Way Overdue Trip Report - Splendour W.Med 10-29-05

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My apologies for this way way way overdue trip report. Haven't had time to get on the boards for a variety of reasons. Apologies also for the length and if some of the material has already been covered. I tried to include as much detail as I could for those like me who love details :)

Pre-Cruise Visit: Paris

Survived a total of 15 hours in flight, getting in to CDG at 7am. Had arranged for pick-up with http://www.bee-shuttle.com. I called the toll-free number while at baggage claim and got instructions to wait at exit #8. However when we got to the exit, the driver and van were not there. Didn’t see any more payphones so had to use our cellphone. We had to call the operator three more times before the driver showed up with the van and the driver just stared at us while we were loading the bags into the car. He didn’t even try to help at all. Anyway, we had the van to ourselves and it was comfortable enough. Lots of traffic going into Paris so got to the hotel around 10am already.

Stayed at Citadines Les Halles and they were kind enough to let us check-in early. The hotel’s location was excellent. There was a metro stop right outside (in front of the Novotel next door) and the Forum des Halles shopping center and lots of restaurants were also close by. It’s also about a 3 – 5 minute walk from the Centre Pompidou, Saint Eustache church and the Bourse de Commerce. The train station there is also one of the biggest in Paris I think. Several Metro lines and the RER suburban train pass through there, making it easy to get around. We bought 2 carnets of 10 tickets (rides), which you can use for as many people as you want and which is valid on the Metro, RER and buses. It was a lot cheaper than buying the 3 day unlimited pass for 18Euro per person.

What I found incredibly useful was a PDA program called Metro which you can download free. Just input the station you are coming from and the station or attraction you want to visit and it will tell you the quickest route there, the stations you have to change at and approximately how long it takes. They also have one with bus routes. They have databases for tons of cities around the world. It really saved us a lot of time and effort by not having to figure out what train to take and where to stop and change.

In the afternoon we went to Notre Dame. It wasn’t too crowded but the line to climb the towers was pretty long. I was already tired after the long flight and all so I didn’t bother. We just went inside and sat down. Take a good guidebook so you know what you are seeing. We had left ours at the hotel so we ended up buying a book there for 6 E.

After about 45 minutes of touring the church we took a cab to the famous Poilane bakery on Rue de Cherche Midi. Bought some croissants and the famous Pain Poilane for breakfast the next day. Didn’t see any taxi stand nearby so we walked around until we managed to catch one dropping off a passenger. Luckily he accepted 4 passengers (a lot of cabs will only take 3). The driver didn’t speak English but understood my French. He was really cheerful and pointed out the different sites on the way to Printemps Department Store on boulevard Hausmann. He asked if we were going to shop and I told him that we wanted to visit the branch of the famous Café Laduree there to eat the Macarons. He was amused although he didn’t seem to even know about the famous macarons! After he dropped us off we headed straight for the café and bought a box of 12 for about 12 Euros and headed to the rooftop café to eat it. The open-air section of the café has great views. We bought two bottles of water so we could sit down but it doesn’t seem like you actually have to order anything to be able to sit on the terrace.

The next day we headed for the Louvre. We bought tickets at FNAC the day before (with a 1.3E surcharge per ticket) but it wasn’t actually necessary. No lines to buy the tickets and there are even automated ticket machines. The Louvre is huge! Spent about 5 – 6 hours and maybe saw only 20%. We made a beeline for the Mona Lisa while it wasn’t too crowded. There weren’t too many people yet so we were able to get pretty close. They even let little kids in front of the protective railing so they can get a better view, which I think is nice. We regret that we didn’t get an audioguide though. We could’ve rented just one and passed it around between the four of us, an idea that didn’t hit us till we got to another museum in Spain.

We had lunch at the Café Richlieu in the Richlieu wing. Spent about 55 E including the tip for 2 lasagnas, 1 sandwich, 2 bottles of water, an orange juice and 2 slices of cake. A little over our budget but not bad since I expected the prices to be outrageous.

On our way out we went passed through the underground mall and took the exit that led directly to the Jardin des Tuileries. I was really awestruck by the beauty. It was a clear and sunny day so everyone was out walking, picnicking, eating gelato. We walked through the gardens, enjoying the clean, crisp air, onto Place de la Concord and stopped at the foot of the Champs Elysees where we took the #42 bus direct to the Eiffel Tower.

There was a very long line to go up the tower so my parents decided to sit and wait for us rather than stand in line. They bought some food at one of the stands at the base where my parents said the service was surly and where they shortchanged my Dad 10 E! He only realized it after he sat down and did not feel he could argue with the non-English speaking cashier.

We opted to go to the very top. It took us about 3 hours to finish and we spent much of that time in line. By the time we got down it was already dark and on a whim we decided to take the boat tour (Bateaux Parisiens) along the Seine. My parents loved it because it did involve any walking! It was really great though and at the end we got to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up. It was amazing!

After the tour we crossed Pont d’Iena and waited 15 minutes for bus #72 back to Chatelet.

The next day we planned to hit the Centre Pompidou for an hour before our bee-shuttle pick up at 11. Unfortunately the museum doesn’t open till 11 so we missed that. This time the shuttle was on time and we had the same driver. I don’t know why, but this time he helped us with our bags, thank goodness. The drive to Orly was much quicker than to CDG so we got to the airport in plenty of time to check-in for the Iberia flight to Barcelona and still had time to eat lunch.

The hotel:

As I previously mentioned, it was in a very good location. We booked a 1 bedroom apartment for the 4 of us. It had a double bed and a sofabed good for 2 people in the living room. It had a dishwasher, microwave, stove, plates and cooking utensils. It was rather small and looked a little worn but it was comfortable enough. I booked it through the Citadines website at 194 E per room night.

Another note:

I can’t remember who on the boards said that if you make an effort to speak French, even if the person you are speaking to knows English, you will get much better service. I found this to be very true. I think they are more patient with mangled French rather than people who expect them to speak English. Even with my rusty French I’d often still get a bemused smile from bus drivers, waitresses, salespeople etc. I guess they appreciate the effort.

Some prices of things in Paris

1 Carnet of 10 transport tickets – 10.7 E

Louvre Entrance (without surcharge) – 8.5 E

Bateaux Parisiens Tour – 9.5 E

Souvenir tin of biscuits at the Eiffel Tower shop – 7.5 E

Christmas ornament of Paris – 10 E

1 bottle of Evian about 750mL in the convenience store – 2.3 E

Ham and Cheese Crepe at the take-out stand of a café – 4 E

Margherita Pizza at sit-down Italian restaurant in Les Halles – about 8 E

Steak and Fries sit-down at “no atmosphere” (don’t know how else to describe it) restaurant – 7 E

12 mini croissants in a bakery – 3.5 E

Donut in a bakery – 1.4 E

Transfer with bee-shuttle from CDG to hotel 4 people – 68 E

Transfer with bee-shuttle from hotel to ORY 4 people – 62 E

Barcelona

Arrived at 3:30pm at Terminal B. We booked a transfer with Angie of Taxi Internacional based on the rave reviews on Cruisecritic, which are certainly justified. As promised the driver was waiting with a sign bearing my name right outside baggage claim. He was very friendly and even helped my Mom get her money changed. He pushed our luggage cart for us and loaded all our suitcases into his minivan. It looked small but it fit our 4 large suitcases and 4 carry-on bags perfectly. He spoke good English and told us about the places we were driving through on the way to the hotel.

We stayed at Apartments Marina on Carrer de la Marina, two blocks away from the Sagrada Familia. There is even a convenience store right outside. We decided to rest and dress for dinner since we were being picked up by a friend of my Mom’s. He took us to a well-known seafood restaurant named Botafumeiro (C/Gran de Gracia, 81. Website is www.botafumeiro.es) It specializes in Galician cuisine. I don’t know exactly what items we ordered because my Mom’s friend did the ordering for us but everything was delicious and the service outstanding. The waiter told us a lot of celebrities have eaten there, including Tom Cruise. One interesting thing we ate were barnacles. It looks like a teeny tiny, flattened rhinoceros foot. You have to break it open and suck the shrimp-like meat from it. We were told that sometimes people die trying to harvest those things!?! I don’t know how much the meal cost but it was definitely not cheap. My mom’s friend is a terrific host! When we left the restaurant at midnight, the place was still hopping.

The next day was Friday. We took a taxi to Placa Espanya to catch the train to Montserrat. Just follow the signs for the FGC (the logo looks like two intertwined paperclips). You can buy a ticket that includes a roundtrip train and Cremallera mountain train rides and unlimited rides on the funicular and 1 ride on the subway. Seems like a good deal but the cave where you take one of the funiculars to, was closed. The train (R5) leaves from platform 4 every :36 past the hour starting at 8:36. It takes about an hour – hour and a half. Get off at Monistrol station for the mountain train. A conductor comes through to check tickets and tell you at which stop to get off in since those who take the cable car get off one stop before.

Montserrat is beautiful. The church is very ornate inside. You can fall in line to go up and see the statue of the virgin. There is also a nice museum (you pay extra for it unless you got the combined ticket that includes lunch I think) with works by Picasso and Dali among others. We ate in the cafeteria. The food wasn’t bad and quite cheap but we think the almond cake was spoiled because my Dad ended up visiting the ship doctor because of it once we got on the Splendour the next day.

We took the train back to Barcelona at around 3:30. Check out the schedule posted near the info office for the times of the mountain train back to make sure you catch the train to Barcelona on time since it runs only every hour.

Back at Placa Espanya, we used our one free subway ride to get to the Picasso museum. The museum is about 5 blocks to the left from the exit of the Jaume I station. This was also a great museum. We finished in about an hour then hailed a taxi to take us to the shopping area. Again we had a nice driver who excitedly pointed us toward the huge Zara store and the El Corte Ingles on Placa Catalunya. The taxi ride was less than 3 E, almost as much as what we would have paid for the 4 of us to take the subway and walk!

After a few hours of shopping and with my wallet empty we headed back to the hotel to get some rest before Spanish-time dinner (10pm). We ate just across the street from our hotel, at a tapas bar called La Pedrera. It wasn’t expensive but very good. They have a menu in English. It didn’t seem to have a non-smoking section though, as with many other restaurants in Barcelona. This is the one thing that bothered me about Europe. I had to breathe in cigarette smoke, which I’m allergic to, everywhere.

Saturday morning before embarking on the ship we did errands like having our photos transferred from a memory card to a CD and mailing some books we bought home so we wouldn’t go over the weight limits (we are only allowed 20kgs each person). I paid 8 E to have a two memory cards transferred to a CD that you can already play on a DVD player. It was a bargain compared to the ship charges (US$15 per memory card + tax).

We also visited the Sagrada Familia but chose not to go inside. You can already see a lot from the outside. Two of our tablemates on the ship paid the 8 E to go inside and climb the steps. They regretted it because it was really tiring and they couldn’t turn back since the stairways are narrow and go only one way. Instead of eating lunch we went to Casa Mila, one of the Gaudi houses on Passeig de Gracia. There was a line for the elevator so my sister and I took the stairs thinking it was only 1 or 2 floors up. Big mistake! You have to go up 6 floors for the exhibits! We also went to the roof which had great views. Took a taxi back to the hotel where the driver (a different one) from Taxi Internacional was waiting with a large van for us. We left the hotel at around 3:15 and got to the ship before 4.

A note about the Barcelona Metro:

I don’t know if it was just me, but I found the turnstiles to the subway (well they are plastic doors so not really turnstiles) very tricky. It would validate the ticket but the doors wouldn’t open, perhaps you have to be standing at a particular spot or something. The first time it happened we asked an attendant for help but the second time we didn’t see anyone on our side. My ticket had already been validated but I was not able to go through so when my Dad pushed his ticket in, I went along. We were immediately called by the inspectors who had seen us and visions of me rotting in a Spanish jail started to flash through my mind. They examined our tickets but since they all had the proper validations, they let us go. If this happens to you, just try to look for an employee to help you out. You don’t want to be dealing with the police or fines on your vacation.

Prices of things for Barcelona

Transfer with Taxi Internacional – 35 E each way to/from airport, 28 E each way to/from port

Large (1.5 or 2 Liter) bottled water in convenience store – 0.51 E

Bar of chocolate from El Corte Inlges – 0.87 E

Gambas al Ajillo at Tapas Bar – about 8 E

Entrance to Casa Mila – 8 E each

Entrance to Museu Picasso – 6 E each

Montserrat ticket (return train, one metro ride, funicular rides) – 18 E

Lunch for four in Montserrat cafeteria – 26 E (I don’t have the price breakdown but it included a slice of pizza, a plate of calamares, two plates of sausage with veggie side dishes, two bottled waters and the darned almond cake)

Marseille

We got a pretty late start today. Left the ship at 10am. We wanted to take a taxi to the bus station to catch the bus to Aix-En-Provence. The taxi driver pretended not to understand my French (I know he did because later on he was already conversing with me). Anyway, they strong-armed us into the taking the taxi all the way to Aix for a fixed rate of 50E one way. This isn’t bad at all since we didn’t have to walk anymore nor wait for the bus, and especially if we had gotten others to share the taxi with us (it could fit 6). He dropped us off at the rotunda at 10:45. Since were planning to catch the 11 am mass at Eglise St. Madeleine and he pointed us towards it since he couldn’t drive there because of the narrow roads. Well he and many others pointed us towards the wrong church which was closed. Many others didn’t even know where the church was. We walked and walked and just as we were giving up, we found it, in front of the Palais de Justice and the flower market. Arrived just in time to hear the gospel. Because we went to mass we missed the morning market on Place Richelme. However we were able to buy Provencal style tablecloths and Christmas napkins at a store on the Cours Mirabeau. The napkins were only 1E each. Ate lunch at a small bistro just off the Cours Mirabeau.

Because it was Sunday there wasn’t much else to do. We didn’t see the bus that went to the Atelier Cezanne, in fact we only saw 2 buses the whole time we were there. We decided to walk to the bus station to go back to Marseille. It’s about a 5 minute walk from the main rotonde. The bus comes about every 5 – 10 minutes and stops in front of Quai # 1. It’s blue and clearly marked. However, when we got to the bus station in Marseille there were no cabs to be found. Because we didn’t plan on going around Marseille, we didn’t have a good map of the city – only holding the RCCL provided map which did not show where the bus station was so we could not figure out where we were in relation to the ship shuttle that goes to Vieux Port. Anyway, we waited about 10 minutes before we saw a cab – the driver was actually on his day off and was bringing his son to the bus station to send him back to his mother. He told us if we could wait for him about 20 minutes until the bus left he would drive us but if we found another taxi before then we should take it. Well, we didn’t see any other cab at all so after his son left, he drove us to the cruise terminal with his girlfriend sitting in the front seat. They were both very nice and spoke great English.

At the dock they have a couple of souvenir stands where we were able to do a lot of shopping. They had lavender soaps and sachets and Herbes de Provence. They were very reasonably priced and made great gifts to take back home.

Prices

Taxi from Marseille to Aix-En-Provence – 50 E

Bus from Aix-En-Provence to Marseille – 4.6 E

Taxi from Bus Station in Marseille to ship – 15 E

Lunch for 3 in Aix (2 pizzas, a salad, a Sprite and a large bottled water) – 36 E incl. tip

Villefranche-Sur-Mer

The ship was tendered today so we had to line up and take tender boats. We didn’t have any tours planned so did not have to jostle for an early tender. We got off the tender at 10am where the Villefranche-Sur-Mer tourist office greeted us with a sign that said “No Buses to Monaco today, take the train.” That certainly put a wrinkle in my plans. There were, however, buses running to Nice and the lady at the desk pointed us toward the bus station. I also heard her telling other people to get to Eze you have to take a taxi. The bus station is quite a walk uphill. I went ahead to check it out but decided halfway there that my Mom would not be able to handle it because of her problematic knees. We made our way to the train station (from the tourist office turn right and just walk along the water until you see the SNCF sign on the stone wall to your left). They have a special ticket for cruisers RT Villefranche-Monaco or Villefranche-Nice. We bought return tickets only for Monaco which turned out to be the right decision. Since I did not plan on taking the train, I did not bring the train schedules with me so we had to wait almost an hour for the next train. Well I certainly learned my lesson now – next time I’ll be prepared for anything! Anyway, as we got off in Monaco we took the exit on the right side of the station and walked down where we saw the bus stop of Place Sainte Devote. As we were waiting for a bus we saw the #100 bus that goes to Nice. This is the same bus that is supposed to stop in Villefranche. I never quite figured out what happened and why the woman in Villefranche told us no buses to Monaco. We made a plan to go straight to Nice after we toured Monaco even if it meant not using the other half of our RT ticket.

Before your trip, write to the tourist office of Monaco and request for a map. They send a great one which is very informative about the bus routes and is also a very accurate and easy to read street map. We caught the #2 bus to go to Monaco Ville and bought the tourist day pass from the driver. I think it is good for 8 rides which is more than enough. We got down in Monaco Ville, right in front of the Chocolaterie de Monaco. Of course we had to go inside and take a look. They had some wonderful and delicious looking chocolate (also quite expensive). We just bought a box of 4 small pieces.

We walked down the street on the left of the Chocolaterie making our way down to the Palace. We got there just in time for the changing of the guard. I barely saw anything though since everyone had staked out their place earlier and they were all taller than me! I still got a beautiful view of the sea and the mountains at the lookout point to the right of the palace.

From the palace it was a short walk to the Cathedral. With your back facing the palace, I believe it is down the rightmost street. We even saw some fancy car pull into a garage cum elevator. Spent some time at the Cathedral then walked down past the aquarium and the small tourist train station to go back to the bus stop and catch the bus to the Casino.

At the casino we took a few pictures but all the restaurants looked expensive so we decided to catch another bus and head to the Fontevielle commercial center. There was a McDonald’s but I refused to eat there because I was not going to Europe to eat food I could easily get back home. We happened upon a stand serving pastas in the courtyard. It was really cheap and although I saw that it was just heated up frozen food, it tasted pretty good. I think the people who run it are Italian. After lunch we went inside the Carrefour and bought bottled water and chocolates.

At around 3pm we took another bus. I asked the driver if there was indeed bus service to Nice and he told us there was and to catch it at Place Sainte Devote, the bus stop outside the train station. The driver took us another route so we were able to see another part of Monaco. We were glad we decided not to pay the 6 E each for the small tourist train because taking the bus was much cheaper and we got to go all over.

We waited at Place Sainte Devote for about 10 minutes for the bus. We saw a #100 bus but the driver didn’t allow us to get on. It turns out that when the #100 bus stops there with a Monaco sign on the front it is dropping off passengers from Nice on the way to the last stop. After another 5 minutes we saw the #100 bus with a Nice sign and got on.

The ride to Nice went through the winding mountains. I think we were behind the #112 bus that stops at Eze. The #100 bus is not supposed to stop at Eze. I had printed out the list of stops and was following it but I swear we stopped at Eze Village. The sign on where the bus stopped said Eze Village and I saw one of the perfume stores (I think it was Galimard) right beside it. I never quite figured it out. If I had known the bus would be stopping at Eze, which I originally planned to visit, we could have left Monaco earlier so we could spend some time there before going to Nice.

Anyway, we continued onto Nice and got off at the Le Port stop walking along the water. Stopped at another chocolate place called Confisserie Florian. You can tour the workshop and watch them make the chocolate before going upstairs to buy some of the chocolates. Most were quite pricey but I did buy chocolate covered caramelized orange slices which were heavenly!

By this time my Dad was already tired and quite antsy to get back to the ship so we did not get to walk all the way to the Promenade des Anglais. We found a taxi stand and took a taxi back to Villefranche. I had read somewhere on the boards that a ticket on the bus was also valid for a day return – some people had also told our tablemates the same thing, however when they tried to use the ticket to return from Nice to Villefranche, they were told that they had to buy new ones. It was only a couple of bucks and not worth arguing about so they just paid.

Looked around the shops in Villefranche before getting in line for the tender. Mom and sister bought some lavender essence and we made a stop at the Casino convenience store where we bought mineral water to take back onto the ship. Everyone is right about Villefranche being a charming little town. I was very tempted to eat dinner at one of the cafes there since the ship left at 10pm that night but we passed on it because it would be an extra expense.

Prices

RT Villefranche-Monaco train – 4.6 E each

Bus from Monaco to Nice – 3.90 E

Lasagna at outdoor pasta café in Monaco – 6 E

Tourist Day Pass for Monaco Bus – 3.5 E (a single journey is 1.4 E)

Taxi from Nice to Villefranche – 28 E

Small bottled water in Carrefour – 0.19 E

Large bottled water in “Casino” convenience store in Villefranche – about 0.50 E

Box of 4 small chocolates at Chocolaterie de Monaco – 3 E

1 piece chocolate covered caramelized orange slice at Confiserie Florian in Nice – 1.50 E

Florence

We booked a tour with Tuscany By Taxi for today, sharing with a couple (Ron and Sang) we met on cruisecritic. They sent us a car for 4 people – I guess they did not get my e-mail saying that there were now 6 of us. The driver called someone and in 5 minutes they sent a new van that could actually fit 8 if 2 people squished in front beside the driver. The original driver was very nice – he didn’t get mad at all about the mix-up. Luckily for him, he was able to find a group of 3 or 4 to take his cab. Anyway, the 6 of us fit comfortably in the van. It was a holiday (Nov. 1) so there was no traffic. We got to Florence in about an hour. However, Sang said she noticed the driver, Ricardo, seemed to be sleepy/closing his eyes while driving so she started talking to him. Those of us sitting in the back seat didn’t notice and we got to Florence in one piece. We first stopped at Piazzale Michelangelo for great views of the city. We also did a little souvenir shopping at the stalls around although Ricardo advised there are cheaper stores in the city center.

After Piazzale Michelangelo we drove down into the center and stopped at Santa Croce square to see the church. Because it was All Saint’s Day we could only stay at the back part of the church since there was mass going on. Took a few photos of Michelangelo’s and Galileo’s tombs and went back outside. Found small jewelry or pill boxes with Florentine designs at a souvenir stall. 2 E each or 5 pieces for 8 E. I also found nice postcards for 0.25 E each. Got one of the interior of Santa Croce since it was too dark to take good photos (the guard told us no flash allowed).

We told Ricardo that we had reservations for the Accademia at 11am. He drove us through the city and showed us the meeting place – Piazza della Republica – before going to the Accademia. He parked on the street and came with us to the entrance. It was pretty chaotic outside even by the side marked for those with reservations. We still had to wait about 10 minutes to get in. I think they only let a limited number of people inside at a time. Ricardo talked to the man at the entrance for us and once we were let inside came with us to the ticket counter. The man at the counter insisted our reservation was only for 2 instead of 4 but Ricardo convinced him to let us buy 4 tickets. Spent about an hour in the Accademia. It’s not that big so you get to see everything. The statue of David is amazing and a must-see! It’s really the work of a genius. They also have good and free restrooms so use them here if you need to.

As we exited the Accademia we saw the line for those without reservations – it was a few blocks long. If you are in Florence on a cruise, I suggest calling ahead and getting reservations or else you’ll spend the whole day in line. There is also a photo store across the entrance to the Accademia. They had a sign that says they transfer photos from memory cards to CDs in half an hour. Since you can’t take photos inside the Accademia anyway, you can give them your memory card, go into the museum and pick up the CD when you are done. I didn’t do this but I regretted that I didn’t when I found out later that night how much it cost on the ship!

Anyway, once you exit the Accademia turn left and walk straight down and you’ll hit The Duomo. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant near the Duomo – Bucca Nicolini. The pizza was pretty good although they forgot that we asked for extra mushrooms. Mom liked their gnocchi.

After lunch we bought some gelato near the Duomo. Make sure you tell the server that you want the smallest cup if that is what you want. We told her “small” and she still gave us pretty large ones that cost 8 E each – more than my pizza for lunch! It was expensive but very good. I got the Mars flavored one. After the gelato we lined up for the Duomo. We thought it would take long but it moved really quickly that we didn’t even get to finish our gelatos. Spent about half an hour inside. They have audioguide booths that you drop 1 E in and two people can listen to it at the same time. We found this to be a pretty good deal. As we exited the Duomo it started pouring! This was the only time in the two weeks we were in Europe that it rained. We had smartly left our umbrellas in the taxi so we waited it out at the doorway to the Duomo. It stopped after about 10 minutes. We crossed the street and looked at the baptistery doors then walked down the road between the Duomo and the baptistery toward Piazza Signoria where we took some great photos. We were meeting Ricardo and Ron and Sang at 3:30 pm at Piazza della Republica so we didn’t make it to Ponte Vecchio. I wasn’t interested in buying leather or gold anyway so it was no big deal. I do hope to go back to Florence to visit the Uffizi though.

The Florence tourist office also mails out a great map if you ask them. And while things looked far from each other on the map, they are not. It’s so easy to walk around Florence, probably much quicker than taking a taxi or bus since a lot of zones are pedestrian-only ones.

Left Florence at 3:30 pm and drove for about an hour to Pisa. The others are right – there is not much to see or do in Pisa aside from the leaning tower. We missed going into the church but took some photos of the outside. There were only a few people lined up to climb the tower but I didn’t know how long it would take and we only had 30 minutes in Pisa. Mom did some souvenir shopping again – buying clip on earrings with Florentine designs for 3.50 E. We left Pisa at 5:15pm and made it back to the ship before 6pm.

Prices of things for Pisa/Florence

Tour for 6 with Tuscanybytaxi – 320 E (price is per car, just tell them ahead how many people will actually ride)

Margherita pizza in Bucca Nicolini restaurant – about 7 E

Tickets to the Accademia with reservation fee - 9.50 E

Rome

For Rome we had a rather unconventional arrangement. I had originally wanted to book Stefano from Romecabs but he was already busy. We could not fit a 500E private tour into our budget anymore so we were going to go by train/metro. A friend of Dad’s lives in Rome and when we wrote him asking for tips, he recommended a woman who does airport transfers and city tours. She charges 20E per hour. I e-mailed her to ask if she could pick us up at the port but she couldn’t and told us we could take the train and meet at Termini. She would then drive us around for the day and deposit us back at Termini for the train to Civitavecchia.

We left the ship at 7:30am and caught the free port shuttle. RCCL also has a shuttle that runs into the center of Civitavecchia, but it only starts at 8am and the charge is US$5 one way. When I got off the ship and was looking for the free shuttle, I chatted with a fellow passenger. Well, she insisted that you have to pay for the shuttle and that she was told it would only start in another half an hour. Thanks to cruisecritic I knew better. She didn’t want to believe me but it’s her $5…I left her beside the RCCL shuttle bus and walked to the left where we chanced upon the free port shuttle. It says “Navetta Gratuita” on the front.

In the shuttle there were a bunch of Spanish passengers from the Grand Mistral which was also in port. As we got off at the port gates, one of them shouted in English: “Everyone going to the train station, I’m not a guide but you can follow me.” Well, it sure saved us a lot of effort even if the station is not hard to find. The train station is down the road to the left from the port gates, across the water. You can buy the BIRG ticket for 9E that includes RT train, and unlimited metro and buses. Don’t forget to validate it in the yellow boxes before riding. No one actually came through to check our tickets though.

We caught the 8:12 train. If you plan on visiting the Vatican, get off in Roma San Pietro – it’s about another 10 minutes maybe from Roma San Pietro to Roma Termini and you’ll be closer to the Vatican already. We got to Termini around 9:40. We called our guide who was supposed to meet us. Well, we got lost in Termini and spent 20 minutes and about 5 cellphone calls looking for our guide. Termini is really huge. If you want to go out of the main entrance to Termini, from where the train stops go straight until you reach the main gallery, don’t go down the stairs nearest to the platform, although that will take you to where all the taxis wait.

We finally got going at 10am. We asked her to drive us straight to the Vatican so we could line up for the museums. I had faxed for a reservation a month before but did not get any reply (actually they had e-mailed me my reservation after I had already left home but I did not get to check my mail until the ship’s day at sea – I hope my name doesn’t get put on some blacklist since I didn’t show up for the reserved guided tour). The line was several blocks long so we spent another 20 minutes arguing whether or not line up. Talk about how to waste your time in Rome. Finally at 11am we decided to give it a shot and fell in line. We made it to the entrance in about 30-40 minutes. Turns out the line is actually just to x-ray the bags. Buying tickets once you are inside is no problem. Since it was already November, the museum closes at 1:45pm so we cruised through the museum to get to the Sistine chapel, which is what we really wanted to see. We did stop at the Raphael rooms though. It’s a really long walk to the Sistine chapel from the entrance – it took us a good 40 minutes maybe. We spent about 15 minutes in the chapel. I saw the exit that leads to St. Peter’s Basilica that is supposed to be reserved for guides However, it was still closed since the Basilica itself was not yet open (great info I got thanks to superagentnyc’s great review). We later regretted not waiting for it to open because we spent another hour in St. Peter’s square lining up for the Basilica versus waiting maybe 20 minutes for that exit to open.

We mailed a few postcards from the post office before exiting. We ran into our tablemates from the ship who had gotten to see the Pope and were among the last group to get into the museums before they stopped admitting people at 12:20.

Our guide drove us to St. Peter’s Square where we lined up for the Basilica. This line seemed to take much longer and was much much more disorganized than the line for the museums. The line is also the x-ray the bags. People cut in line on more than one occasion. We even saw a guide from one of the ship tours from the Millenium even tell off some of those people in Italian but they didn’t seem to care. People were pushing and squeezing like crazy. We were glad we got in line when we did though because after about 20 minutes, the line grew exponentially with all the tour groups coming in after lunch.

We finally made it into the Basilica. It’s really amazing. However, I expected I would be able to sit and pray for awhile but because there are a lot of people, it is not exactly quiet inside. They also remove all the benches except for the ones in front and it’s closed off to the public. We spent about half an hour inside.

After the Vatican we went to Piazza Navona. I wanted to grab a panini for a quick lunch since it was probably around 2:30 already. Well there were no take out stands here and Dad wanted to sit down for lunch. We sat the first café we saw (Café Quattro Fiumi I think) and ordered pasta and pizza. Apparently the pasta takes long in nice restaurants in Italy because they cook it to order. It took about 30 minutes to finish lunch.

From Piazza Navona we dashed to the Pantheon and had a quick look inside. There are lots of people but thankfully no line and no admission fee. Our guide then drove us to the Fontana di Trevi, through lots of traffic. It’s probably better to walk since on the map, the Pantheon and Fontana don’t look too far away. We dashed to the fountain took a few quick pictures and tossed the coins over our shoulders. We were there for only about 5 minutes, maybe less. By now it was already 4pm. The train back to Civitavecchia left at 4:35. No time to see the Spanish Steps and the Colosseo.

We got to Termini at 4:20. It’s a long walk from the entrance to the platform (I think it’s #27). We ran almost all the way and made it, out of breath but with about 5 minutes to spare. At least we got seats on the train. Saw a couple of other cruisers barely make it. I think they stood all the way to Civitavecchia.

The trains in Italy do not have a list of stops posted inside the train, nor are there any announcements about which stop is next. While Civitavecchia is logically the last stop, I still wanted to make sure. You can barely see the station names as you are pulling in since it was already dark. If you are unsure just ask the other people on the train. Better safe than sorry.

Once we got off in Civitavecchia, we bought some things at the convenience store at the station before walking back to the port gates for the free shuttle. I think it comes every 5 or 10 minutes. When you ride, they ask you which ship you are on – I think there is more than one free shuttle because of all the cruise ships that dock there. When we rode, it was the same driver from 7:30 that morning. Poor guy must’ve been driving back and forth the whole time. Made it back to the Splendour around 6:15.

If I could do Rome all over again, I would’ve just booked one of the private guides to pick us up and bring us back to the ship and saved myself a lot of effort. While we saved money, we were not able to see everything we wanted to because we wasted a lot of time looking for our guide in Termini then driving back to the Vatican from Termini, when we could’ve gotten off at the San Pietro station. The guide was not very good. She was not Italian nor was born there so she was not really familiar with the history of the city. I think she is really more used to doing airport transfers rather than city tours.

Prices

BIRG train, bus, metro ticket – 9E

Vatican Museum entrance – 12 E

5 hours tour with private driver – 100 E

Lunch for 4 at café in Piazza Navona (1 pizza, 2 pastas, 1 bottled water, 1 softdrink) – 50 E including tip

Naples

For this tour, I booked Giovanni Lerusce based on the recommendations I got from cruisecritic. His e-mail is giovanni.lerusce@tin.it I booked him 5 months in advance and got a rate of 350 for up to 6 people. It was a good thing I booked him when I did because shortly after he changed his rate to 350 for 4 people and 385 for 6. We again shared this tour with Ron and Sang. Anyway, when we got off the ship, Giovanni was already waiting for us with his absolutely lovely Mercedes van. We all kept complimenting his van that I think at one point he was already embarrassed. The 6 of us fit comfortably inside. Giovanni also looked very professional. My Mom says he looked like an executive in his navy blue suit!

We drove to Pompeii first, catching a glimpse of the infamous traffic on the other side of the highway. It did look terrible and I’m so used to horrible traffic back home. It was a beautiful clear day, not a cloud in the sky so we had great views of Vesuvius. We arrived at Pompeii just after it opened at 8:45 am. We saw a lot of guides gathering groups but we decided earlier that we were comfortable exploring on our own. We rented one audioguide and grabbed some of the free maps.

We all enjoyed Pompeii. It was really cool to imagine the people living there 2,000 years ago. It is rather difficult for older people to walk around though because the paths are stony and uneven. We saw an elderly gentleman on what I think was a shore excursion lose his footing and fall. I think he hit the side of his head but he got up and seemed ok, especially for someone his age. I hope he had nothing more than bruises. We did not make it to the ampitheater because it was too far from the entrance we used (Port Marina entrance). We did see highlights like the baths and the house of the faun though.

At 10:45 we met Giovanni outside the entrance. We also bought some orange granitas in the stand while waiting for him. They were delicious! Giovanni said that there was a protest going on the road to the Amalfi coast so he would take us through the back way through the mountains, first stopping at Ravello. Half-way up, we stopped at a lookout point to take some photos and get a nice view of the Bay of Salerno.

We got to Ravello at noon and agreed to meet back at the car at 12:30. We visited the church of San Pantaleone, an old church from the 11th century where the saint’s blood miraculously liquefies each year during his feast day. We bought some souvenirs and paid 0.50E to use the bathroom at the bottom of the stairs on the left side of the square. At least it was a clean and well-supplied bathroom. We were on our way back to the car when we ran into Giovanni sitting at one of the cafes. This is when we had a little mix-up. He told us if we wanted to grab a “light lunch” before heading to Amalfi, he would wait for us. By “light lunch” we thought some pasta that would take maybe half an hour – 45 minutes. Saw Ron and Sang and they were ok with meeting back up after 45 minutes. Apparently, when Giovanni said “light lunch” he meant a quick snack. We walked into the Ravello tourist office who told us the best place to eat was Villa Maria, at the top of the town. It was about a 5-10 minute walk up the mountain on paved roads/stairways but quite difficult to get to still. The place was beautiful though. It had a great view and fantastic pasta and risotto, probably the best meal we had on the whole trip. It took longer than we anticipated though including the walk up and down the mountain.

When we got back down to the car, Ron and Sang were waiting for us. They told me Giovanni had been upset because apparently we were supposed to have lunch in Amalfi. Giovanni himself asked me what happened – he did look a little ticked off. I apologized and told him we had misunderstood what he meant by light lunch. He seemed annoyed the rest of the day but he still acted very professionally. I guess it was truly a misunderstanding or a cultural/language difference (although we were both communicating in perfect English the whole time). Looking back, I guess I should have cleared a new meeting time with him.

Anyway, we then made our way to Amalfi where Giovanni had to make some tricky moves on the narrow road when we came face to face with a large truck. He is a good and safe driver so we weren’t nervous at all. In Amalfi he dropped us off near the parking area by the beach. We bought some gelato for 2E per cup, took some photos and went into the main square where we bought some limoncello to take home. They had small bottles in funky glass containers shaped like guitars or shoes for only 2.5E.

The church was closed so we took photos from the outside and stopped to buy some souvenir dishtowels (also 2.5E each). We made it a point not to be late this time. We spent about half an hour in Amalfi but it would’ve been nicer to get to explore a little bit more.

After Amalfi we drove through Praiano on the way to Positano. Giovanni parked along the main road and we had to walk down to the village. We only had 30 minutes and after taking some pictures of the great view, we only had enough time to walk down, browse in a few shops then walk back up the steep road. We did not even go all the way down. It would’ve been nice to spend some more time here as well. The view here was fantastic!

By the time we got back to the car Giovanni said it was time to make our way back to Napoli. It seemed pretty early to me but of course we did not want to get stuck in traffic. We also drove through Castellamare di Stabia and Giovanni pointed out the gates of his house to us.

We did not hit any traffic on the way back to Naples. We were back on the ship at 5pm. Despite the misunderstanding, it was a great day. The Amalfi coast is so beautiful and the towns all so charming. It was rather relaxing compared to the harried pace we had in Florence and Rome where there is so much to see. It was a nice change to just ride along and enjoy the scenery.

Day at Sea and Ship

My sister and I shared an interior stateroom on deck 6 (6583). My parents had an ocean view on deck 3 (3000). Our stateroom was really comfortable and we hardly missed the window, except it was a little hard to get up in the morning without seeing any sun. Our room was larger than we had anticipated so we were pleasantly surprised. There is also lots of storage space in the closet, drawers, under the beds, even in the bathroom. On our day at sea we slept until almost noon because were both so tired.

I’m not a frequent cruiser so I can’t really comment on how the ship compares to others (our last cruise was in 2000 on the Viking Serenade). But it did not look old at all to me, but it did not look brand new either.

We had a wonderful stateroom attendant, Jairo. He was really jolly and always left our room spotless. We loved the towel animals too!

I can’t really comment on any of the activities because I didn’t join any.

[4 cruisers]

Loved your review! We too took the Splendour but in 2003. One of our favorite cruises since it was my parents' first and it was their 50th anniversary gift from us. I will treasure the memories forever!!!

 

Silly thing, but I thought I'd mention that the train station in Civitavecchia is to your RIGHT as you exit the port after being dropped off by the free port bus. You walk along the water to the right but then the train station IS on the left. LOL! I too learned this from a fellow Cruise Critic before our trip that year. Your report was super thorough and wonderful, but that is just something I thought I'd mention. I enjoyed re-living our trip through your great review! Thanks!!!

[pc21214]

Hi 4cruisers. You're right about the train station being to the right! Thanks for pointing that out.

 

We loved our cruise too. For us it was my parents 30th wedding anniversary, I'd sure love to go again on their 50th! :)

[4 cruisers]

Funny but we recommended this cruise to my best friend and her family (her mom's 90th birthday celebration) and they hated the ship!!! Just goes to show how we all look for different things in cruising, I guess! My husband and I were just discussing it and we liked the food on the Splendour cruise as well as our last Celebrity Century cruise! It was A LOT cheaper trip too!!!