Review - Solstice 12Night Med Venice Cruise - Sept 20 2012 - Photos, Fun and More!

[Waihekean]

Wonderful, wonderful review. You are worthy of joining the other fabulous photo reviewers club like Cruisergatorgirl, TerryFromOhio, Lovestix and LibraryLady:D

 

Me coming along on my armchair, because I loveeeee photo reviews, but not only that. Also because my DH is going to do his first ever cruise on the Reflection, before and after we will be visiting Venice and Rome.

But in January 2015 I will be going on the Solstice with my sisters first ever cruise.

[HardHeadedWoman]

Waihekean - Wow, I am honored! I am definitely slower, though. LOL I love that you're looking ahead to 2015 - I don't even know what I'm doing next year!

 

Buzzybuzzbuzz - Thank you!

 

Tiffnco - Thanks so much! Yes, it's a win-win situation, right? Planning is half the fun anyways!

 

RVfromAZ - Another Boston parent! Aren't they the best? The Solstice is a great ship, you'll have a fantastic time!

 

H20cruzer - Thank you! First of many more, hopefully.

 

Cruisemuse13 - Thanks! Have you been to Florence before? If (or should I say "when" LOL) we do another cruise that stops in that area, I think I'd like to do something a little less strenuous like a winery tour or something - the area just looks so beautiful!

 

Thanks again, everyone! I'm heading back to NYC tomorrow and will update over the next few days.

[Ha-pealady]

Loving your review and looking forward to the next instalment. We are sailing on the Equinox on 02 Sept this year out of Barcelona and as its our first cruise I am finding it all a bit daunting to say the least! The more I read this site the more confused I seem to be getting but your review is helping me to slowly sort out which excursions are worth doing etc. Keep writing as we are running out of time before we sail!

 

Shirley

[mcdkaty]

I am so enjoying your review and the pictures are amazing!! We are planning a trip to the Med next May to celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary and a 50th birthday so I am so interested in all the details of your review. My husband thinks I too am obsessed with the research and the planning!! Any tips you have please pass on. We also have a pet we are obsessed with our 8 year old miniature schnauzer Guinness-so I totally understand how you feel when you leave Hobart!! Looking forward to reading more.

[hansolosmom]

Wonderful review & absolutely gorgeous photos!

 

Don't worry about doing ships excursions, we've did them exclusively until our trip to the Baltics. My dh is terrified of missing the ship. Over the last couple cruises I've gotten him to do a few on our owns.

[barking16]

#69 We are going on the same itinerary in Oct on the Equinox also!

 

Thanks for the review honeymooner. The pics are giving us an idea of what we can expect!

[HardHeadedWoman]

barking16 - Jealous! I'm seriously thinking of doing the same cruise again next year! I keep hopping back from Caribbean cruise to Greek Isles Cruise to Western Med cruise. Once my review is done, I'm going to link all of my photos from my Flickr account. I have some but not all uploaded and I'm completely neurotic about things being complete. LOL

 

hansolosmom - Thank you so much! I'm glad to hear you guys do the same. This was our first cruise and our honeymoon so we weren't too concerned about splurging. I think we'll still do ship excursions next time around but perhaps less involved ones and shuttle transfers and such in places like Rome or Florence (not even a year later and I'm already dreaming of going back!). Our big concern was missing the ship so at least that gave us piece of mind. I travel a lot and I'm always worrying about being in places on time and I didn't want that hanging over me on our trip.

 

mcdkaty - Thank you! As I've said, leaving Hobart behind was the toughest part! LOL We talked about him so much and always managed to bring him into conversation with anyone who'd listen. Oh, you can never do too much research! One of the best things I did was really research the heck out of Barcelona because a) we had never been there, b) we were not on any tour, c) we only had two days. I picked my hotel according to our agenda for the next two days, making sure it was near a Hop On/Hop Off Bus as well as Casa Batllo which is where we spent our second day. I had the map of the Passeig de Gracia memorized and felt as if I had grown up there once the cab dropped us off! Another great tip is to read these boards (especially the port specific boards) when deciding on an excursion. For example, I was originally going to do the Exclusive Amalfi Drive tour (I think that's what it's called) but after reading a few reviews here, thought it would be too much driving and not enough relaxing. We ended up doing Capri and, while we only saw Capri and not Sorrento/Positano/Amalfi/etc., we had a LOT of time in Capri and never felt rushed.

 

Ha-pealady - Thanks so much! Feel free to message me on here if you have any questions! Actually, I don't even know if you can message people here. LOL My email is lissettecarrera at gmail com. I practically breathed Celebrity's shore excursion PDF for months before my cruise. I had the whole thing printed and it was huge! There are also a few tour company's that I've read amazing reviews about, Rome in Limo being one of them.

 

OK, Rome is coming up in a few minutes!

[HardHeadedWoman]

ROME

 

 

Today, we are in Rome! This was probably the most intensive day as I recall DH and I getting back on the Solstice extremely tired. We did the ship's "Imperial Rome" excursion which included lunch but was still pretty pricey at around $200 a piece. Nevertheless, our group was small, we made absolutely no lines, and I can't say enough good things about our tour guide - she was beyond amazing! She's a professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University and does tours for the Vatican as well. She made a comment about how in order to work for the Vatican at the capacity she works, you cannot have a divorce in your family for I-don't-know-how-many generations! Well, that leaves me (and most people) out! LOL

 

The Imperial Rome Tour included a visit to the Trevi Fountain, the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, and the Vatican. Hefty agenda, huh? Well, I would've still liked to have seen the Pantheon and, since we were visiting on a Sunday, we were not able to see the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. Before ever posting on CC, I remember checking out the roll call for my sailing and reading about how certain parts of the Vatican were closed on Sunday and being soooo disappointed! I think someone even changed their trip because of this! Oh well, I got over it and still managed to have a fantastic time.

 

On to the tour, we boarded our tour bus in Civitavecchia and off we were on an hourlong drive to Rome. One of the best parts about this tour had to have been driving IN Rome! It's everything people say it is and more. Our guide even taught us how to cross a street which is, essentially, cross it and hope the driver spares your life! Living in NYC, I got used to that way of thinking. LOL

 

 

So, the Trevi Fountain was our first stop and I had (very erroneous) preconceived notions that it would be something out of the movie, Three Coins in the Fountain. Oh boy, was I wrong! I practically had to wrestle people to get my wish in! It was still beautiful, though, and the water was a perfect sparkling teal color as it was so sunny that day.

 

"The Wedding Cake"

 

Pontifical Gregorian University (where our guide taught)

 

We had about 20 or so minutes to spend at the Fountain and then we were off to the Roman Forum. Yikes, it's been so long, I can't remember if we walked or drove. I'm pretty sure we walked because I recall our guide giving us a history lesson on all the buildings we were passing. I remember being so impressed once we reached the "Wedding Cake" building - it was gigantic! The first view of the Colosseum as we approached the Roman Forum was breathtaking as well. As I mentioned, I had never been to Rome before so seeing it for the first time was incredible!

 

Roman Forum

 

We toured the Roman Forum as our guide gave us in-depth information on each of the structures - she was like an encyclopedia! Very funny and entertaining, though. I was in awe.

 

 

Once we reached the Colosseum, we simply walked in without having to make any lines and were given ample time to walk around and explore after our general overall tour with our guide. This was one of the most interesting tours we had on our trip and by "interesting," I mean morbid/macabre/gross/etc.... all that good stuff! I also loved seeing all the architectural innovations that were included in the Colosseum such as the raising platform and its irrigation system! For those of you fellow architects and designers, I can't believe they got all of that done without CAD! LOL

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

Edited June 11, 2013 by HardHeadedWoman

[HardHeadedWoman]

ROME (Continued)

 

Some more photos from the Roman Forum and the Colosseum!

 

 

 

Arch of Titus

 

 

I love seeing some of the old details - imagine what the Colosseum might've looked like when it was built!

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

[HardHeadedWoman]

ROME (Continued)

 

St. Peter's Basilica

 

After the Colosseum it was off to lunch! This tour offered a similar lunch to our Florence tour and we ate with our group at a local restaurant (I wish I could remember the name!). Yet again, another multi-course meal was served to our delight! We started off with antipasti, followed by pasta with bolognese sauce and seared sea bass with lemon. For dessert, we had mascarpone and fruits which was delicious! We also had the pleasure of dining with some of our old friends from our last tour, too! Once again, I failed at snapping photos of what we ate and I am making a mental note to myself to document our meals while on vacation better!

 

We were soon off to enjoy the rest of the day at the Vatican but not without a little bit of excitement. Once we had exited our bus and regrouped, I hear a woman in my group SCREAM as if she's been stabbed or something. I'm not kidding! Full banshee-style screaming! Turns out, a mouse had crawled across her foot and as soon as she yelled, "Mouse!" almost everyone in St. Peter's Square was in hysterics and those who weren't, were in hysterics over those who were. That got our blood pumping!

 

Less is not more.

 

La Pieta

 

After that adventure we were inside St. Peter's where you're instantly engulfed in amazing Renaissance beauty - not a corner was left ungilded, unmarbled or undecorated! My type of building. We started off at La Pieta which is incredibly gorgeous in person. Our guide almost had everyone in tears as she described Michelangelo's process while sculpting the piece. Despite the amount of people at St. Peter's (probably the busiest site we visited in the whole trip), everyone was very quiet and respectful.

 

 

 

It was here that our guide advised us to keep our belongings close as there are many pickpockets there - someone always has to ruin the fun! Maybe that mouse has a secret stash hidden beneath St. Peter's Square...

 

 

Since the museums were closed, we were given quite a bit of time to explore the Vatican which included the Basilica, the Square and a few souvenir shops along the way. DH and I did just that until we sat for a second and realized how utterly exhausted we were! Lucky for us, our bus was just across the street and we were soon heading back "home" to the Solstice.

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

[HardHeadedWoman]

ROME (Continued)

 

A few more photos from our day in Bella Roma!

 

St. Peter's Basilica

 

St. Peter's Square

 

Arch of Titus detail

 

 

Santa Maria di Loreto and Trajan's Column

 

Donald!

 

Next up, one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to, Capri! Capri will probably come in a few days since the summer class I'm teaching begins tomorrow at 9 am! Working from home has me spoiled when it comes to sleeping in so having to be "on" that early is quite the task.

 

Thanks for reading!

[Waihekean]

Really enjoying this review. Looking forward to see Capri.

No need to answer, you are busy enough as is.

[HardHeadedWoman]

CAPRI

 

OK guys, I know I am so behind on this but hopefully, I haven't lost all of my readers! Tonight, we'll be traveling to the lovely island of Capri! Capri was, perhaps, my favorite port of all and we actually decided on touring it last minute. All along, I was thinking we were going to do an excursion that involved Pompeii but a week before our wedding, I thought, "Hmmm... I don't know how many more ruins DH can take..." and started researching the Amalfi Coast. That opened up an entire can of worms because how exactly do I choose where to go? Amalfi, Sorrento, Capri, Positano - they were all beautiful beyond comprehension! At the end, I chose Capri because Celebrity offered an all-day excursion that offered us plenty of free time as well as a stop at the Villa San Michele and we were so glad with our decision at the end.

 

 

The Solstice docked in Naples that morning and we took a hydrofoil for about 20-30 minutes over to Capri. Once in Marina Grande, we boarded a tiny bus which took us on an amazing whirlwind ride up to Anacapri where we had free time to shop and eat before going to the Villa San Michele. I really loved this area and while it's very touristy, I found the shops to be delightful and everywhere smelled of fresh lemons. This area in particular had some of the best little jewelry shops, too. I bought most of my souvenirs there including gorgeous murano glass beaded necklaces for my mom, grandmother and aunts. Most of the shops offered us free limoncello, too! Strong, limoncello, I might add.

 

 

The Villa San Michele is also a fantastic sight to tour while in Capri. Our tour included a walk inside the house as well a visit to the terraces and gardens which included a visit with the granite sphinx.

 

View from the top of Villa San Michele

 

 

The Sphinx (by the way, I just noticed this other picture I took not too far away. LOL! http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8359/8421200120_793f5f1bc1_z.jpg)

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

[HardHeadedWoman]

CAPRI (Continued)

 

After the Villa San Michele, we had the option of taking a guided tour of the botanical gardens or taking advantage of free time in Capri Town, the main hub of the island. This "free time" consisted of about 3 hours so we decided to use that time to have lunch, go shopping (yay!), and sightsee.

 

 

For lunch, we ate at Capri's (http://www.capris.it) because the views looked spectacular, it was one of the first places we passed and we were starving! Luckily, it did not disappoint and DH and I each had an entire pizza paired with an antipasti platter of prosciutto, wet mozzarella, and fresh arugula. I'll also add that we passed Capri's before heading into the very bustling Piazzetta and I was very happy with our choice to eat there - no wait, no crowds, just an ocean breeze!

 

The place to go for sandals!

 

La Piazzetta

 

 

After lunch, we strolled around, checked out a few little hotels and made a mental note of returning many, many times. We also did some shopping at Antica Sartoria. Antica Sartoria is located near La Piazzetta and carries beautiful tunics, scarves and dresses in gorgeous, bright colors! I did some damage there.

 

 

 

Even though we had three hours to wander, it still wasn't enough time - there are so many beautiful little streets to get lost in! I still find myself looking through our photos, dreaming of when we can go back! Soon, I hope!

[HardHeadedWoman]

CAPRI (Continued)

 

Capri

 

Mt. Vesuvius

 

 

 

Church of Santo Stefano

 

 

 

That's all for now!

[elisemburton]

Thank you for the review! I think this might have to be my next itinerary.

 

 

~Elise

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[Monker2001]

Is the report done? I hope not! This is one of the best reviews I have read and the pics are stunning....

[BrooklinNorth]

Lisette I hope everything is ok? You can't leave us hanging... We need more...:o

[HardHeadedWoman]

Oh my gosh, I just saw these replies - I didn't think anyone was following my review anymore! I'll certainly update over the next few weeks!

 

I'm always reading cruise critic and there's been a nagging feeling that I should finish this review!

 

Thanks for the support :)

[HardHeadedWoman]

Ugh, sorry again, guys... We've had a very rough couple of months health wise.. Believe it or not, I do plan on updating this, as silly as it sounds! Perhaps I'll lump it all in one post.

[Witsend1]

I have just found your review and have enjoyed reading it. Looks like you both had a great time. Hope you are still enjoying cruising.

[TinyG]

Awesome review, and your pictures are so dreamy! Can't wait to go back to Barcelona! Staying tuned!:)