Epic May 6-13 Western Mediterranean sailing with pictures

[pcreek]

I'm loving this review!! (thanks for the Pisa photo!!);)

 

Someday I will do the cruise/Europe thing. Cannot wait for photos of Barcelona.

 

Thank you!

[Cruzinbabe06]

Thank you for taking the time to post.

 

More! More!:D

[AttilaTheFun]

Civitavecchia/Rome:

This was our biggest DIY port and I think we handled it fairly well. We were tired and had sore feet by the end of it, but saw a really good amount without breaking the bank! I recommend mapping out the sites you want to see and being realistic about what you can really see in about 8 hours. Some of the sites are clumped in the same area and make walking between them easier. The Rome Metro isn’t laid out in a very helpful fashion (like a big X over the city), but we found the buses very plentiful and usually someone could help you find the right one if you asked.

 

In the Civitavecchia port, you must take a shuttle bus from the ship to the port exit. We got off the ship right at 7:30am and hopped on a shuttle that left soon after. From there, you take a right on the main street and pass by a McDonald’s. Keep walking for about 5-10 minutes and you’ll be at the train station, which is up a small set of steps from the sidewalk. There will usually be a mass of other passengers all doing the same thing, so it’s easy to tell you’re going the right way. I purchased a 9 euros per person BIRG ticket, which includes unlimited regional trains and Metro/buses in Rome for 24 hours, which is a fantastic value. Compare that to paying $99 to NCL just to bus you into Rome – that doesn’t even include the public transit once you’re there! BE SURE TO VALIDATE EACH TICKET IN THE ORANGE OR YELLOW BOX BEFORE YOU GET ON THE TRAIN or you could face still fines if checked. The validation just marks the current date/time on your ticket. The regional trains are very well-maintained and most cars have A/C and the schedule was about every half hour with the ride into Rome being slightly under an hour. We planned on visiting the Vatican Museums first, so we got off at the San Pietro station, which is before Roma Termini, the main train station in Rome.

 

Based on the map I had printed, it looked like the best way to get to the Vatican Museums entrance was to walk clockwise around the Vatican walls from the San Pietro station. Suffice it to say, I could not have been more wrong. Either take a taxi from the train station or walk CLOCKWISE around Vatican City, which might take 20-30 minutes. Luckily, a hotel concierge helped us find a bus that dropped us off a few blocks from the museum entrance.

 

I purchased advanced tickets online for the Vatican Museums for 19 euros per person, which allows you to skip the normal lines. Because the Pope was holding an audience that morning, the normal ticket line was non-existent, but most people say that is rarely the case. We made a quick pit-stop at the gift shop to your right after you ride the giant escalator up and also bought some special Vatican post office stamps as gifts.

 

If you want to minimize your time in the Vatican Museums and get straight to the Sistine Chapel, follow the directions/signs posted for the SHORT tour, which will help cut out some rooms. However, it seemed like a shame to be there and not try to view some of the artwork, so we wandered around for a long time before finally getting to the Sistine Chapel. The tapestries and Raphael Rooms are stunning though if you have time to enjoy them. We didn’t have an audioguide or pay for a tour guide as we didn’t want to spend the time, but I think it’s definitely a good idea if you want to understand what you’re looking at and have more time as there are very few descriptions posted in the museums.

 

The Sistine Chapel was awe-inspiring and packed with other tourists. It would have been an awesome experience had it not been for the guards who shout, “NO PICTURES, NO VIDEO!!! SHHHHHHHHHHH!” every 30 seconds. It really made you feel like a kindergartener and people weren’t even loud to begin with! Very frustrating. There is great info on the Sistine Chapel in the Rick Steves book or on his free podcast. Unfortunately, due to the papal audience going on in St Peter’s Basilica, the “secret door” that leads from the Sistine Chapel to the basilica was not available, even to tour groups. That meant a loooong trek all the way back to the museum entrance. After spending almost 3 hours at the Vatican and facing another semi-long walk to St Peter’s Square to see the basilica, we decided to move on and see the rest of Rome. My mom was disappointed, but hopefully they will visit again one day.

 

We walked to the Cipro station of the Metro and stopped for some food at Pizzarium nearby. This place came recommended from a co-worker and Anthony Bourdain as they have gourmet pizza with price tags to match! We tried 2 kinds of pizza and a risotto ball, which came to 17 euros! It was pretty tasty, but I don’t know if the price was justified. The BIRG tickets were valid on the Metro, so we took it from Cipro to the Spagna station. When riding the Metro, know what the LAST stop on the line in the direction you want to go is - that’s how they mark the 2 directions for each line, similar to how the D.C. metro runs. In our case, we took it in the direction of Anagnina.

 

The Spagna Metro stop is right at the Spanish Steps (Spagna = Spain) and it was a great site and place to take pictures. From there, it was a short walk to the Trevi Fountain, which was fantastic and not too crowded. We stopped for gelato nearby, but it wasn’t that great. At this point, we debated between skipping the Pantheon or not, but ultimately decided to go for it. It was only about a 10-minute walk from the Trevi Fountain along some very cute small streets. The Pantheon is free to enter and you can buy an audio tour for a few euros. There are tombs around the edge and the dome in the middle is very famous – said to have inspired domes across Europe and even the US Capitol building.

 

I asked an employee at the Pantheon where to find Tazza D’oro, which also came recommended from a co-worker. He took me to the exit and pointed across to the same street we had walked down – you could see the sign from there. The famous beverage/snack there is a coffee granita with fresh whipped (though not sweetened) cream. It was very refreshing, although we’re not used to unsweeted whipped cream, so skimmed some off the top. If you mix the granita in with the rest of the whipped cream, it makes the perfect level of sweetness. It cost around 3 euros and is definitely worth trying!

 

Unfortunately, our feet couldn’t handle any more Rome and we had to catch the train anyway. We missed the Colosseum & Roman Forum area completely, so that’s on the agenda for the June cruise.

 

We walked back to Via del Corso, which was a large street with several buses running on it and asked someone how to take it to the Roma Termini train station. The buses are included with the BIRG ticket and normally people are very willing to help you find which bus you need to take. After a 10-15 minute drive, we arrived at Roma Termini and found the track to get back to Civitavecchia. Then came perhaps the longest walk we did all day – from the main entrance to the back tracks of the station, where the Civitavecchia trains all stop. We must have walked for 15-20 minutes down a corridor that seemed never-ending. Be sure to leave yourself PLENTY of time to get from the entrance to those tracks if you take the train!

 

The trains seem to run more frequently in the afternoon but the ride is a bit longer than an hour. We caught the 4:42pm train that put us back in Civitavecchia at 6pm and then walked back to the port and took the shuttle bus to the ship. We boarded the ship right at 6:30pm, so I don’t recommend trying to cut it any closer!

 

Important map tip: Forgot to mention this with the port planning/strategy section, but I found the site BatchGeo extremely helpful for each port. Basically, you copy and paste some information on Excel on what sites/addresses you want to mark and it puts them on a Google Map for you to print and take with you. This way, the map area is much more detailed to the sites you’re visiting. I made 3 maps for Rome – Vatican City, Trevi Fountain/Pantheon area, and Forum/Colosseum area. It’s a very helpful site if you spend the time to mark out where you want to visit!

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review. Looking forward to reading more and seeing your photo's thanks for posting them.

[AttilaTheFun]

My excuse for no photos yet, in form of a verbatim conversation with my sister:

Me: Can you send me some of the photos you took? Just a few from each port is fine and some of the ship, if you have them.

Sister: Ughhhhhh, there are like, 500 of them! It's going to take me so long to go through!

 

However, I did take a few pictures on my iPhone that I can post for now.

 

A cat at Pompeii, just chilling. There are also many dogs that roam the grounds and don't seem to mind all the people.

 

 

 

Photo of the famous Vatican Museums spiral staircase, which also serves as the exit if you can't take the "secret door" from the Sistine Chapel

 

 

A view out the window of St Peter's Basilica

 

 

This sign made me laugh for some reason, maybe because it looks like the figure is skipping down the stairs instead of falling

 

 

The rest of the pictures I have are of Florence, so I'll post those after the Livorno review. Fingers crossed my sister sends me some of her pictures too!

[AttilaTheFun]

Livorno (Florence/Pisa):

This was the port that I thought was worth using a tour to see, since most people advise that you can’t really see Pisa and Florence in the same day by train. After doing research on here, I found many rave reviews of Rome in Limo and I’ve become another rabid fan. We found 4 others from the Roll Call boards to join us so that we were a group of 8 for 75 euros per person. As my parents said, only about an hour into the trip, “It’s worth every penny!”

 

Rome in Limo was extremely responsive by email before our trip and we decided to skip the Uffizi/Accademia museums and use the time to see more of Florence.

 

Our driver, Gianmaria (goes by Gian, pronounced John to us) met us right at the ship at 8am with a sign in hand. He escorted us to the giant Mercedes passenger van that had very high ceilings, a microphone/speaker system so that we could all hear what he was saying, and A/C. On the way to Pisa, Gian gave us background on Livorno and the surrounding area. His knowledge about all the places we visited is really astounding!

 

We started the day by driving to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower right away, before it became too crowded. We had 45 minutes to look around the area, which wasn’t that big. I didn’t realize the Leaning Tower is only one of 3 buildings – the other 2 being the Baptistery and Cathedral right next to it. We found it fascinating to see the Leaning Tower up-close and took the requisite “tourist holding up the tower” pictures. There were also many souvenir stands in the area with reasonably-priced items. Right across from the tower is also a very nice café, where I had my first Italian coffee – an espresso macchiato that was delicious! It’s also a good place to use the restroom if you need.

 

Leaning Tower close-up

 

 

 

 

Leaning Tower and Cathedral

 

 

 

 

Baptistery close-up

 

 

 

 

Just as we got ready to leave, the tour groups started coming in, so we felt very lucky to have avoided the large groups. From there, it was off to Florence, with a quick stop at an olive oil producer along the way. Gian walked us through the machinery to show how olive oil was made and it was very interesting. We sampled some wines and olive oils at the attached gift shop and made some souvenir purchases. It was a really fun stop. Gian continued to narrate the drive and our first stop in Florence – Piazza Michelangelo, which is situated above Florence and provides fantastic views. There is also a reproduction of the David statue in copper that has since developed a green patina and Gian called “Alien David.” There were, of course, more souvenir stands to browse there as well.

 

View of Florence from Piazza Michelangelo

 

 

 

 

Another view

 

 

 

“Alien David”

 

 

 

 

(Due to limit on number of pictures per post, I’ll continue the Florence review in another post)

[AttilaTheFun]

Livorno (Florence/Pisa) continued:

After mentioning that we wanted to try an authentic Italian trattoria for lunch, Gian made reservations for us at a restaurant near Santa Croce church. We drove there and he gave us a quick overview of the area, but we chose not to enter the church, which had an admission fee. Instead, we used the time to enjoy a sit-down lunch. There was a 3-course lunch option for 15 euros that included bruschetta, pasta course, and meat course that was a good deal and enough food to split between 2 people. We again found out that there is no free tap water in Italy, so split a large bottle of water for 2 euros and were surprised when the bill included a 2 euro charge for a bread basket, something we think of as complimentary in the US. However, the food was very good and we couldn’t complain.

 

After lunch, my sister tried to buy a leather purse in the Santa Croce church area and got lost for a bit, but after we found her, Gian drove us to the Duomo, which was my favorite site on the trip. The Duomo cathedral is free to enter and don’t be deterred if if looks like a long line – it moves quickly and they let batches of people in at a time. We only waited about 5 minutes. The painted inside of the Duomo is fantastic and completely unexpected. You can also go downstairs where there is a small gift shop and additional tour options to be purchased.

 

Baptistery

 

 

Gold doors on the Baptistery

 

Duomo cathedral

 

Inside of cathedral

 

 

Painted ceiling of Duomo

 

 

Finally, Gian dropped us off near the Uffizi museum where there is another David reproduction in plaster and other outdoor statues. From there, it’s a quick walk to the Ponte Vecchio bridge and back to an outdoor market. The stalls mostly had similar items, but my sister and mom enjoyed looking through all the leather goods and purses.

 

Porcellino statue (boar) outside the market - rub his nose for good luck!

 

 

Gian asked if we enjoyed gelato and took us to an excellent gelato shop called Carraia that gave very large portions for 1.50 euros. He also showed me a nearby café to grab an espresso as I was dragging a bit. Apparently, so was everyone else because the van was silent as everyone slept on the ride back to Livorno! Our total tour took 9 hours and 15 minutes.

 

The Rome in Limo tour was fantastic and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them and Gian to anyone! My mom spoke with an exhausted-looking passenger as we got back on the ship and she complained that the NCL tour she had taken required a ton of walking and not much time at each site for $199 per person! In contrast, we were driven right up to each site, so minimized our walking while taking a more leisurely pace as well. I know that people are worried about getting back to the ship in time and all that, but Rome in Limo is so professional and well-established, that it really shouldn’t be a concern. They’ve definitely earned their great reputation!

 

 

 

Next up, Cannes/Nice!

[AttilaTheFun]

Any questions/comments so far? Or have I just been too thorough? ;)

[Sauer-kraut]

great job!

Might I suggest you post your Florence portion over on the Italy Ports of Call board as well, so people can read about your tour. :)

[Quilting_Cruiser]

This is fantastic! Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a detailed review. I have a 12-day Baltic cruise (followed by a few weeks in Germany) to plan before my Western Med cruise and you have me wanting to plan this one! LOL. Nice problem to have, huh?

 

Loved the pictures. I had to laugh that your sister thinks 500 photos are a lot to go through--on my last cruise I took more than 2500 photos. Can't imagine how many I'll take on this one! :D

 

Thanks for the tip on Batchgeo--I'll definitely check that out. Do you know if Rome in Limo has group tours that solos can join? This will be my first solo cruise and I plan to DIY most ports, but it sounds like a tour is the way to go to see Pisa and Florence. So far our roll call is very quiet, but we're about 16 months away so I'm sure it will pick up and it may be possible to get a group together.

 

Again, thanks so much for writing such a detailed review--this is just the type of review I love and I'm sure I'll read yours again and again before I sail.

 

Thanks!

[AttilaTheFun]

Do you know if Rome in Limo has group tours that solos can join? This will be my first solo cruise and I plan to DIY most ports, but it sounds like a tour is the way to go to see Pisa and Florence. So far our roll call is very quiet, but we're about 16 months away so I'm sure it will pick up and it may be possible to get a group together.

 

You can start a tour on Rome in Limo and have it posted to their tour-sharing site, but I don't know if people would actually sign up to share tours with strangers. Your best bet would be to wait for your roll call to pick up a bit and ask there. I posted our request for additional passengers on the Rome roll call too and that's where we actually found the 4 additional people. I think a group of 8 was the perfect size. Good luck!

[Quilting_Cruiser]

You can start a tour on Rome in Limo and have it posted to their tour-sharing site, but I don't know if people would actually sign up to share tours with strangers. Your best bet would be to wait for your roll call to pick up a bit and ask there. I posted our request for additional passengers on the Rome roll call too and that's where we actually found the 4 additional people. I think a group of 8 was the perfect size. Good luck!

 

thanks for the info! :D

[ontheweb]

Thank you for the review and the pictures, looking forward to more of them. We're on the August 19th sailng.

 

I'm going to show your Rome review to my wife, and let her plan it. We're also intending to take the train on our own.

 

Florence is the one port we are splurging on.Our first cruise was in 2002 for our 25th wedding anniversaron the RCL Splendor of the Sea with a similar itinerary. I royally screwed up in Livorno by getting us on a train going towards Rome instead of Florence. We thought we'd never get back, but now we'll be on a similar cruise for our 35th anniversary .To be sure of getting there this time we booked the OVER PRICED NCL Florence on Your Own tour. Plus my wife, who is an elementary art teacher, has bought on line timed tickets for the Uffizis and Academe museum. It's a lot all together, but it's the only port we are splurging on.

 

What did you do in Cannes? In our similar trip 10 years ago, we ported in Villefrache (where the Epic was originally supposed to port), and went to Nice where we went to the Matisse and Chagall museums. (At our table that night, it was commented that that sounded much more interesting than what others had done on RCL tours).

[AttilaTheFun]

Florence is the one port we are splurging on.Our first cruise was in 2002 for our 25th wedding anniversaron the RCL Splendor of the Sea with a similar itinerary. I royally screwed up in Livorno by getting us on a train going towards Rome instead of Florence. We thought we'd never get back, but now we'll be on a similar cruise for our 35th anniversary .To be sure of getting there this time we booked the OVER PRICED NCL Florence on Your Own tour. Plus my wife, who is an elementary art teacher, has bought on line timed tickets for the Uffizis and Academe museum. It's a lot all together, but it's the only port we are splurging on.

 

Why not do Rome in Limo? I outlined all the advantages and there's really no comparison to an NCL tour, PLUS it's cheaper! You have plenty of time to find other people to join on your roll call if you want. It really baffles me as to why people still use the NCL tours other than lack of research ahead of time. Try Rome in Limo, it's a fantastic experience!

[ontheweb]

Why not do Rome in Limo? I outlined all the advantages and there's really no comparison to an NCL tour, PLUS it's cheaper! You have plenty of time to find other people to join on your roll call if you want. It really baffles me as to why people still use the NCL tours other than lack of research ahead of time. Try Rome in Limo, it's a fantastic experience!

 

1. There is practically no one else on our roll call. (I realize the advantage of using your roll call for private tours. I did set up one that way for St. Petersburg 5 years ago that worked out well and saved money.)

 

2. My wife wants to spend HOURS in those museums. (She is after all the world's finest elementary are teacher.) No one else is going to want to do that . (Actually after our European cruises, it takes me a long time before I want to be in another museum)

[AttilaTheFun]

1. There is practically no one else on our roll call. (I realize the advantage of using your roll call for private tours. I did set up one that way for St. Petersburg 5 years ago that worked out well and saved money.)

 

2. My wife wants to spend HOURS in those museums. (She is after all the world's finest elementary are teacher.) No one else is going to want to do that . (Actually after our European cruises, it takes me a long time before I want to be in another museum)

 

Ah, got it! You might also look into the train from Livorno to Florence - it could be faster (and definitely cheaper) than the NCL "on your own" option. Enjoy!

 

I should have the Cannes info typed up tonight. We ended up going to Nice by train for a couple hours and it was fine.

[Basketweaverz]

On the web: when we took this cruise, we hired a car and driver for the Livorno port. We wanted to see as much as we could of Tuscany, wanted no shopping for trinkets, and wanted to see the "real" David. It was a pretty pricey day but was the highlight of our cruise.

 

We drove out into the countryside, stopped at a castle-like winery and olive oil press outside of Chianti, had a wonderful tasting of both wine and oil. Had lunch in a little village which I forget the name of now. Then took the backroads into Florence to the Accademia for our tour of David. Then stopped for coffee and pastries and then back to the Epic.

 

Giorgio (Jojo) was knowledgeable and teased me all day long. I have never had a driver before and he would stop at a photo site and come trotting around the car to let me out. By then, I would have the door open and be climbing out. He would put his hands on his hips and shake his head and tell me he couldn't do his job right!!

 

All in all, a wonderful day and we saw just what we wanted to.

[ontheweb]

Ah, got it! You might also look into the train from Livorno to Florence - it could be faster (and definitely cheaper) than the NCL "on your own" option. Enjoy!

 

I should have the Cannes info typed up tonight. We ended up going to Nice by train for a couple hours and it was fine.

 

I realize that, but 10 years ago I somehow managed to get us on the the train going the wrong way. My wife figured it out, and we got off and caught a train back. We did manage to have time to get to Pisa, but not Florence. For our peace of mind, I'm willing to pay extra now. We did get a real good fare through an agency that bought a block of cabins, so we're comfortable with spending the extra on Florence since it is the main reason for the trip.

 

Unlike the last time, we are not taking a ship tour into Rome. For that we'll just take the train.

[meltingmoments]

This is a super review......thanks for posting!!:)

 

We are on the Epic in August and I can't wait!!:D

 

I'm just sad that I didn't research well enough before I booked the particular week that we have!!:(

 

We will be in Rome on the 15th of August......the Feast of the Assumption.....a public holiday and The Vatican Museums and The Sistine Chapel are closed!!:(

As a good Catholic girl.....I really should have checked that out!!

Oh well........it just means I have to do the Western Med AGAIN next year!!;)

[xenagurl]

Great review and photos! Thanks a lot for sharing!

[jarand]

Thank you for this! We are doing a B2B in August/Sept, giving us 2 days at the major ports. I'm hoping to plan more DIY since we have a bit more time to spare, but it's rather daunting. This is excellent--exactly what is so great about CC! Thanks!

[AttilaTheFun]

Someone on the Italy boards notified me of a major typo I made - from the San Pietro train station, you need to walk COUNTER-clockwise around the Vatican City walls to make it to the museum, not clockwise. I would recommend finding a taxi or hopping on a bus (a 5 minute walk from San Pietro and there is a major road where buses stop).

[Sweetjoie]

This is great! Will be doing alot of DIY; thanks so much for the tips. Great photos as well! Leaving June 17!!!!!!!!

[Teacher_91]

I am really enjoying your trip report. I'm a little worried about Rome now. Mom & Dad will want to see every inch of the Vatican and the Mr. really wants to see the Colosseum and I want to see EVERYTHING, so timing could be an issue. :eek:

 

I LOVED the cat pic (being a "Mom" to two of my own! :p) was he/she friendly? I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the rest of the pictures. I've also noted the information about the Rome in Limo. It sounds like a great way to see the city.

 

More please! :D

[AttilaTheFun]

I am really enjoying your trip report. I'm a little worried about Rome now. Mom & Dad will want to see every inch of the Vatican and the Mr. really wants to see the Colosseum and I want to see EVERYTHING, so timing could be an issue. :eek:

 

I LOVED the cat pic (being a "Mom" to two of my own! :p) was he/she friendly? I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the rest of the pictures. I've also noted the information about the Rome in Limo. It sounds like a great way to see the city.

 

More please! :D

 

Definitely plan for 3-4 hours at the Vatican, but that's still barely scratching the surface! I'd recommend prioritizing the sites you want to see most because you won't be able to see everything or if you try to, you'll have to run past everything and not have the time to enjoy it. The planning part can definitely be stressful, but know that no matter what you see, you'll enjoy it. There's an excuse to return some day too!

 

We didn't pet the cat because we didn't know how friendly he was, but he was just lazily lounging and didn't mind us coming right up to him. He must be very used to tourists at this point.