< Continued from page 2
St. Paul's Church in Rome was very interesting. The interior of the Church has portraits of every Pope that has ever lived. The Portrait of Pope John Paul II was illuminated, and the portrait of Pope Benedict XVI hasn't been painted, yet. When I last visited this Church in 1969, the legend that I recall was that the earth would come to an end when there was no longer space for a Pope's portrait. In 1969, I think there was space for 15 more Pope's portraits.
Today, there are only 8 spaces left and one of those spaces is for Pope Benedict XVI.
Fabio also took us to a small café for a quick and inexpensive lunch before starting the tour. Fabio dropped us off at the Marriott Courtyard at about 7:15pm. The tour with Fabio cost 650 euros for the 8 of us plus 10 euros per person for Coliseum tickets and 5 euros per person for the tour of the Catacombs of Domitilla.
Day 2 was a long day, but we saw and did so much. If you're taking a tour of Rome's major attractions, I'd recommend that you do the Vatican and St. Peter's separately on your own. There is just so much to do and see at the Vatican and St. Peter's. You can't do it in a couple of hours. We ate dinner at a nice restaurant in the town of Fiumcino and with wine and tip, we spent 40 euros per couple. The restaurant was unusual in that it had a ceiling comprised of grape vines and leaves that were full of mature grapes.
Third Day-Getting Ready for Embarkation
Once again, it was another sunny day in Rome.
We all got up late (two more couples flew in the day before and the last couple in our 8 couple group flew in this morning). After breakfast, we headed to the Bancomat for more euros. We also went back to the grocery store to resupply our wine stock to take on the ship (Carnival allows you to bring wine on board the ship during embarkation only-see the paragraph in your ticket under the heading of "liquor and beverage policy"). Each couple bought from 3 to 12 bottles to take on board the Liberty.
I had previously arranged via e-mail with Salvatore Lucibello for the transfer of 16 of us from the Marriott Courtyard to the port city of Civitavecchia, where the Liberty is docked. I asked to be picked up at 1:30pm, and the driver arrived with a 55 seat bus at 1:15pm. The 16 of us looked lost on this big bus. The cost of the transfer for the 16 of us was 300 euros, or about 18.75 euros per person. Carnival was charging $65 per person for a one-way transfer.
We arrived at the Carnival Liberty in just under one hour. We never had to wait to get on the ship. It was fantastic. We've taken a lot of cruises and this was by far the quickest and easiest embarkation we've ever had. Our dinner reservations were perfect-late sitting with two side-by-side rectangular tables (sitting 8 each) for 8:00pm in the lower level of the Golden Olympian Restaurant. We had an ocean view category 6A cabin (cabin 2375) on the Main Deck. All of the other couples, except two that were in inside cabins, had similar ocean view cabins on the Main Deck. As soon as we checked out our cabin, we hit the buffet lunch on the Lido Deck. Next, we checked out the ship and some of the new features, such as the huge outdoor video screen just above the Lido Deck pool and the Fish & Chips Bar on Deck 10 just above the Lido Deck buffet. The sports bar was a disappointment because it didn't get ESPN. I was hoping to catch some college football on Saturday, September 3.
After the muster drill, I headed for the pizza bar at the aft area on the Lido Deck. I had previously agreed to meet my fellow Cruise Critic members that had posted over 700 messages to the thread for the August 25, 2005, sailing of the Liberty. It was so nice to put a face with so many screen names. This included not only Richard from Scotland that started the thread over a year before the cruise was to begin, but also Jim from California that had provided the thread with a wealth of valuable information.
Fourth Day-Naples, Italy
It was another sunny day in Italy. We had previously arranged via e-mail with Salvatore Lucibello for an all day tour of Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. The 16 of us met Anna, our guide, and her driver, Agastino, shortly after 8:00am. Our first stop was the ruins of Pompeii. The entrance fee was 10 euros per person. Anna then took us on a guided 2 hour tour of the ruins. It was fascinating standing among the ruins and just trying to imagine what it looked like before disaster struck. The consensus in our group was that 2 hours was about the right amount of time for Pompeii. We then got back on air conditioned bus and headed for the Amalfi Coast. We passed through or saw many towns, such as Sorrento, Positono, and Amalfi. The views along this scenic and very winding road were just spectacular. The homes and villas just seemed to be cut into or away from the sides of extremely steep slopes.
Page 4 > > Mediterranean Cruise on the Carnival Liberty - More on a Day in Naples and Touring Dubrovnik > >
St. Paul's Church in Rome was very interesting. The interior of the Church has portraits of every Pope that has ever lived. The Portrait of Pope John Paul II was illuminated, and the portrait of Pope Benedict XVI hasn't been painted, yet. When I last visited this Church in 1969, the legend that I recall was that the earth would come to an end when there was no longer space for a Pope's portrait. In 1969, I think there was space for 15 more Pope's portraits.
Today, there are only 8 spaces left and one of those spaces is for Pope Benedict XVI.
Fabio also took us to a small café for a quick and inexpensive lunch before starting the tour. Fabio dropped us off at the Marriott Courtyard at about 7:15pm. The tour with Fabio cost 650 euros for the 8 of us plus 10 euros per person for Coliseum tickets and 5 euros per person for the tour of the Catacombs of Domitilla.
Day 2 was a long day, but we saw and did so much. If you're taking a tour of Rome's major attractions, I'd recommend that you do the Vatican and St. Peter's separately on your own. There is just so much to do and see at the Vatican and St. Peter's. You can't do it in a couple of hours. We ate dinner at a nice restaurant in the town of Fiumcino and with wine and tip, we spent 40 euros per couple. The restaurant was unusual in that it had a ceiling comprised of grape vines and leaves that were full of mature grapes.
Third Day-Getting Ready for Embarkation
Once again, it was another sunny day in Rome.
We all got up late (two more couples flew in the day before and the last couple in our 8 couple group flew in this morning). After breakfast, we headed to the Bancomat for more euros. We also went back to the grocery store to resupply our wine stock to take on the ship (Carnival allows you to bring wine on board the ship during embarkation only-see the paragraph in your ticket under the heading of "liquor and beverage policy"). Each couple bought from 3 to 12 bottles to take on board the Liberty.
I had previously arranged via e-mail with Salvatore Lucibello for the transfer of 16 of us from the Marriott Courtyard to the port city of Civitavecchia, where the Liberty is docked. I asked to be picked up at 1:30pm, and the driver arrived with a 55 seat bus at 1:15pm. The 16 of us looked lost on this big bus. The cost of the transfer for the 16 of us was 300 euros, or about 18.75 euros per person. Carnival was charging $65 per person for a one-way transfer.
We arrived at the Carnival Liberty in just under one hour. We never had to wait to get on the ship. It was fantastic. We've taken a lot of cruises and this was by far the quickest and easiest embarkation we've ever had. Our dinner reservations were perfect-late sitting with two side-by-side rectangular tables (sitting 8 each) for 8:00pm in the lower level of the Golden Olympian Restaurant. We had an ocean view category 6A cabin (cabin 2375) on the Main Deck. All of the other couples, except two that were in inside cabins, had similar ocean view cabins on the Main Deck. As soon as we checked out our cabin, we hit the buffet lunch on the Lido Deck. Next, we checked out the ship and some of the new features, such as the huge outdoor video screen just above the Lido Deck pool and the Fish & Chips Bar on Deck 10 just above the Lido Deck buffet. The sports bar was a disappointment because it didn't get ESPN. I was hoping to catch some college football on Saturday, September 3.
After the muster drill, I headed for the pizza bar at the aft area on the Lido Deck. I had previously agreed to meet my fellow Cruise Critic members that had posted over 700 messages to the thread for the August 25, 2005, sailing of the Liberty. It was so nice to put a face with so many screen names. This included not only Richard from Scotland that started the thread over a year before the cruise was to begin, but also Jim from California that had provided the thread with a wealth of valuable information.
Fourth Day-Naples, Italy
It was another sunny day in Italy. We had previously arranged via e-mail with Salvatore Lucibello for an all day tour of Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. The 16 of us met Anna, our guide, and her driver, Agastino, shortly after 8:00am. Our first stop was the ruins of Pompeii. The entrance fee was 10 euros per person. Anna then took us on a guided 2 hour tour of the ruins. It was fascinating standing among the ruins and just trying to imagine what it looked like before disaster struck. The consensus in our group was that 2 hours was about the right amount of time for Pompeii. We then got back on air conditioned bus and headed for the Amalfi Coast. We passed through or saw many towns, such as Sorrento, Positono, and Amalfi. The views along this scenic and very winding road were just spectacular. The homes and villas just seemed to be cut into or away from the sides of extremely steep slopes.
Page 4 > > Mediterranean Cruise on the Carnival Liberty - More on a Day in Naples and Touring Dubrovnik > >