word of caution: Be vary aware of your wallet, camera, etc. everywhere you go in the city. I know too many people who have had stuff stolen because they got distracted - puts such a damper on an otherwise great trip.

Have fun!!!

BarbK

TravlGrl-thanks so much for the review of your cruise. It is really so helpful. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. We can't wait to go.

Would you happen to know if we would have to take a taxi to the train station from the pier? We are thinking of either doing that or using a private transfer company. There were a few recommendations to my European post that were really helpful. We are also going to book our own hotel in Rome. The price through the cruise line is way over what we would call reasonable. Thank you for your thoughts on where to stay.

knoxvillecouple

Unless you require absolute extravagence, $800/night for a hotel in central Rome is HORRIBLE. We stayed at the Nicolas Inn (nicolasinn.com ), one of the top-rated B&Bs in Rome, but not fancy), one block from the Forum, 2 blocks from the Colosseum, 2 blocks from Piazza Venezia for 120 E/night, or about $150/night. The Nicolas Inn is clean, the owners (wife is American) are incredibly helpful, and the location is superb.

We'll be doing the Civitavecchia to Rome transfer ourselves this summer, and I suspect we'll take the train.

Have fun!

KC

BarbK

Just wanted to get back to say that we were able to book a room at Nicolas Inn for 3 nights post cruise, so thank you KC for the recommendation. I've emailed the inn several times and Melissa's replies were so helpful and prompt. Everything I've read about the inn is very good and we are really looking forward to our stay.
Any thoughts from anyone about what we should not miss seeing in the ports we will be visiting on the cruise from Athens to Rome...
Delos
Mykonos
Rhodes
Valletta
Taormina/Sicily
Sorrento/Capri
Amalfi/Positano
Florence/Pisa?
This is our first trip to these places so any advice is appreciated. We are comfortable doing things on our own. Thank you.

knoxvillecouple

BarbK - I'm glad you got the Nicolas Inn. It's not fancy, but it's convenient, comfortable, reasonable, and the owners are delightfully helpful.

We haven't been to all of the places you're going on your cruise (in fact we're going on a cruise ourselved this summer in the Med), but we have spent time in Rome (obviously), Positano (on the Amalfi Coast), Capri, and Florence. We'll be in Venice (4 days!), Dubrovnik, Athens, Santorini, Naples, Civitavecchia (Rome), Livorno (Pisa and Florence), Villefrance and Barcelona on our cruise.

In Rome you'll have time to see lots. We only had two full days last summer and used Through Eternity tour company for a full day of Ancient Rome (including Colosseum, Forum, Trevi, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, Piazza Venezia, Piazza Navonna) and Vatican (including Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica). We also made reservations for the Scavi Tour at St. Peter's and at the Borghese Museum for our second day. With even more time we would have slowed down a bit and strolled and simply enjoyed other areas.

We were in Florence for a day and were on our own. I got reservations for Accademia for the Michaelangelo's David and his four Prisoners (and other statuary) and the Ufizzi. We also just enjoyed walking around - the Mercato Centrale, the Piazza Signoria (sp?), the Duomo, etc.

In Positano we hired a private driver for a day to take us to Pompeii (he got us a guide for a 2 hour tour guides are specially licensed for the Pompeii tour) and on the Amafi Coast - Ravello, Amalfi, Praiano, etc. On Capri we were on our own and loved just walking around the island (Arco Naturale?) to see spectacular scenery and gardens and vistas. If you have time to be there at night it would be really great.

Hope this helps. If you have questions on any of these you can check my trip report (http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34730887) and use the search function here to find lots of other info on these cities.

KC

BarbK

KC--thank you so much for the wonderful suggestions and for posting your trip report. I didn't get to read your report yet, but did look at your pictures and they are so beautiful. It looks like you had a great time. Your ideas for tours in Rome are really helpful and I am sure that we'll get many more ideas on things to see and do once we read your report. Have a great time on your cruise this summer and thanks again for your thoughts.

kaleighsgram

I'm not sure how much time you will have to spend in Rhodes (Rhodos in Greek) but there is always the old city in the city of Rhodes itself. Check out the Palace of the Grand Master. It's mosaic floors are kind of neat. You will also be able to see the Mandraki Harbor where the colossus of Rhodes once stood. If you like a hike, go up to Monte Smith and see the ancient stadium and the Temple of Apollo. When I lived there and my daughter was a baby we used to go up there and eat lunch. Lindos is a very nice city if there's a tour going there. It seems to me it used to take over an hour to get there. Needless to say, I'm jealous. I hope you enjoy your time there.

BarbK

More great ideas. I'm sure we'll have a great time. We'll be in Rhodes from 8AM-6PM so that's plenty of time. Thanks, kaleighsgram!