Great report. We rarely get cruise reports, so they're nice to see.

As for the gypsy issue -- I know of no one who has been pickpocketed or mugged by anyone other than a gypsy while in Europe. Fair or not, I'll continue my policy of steering clear of all of them.

I'm sure someone more experienced with travel in France than me will soon reply to this issue with a very detailed explanation, but meanwhile allow me to offer my reasoning behind the cause of your problems.

What I have heard is that the credit card system in France normally uses the chip embedded in the card rather than the magnetic strip. Thus the machines which accept credit cards, such as in the Metro in Paris, only attempt to read the chip and not the magnetic strip. I have also observed on one time when I was paying for a hotelroom in Paris that the staff attempted to read the chip several times prior to using the strip. (My Swedish credit card has an embedded chip which is used for a completely different purpose)

Thanks for the reminder. I mistakenly wrote "lying in the atrium" earlier when I meant the solarium. My disclaimer is that my family spent a lot of their little free time there while I generally stayed in the shadier areas of the ship. I get enough sun in Hawaii :cool:.

TF

[QUOTE=PresRDC]Great report. We rarely get cruise reports, so they're nice to see. As for the gypsy issue -- I know of no one who has been pickpocketed or mugged by anyone other than a gypsy while in Europe>>

I can assure you that you can be pick pocketed by anybody; not only gypsies. There was a very interesting report about pickpockets in Barcelona and Rome.

Cruise Day 4 – Livorno, Italy

June 15, 2004

Ding, ding, ding….by this time I’m used to being awakened by the morning announcements. I’m thinking that one needs to go on a cruise with a lot of at sea days to be able to sleep in peacefully ;) . I jump out of bed this morning since it’s our day in Firenze (Florence)! I’m looking forward to our private tour of Florence sites in the morning and shopping at the outlets in the afternoon.

Since it’s going to be a long day of walking, we can skip the morning exercise and go straight to a leisurely breakfast today. Yeah!! I have to say the variety of food offered in the Windjammer for breakfast is impressive. I’m not rushing off to exercise so I treat myself to a custom made omelet. I’m a little wide eyed at the size of the omelets the man is making. It must be about a 4 egg omelet! The woman in front of me tries to communicate to the omelet chef that she wants only half of the amount of eggs for her omelet. The chef misunderstands and puts in two scoops of egg in the frying pan – an 8 egg omelet. I have to laugh as the woman turns to me and rolls her eyes! I learn not to make the same mistake and just take what he gives me. Overall, breakfast is good, but the coffee still sucks :td:.

We leave the ship at exactly 8:30 a.m. to meet with Paola Migliorini of Tuscany Tours. I found Paola through recommendations on the Cruise Critic website. The cost for the private tour for 6-8 people is 650€ (782 USD) which doesn’t include admission to museums and lunch. The ship’s excursion into Florence cost $84 USD per person for just the transportation to/from the Livorno to Florence. The full Pisa and Florence excursion (includes lunch and admissions) is $448 USD per person. There are also several other excursions which cost something in-between the two extremes.

Paola greets us warmly and we are escorted to her waiting 9 passenger (8 passengers + 1 driver) Volkswagen van. The van is equipped with a microphone system so we can all hear what Paola is saying as we tour in the van. Paola is a licensed tour guide rather than just a tour driver and speaks English, French, German, and Spanish.

Paola describes the Port of Livorno and surrounding areas as we drive towards Florence. As we drive, Paolo explains that she has booked another family of 9 who are in another van with another driver. The other family will be joining us for the morning and then we will be transferred to the other driver for our afternoon shopping excursion. Wow, what a surprise to us and with no prior warning! I’ve never been on a private tour so I don’t know if this is normal procedure or what. Since we’re pretty much a captive audience, we decide to go with the flow and see what happens.

For an hour we drive through the lovely countryside and finally reach Florence. Paola keeps in constant contact with the driver of the other van which is distracting as she interrupts conversations with us to talk on her cell phone. As we enter the city, we notice the big tour buses parked outside the city on the bigger streets. One of the reasons we chose a private tour is that the van can drive you into the small streets of the city. This is really important for the more senior members of the family.

We head straight to the Galleria dell'Accademia Galleria dell'Accademia since the other family is going to meet us there. I knew we would drive close to the museum, but I am surprised when we pulled up right next to the museum. Paola asks me to get out and help move the unlocked bicycles across the street so that we can park. This is certainly something we wouldn’t do in a large city in the U.S. even if the bikes aren’t chained to stationary objects.

Paola requests 15€ from each person for the reserved admission to the Accademia. I check the website later and find that the adult admission is actually 6.50€ and the reservation fee is 3€. Paola goes inside the reservations office to get the tickets and we wait outside. As we wait, we are approached by several women selling a variety of colorful scarves, men selling copies of artwork and wooden train alphabet blocks. Paola returns and leads us into the museum to wait for the other family. As we wait, we take in the Statue of David. I am amazed at the size and detail of the statue. David looks alive. This work of art definitely leaves no question about Michelangelo’s artistic skill. Although there are many signs and several announcements forbidding pictures in the museum, the many tourists in this wing of the museum boldly snap way even with flashes going! I feel badly for the one lone female museum worker running around in her futile effort to stop people from taking pictures. The other family arrives and Paola starts her tour of the Accademia. She really knows her information about the artwork and history. I find the room with the plaster copies of famous marble statues used by the students to learn proportion fascinating. The statues have holes all over the place where the students can stick rods and string to measure proportions. All too soon it’s time to leave the museum and move on.

Since the other van has too many people, two of the other family members move to our van for the rest of the morning. Our next stop is up into the hills to the Piazzale Michelangiolo. The terrace gives a beautiful and picture worthy view above Florence. Paola tells us about the history of the buildings and bridges that we see. We get back in the van and go back down towards the city through the small winding streets. We drive pass the Duomo on the way to Piazza Santa Croce. The dome on the Duomo is truly amazing and the frescoes on the outside just add to the magnificence of the building.

When we arrive in the Piazza Santa Croce, we park right next church. The grandmother in the other family is not up to walking especially as the day gets hotter. She elects to sit in the square as we move on following Paola around the cobblestone streets. We enter a small building to find a craftsman working on a mosaic tile picture. As the man works, a lady gives us information about the labor intensive process of making the mosaic artwork. The mosaics are made from thin slices of natural materials like shell, stone, precious gems, and wood. I’ve never seen such meticulous mosaic work. The man is working on a commissioned coffee table top which we are told cost about $30,000 USD. Yikes!! An example of the work can be found here. I would be more than happy to personally own a piece of their work, but my pocketbook is not cooperating!

Our next stop is the leather school at the Santa Croce church. Paola collects 5€ from each of us for the admission fee. Again, I find out later that the admission fee is 4€ per person. The leather school was started after World War II to give train orphans after the war a practical trade. We gather in front of the demonstration tables as one of the craftsmen gives us a demonstration of decorating the leather with 24K gold leaf. I’m impressed as the craftsmen heated up the metal decoration tool and pressed it into the gold leaf on the leather several times without any guidelines. He removes the piece of gold leaf and the design is perfectly centered. Wow!! During the demonstration I notice that some of the other family members are angry with Paola. They are telling her that this is not part of the tour they agreed upon and didn’t want to stay. As a result, we are quickly whisked past the school’s gift shop and out into the church itself. I guess it’s a good thing for my bank account, but it would have been nice to see examples of their workmanship. We quickly move through the church and back outside to the Piazza.

Paola tells us that it is time for lunch. We ask for a quick lunch since we don’t want to waste time eating on our one day in Florence. Paola assures us that lunch will be quick and has been pre-arranged. Hmmm…news to us. We follow Paola across the square to a small restaurant called Leo in Santa Croce. We order a couple bottles of water since we are a little dehydrated at this point. The meal begins with brushetta, salad and wonderful Italian bread. Then we have ravioli and a pasta in tomato sauce. We are offered seconds on the pasta. The bill comes and we are a little surprised because it works out to 24€ (29 USD) per person. It’s definitely overpriced for what we got based on past experience with meals in Italy.

Anyway, we’re off again. We are switching vans to go with the other driver, Max, who will take us shopping. Paola is going to take the other family to more museums and sites in Florence. Since Paola is a tour guide and Max is just a driver, she doesn’t think we need her services for a shopping expedition. It seems logical to me, but still feels weird since we did not agree to the arrangement previously. Paola also asks me if it’s okay for me to pay her now since she might not see us at the ship later. I hand over our money and we head off with Max.

Before we leave the city, we make a quick stop at Lilium. I am buying a nice handmade leather journal for my friend, Rudi. He has his guests write in a journal and I want to get him the best. Lilium is THE place to buy handmade leather books in Florence. The workmanship is top notch. I can’t help myself and take the opportunity to buy a couple of books for myself ;).

Our next stop is the outlet shops about 45 minutes outside of Florence. Again, we pass through the lovely countryside to get to our destination. Max is a lot less talkative than Paola which is fine since the rest of my family succumbs to the pasta lunch and naps during our drive. We reach the outlet mall to find Prada, Gucci, Armani, Fendi, D&G, Celine, Lowe, YSL, Bottega Veneta, Max Mara, Feragamo, Miu Miu, etc.. After wandering around the stores for a about 30 minutes, my family decides that they aren’t interested in buying designer goods. I guess they need to be in a “designer mood” ;).

We find Max and ask him to take us back to Florence to shop on the local streets. He’s surprised that we’re done with the outlet so fast, but rolls with the changes. Max checks the traffic reports to make sure we avoid the traffic jams which are plentiful in Italy. We get back into Florence and Max drops us off at the San Lorenzo Market. We wander the streets for the next hour or so. I guess we really aren’t in a big shopping mood since we don’t buy much. I do find a nice small shop where I purchase some olive oil, truffle oil, and balsamic vinegar. My uncle buys a nice bottle of wine for dinner. While my family is shopping, I can’t resist some pistachio gelato. I guess I misunderstand what the young Italian man is asking me since I end up with about a pint (size of an entire carton of Haagen-Daz) of gelato on a cone for 5€ (6 USD)! The gelato was heavenly, but it was hard trying to finish the cone before the sun melted it down my shirt :D! I did notice some interesting looks from men passing by as I'm madly licking the my mountain of gelato ;).

My aunts are exhausted and sit down at some sidewalk tables to have a coffee. I walk over and remind them that it’s very expensive to have coffees sitting down at a sidewalk table in a touristy location. At this point they don’t care since their feet are tired. They tell me later that each cup of coffee was 8€ (9.60 USD)! Yikes!!

Finally, we get in the van for the trip back to the ship. It’s 4:30 pm and we want to make it back to the ship by 5:30 p.m.. It’s our first formal night and we need some time to get pretty. We make good time out of the city, but hit a big traffic jam as we near the federal penitentiary which is next to the highway. BTW, shouldn’t they put the penitentiary in some remote area? The traffic jam delay eats up an extra 15 minutes and we arrive back at the ship at 5:45 p.m.. We say our quick good-byes to Max and run back on-board to get ready for dinner.

As usual, Albert is doing something around the cabins and greets us warmly as usual. I duck inside to “beautify” myself. Since this is also the “Captain’s Night”, it’s supposed to be the more formal night. I go all out in my flaming red floor length evening gown!

On entering the dining room, I see there are so many nicely dressed ladies and gentlemen. It’s like prom again! Of course, I also notice that some people are wearing jeans and running shoes. Hmmm…I thought you had to dress up on formal nights? The menu choices are a little fancier tonight. I was hoping for lobster, but Helen tells me that lobster will be served during the second formal night. Darn!! It’s okay since the food is delicious as usual with no complaints about any of the menu choices. The wine we bought in Florence is also wonderful. We don’t have to worry about not having pictures since one of the ship’s photographers comes by to take pictures at the table during dinner. Of course, our conversation revolves around today’s tour. Our conclusion is that it was a better option than the ship’s excursions due to the lower cost and more personalization, but we are not happy about the unannounced changes. With the inflated admission charges and lunch, our tour worked out to 152€ (183 USD) per person.

After dinner we wander into the Atrium bar. It seems that the ship’s photographers are set up all over the place to take pictures of people in their formal wear. I guess selling photos is big business on the ship. We follow suit and snap pictures of ourselves in every combination we can figure out :). Tonight’s show in the theatre is a featured Italian tenor. I’m not a big opera fan so I opt out. My family loves opera and goes to the show. I go back to the cabin to be a good girl and work a little.
By 10 p.m. I’m wiped out and crawl into bed. My aunt returns to the cabin and raves about the show. She liked it so much she stayed for both shows! That’s nice, but I’m falling quickly into dreamland. I’m hoping that our private tour in Rome tomorrow has no surprises like today.

TF

The handmade leather journal (gift from TropicalFlyer is really very very nice - our Wengen guestbooks fill very quickly, until today I have already over 50 different FlyerTalkers signed in.

TropicalFlyer your trip report is simply amazing! I love to read about people's cruise experience but there are very few on this board. I have a cruise coming up this November. My wife and I are going to the Carribean on the Queen Mary 2.

I can't wait for the rest of the report. :)

After seeing that you've switched to a bigger format journal this time I visited you, you've given me an excellent excuse to visit Florence again to buy you a bigger journal ;).

Still 4 more cruise days to describe before I start on the Swiss part of the trip report :).

TF

Cruise Day 5 – Civitavecchia, Italy

June 16, 2004
I slowly pry my eyes open to see on the television that we are in port and it looks like the beginnings of a beautiful and sunny day. I was trying out some advice from the Cruise Critic website to keep the television on (muted) set to the channel showing the bow camera. It is supposed to make us feel like we have an outside cabin. I guess I’m not as delusional as some since it does not make me feel like I have an oceanview cabin ;).

I’m thinking of how nice a tank top and shorts would be on this hot day. My sensible self is reminding me that I am in Rome and need to be more “conservative” and wear something to cover my shoulders and knees. Hmmm...should have brought a muumuu. Of course, wearing a muumuu would have freaked out my mom. After seeing me wear one the first time she visited me in Hawaii, she forbid me from wearing my “pajamas” out in public ever again :eek:! I compromise by wearing a t-shirt and breezy travel skirt. I think to myself that it’s too bad most men don’t take the option to wear skirts since it’s so much cooler than pants.

Anyway, back up to the Windjammer to have breakfast. The dinging is still going on and I pass huge mobs of people moving through the halls towards the exit to board their big tour buses. Today I treat myself to hash browns. I’ve been trying to reduce my carb intake and potatoes are such a luxury now. The hash browns are crispy on the outside and tender inside, just like I love them. I convince myself that by also eating lots of grilled tomatoes I’m actually going for the “balanced” breakfast of champions ;). I happily omit coffee this morning since I’ve asked for the “ultimate coffee experience” to be part of private tour today. I can’t wait!!

We’re still a little apprehensive about our tour today given our experience yesterday. We’ve decided that we will be much more assertive today if things start to get away from what we want. Today’s private tour company was also recommended by the Cruise Critic internet board. I initially contacted Claudio Caponera of Limo in Rome. He was already booked with another party from our ship – nice of him to tell me up front and not double book. He offered to have his colleague, Carlo, take us on the tour. I know that it was taking a chance since there were no reviews of Carlo’s services, but Claudio was so nice and reassuring in his e-mails that I took the chance with Carlo. The cost of the tour for six people in a Mercedes van is 390€ (469 USD) which does not include admission fees or lunch. The ship excursions ranged from 84 USD per person for just transportation to/from Rome to 448 USD per person for the Exclusive Best of Rome tour (includes lunch and admission fees).

We step off the ship at 8:00 a.m. to meet Carlo who is holding a sign with my name on it. Carlo is pleasant looking Italian man with striking blue eyes who is nicely dressed in a dark suit with tie. He speaks excellent English with a lovely Italian accent. I find out later that he learned to speak English in school and worked for the local American Express office for 10 years where he had a lot of practice speaking English to tourists. Carlo leads us to his van and is certainly a gentleman as he opens the doors, helps us into the van and closes the doors once he makes sure we are sitting comfortably inside. At this point, I am unaware that this royal treatment is pretty much the standard for the rest of the day.

The drive into Rome from Civitavecchia takes over an hour. Carlo keeps us entertained with information about the countryside and life in Rome during the drive. We make sure to go over two important activities that we want to do: 1) Go to a great coffee place where the locals go and 2) Go to my uncle’s favorite pizza place near the Trevi fountain for lunch. Carlo assures us that he will make sure we complete both tasks. Our first major stop will be the Colosseum since we want to avoid the crowds in the afternoon. On the way to the Colosseum, Carlo shows us the ruins of the Baths of Diocletian. It was huge and could accommodate up to 3,000 bathers at one time!

Before we reach the Colosseum, Carlo tells us that if we want to go into the Colosseum, he will stop at a ticket seller just before we get there to avoid the lines. Half of my family has already been inside the Colosseum previously, so we decide to not spend too much of our precious time inside the structure. Carlo parks by the Arch of Constantine and tells us to take our time wandering the grounds while he stays with the van. He continues to make sure to help everyone out of the van. We walk around the Colosseum peeking through the arches into the impressive structure. There are several men outside the structure dressed as ancient Roman soldiers. They keep gesturing us over so that we will take a picture with them, but we decline. Carlo had warned us that the “soldiers” will expect you to pay if they pose with you. A lot of the Japanese tourists do take the photo opportunity and I see that they are asked to pay.

As we approach the van, we are greeted by Claudio since he is there with his group from our ship too. He wants to make sure that we are having a good time. He also wants to know if we are interested in a typical Roman lunch since we can join his group at a restaurant that he knows. Hmmm…sounds familiar. Carlo speaks up and says that we’ve already requested to go to my uncle’s favorite pizza place for lunch. I like how he advocates for us. Carlo helps us into the van and we are off again.

From the Colosseum we drive to a vantage point above the Circus Maximus. The Circus Maximus used to be a stadium for horse and chariot races. At its peak, it could hold 300,000 spectators. Now, it just a huge oval of grass and dirt, but you can just imagine how busy and noisy a place it was during the races. Carlo tells us that he has a surprise for us so we get back into the van and enter the streets of the Aventine area. He points out the U.S. Embassy to the Vatican as we pass a lot of beautiful homes. We pull up at the Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta. Carlo explains that the Order of the Knights of Malta is one of the oldest religious orders of the Catholic Church which runs international hospitals and relief organizations, and is a sovereign entity under international law. The land was given to them by the Pope to build a Priory. He took us to the Priory door to look through a bronze keyhole. Looking through the keyhole we saw a tree lined walkway leading to a beautiful miniature view of St. Peter’s Basilica. Carlo tells us that we are standing in Italy, looking through Malta, and into the Vatican – three sovereign entities. How cool!

Now it’s time to go get coffee. Yeah!! The streets are very narrow and many of them are one-way. I’m certainly glad that Carlo grew up in Rome so he really knows the shortcuts. Along the way Carlo shows us the multitude of squares, fountains, and obelisks. We pull up to Sant'Eustachio for our coffee. It looks good since there are several Italian businessmen in suits enjoying their coffee at the bar. We line up at the bar until a nice woman turns around to tell us that we need to go to the cash register to pay first. My uncle asks her if the espresso is good and she quickly replies that it is very good. We guess it must be good because we watch as she proceeds to lick the inside, yes the inside, of her cup after she’s finished her drink :eek:. We peruse the menu and I briefly consider ordering Rudi's favorite dopio. However, I don't think I don't need a coffee that I can eat ;). We pay for our grancappuccinos . Then we walk over to the bar again and follow the locals as we put our receipt on the bar and hold it down with a few coins. Immediately we are awarded with hot delicious cappuccinos. Now I know why the woman licked her cup :D! Before we leave, we pick up some coffee to bring a little taste of Italy to home.

We’re a stone’s throw from the Pantheon which is our next stop. Again we get driven right next to our destination. We’re getting spoiled! We pass a lot of people hawking souvenirs outside the church. We also see some men eyeing the tourists which puts us on alert since they may be pickpockets. The inside of the Pantheon is nice and cool. Magnificent is the only way to describe the interior of the dome. Now I understand why it would be a good pickpocket place since everyone is busy looking up! We exit the church and Carlo drives even closer to pick us up. He’s really scoring points with my mom and aunts.

TF

On our way to the Trevi fountain, we stop at the Victor Emmanuel monument. In fact, we stop and park in the middle of the busy traffic circle in front of the monument! We quickly pile out of the van, snap pictures and pile back in. I’m worried about whether we’re allowed to stop here until a big bus comes up and parks right behind us so I guess it’s normal.

Our stomachs are growling by now so we’re glad to be near the pizza place when we get to the Trevi fountain. We invite Carlo to eat lunch with us, but he declines since he doesn’t eat lunch. He says that eating lunch makes him want to go to sleep – not good for us. Weaving our way through the crowds of tourists, we do the coin throw at the fountain to ensure our return to Rome. Now it’s time to hunt down the pizza place. Facing the fountain, we go left down the street in front of the fountain. We almost get distracted by a big shoe store, but our hungry stomachs pull us back. A few stores down on the left, we spot the huge slabs of pizza. You tell them or point at the pizzas you want and gesture to show how large a piece you want. They weigh the pizza and charge you accordingly. Interesting! Of course we had to order beer to go with the pizza since it was a lot cheaper than the cost of soda. The pizza was really good! I had to stop myself after 4 pieces although I could have had a lot more :D. The massive lunch came up to a grand total of 4€ per person – very different from yesterday!

After refueling our bodies, we go out into the hot and sunny streets of Rome. We take one last look at the Trevi fountain as we walk back to the van and a smiling Carlo. How does he stay so cool looking and good natured in that dark suit :confused:.

We continue our drive through the obstacle course of Rome and pop out at Piazza Navona. One of the obelisks is in the middle of this Piazza sandwiched between two more fountains. Fountains and obelisks – seems to be a recurring theme. We stroll around the Piazza taking pictures and admiring the displays of the local artists. The artwork is really good and my aunt stops to buy a couple of small oil paintings to remind herself of our visit. Afterwards, the rest of us kick ourselves for not buying a painting since we really like the ones she bought. I guess we were operating on pizza and beer filled brains at the time.

The next stop is the Spanish Steps. Our plan is to see the Spanish Steps and then go to the Sistine Chapel to view more of Michelangelo’s work. We drive to the foot of the Spanish Steps and realize what a shopping mecca this area is. The shopping engine shifts into gear and my family makes an instant decision to skip the Sistine Chapel and take time to SHOP! Carlo is just fine with our decision and waits for us at the van again. We jump on the stairs and take some quick snapshots before beginning our quest. We fan out and go shopping. My first stop is the Furla store. I spot a lovely purse and watch that I definitely need – yes, need. Cha Ching!! The shopping adrenaline is kicking in as we meet back at the van to continue to our next shopping locale. Carlo is the absolute gentleman again and takes our purchases from us to put safely into the back. I make a mental note that I want a Carlo at home to drive me around! Hmmm…how to convince my husband?

We continue our shopping adventure by purchasing fabulous embroidered jeans, more wine, shoes, etc.. Finally, Carlo tells us that we have enough time to go to see the St. Peter’s Basilica or shop some more. It’s a hard decision, but we opt to see St. Peter’s. Carlo drives us right up to the barrier in front of St. Peter’s which is still quite a distance to the church. This is the farthest we’ve had to walk all day! The artwork and items inside St. Peter’s are unbelievable. While in St. Peter’s, we run into many of the ship excursion groups from our cruise. This time we just know that we’re having a better Rome experience on our tour ;)!

It’s almost time to leave Rome and head back to the ship. Before we leave, we stop to have gelato! Right near the Vatican is the Old Bridge Gelato. There is a sit down restaurant area and next to it is a closet size area to buy gelato to take out. We join the crowd waiting in line to buy gelato and marvel at the different combinations as other people order. We finally get up to the counter to place our orders. We throw our waistlines to the wind and order double scoop cones which cost 3€ each. We’re all grinning ear to ear as we madly lick our gelato before it melts. Carlo is patiently waiting for us and trying not to laugh. All too soon every last lick of gelato is gone and we have to start driving back to Civitavecchia.

My family is totally exhausted on the drive back and they sleep almost all of the way. While I enjoy the view as it is whizzing by, I notice some scantily clad women standing on the highway exit ramps. I ask Carlo if they are prostitutes. He confirms that they are indeed prostitutes who have been driven more and more out of the city. He says that the locals are quite perturbed that the women are attracting men who overflow the exit ramp which then plugs up traffic on the highway. Hmmm…it seems to me that the locals are more bothered by the traffic jams caused by prostitution than the actual trade itself. Interesting…

We finally pull up in front of our ship at 6:00 p.m. and it’s time to say good-bye to Carlo. He’s done such a great job for us today that we give him a 20% tip rather than the standard 10%. We also take a group picture with him so we can have a nice reminder of our “perfect” day in Rome. It’s casual night in the dining room so we leisurely walk back on board, through security and to our cabins before dinner.

Dinner tonight is a blur since we are still euphoric from our day in Rome. The wine we bought in Rome is delicious and we toast our good fortune for such a great day. After dinner we go to the Atrium bar and join in the line dancing lesson. It’s fun and we get another Ship Shape dollar! We also visit the photo gallery to see our pictures from the formal night. Unfortunately, most of our pictures are not very good. The wall behind our table cast some bad shadows in the pictures and makes some of us look like our heads are twice as big! It’s not the most attractive look. I like my picture and fork over the 15 USD plus tax for it. Yikes!! We go through the shops on our way back to the bar. There are special sales every day, but nothing is really grabs us. Other people must be having better luck since they are buying in a frenzy!

Everyone is tired from our long day and we call it an early night. Tomorrow Naples is our last port on this cruise. We’ll be going it on our own to explore Sorrento and Naples.

TF

I'm lovin' it so far. Can't wait for the rest of the report. :D