Rome, Italy

Roma!  What can I say?  It is wonderful!  Rome is one and a half hours from the port of Civitavecchia.  If you're only there for a day, you won’t have enough time to see everything, so get to the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museum if you can. 

 

We took one of the ship’s tours on one of our Med cruises and were not disappointed.  We saw all of the sites and had a traditional Italian lunch complete with wine!  I was so enchanted that I asked the maitre d’ for a souvenir book of matches and he gave me a bottle of Chianti, saying “For you… Come Back to Roma, Ciao” and then a big hug and kisses on both cheeks.  We enjoyed the Chianti on our balcony later that evening while listening to Andrea Bocelli’s “Con Te Partiro"! 

On our most recent visit, we stayed in Rome for several days prior to our cruise.   Rome is a very walkable city, but you will need a map, which you can obtain from most hotels.  There are several hop-on hop-off buses that will give you a great overview.
 


You've likely discerned that I am somewhat of a foodie.  I MUST try local cuisine when we travel.  Although Rome is not known for its cuisine, we had some great food there.  House wines are generally really good.  However, a lesson that I learned is that if the restaurant has pictures of the menu items posted, then don't go there!  The pizzas were frozen and the food was not great.  We were wandering around Piazza Navona and stopped in for a quick lunch and serenade (yes!)... the serenade was great, but not so much  the lunch!

We use RomeCabs for transportation from the airport to our hotel (pre cruise) and then from the hotel to the pier. They were prompt and efficient.  They also do private tours in Rome and were recommended on cruisecritic.  Contact Stefano at romecabs@yahoo.com