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Thread: Mediterranean Cruise-Sept 29-Oct 6th

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    I have no title-I'm a commoner mad4mky's Avatar
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    Jul 2001
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    Mediterranean Cruise-Sept 29-Oct 6th

    French Riviera and Italy

    My husband and I sailed on the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line- Voyager of the Seas for our 10th wedding anniversary. This is only our 2nd cruise, our first being a short 3 day trip on the Disney Magic to the Bahamas.
    **First off—I have to say, that I read such negative things about the ship and our airlines for months before I left. I was in such a dither over both. Both—were dead wrong. **Also—we encountered NO pick pockets (and I wore ALL my own gold/diamond jewelry on shore excursions). We did see some gypsies, but were very careful in busy areas, as well as kept our valuables hidden. Repeat—I wore ALL my regular wedding/diamond rings and jewelries with no issues anywhere.

    We left San Francisco via American Airlines late (9/27)—we didn't mind as we were staying over in NYC before flying onto Barcelona. We flew first class. We enjoyed the luxury of leg space and leather seats. We arrived at JFK 1 hours late—but we stayed at a local Holiday Inn near JFK, so times were not of a concern for us. Tomorrow, they would be! And, as long as our luggage arrived, we were happy campers.

    After a restful night's sleep, we left the hotel for JFK via the hotel shuttle. Our flight wasn't until 6pm—but we didn't mind getting to the airport early. We were flying Iberia Airlines (the ones I heard horror stories about), and their desk didn't open until 2pm, so we grabbed some lunch and people watched. We went up to the desk early, and were the 2nd people in line. Soon, fellow cruisers were joining us in line. We met some nice people from Pennsylvania and Florida (One family's son runs the Intercot Disney site—hence we had a lot to talk about!). Check in was very easy. We were assured that our bags would transfer directly from Madrid to Barcelona—hence no need to bother gathering them and taking them to the next flight. This day was also my husband's birthday (9/28)! One gentleman from the group from Philly was telling us about his Italian heritage. When we mentioned our last name, and told him my husband's family was from Sciacca (Sicily), and that we would be traveling to the town when we docked in Palermo—he was quite excited. We almost thought he would ask to come along with us.

    After security-we went to lunch in the general area of our gate. JFK is a huge airport— and I'm from the SF Bay Area. What a surprise it was to run into a colleague from work right in the restaurant we were dining at! What a small world.

    Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6pm—but was held back at the gate because of delays on the runways. Not Iberia's fault at all.

    After reading terrible stories, I want to assure the people who might book this airline that we enjoyed both our flights to and from Spain with this airline. We had TWO meals! Free wine/beer with both (I don't drink—but if you do-this is a treat. Any US airline would charge you. Plus, this was coach seating—not 1st class as on our previous flight). They even serve you the whole can of Diet Coke vs. a small cup. The Flight attendants are kind—and even offer more rolls via a basket after serving lunch/dinner. They don't run a service cart the whole time flying, so if you want more water or drinks, you simple go back to the galley to ask for more. Bathrooms were clean—in flight movie were great. Even after leaving late, our flight arrived in Madrid on time.

    This is where some confusion started, but if you follow signs, which are in Spanish as well as English, you shouldn't have a problem. You must go through a passport check before you change terminals for connecting flights. Iberia, as well as the airlines has several information booths to help those with questions. Once past this area, you need to travel via the airport train to the connecting terminal. This all takes about 30 minutes, so allow yourself plenty of time between flights (We had 90 minutes, and took all of that time due to crowding at the passport/security areas). You then need to go through security again. We found that Europeans don't queue up well, so it's tough to get into a formed line. They tend to move in where they can and get through, even if you have been waiting. We found this everywhere we went. I'm not complaining about it…it's just the way they do things. We're in their country—so we can't really say they were 'wrong'. After security, it was quite a walk to our flight/gate—but we made it in plenty of time. The flight was practically empty—but the plane was new and service was great. We arrived in Barcelona on time. (9/29—the day of sailing). Lots of rain and lightening. What I found interesting is that they have a small bus waiting for you on the tarmac once you debark the plane. This bus then takes you to the baggage area, and it was quite a long ride. Once there, we collected our baggage (and YES—ALL my luggage came. I heard more stories of lost luggage than I can tell you. We had not one issue with this our entire trip! And, we had lots of bags).

    We got into a taxi at the airport who took us directly to the ship. It cost about 35 E. We arrived at the dock at 11:30 am or so. Once at the dock, there are ship luggage employees to help with luggage.

    Day 1-Barcelona (Embarkation) - Saturday-Sept 29th: Checking in at the terminal was a breeze. We did notice that our Sea Pass cards had us at two different dinner seatings and times. We brought this to the clerk's attention, who asked us to speak to a gentleman on the end of the check in line. When we spoke with him, he was very kind and asked us what time we preferred to dine, and if we minded eating with other fellow Americans. Of course, we did not; we just asked not to be seated with children, since we had left ours at home. We were assigned Table #356, Carmen on Deck 3 at 9:15 pm.

    Staterooms would not be ready until 1 pm, so we had some free time to explore the ship. We purchased the soda package for each of us (which was a waste for my husband. He rarely drank any soda on board). Our Cruise Critic 'Meet and Greet" wasn't until 4pm— so we walked around the ship checking out the sites. We ate lunch at the Windjammer on Deck 11. I had read some bad reviews of this buffet—but I found all the food to be quite good. Maybe I am not picky—but when you have over 3000 people on board, and have to prepare a lot of food—keeping it all hot and tasty is amazing. I found the food to always be quite good every day.

    We were able to get into our room (Deck nine Starboard-9372-Deluxe Balcony Stateroom) right at 1pm. Our luggage also came fairly early. While I sorted through my clothing, my husband took a nap. There was plenty of room for all of our clothes (and then some), plenty of room for luggage storage under our bed. Our bathroom was a nice size, and it was nice having a good size balcony.

    Once we were both freshened up, we headed to the 'High Notes Lounge' on deck 14 for the 'Meet and Greet'. Here we met some of the BEST people you could possibly meet. There were couples from all over the world in one room—and we had been 'talking' to each other for months via Cruise Critic. I was both excited and nervous to meet everyone. What has been the BEST thing about our trip was meeting these people. I'll tell more later, but I know we have made some friends for life. We spent long days with many of these folks, and we all got along famously. After the meeting, several of us went to Deck 10 to view a couple's Deluxe Suite. Wow. It was great to see. We all decided to come back after the sail away party to wave goodbye to Barcelona (and the weather had finally clearing up). But, once we found some great deck chairs at the balcony—we enjoyed that so much, we missed everyone who had gone back down.

    We met up later that evening, before dinner at the 'Pig and Whistle Pub' on the Promenade Deck to set up where we would meet for our private driver for our first shore excursion day. We enjoyed further getting to know everyone we had met on CC. It was amazing how quickly time went and for us to all move on to dinner.

    Dinner that evening was casual, as people are still getting settled into their rooms and receiving their luggage. Our table companions (table for 10) were a large extended family and friends from Ohio. They must have had 6 or more tables between this large group. We felt a little awkward at first, but a couple of people started talking with us. While I wouldn't want to dine with these people on a daily basis for long term, we found them to be pleasant for the most part. One young woman was appalling though. Table manners were crude, and she was quite rude to us. But, we just laughed it off, as we know you can't get along with everyone. It was the first night, and people were tired from traveling—so we hoped the next night would be better. Dinner was good though. Our waiter 'Alfred' was a nice gentleman from Costa Rica.

    We opted to go to bed early, as we knew we the next 5 days would be filled with late nights and early/long days. I slept soundly for someone who normally doesn't the first few nights in a new place. I guess I was exhausted!

    Day 2-Villefranche Sur Mer (French Riviera—Nice, France and Monte Carlo, Monaco)-Sunday-Sept 30th:
    What a glorious site to wake up to. Not only was the sun shining beautifully, the view was fantastic! This little French village is enchanting. The view from the ship to the harbor and village of Villefranche Sur Mer was breathtaking. I was so excited to start my day! My dear husband was kind enough to get me some Diet Coke to start my day along with some pastries from the Windjammer.

    We met with 3 other couples (who we met on CC) on Deck 9 in front of the Concierge Lounge. One couple was a little late to meet with us, but that worked out well, as we were not allowed to leave for the tenders until all the ship's shore excursions had left first. From the Concierge desk, we were able to receive the first tickets to board the first tenders off of the ship. We were directed down to Deck 1, where Lindsay, a ship director let us through as soon as we were cleared to go. Once on shore from the tenders—we searched for our driver/guide, Sylvie DeCristo. Her card reads "Like having a cousin in the French Riviera". And she was. Very sweet, spoke great English and was extremely knowledgeable.

    We got into her Renault van (two of the women had to ride up front due to Car sickness. I sat in the middle of the middle seat). She drove us to the top of the hill overlooking the small bay where our ship was docked. What a sight! It was gorgeous to look out over the French Riviera and the ship. Stunning. I could see why all the rich and famous come here to vacation. We drove up past Elton John's estate (top of the hill of course). Up on the top of the hill we stopped at an old fortress where inhabitants protected their lands. We drove over to the Nice, France side of the mountain, where Sylvie explained how Nice was once its own country before joining with France. Once we drove into Nice, we parked right along Promenade de Anglais , the main street/walk near the shore of the town.

    We walked up to the top of an old lookout site to view the city from above (quite a steep walk with lots of stairs! I am soooo out of shape!). We then went down to enjoy the Sunday market in Nice. Here vendors sell fresh produce, fish, olives and other wares. I bought some lavender sachets (this is the area where L'Occitane is produced. This is the Provence area). I enjoyed watching the locals while they shopped and dined at the nearby diners. A very clean toilette was available for .30 E each. I don't mind paying for a clean restroom! We walked down some old alleyways to a small wine shop. Sylvie knows the owners who were very kind to show us the centuries old wine barrels in the cellar of the shop. They don't make the wine in the kegs any longer, but still use them for wine storage for the store. Several of our friends bought some wine for home. We then headed to a Gelato/Sorbet shop. They had the most unusual array of flavors, all made by the owners of the shop. They had Avocado, Asparagus, Amaretto, Nutella, and even Corona Beer flavors! Played it safe and bought Strawberry sorbet. My husband tried the Corona Beer sorbet. I have to say—this is the BEST sorbet I have ever eaten. I wish I could have brought home tubs of it. Maybe it was because the day was quite warm—but there is something about eating fresh strawberry sorbet in the south of France that makes it just the BEST.

    WE then headed to the preserved fortress village of Eze on the top of the hill overlooking the Riviera. This little village is mostly for tourists now. Cute shops, small restaurants and very pricey, boutique inns. We enjoyed French crepes in a small eatery—and exchanged stories and family tales with our driver Sylvie. After dining, we were off to explore this small village. Their centuries old chapel is beautiful. Amazing that this kind of stuff still stands after all of this time. There is also a very famous perfumery near this site. Sylvie asked if any of us wanted to stop to see how very fine perfumes are made, and we all opted not to do this. We were all anxious to see Monte Carlo!

    Sylvie drove the high Corniche road to Monaco. Now, I have to admit, that I was not originally thrilled about going to this little principality. My husband really wanted to see it, but I could have passed. Was I ever wrong. Visiting this little country was one of the highlights of our trip. I was blown over by Monaco. When you get into the town of Monte Carlo (Sylvie explained how people can move to Monaco but can never be true Monacans—unless they were born there—as well as other amazing information), you immediately feel the exclusiveness and richness of the country. Along the harbor are varying sizes of yachts—rows of them—all lined up. What a site to see. We then headed up over to the Monaco Palace of the Rainier family, as well as the Cathedral where Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier (earlier she had pointed out exactly where the car accident was that killed Princess Grace). Here in the Cathedral you view the grave sites of both Prince Rainier and Princess Grace. We didn't go into the Palace— but since this is the 25th anniversary of the death of Princess Grace, there has been a special exhibit for viewing there. We did get to shop a little and view the harbor area from up high. Once we left there, we headed to the Grand Casino. We parked outside the Hermes Store (of course)—and all in our car who wanted to view the casino followed Sylvie. It was 10 E each to enter the casino. The dress code has become quite relaxed in recent years. Once, men could only enter with jackets and ties—then just ties. But, now they are allowed to enter without them. Two of our friends went off to the bar to order 007's Martini's (stirred, not shaken)—while I tried my hand at a few slot machines. One thing that struck me in this casino is the sound inside. This is definitely NOT Las Vegas. No loud shouting or bells and whistles going off. The card playing room is very quiet, with men dressed very smartly playing quietly. The slot machine room off to the side does have some flashing lights, but they are very subdued. The machines don't ring loudly— they just make small bell sounds as the wheels turn. After spending about 20 E in a few machines, I wandered out to the street. My husband decided to stay in and play a while longer. I was after a specific Hermes Scarf for my daughter. I knew the Hermes store would be closed, but I also knew that the scarf would not be there. A small shop on the side of the casino carries a Hermes Scarf that is only produced and is exclusive for this one store. My oldest daughter had heard of this scarf from a client of hers. I inquired at the store, who pointed out the scarf. Once in hand, I was happy. I headed out to view the vast array of luxury cars that are lined up outside of the casino. Bentleys, Laybacks, Lamborghinis, Etc. Almost as amazing as the harbor. When my husband came out he was all smiles. Seems he won 100 E from only 10 E he had dropped into a machine! He was happy.

    Once we all met up, and got back into the van, Sylvie took us along the Monte Carlo Grand Prix route. That was exciting! After the Grand Prix route, we headed back to Villefranche sur Mer via the lower Corniche road. Again, we were amazed at the lovely (and very expensive) area. Dusk was settling upon Villefranche when we arrived. This village was starting to sparkle as lights were lit in the small homes and businesses along the water. We said goodbye to our day's host—and ran to get the very last tender back to the ship. We were last 8 people to head to the ship! *Whew* But—if anyone would like an excellent guide and driver for this area in France, please, think of using Sylvie De Cristo.

    Once on the ship, we showered and rested for our first Formal night dining. Now, again, I read a lot on CC how people complain that people show up for dinner on formal night in jeans, shorts and casual wear. Maybe this is so for other destinations….but for every formal night, I did NOT see one person not dressed up. If they didn't want to dress, they must have headed to the Windjammer Buffet—because everyone I saw in our dining room, as well as others were dressed very beautifully. Many men in tuxedoes and all the women in beautiful dresses. Most men wore suits, as my husband did. Even the children looked lovely. Our table mates on our second night, we more relaxed, and much more willing to chat with us. All of them looked very smart in their formal clothing.

    After dinner, we switched to smart casual clothes and headed for the casino. First we swung by the Excursion desk where we turned in our 'Rome on Your Own' Tickets we had ordered. We were given credit on our Sea Pass card for the tickets. That was fine with us. Earlier that day, we had decided on our day in Rome, to brave the train with another couple from CC. Once at the casino we ran into another couple from CC— and enjoyed spending time with them. I won $160—so we called it a night and headed back to our room. By then, it was midnight.

    Day 3-Livorno (Pisa and Florence)-Monday, Oct 1:
    This day was to be our only ship sponsored tour. Others from our CC group had gotten a guide/driver for this day—but we opted to use the ship's bus transportation into the towns we wanted to see. We took the 'Pisa and Florence On Your Own' excursion. Basically—this excursion is where you get bus transportation to and from the sites. Along the way, a local tour guide is aboard the bus, and will give some information about the sites/city you are about to visit. After being let off at the site, you are then given a time and specific place to meet back for the bus ride back to the ship.

    We ate breakfast in the Windjammer that morning. I found the food to be quite tasty. I loved having strawberries to add over my waffles. And, the eggs and sausage were quite good. Once headed down to the La Scala theatre where we were to meet our tour group, I realized I didn't have my 'Sea Pass'—and ran up to get my pass (using my husband's card). This meant, he couldn't leave the ship either. But, I made it in plenty of time for us to get off the ship and to the assigned bus.

    Our guide that day was Patrizia. She was a local Florentine. She was very proud of her heritage, of the Tuscany region and of her home town of Florence.

    We first went to Pisa
    . Patrizia explained along drive to Pisa about the area, and about the campanile, and why it leans. She also warned us about the many gypsies in the area and to keep a close eye on our valuables. She also explained about the men/women selling counterfeit goods on sheets laid out. She said it is illegal to sell the goods this way, and if caught, not only would the vendor bill fined, but as a buyer, you would be as well. Our bus parked in a large lot where other tour buses were. Once we stepped off the bus, street sellers were pushing their cheap wares in our faces asking to buy. We shrugged them off and quickly followed after Patrizia. It was quite a long walk from the parking lot to the tower site. I was surprised at that. When you meet on the ship to go out onto your tour, they give you a sticker to wear, which designates which group you are with. You then follow your guide who holds a round while RCCL sign with your number on it. We weren't happy about either—and quickly decided to put our stickers on us hidden.

    We had to cross some very busy streets and past some neighborhoods. Patrizia had explained that most of the residents surrounding the area are students, as a large university sits near the site. Once we neared the site, selling booths were set up along the walkways, and small restaurants. We saw lots of people selling off of sheets. Patrizia gave us about 45 minutes to view the tower and to get back to the meeting spot. There isn't much to do at this site, other than the tower, so that is plenty of time to view it and get to the meeting area. Once in the Tower grounds, we were awestruck at how pretty the tower was, as well as the Duomo. Our main goal was to first find a clean toilette. We quickly followed the signs to the restroom in the tower area. It was .35 E each for us to use the restroom. They were nice and clean (again, you have to love that!).

    After a WC break, we walked around the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We did the customary pictures of us holding up the tower—then walked around the Duomo. We bought a couple of postcards, and I bought a small tower statuette to put in my office back home. After walking back to the meeting spot, everyone met on time, but one woman. She was in the toilette somewhere. My word of advice—go to the bathroom FIRST—then look around. This woman made 50+ people wait for her….and we were on limited time. That was very frustrating.

    Once back aboard the bus, we headed onto the freeway to the drive to Florence. Again, Patrizia explained the local agriculture, marble quarries and other items that are produced in the Tuscany area. When we arrived in Florence we drove to the outskirts of the old section of town. Here the driver let us off near the Arno River. We followed our guide to the Piazza Santa Croce and the Santa Croce (where Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci are buried) where she gave us the time for meeting her for the trip back to the ship. She pointed out a leather goods store where she said it was run by RCCL—and it had a clean toilette if we needed it.

    My husband and I headed out on our own—with Rick Steve's guidebook in hand, trying to find the local treasures and sites. Boy—talk about leather shops. They are everywhere in this area. Be sure to wear good walking shoes, as all this area is old cobblestones and uneven surfaces. I was glad I brought my good Mephisto All-rounder. We love exploring small alleyways and found some great small shops and restaurants along there. We found our place near the Academia Museum, which unfortunately was closed since it was Monday. The area was quite busy with tourists though, as on the outside, many replicas of great works of art, including Michelangelo's David and Rape of the Sabine Women. From there we walked to a small side street and found a pizzeria. We ordered two large slices of pizza and coke—and used their very clean toilettes.

    We then walked to the Ponte Vecchio, where the gold jewelers are. We encountered an old gypsy woman there, who looked so sadly pathetic, that you almost feel compelled to give her something—we didn't though. We did hang onto our money tightly though, as this place becomes quite crowded. We wandered into several gold shops, and in one I purchased a lovely cameo with 18kt gold chain. When reaching the other side of the bridge, we stopped to buy some Gelato—and headed right down a small street. Here we found a small hotel courtyard alongside the Arno River and stepped inside for some great photo ops of the Ponte Vecchio and Arno River. Once we left there we headed over the Ponte S Trinita bridge and towards the Piazza Della Signorio. We happened upon the high end stores where I was thrilled to find the Salvatore Ferragamo flagship store. Of course, I had to go in. I bought a pair of beautiful brown patent leather Audrey shoes.

    After leaving Ferragamo, we headed towards the Duomo and plaza. We viewed inside as well as the outside (where several gypsy girls approached us)—then headed back towards the Santa Croce to meet our guide. We were early meeting up with Patrizia, so we sat outside on the Santa Croce steps and ate some sorbet and drank some cold water. It was quite hot that day, and the walk on the cobblestones really tire your legs. We shopped a little in the leather shop sponsored by the ship—checked out some leather coats, but didn't buy anything. Once the whole group was gathered we walked back to the bus—and had a nice drive up to the Piazzale Michelangelo—where you have the best view of Florence from a hilltop. Beautiful site. On the drive back to the ship, Patrizia came down the bus aisle way asking people if they had any questions regarding anything they saw or about the area. We saw some lovely Tuscan wineries and vineyards as well as estates along the way back. Our bus was late to the ship—but so were many others. Several buses were lined up along the port waiting for their turn to let passengers debark.

    Back on the ship—we headed to our stateroom to rest and clean up for dinner. I was tired—too tired to get dressed up nicely for dinner (even though it was a casual night). We slept for about an hour, then headed up to the Promenade to check out the ship's daily sales. When passing by the Coffee bar, we ran into our CC friends, two of which were headed up to the Windjammer for dinner as well. After dinner—we headed off to bed, as we knew the next day was going to be even busier—Rome!

    Day 4-Citavecchia-Rome-Tuesday-Oct 2:


    My husband and I were up early for a quick breakfast in the Windjammer on Deck 11.

    We decided to cancel our 'Rome on Your Own' tickets through the cruise ship—and instead travel by train to Rome. It is a 1 hour, 15 minute train ride into Rome from this port town. A couple from Australia (who we met via CC), their two daughters, my husband and I, set a time to meet onboard the ship to take the trek into the port town and walk up to the local train station to get the first and early train into Rome. We wanted to get the earliest start as there is so much to see in the city.

    The ship doesn't tell you this, as they sell 'shuttle bus passes' from the ship to the end of the port (I think they are $5 or $8 per person). Don't do this! There is a FREE port shuttle that picks you up by the ship and will take you to the end of the port. I knew this from reading CC! Once the bus dropped us off at the port, we realized a lot of people from our ship were doing the same thing. We all walked together to the train station. Once at the station, we bought all day train/bus/metro passes at 9 E each. This is good for a round trip ticket for the train as well. The first train to Rome came at 8:45 am…and it was quite full already. People from a Celebrity ship nearby were trekking into Rome as well, and there were quite a few commuters on board.

    Once we found seats, we met a man who was from the US (Nebraska) who was studying in Rome. He suggested we follow him off the train, and he will get us to the Coliseum, our first tourist destination. We got off at a station before Termini (the main Rome station) and after a short trip on the underground metro—came up via an escalator to see the beautiful site of the Roman Coliseum. It was very busy there—loads of tourists. We headed towards the Palatine Hill (Rick Steve's advice) to buy tickets to bypass the long line heading into the Coliseum. But, as we were passing by the line, we approached by someone selling a tour/tickets. We opted to take this short tour and bypass the line. This cost us 10 E for admission and 10 E for the tour (which included getting ear phones to listen to the guide in the busy Coliseum). This is an area to be aware of your surroundings. There are LOTS of people there, people selling items, men dressed as Gladiators wanting tourists to take pictures with them. We avoided all of this by joining the tour. After the short tour—we headed out to the street where the Hoho bus (hop on hop off bus) was stopping. This cost us about 20 E each. While we were excited to get on the top deck—we realized we needed to get over to the Vatican to meet our tour guide at 12:20 pm. We were at St Peter's Square early, so we did a little shopping, grabbed as snack and found a convenient toilet.

    Vatican City and St Peter's Basilica
    --I had booked a tour with Odyssey Tours via the internet (www.odyssey-tours.com--40 E each plus the 13 E for the Vatican). We met our guide, Eva (who carried the red umbrella just as directed. Eva was a small Irish woman who was extremely knowledgeable about everything in the Vatican) at the designated spot, and connected with the other people who were on the tour. There were only 8 people on our tour.

    We had a very short wait to get inside the Vatican. Maybe 20 minutes top. We passed one of the saddest people lying outside the Vatican wall begging for money. This man had so many tumors over his head and body—it was heartbreaking.

    Eva, our guide, was very knowledgeable about the many works of art in the Vatican museum. She quickly, but thoroughly led us through room to room with amazing information about so many of the pieces of art there. When we reached the Sistine Chapel, she reminded us several times NOT to go through the main exit door as most people do. That door lead out to an area that ended the Vatican tour—but we would be moving on to a courtyard outside of St Peter's Basilica. Well, my husband—even though he heard her, headed out that door. When I met up with Eva at the end of the Sistine Chapel, she was kind enough to go out in search of him. When she couldn't find him, she was quite upset, as she mentioned there was another hour left of the tour. I wasn't concerned. I knew he would wait at our point of origin for the tour….but alas …he found his way back to us, and our tour pushed on.

    St. Peter's Basilica is amazing.Truly amazing. I, am not Catholic—but to see this impressive building is something to behold. We were awestruck by the massiveness of this huge basilica. We then had to quickly leave the tour as we needed to get back to the ship. Eva pointed us to the nearest train station. I was upset though, as we had missed so much of Rome. I thought our tour was to be 2 hours, and it ended up being 4! Our Hoho bus tickets were a waste, as we only hopped on once. We would have used them more, had we more time. But, I also was disappointed that we would miss the Trevi Fountain. My husband kept pointing out that we needed to get back—but he relented and we used a local cab to get to the fountain. On our way, we passed by the Spanish Steps. Pretty—but I am glad we didn't necessarily take the time out to walk up them. They weren't that spectacular to me.

    The Trevi Fountain
    area was a crazy mad house. Loads of tourists! This beautiful fountain is actually the side of a building in a small courtyard surrounded by small businesses and restaurants. It seems as if everyone wants to throw their coin into the fountain, as it was difficult to get near the water. We were able to work our way through the crowd to toss our coins in though—and did the customary picture doing so. The fountain is amazing though. Quite beautiful—especially for a side of a building! By then it was 4:55 pm, and we needed to go! We then asked a local police officer the way to Termini Station. He pointed the way, and we grabbed another local cab for a ride there. We arrived at train station at 5:10 pm.

    Once at the very large Termini Station, we read the boards for the correct train/tracks to Civitavecchia. The track was #25—which was quite a walk from the front of the station (about 10 or more). I was concerned we wouldn't make it back in time for the ship (we had to be back at 6:30 pm)—as the train was to leave at 5:15 pm. The train left on time—but stopped at every little station on the way to Civitavecchia. And, I realized all the way to Rome and all the way back—not one person asked to see our train tickets!

    We arrived at the Civitavecchia Station at 6:25 pm! We quickly asked a local cab driver the cost to take us to the shop. 20 E he replied!! Wow. They know they've got you—as you are in a hurry. He got us there by 6:40 pm—and as we ran onto the ship—someone commented that others were still out on shore. I was glad to know we weren't the last ones on board. Once in our stateroom, they called several names over and over via the loudspeaker system. I later heard an attendant say that those people did not back it back aboard the ship on time. We figured, if we didn't make it back on time, we'd just go back to Rome via the train, find the train to Naples and go down south to that city where the ship was going to be docked the next day. It's only a 2 hour drive south.

    What a crazy day Rome was! It was too crowded and hectic for me. And hot. Rome was hot. It was so hectic this day that we never got to sit down and have a lunch. I was sure glad we ate some breakfast that morning.

    Again, I was too tired for a sit down, nice dinner in the main dining room…so we went back up to the Windjammer for a quick buffet dinner. We then gambled a little in the casino and headed for the ship's Ice Skating Show.

    The ice skating show surprised me. I thought it would be kind of silly. But, it was absolutely amazing. This is a smaller rink—and the jumps, turns and stunts these performers did were outstanding. I would recommend that anyone cruising on the ship, attend this show. After the show, we turned in early. Another big day was coming up.

    Day 5-Naples, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast-Wednesdsay- Oct 3:

    Early this morning, we headed up to the Windjammer before meeting the two other couples we were travelling with down the Amalfi Coast. These couples are some of the nice people we met via CC. One couple is from New Zealand, the other from Southern California.

    After we met on the gangway, we met our driver, Rosario Somma. We used Romeinlimo for the tour—but we found out later Rosario is trying to start up his own business. I'll tell more about that later.

    Rosario spoke perfect English. In fact, his wife is British, so every once in a while a British accent would come from him. It was hilarious. Funny thing—Rosario mentioned I looked Italian. Seems I had been hearing that several times during this trip. I'm Irish…not a drop of Italian in me. My last name is from my Sicilian husband.

    Rosario took us on a side trip off of the freeway on the way to Pompeii, as there was a car of fire on the highway—and traffic was backed up. We didn't mind, as we enjoyed him telling us about the local areas. It was also funny to hear him yelling at the other drivers on the road. Rosario was quite a fun guide/driver. We were the first to arrive and enter Pompeii in the morning. We bought our tickets for the 8:30 entrance at 11 E each. Our guide, whose name I do not remember—was very knowledgeable about the site. He did get quite snippy if you asked him question or to clarify something—and he had previously mentioned it. He reminded us to 'listen' to him while he was speaking. The site is quite large—but amazing to see. The place still smells of smoke/ashes from the Mt. Vesuvius eruption all those centuries ago. This is definitely not the place to wear your fancy shoes. Wear good walking shoes as you go over many rough surfaces and stones.

    It is amazing how preserved the site is. We saw frescos and mosaic tile works that look so clean and clear. This was an important sea port city at one time, and was quite a busy place. We all enjoyed seeing the brothel, where you can still see the frescos above the bedroom doorways depicting what that particular 'professional's' specialty was! Since travelers all spoke different languages, a picture is worth a thousand words. We also laughed that you could 'rent a slave' for the day if you were in town. The market places are still clearly visible by the frescoes in the walls of fish, chicken and vegetables. They even had running water taps from the mountain.

    After Pompeii—we headed down to the Amalfi Coast and toward Sorrento. Rosario is from Sorrento so he knew many of the locals as we drove into the town. He was dropped us off at the main square, where we were able to shop (I bought a hand blown glass Lemon Christmas ornament for our tree. Lemons are one of the major produce items in the area—as well as olives). Everyone stopped in a candy store to try the local candy and sip some Lemoncello (alcohol made from lemons). Since I don't drink—I passed on this treat. What a beautiful little town Sorrento is. Very picturesque. After meeting back up with he drove us to the harbor area below the town to a small restaurant with fresh Mediterranean seafood (Restorante Delfino). The six of us ordered fresh seafood and pasta, enjoyed wine and beer (okay, so I had a Diet Coke ;-)—and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the town above us and the beautiful Med sea besides us.

    Once full—we headed down the 'Amalfi Coast' toward Positano. This drive is certainly not for the faint hearted. A very small roadway—barely large enough for one car, let alone two sits right on the steep cliff ways of the hillside. I felt quite confident with Rosario, as I know he travels this road often. If you get car sick easily, this is not the ride for you. From this road, you will see the most amazing view of the Mediterranean Sea— that is so blue and clear. Once you near the small town of Positano, the roadways do only fit one car at a time, and often, you feel as if you have to suck in your stomach, hold your breath—and try to be as tiny as possible to let another car creep by. Now, my words, or my pictures do not do Positano justice. Seriously. You have to go there to believe it. Even in the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" where the main character goes to visit the town with her Italian lover doesn't do the town justice. Positano is absolutely amazing—quaint—and beautiful beyond words. We walked down the steep walk ways towards the beach and small fishing harbor. Along the way we stopped and bought cannoli for our group to enjoy by the water. It was such a warm day, that all of us couldn't wait to take off our shoes and jump into the Mediterranean. One of our group, actually dropped his pants and dove in for a swim in his shorts (they looked just like swim trunks!). He is from New Zealand, and he said the water was 'too warm' for him. We all laughed at that! It was so hard to leave that beautiful spot and the view from below this little village set in the cliffs.

    On the way back up, I stopped to buy some lemon soap from a small boutique. As the gentleman was ringing me up, he asked in Italian (of course), where I was from. I told him "San Francisco". He said no—'where are your roots from…Genoa, Bologna, Napoli??' Indicating again—he thought I was of Italian descent. I didn't know what to say, except say my last name and say from Sicily. He did NOT like that at all. He got angry and shooed me out the door. He told me to leave. I gather the Italians do not like the Sicilians very much! Hahaha!

    After Positano—we all agreed, that is the one place we all definitely want to go back to. Truly amazing. Rosario talked to us about his family and his home. He drove us nearby his home—and how he would like to begin his own business. We all agreed he would do marvelously— and promised we would tell others via CC—and by word of month regarding his endeavors. He was an amazing guide that day! I would most heartedly recommend him. His email is: somma.rosario@tiscalil.it

    We arrived back at the ship at 5:15 pm. Plenty of time to rest, clean up and get ready for another nice evening onboard. The couple from So California invited us to eat at their table in La Boehme that evening, as the rest of their table diners were eating at the Murder Mystery Dinner. So, once we cleaned up, we joined them for dinner. After dinner, my husband and I headed for the dance/music show titled "Ole, Ole". The show consisted of 4 very talented people who danced and played a variety of music, mostly Flamenco and Morocco. After the show we ran into the couple from Australia who suggested we have a last 'meet' before we all leave the ship on Saturday. I promised them I would call everyone, as I had the stateroom numbers from everyone in our group, and would set up a time/place to meet.


    Day 6-Palermo, Sicily(and off to Sciacca and Mazara Del Vallo)-Thursday, Oct 4:
    We docked at 7 am this morning in the Port of Palermo. We had hired a private guide/driver to take us over to the small towns of Sciacca and Mazara Del Vallo on the other side of the island, where my husband's grandparents are from. In Mazara Del Vallo, there are thousands of citizens with our same last name as well.

    We had a quick breakfast and met our driver, Sabrina Lo Piano at 8:30 am. Sabrina is a beautiful Sicilian woman. I found Sabrina via an internet search, loved her site—and decided to ask her about driving us across the island. I was so glad I chose her, as she was very informative and very fun to be with. (Sabrina's email is: Sabrina@sicilian.net or sabrinalopiano@yahoo.it She also has a web site: http://sabrina.sicilian.net.

    We drove out of Palermo (and talk about crazy drivers! Wow. These guys make the Roman drivers seem like calm easy going drivers!). Sabrina explained the Sicilian countryside as we drove. She had previously emailed me and had asked us to bring any information regarding my husband's family with us, and she would take us to town halls and other heritage sites where we could find birth certificates and information regarding my husband's family. Alas, my husband never took the time to find this information—so I knew we wouldn't get to meet any Sicilian relatives.

    Once at Mazara del Vallo, we parked along the waterfront. While walking to the information center of town, we passed a group of older Sicilian men playing cards, talking and enjoying the warm day. Sabrina stopped and asked the gentlemen about knowing any 'Giaclaone's' in the area. This erupted quite a large and loud discussion with the men, who all said there were many Giacalone's in town. When we mentioned 'Rosario Giacalone' everyone seemed to remember an old 'pescatore' (fisherman) by that name. All the men were talking at once and telling stories—when we finally had to say goodbye. One man, wouldn't let me leave without a hug and a kiss (and he sure smelled wonderful!).

    We then headed to Sciacca—the town where both my husband's grandmother and grandfather came from. We headed down to the harbor just as the fishing boats were coming back into dock. Cars and trucks were waiting with ice to load up on the fresh Mediterranean and Terranean Sea fish being unloaded. We found a small and very clean restaurant above the pier (La Lampe) to enjoy some fresh seafood and pasta. After lunch, Sabrina stopped by an Espresso Bar for a quick pick me up. Wow—she downed that quickly!

    We then stopped by a very small, family run Anchovy and Sardine factory. This factory is run by an older woman, named Ana Marino (my husband's grandmother's last name). Inside the factory the woman and her children where hand separating the anchovies from the press and laying them flat, individually along cloth towels to later be hand packed in sea salt water in old style canning jars to be shipped out. The old woman asked my husband many questions via Sabrina—and they handed us a jar of anchovies to take along our way (which my husband later gave to his mother).

    Sciacca is well known for two things, Fresh Seafood and Ceramics. While driving we stopped along some beautiful steps in various places which were made from vibrant colorful tiles. We stopped at a very small Ceramic store (Montalbano Ceramics— ironically, we went to a wedding on Oct 13 where the groom, my husband's cousin, is named Montalbano) and purchased some lovely items. The young man in the store was busy painting some items, and placing the items in the kiln right beside him. We bought a lovely ceramic pitcher with a lemon motif and a napkin holder for my mother in law. I was concerned how we were going to get these safely back home.

    On our drive back—Sabrina took us by a small pastry and gelato shop that had the best cannoli I have ever eaten. True Sicilian cannoli—good ones—are very hard to find in our area. These were the best ever. We headed back to our ship—as all on board time was early on this day—4:30 pm. We said goodbye to our guide/driver and headed onboard with our day's treasures.

    Once on board, I called our entire CC group and set up at time to meet on Friday evening for a 'goodbye meet'. We planned on meeting at 5:30 pm—Schooner Bar. When I called, the couple from Orange county said to come on up to their suite—have some wine and chit chat. Once there, they mentioned they were on their way to the Honeymooners/Anniversary couples party…and we tagged along since we are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary with this trip.

    The Honeymooner/Anniversary party was on the top deck—High Notes lounge. There we were served champagne and cake and celebrated each other. Gifts were raffled off— and lo and behold—I won the main gift!!! I won a RCCL cooler, hats, pens, notebooks, key chains, travel document holder, photo album and some other goodies all nicely wrapped in a beautiful basket/package. I was so happy we went. Plus, that soft sided cooler would be great to transport that ceramic pitcher in to the USA!

    This was another formal night for dining—and we headed off to our dining room. We were the only people at the table (a table for 10!) as all our other tablemates were at the specialty restaurant, Portofino. We didn't mind. We enjoyed dining alone—and enjoyed our waiter (who is quite funny) all by ourselves. We even got to speak to our head waiter for quite a while. After dinner, the CC group met to go view the amazing Midnight Buffet in the Windjammer. Not one of us was hungry—but the display of foods and the decorations were amazing. The RCCL food staff does a great job of putting this together buffet together. Ice sculptures of the Eiffel Tower. A chocolate Venus de Milo statue. Bread sculptures—and many other carved ice statues and carved fruit decorations. I had to grab a couple of white chocolate covered strawberries on my way out.

    Our group then headed down to Studio B for 80's night! We had a lot of fun dancing to videos and the music. When that closed down at midnight, we headed to "The Vault" for more dancing. We ended up back at our room at 2 am—after promising to meet at the Rock Wall by 11:30 am the next day for everyone to climb.

    Day 7-Day at Sea-Friday, Oct 5:

    We thought we would gloriously get to sleep in—but alas, no. At 8 am or so, there was a general announcement from the ship's captain that there was to be a helicopter medi-vac on the ship—and informing guests to avoid certain decks as they loaded in the sick cruiser. Hence—we got up and headed out to breakfast.

    At 11:30 we headed up to the Rock Climbing wall. I didn't go, but my husband and 3 others from our group went. My husband and I had spa reservations for a couples massage (and Rasul Treatment— whatever that was) at 1 pm—so I wanted to head to the spa early to use the sauna and spa tubs. The spa aboard The Voyager of the Seas is very nice. Beautifully done. The main spa pool is decorated as if it is a Grecian or Roman spa—with the marble type columns holding up the ceilings. At 1pm, a spa employee took us to our private room for our Rasul Treatment. This treatment consisted of loofa-ing each other down, using exfoliates all over each other, than showering. Once cleansed you pack each other with a special 'clay' all over each other's bodies. Face and all. The clay was quite cool. Once complete, you then step into a sauna type room, only the sauna isn't hot—it's cool. Cool with marble seats! This meant you had some pretty cold buns on those slabs of marble. Being so short—and cover in muddy clay, I kept slipping off of the seat. The Rasul treatment is to open your pores and clean them out. My husband made a funny comment that this was so uncomfortable that his pores were certainly not opening up—in fact, they were slamming shut!! I had to chuckle at that. After showering and cleaning off—we wrapped ourselves in spa robes and waited to be taken to the massage room. Here we were met by a masseuser and a masseuse. We both enjoyed an hour long massage—as we overlooked the beautiful sea below. We both felt great!

    I hated to re-shower after all those lovely oils, but my hair needed a good cleaning. After washing up, I headed off to a 'Friends of Bill W' meeting that is held daily onboard ship. I never got to attend the meetings during the rest of the week, as we were always in port. This was the one day I could go. I had to leave early in order to meet our CC group at the Schooner Bar. When I arrived, everyone was there (New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Orange County (CA), Los Angeles, Virginia and Us (SF Bay Area!). We exchanged phone numbers, emails and took our final pictures together.

    We had dinner reservations at Portofino that last night, and were seated at a wonderful seat right by the windows. Our waiter was very attentive, and we enjoyed a very relaxing, lovely dinner (it took over 2 hours)—and celebrated our special anniversary.

    After dinner, many of our group was meeting back up—but we still had to pack and get our bags out the door for the luggage pick up time (11 pm). After we packed we sat back to enjoy our last evening in our stateroom—watching a movie.

    Last Day-Barcelona-Saturday, Oct 6:


    I woke up at 5:30 am to shower and get ready. Our call tickets were "yellow 2" to leave the ship (7:20 am). We had a quick breakfast at Windjammer—and headed back to our room. We decided to wait there vs. the waiting areas as we wanted to avoid the crowds. Boy, we were glad we did. Our color and number wasn't called until 7:50 am or so. We quickly found our luggage and headed to the cab line for the ride back to the airport. We decided not to use the ship transportation—and I didn't want to wait for everyone to board a bus. The line was quite long for the cabs, but moved quickly. I read on CC where people complained about this line—but if you have ever flown into Las Vegas on a Friday night, this line was nothing! A CC couple from LA was right in line with us, so we enjoyed talking as we waited.

    Once at the Barcelona airport, it was madness. As I said earlier, Europeans don't queue up well—and there were no set lines for the airlines, so it was a mass jumble of people waiting to check in for Iberia flights. Luckily, we had plenty of time to wait. Once checked in, we went in search of our gate. I would have gone to the VAT booth in Barcelona to get some money back, but from the airport layout, I was in another terminal and quite a way away. I figured I would do it in Madrid, as we had a long time between connections, and it was in the same terminal. Well, I wish I had done it in Barcelona—as our flight was very delayed. This meant, by the time we got to Madrid—we were running, literally running to catch our flight to JFK. Drat—that meant no VAT refund!

    Now, I know people blame Iberia for this delay. But, who is to say who it was caused by. It could have been done because of other airports, flights, etc. Once in Madrid—the mass confusion and pushing to get to the plane was utter madness. I blame the airport personnel, not Iberia. The airport had one person slowly checking passports/boarding passes—and there was a large rush to get onto the plane which was leaving shortly. But, we made it in time for our flight—found our seats and settled in for the long flight back to JFK. The plane left Madrid on time. This plane had quite a bit more leg room than the previous flights, and nicer seats. We had a great view of the movie screen as well, and settled in to watch "Live Free or Die Hard". The Iberia flight crew on board were very kind. Again we were served 2 meals—offered more rolls, and had free beer/wine if requested. We arrived at JFK EARLY! And, ALL of our bags were there waiting for us.

    So—all in all—I would definitely fly Iberia again. We had not one issue with them, and enjoyed our flights.

    After a 4 day stop in NYC to visit--we flew home to the San Francisco Bay Area.

    We can't wait to cruise with RCCL again!

    Cruise Critic Link: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberre...?EntryID=33699. .

    Link to pictures: http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t...se-Oct%202007/

    Next up--our trip to NYC (Oct 6-Oct 11)--and our visit with Stan4steph
    Last edited by mad4mky; 10-22-2007 at 01:20 PM.

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    I have no title-I'm a commoner mad4mky's Avatar
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    Off to see the Wizard

    Mediterranean Cruise-Sept 29-Oct 6th

    French Riviera (Cote d'Azur) and Italy

    My husband and I sailed on the Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas for our 10th wedding anniversary. This is only our 2nd cruise, our first being a short 3 day trip on the Disney Magic to the Bahamas.
    **First off—I have to say, that I read such negative things about the ship and our airlines for months before I left. I was in such a dither over both. Both—were dead wrong. **Also—we encountered NO pick pockets (and I wore ALL my own gold/diamond jewelry on shore excursions). We did see some gypsies, but were very careful in busy areas, as well as kept our valuables hidden. Repeat—I wore ALL my regular wedding/diamond rings and jewelries with no issues anywhere.

    We left San Francisco via American Airlines late (9/27)—we didn't mind as we were staying over in NYC before flying onto Barcelona. We flew first class. We enjoyed the luxury of leg space and leather seats. We arrived at JFK 1 hours late—but we stayed at a local Holiday Inn near JFK, so times were not of a concern for us. Tomorrow, they would be! And, as long as our luggage arrived, we were happy campers.

    After a restful night's sleep, we left the hotel for JFK via the hotel shuttle. Our flight wasn't until 6pm—but we didn't mind getting to the airport early. We were flying Iberia Airlines (the ones I heard horror stories about), and their desk didn't open until 2pm, so we grabbed some lunch and people watched. We went up to the desk early, and were the 2nd people in line. Soon, fellow cruisers were joining us in line. We met some nice people from Pennsylvania and Florida (One family's son runs the Intercot Disney site—hence we had a lot to talk about!). Check in was very easy. We were assured that our bags would transfer directly from Madrid to Barcelona—hence no need to bother gathering them and taking them to the next flight. This day was also my husband's birthday (9/28)! One gentleman from the group from Philly was telling us about his Italian heritage. When we mentioned our last name, and told him my husband's family was from Sciacca (Sicily), and that we would be traveling to the town when we docked in Palermo—he was quite excited. We almost thought he would ask to come along with us.

    After security-we went to lunch in the general area of our gate. JFK is a huge airport— and I'm from the SF Bay Area. What a surprise it was to run into a colleague from work right in the restaurant we were dining at! What a small world.

    Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6pm—but was held back at the gate because of delays on the runways. Not Iberia's fault at all.

    After reading terrible stories, I want to assure the people who might book this airline that we enjoyed both our flights to and from Spain with this airline. We had TWO meals! Free wine/beer with both (I don't drink—but if you do-this is a treat. Any US airline would charge you. Plus, this was coach seating—not 1st class as on our previous flight). They even serve you the whole can of Diet Coke vs. a small cup. The Flight attendants are kind—and even offer more rolls via a basket after serving lunch/dinner. They don't run a service cart the whole time flying, so if you want more water or drinks, you simple go back to the galley to ask for more. Bathrooms were clean—in flight movie were great. Even after leaving late, our flight arrived in Madrid on time.

    This is where some confusion started, but if you follow signs, which are in Spanish as well as English, you shouldn't have a problem. You must go through a passport check before you change terminals for connecting flights. Iberia, as well as the airlines has several information booths to help those with questions. Once past this area, you need to travel via the airport train to the connecting terminal. This all takes about 30 minutes, so allow yourself plenty of time between flights (We had 90 minutes, and took all of that time due to crowding at the passport/security areas). You then need to go through security again. We found that Europeans don't queue up well, so it's tough to get into a formed line. They tend to move in where they can and get through, even if you have been waiting. We found this everywhere we went. I'm not complaining about it…it's just the way they do things. We're in their country—so we can't really say they were 'wrong'. After security, it was quite a walk to our flight/gate—but we made it in plenty of time. The flight was practically empty—but the plane was new and service was great. We arrived in Barcelona on time. (9/29—the day of sailing). Lots of rain and lightening. What I found interesting is that they have a small bus waiting for you on the tarmac once you debark the plane. This bus then takes you to the baggage area, and it was quite a long ride. Once there, we collected our baggage (and YES—ALL my luggage came. I heard more stories of lost luggage than I can tell you. We had not one issue with this our entire trip! And, we had lots of bags).

    We got into a taxi at the airport who took us directly to the ship. It cost about 35 E. We arrived at the dock at 11:30 am or so. Once at the dock, there are ship luggage employees to help with luggage.

    Day 1-Barcelona (Embarkation) - Saturday-Sept 29th: Checking in at the terminal was a breeze. We did notice that our Sea Pass cards had us at two different dinner seatings and times. We brought this to the clerk's attention, who asked us to speak to a gentleman on the end of the check in line. When we spoke with him, he was very kind and asked us what time we preferred to dine, and if we minded eating with other fellow Americans. Of course, we did not; we just asked not to be seated with children, since we had left ours at home. We were assigned Table #356, Carmen on Deck 3 at 9:15 pm.

    Staterooms would not be ready until 1 pm, so we had some free time to explore the ship. We purchased the soda package for each of us (which was a waste for my husband. He rarely drank any soda on board). Our Cruise Critic 'Meet and Greet" wasn't until 4pm— so we walked around the ship checking out the sites. We ate lunch at the Windjammer on Deck 11. I had read some bad reviews of this buffet—but I found all the food to be quite good. Maybe I am not picky—but when you have over 3000 people on board, and have to prepare a lot of food—keeping it all hot and tasty is amazing. I found the food to always be quite good every day.

    We were able to get into our room (Deck nine Starboard-9372-Deluxe Balcony Stateroom) right at 1pm. Our luggage also came fairly early. While I sorted through my clothing, my husband took a nap. There was plenty of room for all of our clothes (and then some), plenty of room for luggage storage under our bed. Our bathroom was a nice size, and it was nice having a good size balcony.

    Once we were both freshened up, we headed to the 'High Notes Lounge' on deck 14 for the 'Meet and Greet'. Here we met some of the BEST people you could possibly meet. There were couples from all over the world in one room—and we had been 'talking' to each other for months via Cruise Critic. I was both excited and nervous to meet everyone. What has been the BEST thing about our trip was meeting these people. I'll tell more later, but I know we have made some friends for life. We spent long days with many of these folks, and we all got along famously. After the meeting, several of us went to Deck 10 to view a couple's Deluxe Suite. Wow. It was great to see. We all decided to come back after the sail away party to wave goodbye to Barcelona (and the weather had finally clearing up). But, once we found some great deck chairs at the balcony—we enjoyed that so much, we missed everyone who had gone back down.

    We met up later that evening, before dinner at the 'Pig and Whistle Pub' on the Promenade Deck to set up where we would meet for our private driver for our first shore excursion day. We enjoyed further getting to know everyone we had met on CC. It was amazing how quickly time went and for us to all move on to dinner.

    Dinner that evening was casual, as people are still getting settled into their rooms and receiving their luggage. Our table companions (table for 10) were a large extended family and friends from Ohio. They must have had 6 or more tables between this large group. We felt a little awkward at first, but a couple of people started talking with us. While I wouldn't want to dine with these people on a daily basis for long term, we found them to be pleasant for the most part. One young woman was appalling though. Table manners were crude, and she was quite rude to us. But, we just laughed it off, as we know you can't get along with everyone. It was the first night, and people were tired from traveling—so we hoped the next night would be better. Dinner was good though. Our waiter 'Alfred' was a nice gentleman from Costa Rica.

    We opted to go to bed early, as we knew we the next 5 days would be filled with late nights and early/long days. I slept soundly for someone who normally doesn't the first few nights in a new place. I guess I was exhausted!

    Day 2-Villefranche Sur Mer (French Riviera—Nice, France and Monte Carlo, Monaco)-Sunday-Sept 30th:
    What a glorious site to wake up to. Not only was the sun shining beautifully, the view was fantastic! This little French village is enchanting. The view from the ship to the harbor and village of Villefranche Sur Mer was breathtaking. I was so excited to start my day! My dear husband was kind enough to get me some Diet Coke to start my day along with some pastries from the Windjammer.

    We met with 3 other couples (who we met on CC) on Deck 9 in front of the Concierge Lounge. One couple was a little late to meet with us, but that worked out well, as we were not allowed to leave for the tenders until all the ship's shore excursions had left first. From the Concierge desk, we were able to receive the first tickets to board the first tenders off of the ship. We were directed down to Deck 1, where Lindsay, a ship director let us through as soon as we were cleared to go. Once on shore from the tenders—we searched for our driver/guide, Sylvie DeCristo. Her card reads "Like having a cousin in the French Riviera". And she was. Very sweet, spoke great English and was extremely knowledgeable.

    We got into her Renault van (two of the women had to ride up front due to Car sickness. I sat in the middle of the middle seat). She drove us to the top of the hill overlooking the small bay where our ship was docked. What a sight! It was gorgeous to look out over the French Riviera and the ship. Stunning. I could see why all the rich and famous come here to vacation. We drove up past Elton John's estate (top of the hill of course). Up on the top of the hill we stopped at an old fortress where inhabitants protected their lands. We drove over to the Nice, France side of the mountain, where Sylvie explained how Nice was once its own country before joining with France. Once we drove into Nice, we parked right along Promenade de Anglais , the main street/walk near the shore of the town.

    We walked up to the top of an old lookout site to view the city from above (quite a steep walk with lots of stairs! I am soooo out of shape!). We then went down to enjoy the Sunday market in Nice. Here vendors sell fresh produce, fish, olives and other wares. I bought some lavender sachets (this is the area where L'Occitane is produced. This is the Provence area). I enjoyed watching the locals while they shopped and dined at the nearby diners. A very clean toilette was available for .30 E each. I don't mind paying for a clean restroom! We walked down some old alleyways to a small wine shop. Sylvie knows the owners who were very kind to show us the centuries old wine barrels in the cellar of the shop. They don't make the wine in the kegs any longer, but still use them for wine storage for the store. Several of our friends bought some wine for home. We then headed to a Gelato/Sorbet shop. They had the most unusual array of flavors, all made by the owners of the shop. They had Avocado, Asparagus, Amaretto, Nutella, and even Corona Beer flavors! Played it safe and bought Strawberry sorbet. My husband tried the Corona Beer sorbet. I have to say—this is the BEST sorbet I have ever eaten. I wish I could have brought home tubs of it. Maybe it was because the day was quite warm—but there is something about eating fresh strawberry sorbet in the south of France that makes it just the BEST.

    WE then headed to the preserved fortress village of Eze on the top of the hill overlooking the Riviera. This little village is mostly for tourists now. Cute shops, small restaurants and very pricey, boutique inns. We enjoyed French crepes in a small eatery—and exchanged stories and family tales with our driver Sylvie. After dining, we were off to explore this small village. Their centuries old chapel is beautiful. Amazing that this kind of stuff still stands after all of this time. There is also a very famous perfumery near this site. Sylvie asked if any of us wanted to stop to see how very fine perfumes are made, and we all opted not to do this. We were all anxious to see Monte Carlo!

    Sylvie drove the high Corniche road to Monaco. Now, I have to admit, that I was not originally thrilled about going to this little principality. My husband really wanted to see it, but I could have passed. Was I ever wrong. Visiting this little country was one of the highlights of our trip. I was blown over by Monaco. When you get into the town of Monte Carlo (Sylvie explained how people can move to Monaco but can never be true Monacans—unless they were born there—as well as other amazing information), you immediately feel the exclusiveness and richness of the country. Along the harbor are varying sizes of yachts—rows of them—all lined up. What a site to see. We then headed up over to the Monaco Palace of the Rainier family, as well as the Cathedral where Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier (earlier she had pointed out exactly where the car accident was that killed Princess Grace). Here in the Cathedral you view the grave sites of both Prince Rainier and Princess Grace. We didn't go into the Palace— but since this is the 25th anniversary of the death of Princess Grace, there has been a special exhibit for viewing there. We did get to shop a little and view the harbor area from up high.

    Once we left there, we headed to the Grand Casino. We parked outside the Hermes Store (of course)—and all in our car who wanted to view the casino followed Sylvie. It was 10 E each to enter the casino. The dress code has become quite relaxed in recent years. Once, men could only enter with jackets and ties—then just ties. But, now they are allowed to enter without them. Two of our friends went off to the bar to order 007's Martini's (stirred, not shaken)—while I tried my hand at a few slot machines. One thing that struck me in this casino is the sound inside. This is definitely NOT Las Vegas. No loud shouting or bells and whistles going off. The card playing room is very quiet, with men dressed very smartly playing quietly. The slot machine room off to the side does have some flashing lights, but they are very subdued. The machines don't ring loudly— they just make small bell sounds as the wheels turn. After spending about 20 E in a few machines, I wandered out to the street. My husband decided to stay in and play a while longer. I was after a specific Hermes Scarf for my daughter. I knew the Hermes store would be closed, but I also knew that the scarf would not be there. A small shop on the side of the casino carries a Hermes Scarf that is only produced and is exclusive for this one store. My oldest daughter had heard of this scarf from a client of hers. I inquired at the store, who pointed out the scarf. Once in hand, I was happy. I headed out to view the vast array of luxury cars that are lined up outside of the casino. Bentleys, Laybacks, Lamborghinis, Etc. Almost as amazing as the harbor. When my husband came out he was all smiles. Seems he won 100 E from only 10 E he had dropped into a machine! He was happy.

    Once we all met up, and got back into the van, Sylvie took us along the Monte Carlo Grand Prix route. That was exciting! After the Grand Prix route, we headed back to Villefranche sur Mer via the lower Corniche road. Again, we were amazed at the lovely (and very expensive) area. Dusk was settling upon Villefranche when we arrived. This village was starting to sparkle as lights were lit in the small homes and businesses along the water. We said goodbye to our day's host—and ran to get the very last tender back to the ship. We were last 8 people to head to the ship! *Whew* But—if anyone would like an excellent guide and driver for this area in France, please, think of using Sylvie De Cristo.

    Once on the ship, we showered and rested for our first Formal night dining. Now, again, I read a lot on CC how people complain that people show up for dinner on formal night in jeans, shorts and casual wear. Maybe this is so for other destinations….but for every formal night, I did NOT see one person not dressed up. If they didn't want to dress, they must have headed to the Windjammer Buffet—because everyone I saw in our dining room, as well as others were dressed very beautifully. Many men in tuxedoes and all the women in beautiful dresses. Most men wore suits, as my husband did. Even the children looked lovely. Our table mates on our second night, we more relaxed, and much more willing to chat with us. All of them looked very smart in their formal clothing.

    After dinner, we switched to smart casual clothes and headed for the casino. First we swung by the Excursion desk where we turned in our 'Rome on Your Own' Tickets we had ordered. We were given credit on our Sea Pass card for the tickets. That was fine with us. Earlier that day, we had decided on our day in Rome, to brave the train with another couple from CC. Once at the casino we ran into another couple from CC— and enjoyed spending time with them. I won $160—so we called it a night and headed back to our room. By then, it was midnight.

    Day 3-Livorno (Pisa and Florence)-Monday, Oct 1:
    This day was to be our only ship sponsored tour. Others from our CC group had gotten a guide/driver for this day—but we opted to use the ship's bus transportation into the towns we wanted to see. We took the 'Pisa and Florence On Your Own' excursion. Basically—this excursion is where you get bus transportation to and from the sites. Along the way, a local tour guide is aboard the bus, and will give some information about the sites/city you are about to visit. After being let off at the site, you are then given a time and specific place to meet back for the bus ride back to the ship.

    We ate breakfast in the Windjammer that morning. I found the food to be quite tasty. I loved having strawberries to add over my waffles. And, the eggs and sausage were quite good. Once headed down to the La Scala theatre where we were to meet our tour group, I realized I didn't have my 'Sea Pass'—and ran up to get my pass (using my husband's card). This meant, he couldn't leave the ship either. But, I made it in plenty of time for us to get off the ship and to the assigned bus.

    Our guide that day was Patrizia. She was a local Florentine. She was very proud of her heritage, of the Tuscany region and of her home town of Florence.

    We first went to Pisa
    . Patrizia explained along drive to Pisa about the area, and about the campanile, and why it leans. She also warned us about the many gypsies in the area and to keep a close eye on our valuables. She also explained about the men/women selling counterfeit goods on sheets laid out. She said it is illegal to sell the goods this way, and if caught, not only would the vendor bill fined, but as a buyer, you would be as well. Our bus parked in a large lot where other tour buses were. Once we stepped off the bus, street sellers were pushing their cheap wares in our faces asking to buy. We shrugged them off and quickly followed after Patrizia. It was quite a long walk from the parking lot to the tower site. I was surprised at that. When you meet on the ship to go out onto your tour, they give you a sticker to wear, which designates which group you are with. You then follow your guide who holds a round while RCCL sign with your number on it. We weren't happy about either—and quickly decided to put our stickers on us hidden.

    We had to cross some very busy streets and past some neighborhoods. Patrizia had explained that most of the residents surrounding the area are students, as a large university sits near the site. Once we neared the site, selling booths were set up along the walkways, and small restaurants. We saw lots of people selling off of sheets. Patrizia gave us about 45 minutes to view the tower and to get back to the meeting spot. There isn't much to do at this site, other than the tower, so that is plenty of time to view it and get to the meeting area. Once in the Tower grounds, we were awestruck at how pretty the tower was, as well as the Duomo. Our main goal was to first find a clean toilette. We quickly followed the signs to the restroom in the tower area. It was .35 E each for us to use the restroom. They were nice and clean (again, you have to love that!).

    After a WC break, we walked around the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We did the customary pictures of us holding up the tower—then walked around the Duomo. We bought a couple of postcards, and I bought a small tower statuette to put in my office back home. After walking back to the meeting spot, everyone met on time, but one woman. She was in the toilette somewhere. My word of advice—go to the bathroom FIRST—then look around. This woman made 50+ people wait for her….and we were on limited time. That was very frustrating.

    Once back aboard the bus, we headed onto the freeway to the drive to Florence. Again, Patrizia explained the local agriculture, marble quarries and other items that are produced in the Tuscany area. When we arrived in Florence we drove to the outskirts of the old section of town. Here the driver let us off near the Arno River. We followed our guide to the Piazza Santa Croce and the Santa Croce (where Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci are buried) where she gave us the time for meeting her for the trip back to the ship. She pointed out a leather goods store where she said it was run by RCCL—and it had a clean toilette if we needed it.

    My husband and I headed out on our own—with Rick Steve's guidebook in hand, trying to find the local treasures and sites. Boy—talk about leather shops. They are everywhere in this area. Be sure to wear good walking shoes, as all this area is old cobblestones and uneven surfaces. I was glad I brought my good Mephisto All-rounder. We love exploring small alleyways and found some great small shops and restaurants along there. We found our place near the Academia Museum, which unfortunately was closed since it was Monday. The area was quite busy with tourists though, as on the outside, many replicas of great works of art, including Michelangelo's David and Rape of the Sabine Women. From there we walked to a small side street and found a pizzeria. We ordered two large slices of pizza and coke—and used their very clean toilettes.

    We then walked to the Ponte Vecchio, where the gold jewelers are. We encountered an old gypsy woman there, who looked so sadly pathetic, that you almost feel compelled to give her something—we didn't though. We did hang onto our money tightly though, as this place becomes quite crowded. We wandered into several gold shops, and in one I purchased a lovely cameo with 18kt gold chain. When reaching the other side of the bridge, we stopped to buy some Gelato—and headed right down a small street. Here we found a small hotel courtyard alongside the Arno River and stepped inside for some great photo ops of the Ponte Vecchio and Arno River. Once we left there we headed over the Ponte S Trinita bridge and towards the Piazza Della Signorio. We happened upon the high end stores where I was thrilled to find the Salvatore Ferragamo flagship store. Of course, I had to go in. I bought a pair of beautiful brown patent leather Audrey shoes.

    After leaving Ferragamo, we headed towards the Duomo and plaza. We viewed inside as well as the outside (where several gypsy girls approached us)—then headed back towards the Santa Croce to meet our guide. We were early meeting up with Patrizia, so we sat outside on the Santa Croce steps and ate some sorbet and drank some cold water. It was quite hot that day, and the walk on the cobblestones really tire your legs. We shopped a little in the leather shop sponsored by the ship—checked out some leather coats, but didn't buy anything. Once the whole group was gathered we walked back to the bus—and had a nice drive up to the Piazzale Michelangelo—where you have the best view of Florence from a hilltop. Beautiful site. On the drive back to the ship, Patrizia came down the bus aisle way asking people if they had any questions regarding anything they saw or about the area. We saw some lovely Tuscan wineries and vineyards as well as estates along the way back. Our bus was late to the ship—but so were many others. Several buses were lined up along the port waiting for their turn to let passengers debark.

    Back on the ship—we headed to our stateroom to rest and clean up for dinner. I was tired—too tired to get dressed up nicely for dinner (even though it was a casual night). We slept for about an hour, then headed up to the Promenade to check out the ship's daily sales. When passing by the Coffee bar, we ran into our CC friends, two of which were headed up to the Windjammer for dinner as well. After dinner—we headed off to bed, as we knew the next day was going to be even busier—Rome!

    Day 4-Civitavecchia-Rome-Tuesday-Oct 2:

    My husband and I were up early for a quick breakfast in the Windjammer on Deck 11.

    We decided to cancel our 'Rome on Your Own' tickets through the cruise ship—and instead travel by train to Rome. It is a 1 hour, 15 minute train ride into Rome from this port town. A couple from Australia (who we met via CC), their two daughters, my husband and I, set a time to meet onboard the ship to take the trek into the port town and walk up to the local train station to get the first and early train into Rome. We wanted to get the earliest start as there is so much to see in the city.

    The ship doesn't tell you this, as they sell 'shuttle bus passes' from the ship to the end of the port (I think they are $5 or $8 per person). Don't do this! There is a FREE port shuttle that picks you up by the ship and will take you to the end of the port. I knew this from reading CC! Once the bus dropped us off at the port, we realized a lot of people from our ship were doing the same thing. We all walked together to the train station. Once at the station, we bought all day train/bus/metro passes at 9 E each. This is good for a round trip ticket for the train as well. The first train to Rome came at 8:45 am…and it was quite full already. People from a Celebrity ship nearby were trekking into Rome as well, and there were quite a few commuters on board.

    Once we found seats, we met a man who was from the US (Nebraska) who was studying in Rome. He suggested we follow him off the train, and he will get us to the Coliseum, our first tourist destination. We got off at a station before Termini (the main Rome station) and after a short trip on the underground metro—came up via an escalator to see the beautiful site of the Roman Coliseum. It was very busy there—loads of tourists. We headed towards the Palatine Hill (Rick Steve's advice) to buy tickets to bypass the long line heading into the Coliseum. But, as we were passing by the line, we approached by someone selling a tour/tickets. We opted to take this short tour and bypass the line. This cost us 10 E for admission and 10 E for the tour (which included getting ear phones to listen to the guide in the busy Coliseum). This is an area to be aware of your surroundings. There are LOTS of people there, people selling items, men dressed as Gladiators wanting tourists to take pictures with them. We avoided all of this by joining the tour. After the short tour—we headed out to the street where the Hoho bus (hop on hop off bus) was stopping. This cost us about 20 E each. While we were excited to get on the top deck—we realized we needed to get over to the Vatican to meet our tour guide at 12:20 pm. We were at St Peter's Square early, so we did a little shopping, grabbed as snack and found a convenient toilet.

    Vatican City & St Peter's Basilica-I had booked a tour with Odyssey Tours via the internet (www.odyssey-tours.com--40 E each plus the 13 E for the Vatican). We met our guide, Eva (who carried the red umbrella just as directed. Eva was a small Irish woman who was extremely knowledgeable about everything in the Vatican) at the designated spot, and connected with the other people who were on the tour. There were only 8 people on our tour.

    We had a very short wait to get inside the Vatican. Maybe 20 minutes top. We passed one of the saddest people lying outside the Vatican wall begging for money. This man had so many tumors over his head and body—it was heartbreaking.

    Eva, our guide, was very knowledgeable about the many works of art in the Vatican museum. She quickly, but thoroughly led us through room to room with amazing information about so many of the pieces of art there. When we reached the Sistine Chapel, she reminded us several times NOT to go through the main exit door as most people do. That door lead out to an area that ended the Vatican tour—but we would be moving on to a courtyard outside of St Peter's Basilica. Well, my husband—even though he heard her, headed out that door. When I met up with Eva at the end of the Sistine Chapel, she was kind enough to go out in search of him. When she couldn't find him, she was quite upset, as she mentioned there was another hour left of the tour. I wasn't concerned. I knew he would wait at our point of origin for the tour….but alas …he found his way back to us, and our tour pushed on.

    St. Peter's Basilica is amazing. Truly amazing. I, am not Catholic—but to see this impressive building is something to behold. We were awestruck by the massiveness of this huge basilica. We then had to quickly leave the tour as we needed to get back to the ship. Eva pointed us to the nearest train station. I was upset though, as we had missed so much of Rome. I thought our tour was to be 2 hours, and it ended up being 4! Our Hoho bus tickets were a waste, as we only hopped on once. We would have used them more, had we more time. But, I also was disappointed that we would miss the Trevi Fountain. My husband kept pointing out that we needed to get back—but he relented and we used a local cab to get to the fountain.
    On our way, we passed by the Spanish Steps. Pretty—but I am glad we didn't necessarily take the time out to walk up them. They weren't that spectacular to me.

    The Trevi Fountain area was a crazy mad house. Loads of tourists! This beautiful fountain is actually the side of a building in a small courtyard surrounded by small businesses and restaurants. It seems as if everyone wants to throw their coin into the fountain, as it was difficult to get near the water. We were able to work our way through the crowd to toss our coins in though—and did the customary picture doing so. The fountain is amazing though. Quite beautiful—especially for a side of a building! By then it was 4:55 pm, and we needed to go! We then asked a local police officer the way to Termini Station. He pointed the way, and we grabbed another local cab for a ride there. We arrived at train station at 5:10 pm.

    Once at the very large Termini Station, we read the boards for the correct train/tracks to Civitavecchia. The track was #25—which was quite a walk from the front of the station (about 10 or more). I was concerned we wouldn't make it back in time for the ship (we had to be back at 6:30 pm)—as the train was to leave at 5:15 pm. The train left on time—but stopped at every little station on the way to Civitavecchia. And, I realized all the way to Rome and all the way back—not one person asked to see our train tickets!

    We arrived at the Civitavecchia Station at 6:25 pm! We quickly asked a local cab driver the cost to take us to the shop. 20 E he replied!! Wow. They know they've got you—as you are in a hurry. He got us there by 6:40 pm—and as we ran onto the ship—someone commented that others were still out on shore. I was glad to know we weren't the last ones on board. Once in our stateroom, they called several names over and over via the loudspeaker system. I later heard an attendant say that those people did not back it back aboard the ship on time. We figured, if we didn't make it back on time, we'd just go back to Rome via the train, find the train to Naples and go down south to that city where the ship was going to be docked the next day. It's only a 2 hour drive south.

    What a crazy day Rome was! It was too crowded and hectic for me. And hot. Rome was hot. It was so hectic this day that we never got to sit down and have a lunch. I was sure glad we ate some breakfast that morning.

    Again, I was too tired for a sit down, nice dinner in the main dining room…so we went back up to the Windjammer for a quick buffet dinner. We then gambled a little in the casino and headed for the ship's Ice Skating Show.

    The ice skating show surprised me. I thought it would be kind of silly. But, it was absolutely amazing. This is a smaller rink—and the jumps, turns and stunts these performers did were outstanding. I would recommend that anyone cruising on the ship, attend this show. After the show, we turned in early. Another big day was coming up.

    Day 5-Naples, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast-Wednesdsay- Oct 3:

    Early this morning, we headed up to the Windjammer before meeting the two other couples we were travelling with down the Amalfi Coast. These couples are some of the nice people we met via CC. One couple is from New Zealand, the other from Southern California.

    After we met on the gangway, we met our driver, Rosario Somma. We used Romeinlimo for the tour—but we found out later Rosario is trying to start up his own business. I'll tell more about that later.

    Rosario spoke perfect English. In fact, his wife is British, so every once in a while a British accent would come from him. It was hilarious. Funny thing—Rosario mentioned I looked Italian. Seems I had been hearing that several times during this trip. I'm Irish…not a drop of Italian in me. My last name is from my Sicilian husband.

    Rosario took us on a side trip off of the freeway on the way to Pompeii, as there was a car of fire on the highway—and traffic was backed up. We didn't mind, as we enjoyed him telling us about the local areas. It was also funny to hear him yelling at the other drivers on the road. Rosario was quite a fun guide/driver. We were the first to arrive and enter Pompeii in the morning. We bought our tickets for the 8:30 entrance at 11 E each.
    Our guide, whose name I do not remember—was very knowledgeable about the site. He did get quite snippy if you asked him question or to clarify something—and he had previously mentioned it. He reminded us to 'listen' to him while he was speaking. The site is quite large—but amazing to see. The place still smells of smoke/ashes from the Mt. Vesuvius eruption all those centuries ago. This is definitely not the place to wear your fancy shoes. Wear good walking shoes as you go over many rough surfaces and stones.

    It is amazing how preserved the site is. We saw frescos and mosaic tile works that look so clean and clear. This was an important sea port city at one time, and was quite a busy place. We all enjoyed seeing the brothel, where you can still see the frescos above the bedroom doorways depicting what that particular 'professional's' specialty was! Since travelers all spoke different languages, a picture is worth a thousand words. We also laughed that you could 'rent a slave' for the day if you were in town. The market places are still clearly visible by the frescoes in the walls of fish, chicken and vegetables. They even had running water taps from the mountain.

    After Pompeii—we headed down to the Amalfi Coast and toward Sorrento. Rosario is from Sorrento so he knew many of the locals as we drove into the town. He was dropped us off at the main square, where we were able to shop (I bought a hand blown glass Lemon Christmas ornament for our tree. Lemons are one of the major produce items in the area—as well as olives). Everyone stopped in a candy store to try the local candy and sip some Lemoncello (alcohol made from lemons). Since I don't drink—I passed on this treat. What a beautiful little town Sorrento is. Very picturesque. After meeting back up with he drove us to the harbor area below the town to a small restaurant with fresh Mediterranean seafood (Restorante Delfino). The six of us ordered fresh seafood and pasta, enjoyed wine and beer (okay, so I had a Diet Coke ;-)—and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the town above us and the beautiful Med sea besides us.

    Once full—we headed down the 'Amalfi Coast' toward Positano. This drive is certainly not for the faint hearted. A very small roadway—barely large enough for one car, let alone two sits right on the steep cliff ways of the hillside. I felt quite confident with Rosario, as I know he travels this road often. If you get car sick easily, this is not the ride for you. From this road, you will see the most amazing view of the Mediterranean Sea— that is so blue and clear.
    Once you near the small town of Positano, the roadways do only fit one car at a time, and often, you feel as if you have to suck in your stomach, hold your breath—and try to be as tiny as possible to let another car creep by. Now, my words, or my pictures do not do Positano justice.
    Seriously. You have to go there to believe it. Even in the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" where the main character goes to visit the town with her Italian lover doesn't do the town justice.
    Positano is absolutely amazing—quaint—and beautiful beyond words. We walked down the steep walk ways towards the beach and small fishing harbor. Along the way we stopped and bought cannoli for our group to enjoy by the water. It was such a warm day, that all of us couldn't wait to take off our shoes and jump into the Mediterranean. One of our group, actually dropped his pants and dove in for a swim in his shorts (they looked just like swim trunks!). He is from New Zealand, and he said the water was 'too warm' for him. We all laughed at that! It was so hard to leave that beautiful spot and the view from below this little village set in the cliffs.

    On the way back up, I stopped to buy some lemon soap from a small boutique. As the gentleman was ringing me up, he asked in Italian (of course), where I was from. I told him "San Francisco". He said no—'where are your roots from…Genoa, Bologna, Napoli??' Indicating again—he thought I was of Italian descent. I didn't know what to say, except say my last name and say from Sicily. He did NOT like that at all. He got angry and shooed me out the door. He told me to leave. I gather the Italians do not like the Sicilians very much! Hahaha!

    After Positano—we all agreed, that is the one place we all definitely want to go back to. Truly amazing. Rosario talked to us about his family and his home. He drove us nearby his home—and how he would like to begin his own business. We all agreed he would do marvelously— and promised we would tell others via CC—and by word of month regarding his endeavors. He was an amazing guide that day! I would most heartedly recommend him. His email is: somma.rosario@tiscalil.it

    We arrived back at the ship at 5:15 pm. Plenty of time to rest, clean up and get ready for another nice evening onboard. The couple from So California invited us to eat at their table in La Boehme that evening, as the rest of their table diners were eating at the Murder Mystery Dinner. So, once we cleaned up, we joined them for dinner. After dinner, my husband and I headed for the dance/music show titled "Ole, Ole". The show consisted of 4 very talented people who danced and played a variety of music, mostly Flamenco and Morocco. After the show we ran into the couple from Australia who suggested we have a last 'meet' before we all leave the ship on Saturday. I promised them I would call everyone, as I had the stateroom numbers from everyone in our group, and would set up a time/place to meet.

    Day 6-Palermo, Sicily (and off to Sciacca and Mazara Del Vallo)-Thursday, Oct 4:

    We docked at 7 am this morning in the Port of Palermo. We had hired a private guide/driver to take us over to the small towns of Sciacca and Mazara Del Vallo on the other side of the island, where my husband's grandparents are from. In Mazara Del Vallo, there are thousands of citizens with our same last name as well.

    We had a quick breakfast and met our driver, Sabrina Lo Piano at 8:30 am. Sabrina is a beautiful Sicilian woman. I found Sabrina via an internet search, loved her site—and decided to ask her about driving us across the island. I was so glad I chose her, as she was very informative and very fun to be with. (Sabrina's email is: Sabrina@sicilian.net or sabrinalopiano@yahoo.it She also has a web site: http://sabrina.sicilian.net.

    We drove out of Palermo (and talk about crazy drivers! Wow. These guys make the Roman drivers seem like calm easy going drivers!). Sabrina explained the Sicilian countryside as we drove. She had previously emailed me and had asked us to bring any information regarding my husband's family with us, and she would take us to town halls and other heritage sites where we could find birth certificates and information regarding my husband's family. Alas, my husband never took the time to find this information—so I knew we wouldn't get to meet any Sicilian relatives.

    Once at Mazara del Vallo, we parked along the waterfront. While walking to the information center of town, we passed a group of older Sicilian men playing cards, talking and enjoying the warm day. Sabrina stopped and asked the gentlemen about knowing any 'Giaclaone's' in the area. This erupted quite a large and loud discussion with the men, who all said there were many Giacalone's in town. When we mentioned 'Rosario Giacalone' everyone seemed to remember an old 'pescatore' (fisherman) by that name. All the men were talking at once and telling stories—when we finally had to say goodbye. One man, wouldn't let me leave without a hug and a kiss (and he sure smelled wonderful!).

    We then headed to Sciacca—the town where both my husband's grandmother and grandfather came from. We headed down to the harbor just as the fishing boats were coming back into dock. Cars and trucks were waiting with ice to load up on the fresh Mediterranean and Terranean Sea fish being unloaded. We found a small and very clean restaurant above the pier (La Lampe) to enjoy some fresh seafood and pasta. After lunch, Sabrina stopped by an Espresso Bar for a quick pick me up. Wow—she downed that quickly!

    We then stopped by a very small, family run Anchovy and Sardine factory. This factory is run by an older woman, named Ana Marino (my husband's grandmother's last name). Inside the factory the woman and her children where hand separating the anchovies from the press and laying them flat, individually along cloth towels to later be hand packed in sea salt water in old style canning jars to be shipped out. The old woman asked my husband many questions via Sabrina—and they handed us a jar of anchovies to take along our way (which my husband later gave to his mother).

    Sciacca is well known for two things, Fresh Seafood and Ceramics. While driving we stopped along some beautiful steps in various places which were made from vibrant colorful tiles. We stopped at a very small Ceramic store (Montalbano Ceramics— ironically, we went to a wedding on Oct 13 where the groom, my husband's cousin, is named Montalbano) and purchased some lovely items. The young man in the store was busy painting some items, and placing the items in the kiln right beside him. We bought a lovely ceramic pitcher with a lemon motif and a napkin holder for my mother in law. I was concerned how we were going to get these safely back home.

    On our drive back—Sabrina took us by a small pastry and gelato shop that had the best cannoli I have ever eaten. True Sicilian cannoli—good ones—are very hard to find in our area. These were the best ever. We headed back to our ship—as all on board time was early on this day—4:30 pm. We said goodbye to our guide/driver and headed onboard with our day's treasures.

    Once on board, I called our entire CC group and set up at time to meet on Friday evening for a 'goodbye meet'. We planned on meeting at 5:30 pm—Schooner Bar. When I called, the couple from Orange county said to come on up to their suite—have some wine and chit chat. Once there, they mentioned they were on their way to the Honeymooners/Anniversary couples party…and we tagged along since we are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary with this trip.

    The Honeymooner/Anniversary party was on the top deck—High Notes lounge. There we were served champagne and cake and celebrated each other. Gifts were raffled off— and lo and behold—I won the main gift!!! I won a RCCL cooler, hats, pens, notebooks, key chains, travel document holder, photo album and some other goodies all nicely wrapped in a beautiful basket/package. I was so happy we went. Plus, that soft sided cooler would be great to transport that ceramic pitcher in to the USA!

    This was another formal night for dining—and we headed off to our dining room. We were the only people at the table (a table for 10!) as all our other tablemates were at the specialty restaurant, Portofino. We didn't mind. We enjoyed dining alone—and enjoyed our waiter (who is quite funny) all by ourselves. We even got to speak to our head waiter for quite a while. After dinner, the CC group met to go view the amazing Midnight Buffet in the Windjammer. Not one of us was hungry—but the display of foods and the decorations were amazing. The RCCL food staff does a great job of putting this together buffet together. Ice sculptures of the Eiffel Tower. A chocolate Venus de Milo statue. Bread sculptures—and many other carved ice statues and carved fruit decorations. I had to grab a couple of white chocolate covered strawberries on my way out.

    Our group then headed down to Studio B for 80's night! We had a lot of fun dancing to videos and the music. When that closed down at midnight, we headed to "The Vault" for more dancing. We ended up back at our room at 2 am—after promising to meet at the Rock Wall by 11:30 am the next day for everyone to climb.

    Day 7-Day at Sea-Friday, Oct 5:

    We thought we would gloriously get to sleep in—but alas, no. At 8 am or so, there was a general announcement from the ship's captain that there was to be a helicopter medi-vac on the ship—and informing guests to avoid certain decks as they loaded in the sick cruiser. Hence—we got up and headed out to breakfast.

    At 11:30 we headed up to the Rock Climbing wall. I didn't go, but my husband and 3 others from our group went. My husband and I had spa reservations for a couples massage (and Rasul Treatment— whatever that was) at 1 pm—so I wanted to head to the spa early to use the sauna and spa tubs. The spa aboard The Voyager of the Seas is very nice. Beautifully done. The main spa pool is decorated as if it is a Grecian or Roman spa—with the marble type columns holding up the ceilings. At 1pm, a spa employee took us to our private room for our Rasul Treatment. This treatment consisted of loofa-ing each other down, using exfoliates all over each other, than showering. Once cleansed you pack each other with a special 'clay' all over each other's bodies. Face and all. The clay was quite cool. Once complete, you then step into a sauna type room, only the sauna isn't hot—it's cool. Cool with marble seats! This meant you had some pretty cold buns on those slabs of marble. Being so short—and cover in muddy clay, I kept slipping off of the seat. The Rasul treatment is to open your pores and clean them out. My husband made a funny comment that this was so uncomfortable that his pores were certainly not opening up—in fact, they were slamming shut!! I had to chuckle at that. After showering and cleaning off—we wrapped ourselves in spa robes and waited to be taken to the massage room. Here we were met by a masseuser and a masseuse. We both enjoyed an hour long massage—as we overlooked the beautiful sea below. We both felt great!

    I hated to re-shower after all those lovely oils, but my hair needed a good cleaning. After washing up, I headed off to a 'Friends of Bill W' meeting that is held daily onboard ship. I never got to attend the meetings during the rest of the week, as we were always in port. This was the one day I could go. I had to leave early in order to meet our CC group at the Schooner Bar. When I arrived, everyone was there (New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Orange County (CA), Los Angeles, Virginia and Us (SF Bay Area!). We exchanged phone numbers, emails and took our final pictures together.

    We had dinner reservations at Portofino that last night, and were seated at a wonderful seat right by the windows. Our waiter was very attentive, and we enjoyed a very relaxing, lovely dinner (it took over 2 hours)—and celebrated our special anniversary.

    After dinner, many of our group was meeting back up—but we still had to pack and get our bags out the door for the luggage pick up time (11 pm). After we packed we sat back to enjoy our last evening in our stateroom—watching a movie.

    Last Day-Barcelona-Saturday, Oct 6:

    I woke up at 5:30 am to shower and get ready. Our call tickets were "yellow 2" to leave the ship (7:20 am). We had a quick breakfast at Windjammer—and headed back to our room. We decided to wait there vs. the waiting areas as we wanted to avoid the crowds. Boy, we were glad we did. Our color and number wasn't called until 7:50 am or so. We quickly found our luggage and headed to the cab line for the ride back to the airport. We decided not to use the ship transportation—and I didn't want to wait for everyone to board a bus. The line was quite long for the cabs, but moved quickly. I read on CC where people complained about this line—but if you have ever flown into Las Vegas on a Friday night, this line was nothing! A CC couple from LA was right in line with us, so we enjoyed talking as we waited.

    Once at the Barcelona airport, it was madness. As I said earlier, Europeans don't queue up well—and there were no set lines for the airlines, so it was a mass jumble of people waiting to check in for Iberia flights. Luckily, we had plenty of time to wait. Once checked in, we went in search of our gate. I would have gone to the VAT booth in Barcelona to get some money back, but from the airport layout, I was in another terminal and quite a way away. I figured I would do it in Madrid, as we had a long time between connections, and it was in the same terminal. Well, I wish I had done it in Barcelona—as our flight was very delayed. This meant, by the time we got to Madrid—we were running, literally running to catch our flight to JFK. Drat—that meant no VAT refund!

    Now, I know people blame Iberia for this delay. But, who is to say who it was caused by. It could have been done because of other airports, flights, etc. Once in Madrid—the mass confusion and pushing to get to the plane was utter madness. I blame the airport personnel, not Iberia. The airport had one person slowly checking passports/boarding passes—and there was a large rush to get onto the plane which was leaving shortly. But, we made it in time for our flight—found our seats and settled in for the long flight back to JFK. The plane left Madrid on time. This plane had quite a bit more leg room than the previous flights, and nicer seats. We had a great view of the movie screen as well, and settled in to watch "Live Free or Die Hard". The Iberia flight crew on board were very kind. Again we were served 2 meals—offered more rolls, and had free beer/wine if requested. We arrived at JFK EARLY! And, ALL of our bags were there waiting for us.


    Cruise Critic link of report: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberre...?EntryID=33699

    Link to pictures: http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t...se-Oct%202007/

    Next up--our stay in New York City (Oct 6-Oct 11).

  4. #3
    I have no title-I'm a commoner mad4mky's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    Off to see the Wizard

    oops--sorry--I double posted the same trip report.


  5. #4
    just a figment
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    with Efoxx

    Peggy your trip sounds so wonderful. Some day Efoxx and I will make it there and the south of france. I'm glad you and Russ had such a wonderful trip.

     
    It's every tribe, every nation. It's all God's children singing, Glory, Glory, Hallelujah. He Reigns.
    Newsboys

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