Starrynight0154

Day 6, Santorini Greece. Stunning island, words or pictures can’t really describe what it’s like to be there in person. It’s such a unique and iconic place, large caldera with the volcano visible in the middle, the towns lined with blue dome churches and white washed homes. Didn’t want to leave and wish I had more time. Got there in the morning and it turned out well because it got crowded later. Took the Island of Santorini and Oia Village tour from the ship. Outside the famous locations with blue domes and white buildings, much of the island is rural.

Day 5, Ephesus in Turkey. Favorite stop on this cruise by far. Turkish themed breakfast options in the buffet. Arrived at ancient Ephesus 9:30am, impressive ruins, enjoyed the wide open spaces to explore compared to Athens. This tour guide was the best ever. Pomegranate trees were loaded with fruit. Walked on some of the same marble roads the apostle Paul likely walked on. So much history here. Finished by getting ice cream, Turkish delights, and souvenirs.

Day 4, Athens Greece. Visited the 2,500 year old structures that form the Ancient Acropolis. Got there at 10am and it was starting to get crowded. The breeze and mild temps in the 70s made it tolerable. Beautiful 360 degree view at the top overlooking capital city of Greece. Honestly this was probably my least favorite destination, Athens has a population of 3 million and it was chaotic and too crowded.

Thanks, no serious health issues myself, just work in healthcare! Won’t go into detail. Thankful that I’m alive and am able to do things like this. That’s all

Day 3, at sea. Went on the northstar for a view above the ship. Worked out at the gym because a large calorie intake was coming next. Lunch at Giovanni’s, got the chocolate ravioli and banana nutella stromboli for desert which was baked in the pizza oven next to us. Took a nap on the balcony. Headed to the pool deck. Went to the buffet for dinner..surprisingly didn’t get kicked out. Now in a food coma and going to bed.

Day 2. “Best of Positano, Sorrento, Pompeii, small group” RC excursion along the Amalfi coast. This is 10 hours. It was a long and exhausting day. Woke up at 5am and got room service breakfast. Naples to Positano was a 2 hour drive without stopping. Driver and guide both were very good. Overall we enjoyed this excursion. We knew it was a small sampling to see each location. Pompeii was our favorite by far. Mt Vesuvius was looming over the ancient city and is still an active volcano. It erupted in 79 AD, hot ash covered the area, forever preserving the town and inhabitants residing there. Positano is a town built into the cliffside, and had amazing views, walked down the steep stairs to the beach, ate a cannoli. Had a limoncello shot, the entire store featured lemon themed items, as large lemons are grown in this region. It smelled like lemons throughout the town. Lunch at a hotel had average food, but the view was incredible. Amalfi Coast is best seen from a boat the guide said. I would recommend this excursion if you set realistic expectations. One issue was the small bus couldn’t accommodate people above average height. I’m 6’3” and my legs were hurting from the lack of legroom and having my knees smashed against the seat in front of me. In the end I was happy to see these destinations though. Onboard Odyssey we’ve experienced the best service and friendliest staff of any cruise we’ve been on. This is our favorite ship now. Really don’t have any major complaints. I’m grateful to experience this trip, reflecting back on the last few years and all that’s happened, not everyone makes it to 38 years old. Next is a sea day and after that Athens. This is our first time in Greece and Turkey. Acropolis and Ephesus are the next 2 excursions. Weather has been ideal, neither too cold or too hot. 65-75 fahrenheit. No rain.

Cruise day 1. We walked 10 minutes with luggage to Largo Della Pace for the free shuttle to the cruise terminal. This is my first time cruising from here and we arrived at 9:30am. Security let us in and mistakenly thought we were crew. They asked us to stand outside until 10am when passengers were allowed in. After that everything went smoothly. It’s a very nice terminal and comfortable. This is our first junior suite and it felt good to be among the first passengers to board. Drove bumper cars and relaxed in the jacuzzis. Dinner and service at Coastal Kitchen was excellent. Ship capacity is apparently 82%. Coastal Kitchen and Solarium were mostly empty when we went there.

4 nights Rome pre cruise, 9 night cruise onboard Odyssey Of The Seas, sailing to Italy, Greece, Turkey. Naples, Athens, Ephesus, Santorini, Mykonos, Crete. Followed by 1 week in Florence Italy post cruise. My name is Brent. I made this vacation blog as my personal journal, and for everyone else to hopefully enjoy and help plan for their future travels, or to follow along on this Mediterranean adventure. This trip started with a 10 hour overnight flight on Delta airlines from Atlanta to Rome, we were fortunate to have the entire row to ourselves, the middle seat was empty. Alps mountain range was visible near the border of France and Italy. Spent 4 nights in Rome at Marcella Royal Hotel, same hotel as our honeymoon years ago. This hotel has a good breakfast on the rooftop with a view overlooking the city, rooftop turns into a bar at night with live music. Staying here immediately brought on a sense of nostalgia, feels like a lifetime ago we stayed here. Had a great time in Rome, in some ways I enjoyed it more than on my honeymoon to Rome 13+ years ago. I think it’s because I’m older now(38) and understand the complex menu options, culture, and customs more. Honestly some of the best meals I’ve ever had have been here in Rome on this trip. It’s heaven on earth for food lovers. My favorite meal was a panino with sautéed chicory, pecorino romano, tomato, and a hint of truffle cream. The small fried Sicilian pizza was good too, the same restaurant served arancini, a traditional Sicilian street food with a cone shape like the nearby volcano Mt Etna. In the morning we found a small hole in the wall coffee shop next to our hotel with almost no google reviews. A father and his son ran the place and asked us to sit, brought us a pistachio cornetto and cappuccino. Very friendly service and only 3€. Went to the Ice Club for cocktails, everything is made of ice including the frozen drinking cups. Staff there give everyone jackets to wear inside. There’s several private seating coves enclosed in ice. Saw most of the main sites during our time here. Got gelato at the famous chocolate waterfall place, Venchi Cioccolato. Took a pasta class(Rome With Chef), made tagliolini carbonara or cacio e pepe, and tiramisu desert. Tiramisu was delicious homemade because you can add generous amounts of Italian coffee liqueur similar to Bailey’s. Went on a food tour called Twilight Trastevere Rome Food Tour(Eating Europe), 4 hours, enjoyed 7 different restaurants, while walking with a group of 12 people and a local guide. Favorite food and drink was suppli fried rice cacio e pepe balls with red label Peroni beer. Fun group on the food tour, lots of laughs. Later, paddled a boat at the lake in Villa Borghese park. A woman was playing a harp and there were various live street musicians in that area. One playing a piano, trumpet, and singing popular modern songs was talented and drawing a crowd in Piazza del Popolo. At the same time the most luxurious funeral service I’ve ever seen was taking place. A Maserati hearse was driving slowly up to the twin churches in the piazza, carrying a casket, this high end luxury hearse was stuffed with flowers between the casket and vehicles windows. Men in black suits lined up at the church entrance. One end of the piazza was a somber mood mourning the loss of life, contrasted with the other end of the piazza - full of people happily strolling around and listening to the live musician. Also, randomly stumbled upon the world skate games in the park which was interesting to watch. Rome exceeded my expectations. Recorded 30,000 steps one day, I think that was a personal record, yes my feet were sore! Spent 1 night in the cruise port Civitavecchia at 7Bell’s House, booked on hotels.com for $80. Large bed, clean room. It’s a guest house so we had to use WhatsApp to message the owner(Stefano) our arrival time so he’d be there to check us in. WhatsApp and our Airalo ESIM both were used often on this trip and have worked well for navigation and communication purposes.

First cruise over 7 nights. There’s 3 menus I’ve never tried and they all sound really good.

MDR menus just loaded on the app for my 9 night Greek Isles cruise on Odyssey in 2 weeks. I’m familiar with most of the menus but 2 stood out that I haven’t heard of. Are they updating their menus or have these been offered before?

I’m booked on Voyager for the Superbowl in February simply because we love CocoCay and it’s hard to beat the value Voyager offers.

Appreciate all the information and pictures. Came at a perfect time for me. What was your favorite part of the trip? What would you do differently next time?

If we don’t want to sit through the rug demo, do you think it’s possible to leave the excursion group and walk back to the ship?

That’s something I’m still debating for my early excursions like Santorini next month, if I should get room service breakfast or go to the WJ. Pictures look amazing!

Did you happen to notice how long the line was for the regular taxi service at FCO? I’m arriving the same time you did in the morning. I’d arrange private transport but don’t want to deal with flight delays and missing the driver.

Did that lemon gelato taste as good as it looks?

Trevi Fountain is such a beautiful place. Hope all goes well with the private transport to the port. What company are you using?

Last time I took the Leonardo Express train into the city. I’m really hoping to get a taxi and pay the fixed rate to my hotel next month. I’ll walk with my luggage if I need to, but it’s definitely inconvenient and a hassle. The taxi’s are known to scam tourists by switching cash and saying you didn’t pay enough, and hold luggage hostage in the trunk until you pay more than you expected. I’ve never personally encountered this but it’s good to be prepared for this situation. I’d stay in the car and call 112 for the police and let them figure out what to do if it was an outrageous amount they’re demanding.

Looking forward to this blog, I’m going to the Greek Isles soon, almost the same ports. Are you taking a taxi from FCO to your hotel? Any tips and information is appreciated.

I think there’s always a ton of children on Royal Caribbean year round. When I cruise in February I noticed there’s a lot of families from other countries, especially Brazil. Same thing with Disney parks and resorts.

We’re flying Delta ATL-FCO this September. For two of us it’s $5,100. For comparison, 13 years ago on our honeymoon trip DTW-FCO was $1,600 for two people. The flight to Rome is on an Airbus a350, there’s no premium select. So it’s either main cabin or the extremely expensive Delta One suites. Our trip this fall is 5 nights in Rome, 9 night Greek Isles cruise on Odyssey in a junior suite, 7 nights in Florence after cruise. $19,000 total. That includes everything…cruise, flights, 4 star hotels, excursions, train tickets, food tours, Tuscany wine tour, pasta class, WiFi, E-sims, refreshment package, couples massage, meals, etc. We’re looking forward to this trip but it’s really become a money pit, and is definitely more expensive than when I originally started planning it.

I was excited to try it and hope I can do better next time. The issue was I wear contacts and they said nothing could be on your face like sunglasses. The force of the water removed my contacts, so I had to stop within 30 seconds.

Wife & I are booked on Odyssey out of Italy this fall, flights destroyed our vacation budget. Delta round trip 2 people is over $5k. Atlanta-Rome, and on the way back Florence-Amsterdam-Atlanta. Some of that is comfort+ or exit row upgrades, which I need because I’m tall. Sadly it’s likely we won’t do an international trip like this again due to rising costs. Looking forward to your trip report, I’m booked on Voyager in February for my first time. Hope you have a wonderful cruise with the family.

Refreshment package dropped to $23 on my Odyssey Greek Isles cruise, I could save $42 total but I don’t want to cancel because final payments been made. Learned my lesson already not to cancel anything after final payment on past cruises.

There’s 1 off menu Indian dish(curry, chickpeas, rice). You just have to ask for it. Wife & I are vegetarian's and sailed on Wonder, we found enough food options to satisfy us…but just barely. MDR menu was hit or miss. Windjammer we always could find something we liked.