Celebrity Equinox, Spanish Interlude - June 2014

[Cruzin4vacay]

Hi all,

 

We are back from our amazing vacation to Europe and wanted to share our experiences since I benefited so much from the previous reports of the Cruise Critic community.

 

My husband and kids (11 yr old daughter and 7 yr old son) flew out of Washington Dulles on a Wednesday evening. We flew on miles and paid tickets via Lufthansa, through Frankfurt to Rome arriving midday on Thursday. Lufthansa had an amazing international service. The kids were fully entertained with the in-flight entertainment and we could have packed a lot less stuff in their backpacks. I brought a lot of snacks for the flight which came in handy even though the food service was terrific as well.

 

Bag delivery took forever at FCO but we were fortunate to receive our bags (more on that later). Then we took a taxi downtown to our hotel, the fantastic Domus Liberius, Rome Town House. You can find my review on Trip Advisor.

 

More to come!

[DrivnMike]

Very much looking forward to your review ! We are on the same sailing next Saturday ! We would love to hear your opinion on the ports and excursions especially .

[Cruzin4vacay]

Once in Rome and situated at the hotel, our room wasn't ready so we walked around the Basilica and found some pizza for the kids and beer for Mom and Dad. Then we returned to the hotel and slept soundly for a few hours. We really needed that nap to counter the jet lag.

 

We decided the walk to the Spanish Steps and headed out. After walking about 30 mins in the wrong direction (duh!) we were desperate for dinner and just wandered into a pasta place, then back and to bed.

 

The next morning we had a pre-arranged guide meet us and our friends at the hotel for our three hour tour of Ancient Rome and the Colosseum. We taxied there and really enjoyed having a guide explain what were were seeing, sharing interesting tidbits for the kids and knowing the drill so we didn't have to deal with lines etc. Three hours was the limit of interest for my 7 year old even with the gladiators to look at along the way. The 11 year old was fascinated and the teenage boys of our friends were also pretty engaged.

 

We grabbed lunch near the Colosseum and our friends had to return to their hotel to try to work with the luggage gods and get their bags before the cruise. Our family did part of one of the Rick Steves walks to Trevi, got gelato and shopped a bit. Trevi is currently closed, no water and really nothing to see except big crowds. I wished we would have skipped it.

 

On the way there, the 7 year old discovered the Roman water fountains and played in the water, drank the water, splashed his sister etc. That was probably the most fun he had on Friday.

 

Back to the hotel for more rest.

 

That evening, we were supposed to go out in the Travestere but our friends weren't well and still didn't have their bags, so we cancelled our carefully researched restaurant and walked (the right way!) to the Spanish Steps. Like Trevi, it was a bit of a disappointment b/c it's under construction, very crowded and filled w people pushing roses on me and my daughter. We found a restaurant that was recommended in Rick Steves and it wasn't anything special. We should have headed back toward the hotel and found a neighborhood place, we were hungry though and needed food to keep the 7 year old moving.

 

That evening I had promised my daughter her first tiramisu, so we found a pastry shop near the Basilica, got a box of treats and snacked in the room while the 7 year old was sacked out.

 

We had an early appointment for a Vatican tour the next day - more later!

Edited July 16, 2014 by Cruzin4vacay
grammar

[Cruzin4vacay]

Saturday morning bright and early we met our guide at the hotel and took a van to the Vatican for our tour. Our friends couldn't join us due to bags and other trouble so we were on our own again. We had pre-arranged tickets so quickly walked through the crowds with our confirmation and cleared security right away. We were short on time b/c we had to get to Civitavecchia to board Equinox!

 

Because we were time limited, I think it was highly worthwhile having a guide at the Vatican. He pointed out things in the museum that were worth noting, gave a nice dose of history and shepherded us through relatively quickly. The kids were sort of impressed with much of it. The Sistine Chapel was really crowded - I had been in high school and did not remember it being so busy. We had a quick refreshment stop at the cafe - bribed the 7 year old with Nutella and a Kinderegg (vacation rules) and went quickly to the Cathedral.

 

We said our thank yous and good byes to our guide about noon. By then my husband was getting VERY anxious about getting to the ship. We had initially planned to take the train to the port and I had researched it extensively both here and on the Ron in Rome site. But our friends still didn't have their luggage!

 

We had trouble finding a taxi b/c the next day was a special day at the Vatican and the taxi stand was nowhere to be found so we used Uber, which was an awesome choice - and actually very affordable compared the overcharging Roman taxi drivers. The Uber driver couldn't find us and didn't speak english and I couldn't give our address in Italian b/c by this point we had wandered away from the main action while looking for a taxi. The driver pulled over, found an english speaking person, I told him where we were (gelato shop - more vacation rules for the kids) and he promptly found us.

 

We rushed back to the hotel, grabbed our suitcases, said our fond farewells to the amazing Andrea and then went via the same car to the Villa Borghese neighborhood to meet our friends. They had arranged for a van to take us all to FCO to check for their bags one last time and then onto Civitavecchia to catch the ship. By the time we got there, it was between 1:30 and 2. Then to FCO where they FINALLY found their bags, which had been there the whole entire time and we raced to the ship. I think we boarded around 4 pm. There were 80 people who hadn't boarded yet. ONLY. But the benefit of getting there so late is we had zero lines.

 

From then we easily walked on board the Celebrity Equinox and began the next phase (and far more relaxing part) of vacation.

 

Reflections on Rome with kids: I wish we would have done either Ancient Rome tour or the Vatican. Squeezing both into two days was too much. We would have had a better start to the trip if we would have built in WAY more time for lounging and relaxing, playing w the water fountains and finding yummy pizza. But for the Colosseum, the kids didn't care about seeing the sites, even though we had spent a lot of time at home reading about Rome and learning about what we were going to see.

 

More on the ship and all the port stops next!

[notsodesperatehousewife]

Enjoying your review! Just got back from a European trip with our kids and, yes, if we had to do it again, we'd have built in more down time. Looking forward to the next installment.

[Cruzin4vacay]

A quick note about our stateroom - 6262. We thought it was great. No interior cabins across from us so the hall was quiet. Only heard neighboring doors shut now and then. No noise from the bar below. Plenty of room for all our things. Definitely made use of the power strip. We liked the partially obstructed view bc DH is afraid of heights. No worries of 7 year old falling overboard! We loved having the balcony space and used it at night after one or more of the kids were asleep.

 

So, onto Livorno! We pre-arranged a rental car and planned to drive to La Spezia train station and park to go to the Cinque Terrre. We prob were off the boat around 9:30 and easily got the van from Hertz right at the ship. Drove to La Spezia in about 45 to 1 hr. Beautiful fields of sunflowers along the way. Once at La Spezia, we couldn't find the train station but asked for help and a friendly italian couple lead the way through town. We should have gotten directions ahead of time.

 

It's very easy to park at the station. Make sure to have a laugh at the bathroom signs! Then, once inside the station, you buy your cinque terre pass and train ticket at the little shop to the right. They spoke English. If you have good luck, your train will arrive on time and you'll be on your way. If not, you'll board a train, get off bc it's broken, wait forever, have starving kids, angry husbands,and stress about what to do. We finally got a train to Monterrosso. It was a cloudy day, so the views were limited, but it really is spectacularly scenic. I would like to go back when we wouldn't be rushed. Once there, we walked to the old town and got lunch and it was fabulous. We did feel hurried though, worried especially that any train delay on the way back would put us dangerously close to missing the ship. Fortunately that didn't happen, but we were stressed and could not relax this day.

 

The plan had been to swing by the leaning tower on the way back but it was getting late and we passed it by. The kids were all disappointed.

 

It was a good thing we didn't push it bc getting our van gassed up was no easy feat. Took about 30 mins to find a working gas pump at the port that took our card. No cash either btw. Then finding the ship took considerable time as well. Fortunately the Hertz gang was out and about so they flagged us down and got us to the right place. We were too late to get changed and ready for formal night (early seating) so we got dinner on the main deck, exhausted from our day.

 

Again, in retrospect, we tried to do too much and would have been better off showing the kids Pisa and coming back w/out rushing. But the Cinque Terre is gorgeous and I definitely want to return.

[Cruzin4vacay]

We woke up the next morning, threw open the curtains and looked out at the French riveria. My son declared, "wow, Mom, France is beautiful!" And it was. We easily tendered into the port without a wait, wandered thru this lovely town and took dozens of pictures of beautiful buildings, flowers, sea views, etc. we could have easily spent the day doing more of the same. Instead we decided to stick w the plan and go to Monaco. The train station was easily found, the ticket office worker spoke enough English to help us and we waited a few minutes for the next train. It came on time! And there was a/c! And seats! Bonus...

 

Monaco is a very short train ride, maybe 20 mins if recollection serves. We wandered thru the station upon arrival and found our way to the marina. Ate lunch and took lots of pictures of fancy boats and fast cars. After lunch, we walked all the way back around the marina, found the elevator to the Casino side of the city and walked around up there doing more staring at cars. These guys really like to strut their stuff and show off for the tourists. It was fun and my 11 year old daughter really got into it.

 

We easily made our way back to the ship and finally made it to the main dining room for a very nice dinner. Perfect day!

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[Keith1010]

I am enjoying your reports.

 

Keith