Dimond 5-24 Portifino and Rome, Italy

[JanMD]

Sunday May 30- Portofino, Italy. Arrived at 8.

Weather- Sunny mid 70's

 

Tour: Coastal Cruise to Rapallo and Santa Margherita- Met at Windows for tender tickets and went down at 8:45 to get on tender- very smooth seas. We actually went under the ship between the hauls of the ship, it was great!! Arrived in Portofino and it is just like in the movies. The hotel sits up on the mountain that all the stars stay at. It was another beautiful day.

We transferred to a ferry that took us to Rapallo- tour of half hour and then had free time to explore the town. The shops were all open and the streets were crowded in the morning. Went to Santa Margherita and ditched the tour and explored the town on our own. The art work was being displayed around town and you purchase it. All the shops were open and the buildings were so beautiful. Again dogs were in the shops and walking around. Got back on the ferry and they had wine and Italian bread for us to eat on the return to Portofino arrived at 1:30. We went back to the ship, the tenders was a little more rough in the afternoon. The last tender was at 2:30. Wished we had been in port for a couple more hours. When you do the tour, it does cut into time at Portofino. Would recommend the ship would have stayed longer to enjoy more of the town. Would recommend the tour. Portofino is small, Rapallo and Santa Margherita were much larger towns.

 

Lunch: Italian Buffet

At 3:00 p.m. Spotlight on Wine, How to become an expert on Italian Wines.

3:30- Up by the pool, ice cream social

4:30- Galley tour

5:00- token Redemption- go the Radisson Bag and used that to take our wines up to Rome for the night.

7:30- Dinner- Country Club Casual

Packed bags and they had to be out by 11:30 p.m.

We knew this was the end of the cruise and where did the week go to??? Way to fast for us! We did NOT want to get off the ship. But, we did have to go back to work.

 

 

Monday May 31, Civitavecchia (Rome)

Weather- Sunny mid 70's

 

Had to be out of the cabin by 8. Ordered room service for breakfast.

 

We had arranged our minivan to take us up to Rome. There was a sign that indicated that there were 8 ships in Rome. Actually the Queen Mary 2 was in and was taking up our location.

 

We were getting off the ship, and the captain was there to say good-bye.

 

We had ordered up Max from CC Board, and the driver never showed up, we were standing on the pier and the captain could not figure out what was going on with us. One person from the party finally used a cell phone and the guy that drove us went to the WRONG ship! We did get the bags into the limo and the driver had a horrible cold and was coughing and did not say a word the entire time into the city. We finally said take us around to the a couple of locations, and then he stopped at an overlook area and went for a smoke and took cold pills and was on a phone. We finally said we just want to go to the hotel. We arrived and the jets were flying very, very low and helicopters and he finally said that there was a military parade on Wednesday and that Pres. Bush was coming in on the 4th. There were planes with banner that was anti-Bush on them. It did make us feel very uneasy. Thus security plus was in action.

 

We stayed at the Grand Hotel Plaza, by the Spanish Steps. Very nice hotel and it did have 2 beds and a sofa to sleep on. It was fine for one night for 3 people. It was an older hotel, they did remodel it just a few years ago. Did some sightseeing on our own and then went shopping and found McDonalds and had the best french fries ever! We kept running into people from the ship while we were shopping and eatting. We ate dinner at an outdoor cafe and had pizza, really cheap 6E and walked around the main street after dinner.

 

Tuesday June 1, minivan picked us up at the hotel at 7:45 and took us out to the airport and checked in and went through security and then got some food and got on the plane for the 9.5 hour trip non-stop to Phil. Luggage was delayed for one hour because of storms. We flew in between storms. That was the first rain that we had seen the entire time we were gone. Drove down from Phil to Baltimore.

 

Overall the cruise was just perfect. We wished they had left out the first port out of the cruise. The south of France and Italy was perfect and can't forget Monte Carlo. We had perfect weather, the ship was in perfect condition. The food was great. Staff was very nice. The computers were a little slow. But, at least they have them now. I would really recommend the trip to anyone that is looking at this itinerary.

 

Barcelona hotel: Hotel Arts Barcelona, and the Grand Hotel Plaza in Rome would recommend.

Jan

[KKat]

Jan, thanks so much for posting your review. It was very informative. I have a few questions for you...

 

We are in cabin # 929. You were in # 729. I assume the closets are the same. How much room did you have? Was it a divided kind or a full hanging closet? I always overpack and have heard the closets on the Diamond are small. Fourteen nights, two people, I am afraid I am going to be in trouble. Did you pay for any dry cleaning, and if so, was it reasonable?

 

You mentioned the lunch buffet themes, but did not comment much on dinner. How was the food in the main dining room for dinner? How were the house wines? Were there a number of tables for two?

 

Due to such an intensive port schedule, we will make some and miss some of the evening shows. Were there any "do not misses"?

 

Thanks!

[KKat]

Sorry, typing error. We are in room 927.

[JanMD]

KKat,

 

Yes the closets have not changed, they are divided into the different sections. We for the first time did not overpack! Actually underpacked. The dinning room was going more with the country club casual. Which made it very nice. Even on the formal night, people weren't that dressed up like they used to 5 years ago. Maybe because of packing for Europe and only wearing the clothes for one night.

Dry cleaning and washing machine things that needed to be sent out were very reasonable.

5.00 bucks for a skirt to get dry cleaned.

Regarding dinner, we did not like any of the wines that they offered and they would also just bring around the wine that we liked. We have done for for years!

 

Regarding the entertainment- the only one that our group went to was the Broadway show and said it was not worth it. We were tired, and only went to that one show. I posted that up for peopele to get a taste of what was on the ship.

Regarding dinner, There was the welcome aboard get together upstairs, that was nice. The captains welcome aboard dinner was nice. Then we finally started to special order things towards the end which were kinda weird on the menu. They were great with the special order's. NO problem there.

[KKat]

Thanks JanMD,

 

I was afraid of the closet issue. Maybe this cruise will actually make me pack smarter!

 

A question regarding the dining room going more country club casual... We have only sailed with RSSC on the PG and it was casual. On Crystal and Silversea, dressing up was the norm. Casual was defined as open neck shirts, slacks and sport shirts. Informal was defined coats and ties are suggested, according to the brochure info for Europe.

 

Were most men in coats and ties on informal nights? How many informal nights were there? We got our documents today but cannot find specifics on how many casual vs informal nights.

 

Sounds like dry cleaning is reasonable and will probably be the solution.

 

Your comments about dinner sound a little disappointing as you only mention the Captains welcome aboard dinner as being nice and having to special order off the menu. We did our share of special ordering off the menu on the PG because week 2 was an exact repeat of week 1. The food, however, was fantastic. I was hoping for the same experience on the Diamond.

 

I expected the entertainment to be low key. The itineraries are so port intensive, we will probably skip a few of them.

 

Thanks again for your review!

[KKat]

One other question relating to the above topics...

 

What percentage of guests wore tux's on formal nights?

[JanMD]

Regarding the country club casual is just like it reads, if you belong to a country club wear that, NO shorts. Most men had polo shirts on. There were at least 2 informal nights, and only one formal night the rest were country club casual.

There were just a few that had the tux on them on this cruise. Even for Formal night, it is not like it used to be. And just for one night, a nice dress, and pants suits were the most common things that we saw, men were dressed in jackets and ties and a few tux's.