cruizeblues Posted September 11, 2018 Author #126 Share Posted September 11, 2018 Poetto Beach, where the RCCL transfer drops you off: This looks like a bus stop, bathrooms are in the building next to the bus stop Our home for the day, four rows back. The lounge chairs were packed in pretty tight rows. Farther down the beach looked really crowded The water was warm and wavy, we enjoyed ourselves swimming for quite a while. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 11, 2018 Author #127 Share Posted September 11, 2018 The weather perfect for the beach, warm and sunny with a nice breeze. We enjoyed our time here. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fielddreamer Posted September 12, 2018 #128 Share Posted September 12, 2018 test Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 12, 2018 Author #129 Share Posted September 12, 2018 Back onboard, we picked up iced coffee at Latte-Tudes on deck 5, white chocolate mocha was our new favorite afternoon pick me up. Premium iced-coffee at Latte-Tudes range between $4-5 depending on what you get unless you add a shot of alcohol [emoji846] Also at Latte-Tudes is a wonderful assortment of complimentary cookies, cakes and chocolate eclairs! One of my favorite things to do while DH is toiling away on a treadmill in the fitness center is to get a specialty coffee and decadent treat from Latte-Tudes and go outside on the Deck 5 Promenade to enjoy it. Especially nice if the ship is underway as you are much closer to the water compared to the the pool deck. Today I talked DH into skipping the treadmill and walking the Promenade with me up to the helipad for sail away. The helipad is also pretty awesome when the ship is underway! Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 12, 2018 Author #130 Share Posted September 12, 2018 (edited) So after doing the obligatory "King of the World" poses, we decided to head back to our balcony to enjoy the sunset with a glass of wine. It was the best sunset of the week. Sent from my iPad using Forums Edited September 12, 2018 by cruizeblues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 12, 2018 Author #131 Share Posted September 12, 2018 After dinner this guy was waiting for us :) Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 12, 2018 Author #132 Share Posted September 12, 2018 Next up: the one and only sea day Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaNana Posted September 12, 2018 #133 Share Posted September 12, 2018 I'm so glad you are enjoying the review! I am enjoying re-living the memories as I write it. Sitting on my deck now with a glass of wine as I continue tonight's installment :D I would love to visit Rome again in the fall or spring, but that will have to wait until after retirement because I am a teacher. I never complain that I have set vacation dates though because they are plentiful, just not always when I want to take them! Also, great point about the public water fountains in Rome! I had to convince my husband that they were ok to drink because I had read about them on cruise critic. We refilled our water bottles a few times at the forum and at Pizza Navona with nice cold spring water! We actually took Brita bottles with filters. Never had any issues and used in all the different countries. No need to buy water. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nunagoras Posted September 13, 2018 #134 Share Posted September 13, 2018 Many thanks to the wonderful review! Pick a good itinerary. Plan its stop the best you can. Add a nice ship. And here you have the "secret" recipe to such a marvelous cruise experience!... Have a nice day!... :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 13, 2018 Author #135 Share Posted September 13, 2018 Saturday - Sea Day - Last Day :( Day ten of our vacation adventure and we finally get a chance to do nothing at all! I can't say that we did anything memorable on our last day; in fact, this is the ONE and ONLY picture we took that day! Lovely shot of our super-size balcony which we spent quite a bit of time on today. Today we stuck to our usual routine for sea days; DH got up early and went to the fitness center while I slept in. He got back to the cabin around 9ish with a nice coffee for me from Latte-Tudes. After enjoying our coffee on the balcony we went up to WJ for breakfast, it was super crowded today as everyone else probably slept in also! After breakfast we shopped the 2/$20 tee shirt sale on the pool deck to pick up a few new RCCL shirts. After shopping we changed into our swim suits and headed up to deck 12 to get some sun. It's usually easy to find lounge chairs on 12 forward overlooking the bow, but today even the upper decks were crowded. I did observe some very blatant chair hogging in the Solarium area! We hung out in the pool, swimming and sitting on the ledge while watching for a pair of chairs to open up and I noticed one couple actually had a pair of loungers in the sun and another pair in the shade, they left the sunny set to spend time in the shade, but left their stuff behind in the sun. Wow, pretty rude when clearly there were people waiting for open seats! I'm not one to complain to the management, so we went down and sat in the sun on our balcony. Did I tell you how much we LOVED our beautiful aft balcony with nice chaise lounges? We went back to the pool a few hours later, same people in the same chairs, LOL. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 13, 2018 Author #136 Share Posted September 13, 2018 The day flew by, and then it was time to do the dreaded packing :( we needed to get most of our packing done before dinner because it's 10:30 by the time dinner is over and they would like the luggage out by midnight. We said our goodbyes to our cabin steward before leaving for dinner and gave him a little extra tip $$ with a thank you note. After dinner we finalized our packing and got organized for the morning. Our time for disembarking was 8:30, so we decided to get up early and have breakfast before leaving our cabin. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 13, 2018 Author #137 Share Posted September 13, 2018 Sunday - Bracciano Lake, Ceri - Rome (FCO) to Newark (EWR) Disembarking Jewel in Civitavechicchia was a much quicker and less painless process than all of our previous cruises out of San Juan and Florida (especially SJU!) Literally walked off the ship when they called your tag, walked into the terminal, grabbed your luggage and walked out! Entire process took less than 10 minutes! Last cruise out of SJU, by comparison, we waited in a line that snaked around the un-air conditioned terminal for an hour and a half while TWO customs agents processed over 3,500 passengers! SJU isn't always that awful, but plan on at least an hour as US Customs workers take their time here! Our flight home was at 6 pm and I didn't want to sit around the airport all day, so while planning our port to airport transfer I looked for something to do before going to the airport. Rome cabs has a sister company, Stefano Rome Tours, that offered a tour called "Charming Lakeside Villages" pre-cruise tour with pick up at FCO and drop off at the port, I asked if they could do it in reverse and they said sure! It was a bit pricey for just two of us at 380 Euro, but would have been affordable if we had more people in our group as the price didn't change for up to six people. This tour was very enjoyable! A perfect way to spend our last day in Italy, I absolutely would do this again as it was so much better than sitting in the airport all day, especially when we had a nine-hour flight ahead of us! Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 14, 2018 Author #138 Share Posted September 14, 2018 As we exited the cruise terminal, our tour guide, Savino, was waiting. There were also plenty of taxis for people that didn't arrange a private transfer. Our driver was pretty awesome! Very talkative and very animated :) we really enjoyed our conversations with him a lot! We set out to our first destination, Bracciano Lake and the Odesecalchi Castle. We wandered around the village for a few minutes while waiting for the castle to open at 10. It's a cute little village, this park had a great view of the lake. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 14, 2018 Author #139 Share Posted September 14, 2018 Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 14, 2018 Author #140 Share Posted September 14, 2018 Admission to the castle cost 8.50€ per person, well worth it for the views alone! They offered a guided tour at no extra charge, but we opted to do a self tour. We received a map of the castle with a description of each room and the history of the castle. Our tour guide told us that many celebrities and wealthy people have their weddings and events here, including the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes wedding. They were setting up for an event today, it would be a fabulous place for a wedding! It looked like they were setting up the courtyard for the wedding ceremony and the garden for the reception. Also had a bar and band setting up inside the castle. All very swanky! Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 14, 2018 Author #141 Share Posted September 14, 2018 Inside the castle we used the map to walk through the rooms on the second and third floors. The first set of rooms was used by a Pope when the Plague hit Rome (can't remember the dates). Other rooms had furniture and artifacts, paintings and sculptures. The Pope's rooms The Caesar room Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 14, 2018 Author #142 Share Posted September 14, 2018 My husband enjoyed looking at all the ancient weapons and armor Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 14, 2018 Author #143 Share Posted September 14, 2018 Back outside for some views from a tower After enjoying the view, we head back to the entrance to meet our driver and head to the next destination, Anguillara. This was a very picturesque, tiny tourist town on the other side of the lake. Our guide dropped us off in the center of town and gave us about 45 minutes to walk along the lake and enjoy the views. There was a small market, shops and cafes and a very nice walkway along the lake. There was also a public beach that looked inviting if we had more time. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 14, 2018 Author #144 Share Posted September 14, 2018 A view of the castle across the lake I would have loved to get out there on these paddle boards! Wish we had another day :( Our driver asked if we would like to have lunch at a lakeside cafe here or see one more special little town and have lunch at his favorite restaurant, we opted for his favorite restaurant and were so glad we did! This place served the best food of our entire trip, possibly my entire life! LOL [emoji23] The town, Ceri, was up on a hill overlooking olive orchards and vineyards. The restaurant was called LaRocca. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 14, 2018 Author #145 Share Posted September 14, 2018 On our way to the restaurant, our driver wanted to show us this tiny church that was centuries old Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 14, 2018 Author #146 Share Posted September 14, 2018 We had lunch out on the terrace overlooking the rolling hills, it was very peaceful and relaxing. Best carbonara ever! DH had a porcini mushroom ravioli dish that he enjoyed also. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 14, 2018 Author #147 Share Posted September 14, 2018 After this lunch I was ready to move to Italy and live here forever! But sadly, all good things come to an end and it was time to get to the airport. :( Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 14, 2018 Author #148 Share Posted September 14, 2018 Our driver dropped us off at the airport at 2:00, plenty of time to get checked in and through security. We wandered through the shops, bought some really good chocolate at a candy store and had one last gelato before boarding our plane for the extremely miserable 9+ hour flight home. Time to start planning our next adventure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 14, 2018 Author #149 Share Posted September 14, 2018 A few parting thoughts... If you are on the fence about taking a Mediterranean cruise, BOOK IT! It's a bit intimidating if you haven't been to Europe (like us) but there is so much to see, so many new experiences that you will not regret it for a minute! If you can, fly into Rome three or four days before the cruise. There is too much to see to cram it into a day and a half like we did. Make sure you plan ahead for your "must see" items to avoid disappointment. We talked to a few people that weren't able to see the Colosseum and Vatican because of timing/ticket issues. Use tour guides if it is your first time, they will give you so much valuable insight into what you are seeing. Tours can be expensive, but you can find them for less if you do semi-private, small group tours. Check Trip Advisor and CC for recommendations. We really splurged on tours on this trip and I don't regret it, I looked at it like a "once in a lifetime" vacation. Book your cruise and flights well in advance, they get more expensive as they get closer to departure. This was a costly lesson learned for us!:( Don't forget to pick up two bottles of wine to enjoy in your cabin. I packed a picnic size corkscrew in my checked bag and our room steward got us a pair of wine glasses. This was a very port-intensive cruise, with only one sea day, so we did not feel that the drink package would be worth the money. Because we spent so much time off the ship, we generally only bought one or two cocktails each a day on board. Enjoy the food in the ports, especially the various pastries if you have a sweet tooth 🙂 The food really is that much better than food at home! We ate more in the ports on this cruise than ever before and are so happy we did! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizeblues Posted September 14, 2018 Author #150 Share Posted September 14, 2018 Thank you so much for sharing your trip My pleasure :D Enjoy your upcoming trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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