My first trip to Europe on Freedom of the Seas 9/3/17 with many pictures and video!

[aubreyc1988]

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[aubreyc1988]

Sorry this one is so blurry, but maybe you can make it out

 

 

I decided to get a pizza, Florentine style and my husband got citrus shrimp pasta. Both were delicious. The pizza was huge and so good, was big enough for both of us, but we ended up leaving 1/2 of the pizza.

 

We also ordered a 1/2 bottle of wine

 

Edited October 7, 2017 by aubreyc1988

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Sorry this one is so blurry, but maybe you can make it out

 

 

I decided to get a pizza, Florentine style and my husband got citrus shrimp pasta. Both were delicious. The pizza was huge and so good, was big enough for both of us, but we ended up leaving 1/2 of the pizza.

 

We also ordered a 1/2 bottle of wine

 

Thanks for the review! We will be in Florence and Tuscany for 5 days in less than two weeks! We have an Airbnb villa rented with friends so at least we won't have to worry about dealing with a ship tour. After that we will be flying back to Barcelona for the TA on the Freedom back to Florida! Keep it coming. You are helping us with the long wait. [emoji41]

 

I agree with you about queuing for a restaurant. Can't see doing that. We also are using Visit a City. Great app!

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[aubreyc1988]

Thanks for the review! We will be in Florence and Tuscany for 5 days in less than two weeks! We have an Airbnb villa rented with friends so at least we won't have to worry about dealing with a ship tour. After that we will be flying back to Barcelona for the TA on the Freedom back to Florida! Keep it coming. You are helping us with the long wait. [emoji41]

 

I agree with you about queuing for a restaurant. Can't see doing that. We also are using Visit a City. Great app!

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Oh my god that’s going to be a great trip! Jealous! You will have a great time! I wish I could spend some time on a Europe land vacay, but I just love sampling different places and I also love cruising! Plus, limited vacation time really limits us!

 

Visit a City is a great app, esp for Europe!

 

 

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[aubreyc1988]

Oh, I'm going to backtrack a bit because I found photos of our food

 

Fiorentina Pizza (€9.50) Hopefully you can see somewhat the size of the pizza with the knife there and my hand, pretty big.

 

 

 

Citrus Shrimp Pasta

 

 

While walking to the Uffizi, we walked past a couple of shops where people were working inside. Rick Steves talks about this in some of his videos and audio guides, says you can walk in and watch them work, ask questions, etc. We didn't have time to walk in, since we had to be at the Uffizi at two, but pretty cool to watch for a few minutes outside. This woodworker was making musical instruments.

 

 

We got in line for the Uffizi (Followed directions on our ticket) and got right in, pass the line is SO nice

 

I had a list of particular artworks I wanted to see, so I will show you some of the ones I had on my list. We stayed for a good amount of time and saw a lot more things than I will show you pictures of, had a lot more time here than I was anticipating. The layout is a little confusing for those who are trying to "Speed through" on limited time, but not too bad. The real bummer about this gallery is NO AC, so incredibly hot inside.

 

La Primavera by Botticelli

 

 

 

 

And probably the most famous artwork here, Botticelli's The Birth of Venus

 

[aubreyc1988]

Here's me freaking out in front of it

 

 

Looking at these paintings up close, the talent is just crazy. :eek:

 

 

 

 

As you can see from the hallway photos, it wasn't too crowded. Sept is the start of the slow season for Europe. I can't imagine how hot it would be in here if there were more people.

 

iPad photographer alert!!!

 

[aubreyc1988]

Leonardo da Vinci and Andrea del Verroccnio, Annunciation

 

 

Thorn Puller

 

 

Titian, Venus of Urbino

 

 

My personal favorite artwork that we saw is Judith Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi. I love the emotion and story behind it, plus painting is magnificent. This is definitely a DO NOT MISS painting in the Uffizi. Definitely read up on the story behind this one, as well as the life story of Artemisia Gentileschi.

 

 

 

Medusa, by Caravaggio

 

[kathleen21]

 

That was the look on my face when I realized that I had caught up on your review!

 

I have really enjoyed the details, and the honesty and enthusiasm you have shared with us. We are going on a different cruise line (gasp! 😱) but to many of these same ports, and your experiences have been very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to do this.

 

I have a question about Marseille- we would like to do the free walking tour of the city that meets in the old port area about 1030. Do you have any insight regarding taking the port bus or local transportation? What time would you say we should leave the ship to make it to town if we took a taxi? Thank you!

[aubreyc1988]

 

 

 

That was the look on my face when I realized that I had caught up on your review!

 

 

 

I have really enjoyed the details, and the honesty and enthusiasm you have shared with us. We are going on a different cruise line (gasp! [emoji33]) but to many of these same ports, and your experiences have been very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to do this.

 

 

 

I have a question about Marseille- we would like to do the free walking tour of the city that meets in the old port area about 1030. Do you have any insight regarding taking the port bus or local transportation? What time would you say we should leave the ship to make it to town if we took a taxi? Thank you!

 

 

 

So, once you get off the ship, walk to the outside of the terminal and hail a taxi using the MyTaxi app! Get that set up before you go! Should be a cheap taxi ride to the old port, ours from old port to the cruise terminal was 20 euros. There might be a bus, but I went to Cassis first and then did Marseille with MyTaxi. If you use MyTaxi to the edge of old port, may be cheaper than 20 euros because I was by the waterfront when I called it to go back to the cruise port.

 

I don’t know anything about the port bus because i didn’t use it, but the taxis that are inside the cruise terminal are reaaaaallly expensive and pushy, I recommend walking out of the port and calling a taxi or uber

 

The old port is maybe a 10 min drive to the cruise port. Didn’t see a lot of traffic at any times we took taxis either

 

 

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[JamesEM]

Thanks for the great photos, one thing about eating in Europe, you really can't go wrong, they all have great food, just the price varies from place to place.

[iluvit!]

Here's me freaking out in front of it

 

 

Looking at these paintings up close, the talent is just crazy. :eek:

 

 

 

 

As you can see from the hallway photos, it wasn't too crowded. Sept is the start of the slow season for Europe. I can't imagine how hot it would be in here if there were more people.

 

iPad photographer alert!!!

 

 

 

 

Regarding the AC, was this normal or was it out for some reason? You'd think there would be controlled climate for the health of the paintings. Did you encounter lack of AC in any other significant ways? (I'm from Houston where it's a given.)

 

 

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[aubreyc1988]

Regarding the AC, was this normal or was it out for some reason? You'd think there would be controlled climate for the health of the paintings. Did you encounter lack of AC in any other significant ways? (I'm from Houston where it's a given.)

 

 

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I thought the same thing about the paintings. But there was only a few places I saw there was AC, the Louvre, maybe in d'Orsay. But most places we went in Europe, no AC

[IrishLassie]

Loving your review & your pictures are BEAUTIFUL !

[aubreyc1988]

A couple other points about the Uffizi. Like I said, there's no AC in there, which was hot when walking around the galleries with all the people inside. If you need to go to the restroom, they are kind of far away from the galleries, but not a ton of stairs. The women's restrooms are fine, pretty normal but the heat in the bathrooms was unbearable. My husband said the mens restroom in Uffizi was really weird. I won't go into details about it, you can google it if you like :') So we didn't linger long at Uffizi after seeing the artwork and going to the bathroom!

 

Outside in the square we found this little gem...however the seller was no where to be found...maybe I'll be able to get one next time

 

 

And of course, the obligatory pictures of the locks everywhere you go in Europe

 

 

 

We then walked back from Uffizi to the meeting point, which was a short walk, maybe 10 minutes max to give you an idea. While waiting for people to get back to the meeting point, i went across the small side street to get a gelato. My husband said he didn't want any, but somehow he ended up eating most of it :')

[aubreyc1988]

 

left on time at 4:30PM and headed back to the bus. Then it took about an hour and half to get back to La Spezia, time for a nap...but I did snap a few photos

 

 

Doesn't it look like snow on the mountains??? So hard to believe that it is marble!!!

 

 

 

We got back to the port around 6:15-6:20, we were one of the last tours to come back, got to love that secure feeling of being with a Royal Caribbean Shore Excursion. I would not have gotten to do all of this if we had done it on our own!

 

While the Florence excursion had some flaws, like the smart devices being a non starter and the tour guide waiting forever for people to come back to meeting points, it's not a bad tour for the price. I would recommend it, but would suggest that you not count on the smart devices working and really add a lot of padding to your reservation times to the Uffizi/Accademia. In fact, I think you should do one or the other, both would be a scramble because of the potential of waiting around for people.

 

Up next, ROME :D

[aubreyc1988]

Thanks for the great photos, one thing about eating in Europe, you really can't go wrong, they all have great food, just the price varies from place to place.

 

Glad I am not the only one who thinks this, I'm hungry just thinking about it :hearteyes:

[aubreyc1988]

Loving your review & your pictures are BEAUTIFUL !

 

Thank you! So glad you are enjoying it! It's taking me a while, but I want to be as detailed as possible! I am trying to spend some more time on it this week, because I leave for another cruise on the 16th! :eek:

[Kcjarvis]

Great Review!!!!!!!!!

[aubreyc1988]

Rome (Docking in Civitavecchia)

Ok so here we are in Rome, one of the ports I was really looking forward to.

My best friend went to Rome the month before and has been several times so she was really helpful in planning. When I asked her about doing it on our own, she recommended against it because she told me the trains there can be unreliable. I was leaning towards doing a RCI excursion anyhow, just for peace of mind, and this just further solidified my decision. I ended up switching from Navigate Through Rome CVS2 to Train Transfer by Roma Express CVT3. I asked my friend which one, and she said xxpress private train, because of potential traffic in Rome, so I picked that one and I am very glad I did. For the sake of information, here is the exact breakdown of each tour.

Navigate Through Rome CVS2 (the one we didn't take)

Start time: 08:15 AM

 

End time: 005:45 PM

 

1:15 Drive to Rome by bus and local escort. On the coach, maps of Rome and emergency contact numbers will be given to passengers.

0:55 Upon arrival in Rome, enoy a panoramic drive passy by: Caracalla Baths, Circus Maximus, Colosseum, St. Mary Major Basilica, Via Veneto, Borghese Gallery.

0:10 Arrive at Coach Drop-off point at St.Peter's Square.

5:30 Free time at disposal for independent sightseeing, shopping.

0:10 Meet your tour escort at the designated meeting point and proceed to coach pick up point.

 

1:30 Return Drive to Civitavecchia.

Train Transfer by Roma Express CVT3 (the one we ended up doing)

08:00 AM - 08:20 AM Disembarkation and transfer by shuttle-bus to private train Roma Express.

08:20 AM - 09:10 AM Transfer by train to Rome - St Peter's Station.

09:10 AM - 03:40 PM Free time to explore Rome on your own and walk back to train.

03:40 PM - 04:30 PM Drive back to Civitavecchia by private train Roma Express.

04:30 PM - 05:00 PM Boarding on shuttle bus and transfer to ship.

As you can see, you get a bit more time in Rome with the CVT3 one.

When discussing Rome with my bestie, she recommended not doing both the Vatican and the Colosseum based on my time in port, so I decided to just do the pre purchased tickets for the Vatican, and hopefully get to swing by Trevi fountain and maybe the Pantheon.

Here was our visit a city plan for the day (with some buffer time included)

 

I bought tickets for the Vatican and Sistine Chapel at noon. I thought if we had time, we could add St. Peter's Basilica when we got there. Let me tell you right now, it's simply not possible to do that when you get there. The lines are SO long and it is very costly to get tickets to go in, about 40 Euros per person on TOP of what you pay for the Vatican.

[aubreyc1988]

So after meeting with the shore excursion group inside the theatre, they take you to a motor coach which takes you to the train station

 

 

Motorcoach was OK, not as nice as the one in Florence, but we were not in it for very long

 

Then it's a short walk to the train station, after the bus drops you off.

 

 

You walk through a tunnel to get to the station (at least for the private train)

 

 

 

And then you are at the station!

 

 

Across the tracks is where the regular public train comes to take people to Rome. We saw our table mates over there, taking the train there. They said it was a bit of a walk to get from the cruise ship to the train station, but that Royal Caribbean did offer a shuttle to take you there, but it was not complimentary.

 

Here's an artsy photo my husband took of our trusty travelon bag. Love the bag, but it did play a part in ruining those capris you see me wearing. Those Columbia capris were SO expensive and I bought them specifically for this trip, and on my right thigh, the fabric is pulled...very pulled. I think it's 1/2 the pants fault, as well as 1/2 the bag rubbing against my leg. So do take that into consideration when wearing the bag

 

[aubreyc1988]

The private train was late (Shocker! :rolleyes:) So we had some extra time to take some photos of the surrounding area and talk to our table mates across the tracks haha!

 

 

 

Train was about 10 minutes late when it arrived, but here it is! Pretty old timey, which I kind of liked.

 

 

Im not sure why this photo I took has the seats as purple, because they were definitely more red...that's iphones for ya!

 

 

This was more their true color (this was taken by an actual camera, so just better quality altogether)

 

[aubreyc1988]

Each window had these, which was nice to set a few things on. Seats were comfortable, so if you needed to nap on the way there or back, definitely doable and we definitely did!

 

 

Here's the space between the seats (See what I mean about the wear colors I am getting with my iphone 6? Is it time to upgrade yet? lol)

 

 

So if you take this tour, the tour operator will tell you that there is a bathroom on the train to use while the train is moving. When she said this in the AM, I was sleepy and was like "OK" and didn't think too much about it. So when I had to go to the bathroom and the train was moving, I was like "WHY NOT" I didn't even think about why the moving part of the train would factor into using the bathroom, as you probably have already figured out. Yes, its just OPEN air underneath that toilet seat. :eek: By the time you sit down, it's too late, you're committed :') You've been warned! It wasn't an experience I repeated on the way back, thankfully.

 

 

 

So the timetable got a little behind here, as our train had to stop for 10 minutes mid journey due to some train traffic, which I am sure it would have avoided if it would have been ON TIME!

[aubreyc1988]

Sorry so long on another entry, my sister got married this weekend and it was in another state :hearteyes:

 

We took a cab from the train station to the Coliseum. We used myTaxi app and it was about 10 euros.

 

 

 

 

My husband took this picture of me when I first saw the Coliseum, oh my goodness, is this how I looked the whole trip...#AmericanTouristAlert

 

 

 

Yes, I know it wasn't on my list of things to do, but we got to Rome a lot sooner than I expected and had 2 hrs before our timed Vatican entry tickets. Our tour guide gave us some great tips before we parted ways with her. She told us to go across the street to the Coliseum to Palatine Hill and buy tickets to the coliseum there, because most people don't know that you can do that and there won't be a line. Sure enough, this worked well and we didn't have to wait in line to get tickets or to get into the Coliseum!

[aubreyc1988]

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, there is a fair amount of people here. The time at the point where we started walking around in the coliseum was at 10:30am. Getting through the line and security took 5 minutes with the pass the line ticket we got from Palatine Hill. Prices at Palatine Hill were the same or close to the same as they were online

 

[Jenjer]

You are a life saver thank you for doing this. My DD has just changed her High School graduation trip from Alaska to Europe. All this info in one place Thank You, Thank You. Thank you.