EPIC 7-Night Mediterranean Rome Roundtrip - Photo Review!

[LittleMissMagic]

Pisa Lambo Parade by vshingl, on Flickr

Pisa Lambo Parade by vshingl, on Flickr

Pisa Lambo Parade by vshingl, on Flickr

Pisa Lambo Parade by vshingl, on Flickr

 

I love the Go Pros on the front of the Lambos. It was really cool because the drivers were just as excited as everyone visiting Pisa. Giovanni told us that it was a Lamborghini Club, and they were driving through Italy - we just happened to catch them in Pisa!

 

Pisa Lambo Parade by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

A lot of the drivers also had "hot babes" in the passenger seats with them. This driver/babe duo was our favorite -

 

Pisa Lambo Parade by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Pisa Lambo Parade by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Pisa Lambo Parade by vshingl, on Flickr

Pisa Lambo Parade by vshingl, on Flickr

 

The most Lamborghinis I have ever seen in my life.

 

Pisa Lambo Parade by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

We stayed a little longer than planned in Pisa because of the Lamborghini parade, but our driver was totally cool with it. He also printed us off our vouchers for the Accademia. And he made us lunch reservations!

 

Before lunch, we stopped at Ponte Vecchia to walk the bridge. Rachel wasn't excited until I told her what was sold on the bridge - jewelry!

 

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

We ate at this cute little restaurant.

 

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

 

And had a great view of this church.

 

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

[cabincop]

great job miss magic, love the pixs and the story I have ton this same itinerary many times and you really captured all that's great with it, btw love your family

[LittleMissMagic]

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

After lunch, Giovanni took us to Piazalle Michelangelo which has great views of Florence.

 

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Not to mention, some funny souvenirs...

 

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

[karoo]

Still following and loving your review. The photos are great!

[brian99]

Boy, are these shots a pain to line up!

 

Pisa by vshingl, on Flickr

 

This one makes me laugh. Great shot!

[happytrailsandsails]

Great pics! My husband would be so excited about the Lambourginis. If you liked the restaurant in Florence, could you tell us the name of it and about how long the service was? Thanks.

[LittleMissMagic]

Great pics! My husband would be so excited about the Lambourginis. If you liked the restaurant in Florence, could you tell us the name of it and about how long the service was? Thanks.

 

Unfortunately, I do not recall the name of the restaurant. I usually take a picture of the menus when I'm on vacation, but I guess I'd been living in Italy for so long that I was no longer taking those detail pictures I normally get.

[LittleMissMagic]

Giovanni then took us to the Accademia to see David. Rachel was not excited about going to a museum, but I don't think it was that bad. Alec and Dad snuck pictures of David. Those illegal photos would later come to haunt us...

 

Afterwards, we went to the Duomo.

 

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

Rachel bought a mini statue of David from a street vendor.

Edited June 8, 2013 by LittleMissMagic

[LittleMissMagic]

And then we stopped at the piazza where Michelangelo's David originally stood.

 

DSC_7717 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

There was some sort of media event going on.

 

DSC_7718 by vshingl, on Flickr

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

Giovanni offered to let us stop at the market, but we had already done all of the souvenir shopping we wished, so we decided to just hit the road. We stopped at a gas station and the boys bought beverages for the car ride home, though.

 

The guys had finished their drinks and I had put my feet up on Max's lap, nodding off to sleep.... when suddenly I felt the brakes hit hard, and I was thrown out of my seat against the drivers' seat in front of me. I didn't really understand what happened until I heard my Dad and Alec saying how the truck had cut us off. "I don't think he's going to stop," Giovanni told us. But the orange truck pulled off at the next gas station exit.

 

It was only once we stopped that I realized what exactly had happened and how we were extremely lucky. It's one of those moments when you realize that for some reason, you're supposed to keep living. There were a number of things that could have gone completely wrong. Especially since of the six of us, only Mom and Dad were wearing their seatbelts. (After the wreck, Dad said, "Put your seatbelts on!" as if that was going to help now.)

 

We were lucky that Max was sitting in the seat that had no seat in front of him. Because if I was in that seat, I would've flown through the windshield. Max was broad enough that he was able to spread his arms and hold himself back in the wreck, keeping him from going through the windshield. The same happened in the backseat. Rachel was sitting behind the seat in front of her, and Alec was sitting by the aisle. So he was able to hold himself back.

 

David, however, was not so lucky. He was jolted to the front of the van, and his body was cracked in half. Rachel was upset that her mini David was broken.

 

After we compared our bumps, bruises, and scratches (all of us were bleeding somewhere), the boys decided they needed another drink. So they went inside the gas station. They didn't come back with drinks, though (they didn't sell them there), but they did come back with.... another Statue of David for Rachel! I figured they sold those things everywhere, just like plush Mickey Mouses in Florida.

 

Max broke the plastic cover over the back of the driver's seat.

 

DSC_7721 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Alec also tore off a plastic covering on a wall in the back.

 

DSC_7722 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

DSC_7735 by vshingl, on Flickr

DSC_7734 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

DSC_7726 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

DSC_7729 by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

DSC_7731 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

DSC_7736 by vshingl, on Flickr

DSC_7738 by vshingl, on Flickr

 

We were witnesses! Since no one was seriously hurt, it was fine because at least we had a story to tell.

 

DSC_7739 by vshingl, on Flickr

It's a good thing we skipped the market (or not?) because we were now cutting it close on time to get back to the ship. Giovanni called the ship to let them know what happened.

[LittleMissMagic]

Finally, we returned to the port of Livorno!

 

DSC_7740 by vshingl, on Flickr

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

Even with the wreck, Rome in Limo was by far our favorite tour in Europe. It was great just to have a driver who was knowledgeable about the places we wanted to visit, but didn't walk us around everywhere. He simply let us out on the van on our own to explore. It seriously felt like a VIP tour, and I wish I would've booked Rome in Limo for our other Italian ports. It was a great laid-back tour which took us to everywhere we wanted to go. I would definitely recommend them to others visiting Italy.

[mj]

Glad to know that everyone was safe and that your family is ok after the accident. Glad that you were able to get back to the port in time as well.

 

Have a question for you. Was it crowded getting off the ship or did it take you a long time? The reason I am asking is there are a couple of ports that I would want to do without taking a NCL excursion. Just thinking that it might take awhile to get off the ship with 4000 passengers.

 

Thanks for the tip about Rome in Limo. Very positive feedback about this company on the cruise critic boards.

[LittleMissMagic]

Have a question for you. Was it crowded getting off the ship or did it take you a long time? The reason I am asking is there are a couple of ports that I would want to do without taking a NCL excursion. Just thinking that it might take awhile to get off the ship with 4000 passengers..

 

We never had to wait to get off of the Epic. We always walked right off the ship, even days that we got off as soon as we got in port. Maybe we were just lucky. A few days, we did have to wait a few minutes to get back on, though.

[mscasey95]

Hi,

I'm Loving your posts, pictures and family stories. We have an 11am flight back to the states the day we disembark. If we take our luggage with us, do you know the earliest time we could get off the ship??? I'm looking forward to hearing about the rest of your vacation as well as seeing the dailies!

Glad everyone was OK after the car accident!

Patti from Boston

[LittleMissMagic]

Hi,

I'm Loving your posts, pictures and family stories. We have an 11am flight back to the states the day we disembark. If we take our luggage with us, do you know the earliest time we could get off the ship??? I'm looking forward to hearing about the rest of your vacation as well as seeing the dailies!

Glad everyone was OK after the car accident!

Patti from Boston

 

The first scheduled debarkation in Rome was 7:00 AM, but we were cleared by port authorities around 6:45.

[LittleMissMagic]

We were a close call back on the ship because we left port soon after!

 

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

[LittleMissMagic]

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Florence by vshingl, on Flickr

It was then that we realized the wonders of Freestyle Cruising. We were exhausted from our day and didn't feel like dressing up for dinner... so we didn't! We hit up the Garden Café and then had some drinks before our show that night, Legends in Concert.

 

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of the Legends show. I've seen them in Vegas, and I just don't really like impersonators. To me, it's cheesy. But I booked the show because I figured others in the group (particularly my mother) would enjoy it.

 

Well, as soon as we sat down in the theater, Rachel spills her drink on Max. Remember that Max is the one that freaks out when things are spilled on him? Clearly Max is having a rough trip with spillage. I've joked about sewing a Tide to Go pen in all of his shorts and pants pockets. Rachel ran to the bar to get club soda to clean it up. The club soda worked! Thank goodness.

 

The "Legends" on the ship were somewhat questionable. They had Tom Jones, Adele (she's 25 years old! How is she a legend???), and the only decent one - Tina Turner. Tom Jones was embarrassing to Legends. He wasn't very good at all. I fell asleep during his performance, actually. I'm not a big Adele fan, so of course, I wasn't a fan of the Adele impersonator. Boring. The only good legend was Tina Turner.

 

After that disappointing show, we headed to Bliss for the 80s Party and had a grand time hitting the dance floor. Max LOVES to dance. If there is (good) music, Max is dancing. And the DJ was actually doing a really great job with the 80s remixes (if you read my Princess Panama Canal cruise TR, you might recall that I complained heavily about DJ Mikey). He had this awesome "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" remix with Rihanna's "We Found Love." I tried to find it on iTunes when we got home, but it looks like it was the DJ's original mix.

Edited June 9, 2013 by LittleMissMagic

[LittleMissMagic]

Marseille, France by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Marseille, France by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Marseille, France by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Marseille, France by vshingl, on Flickr

 

We had no shore excursion booked for Marseille. This was the only port that we didn't have an excursion booked for. We debated whether or not to take the $12 shuttle to shore. Max was feeling a pool day, but he also wanted to check out the city. After a long debate, we finally decided to go downtown and get some drinks so that everyone could say they've been to Marseille.

[LittleMissMagic]

Marseille, France by vshingl, on Flickr

Marseille, France by vshingl, on Flickr

Marseille, France by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Marseille, France by vshingl, on Flickr

 

Marseille, France by vshingl, on Flickr