We have just returned from this trip 3 - 30 October 2023. This is written posthumously from my diary and will be in several parts :
A year ago when perusing Facebook we saw an advert for a Mediterranean cruise with MSC for NZ$5,500 pp inclusive of flights. Seemed too good to be true but we applied for information and it seemed it was as advertised. We paid a small deposit and the rest over the next 8 months which also made it easy to get the funds together. When it came time to get the flights there was an extra NZ$500 pp cost to pay and we bought 3 ship excursions that we felt were absolutely necessary. We didn't buy any onboard packs (drinks, internet etc).
Time seems to be passing more and more quickly and what seemed to be a long time away suddenly was upon us. We arranged for a wonderful house/pet sitter to take care of things in New Zealand, packed a suitcase each and on October 3rd we flew to Rome. Our flight was with Emirates = Auckland to Dubai (17.25 hrs) stopover of 3.5 hrs, Dubai to Rome (6.15 hrs). Long flights but as we left Auckland at 9pm we were already ready to sleep so most of that first long journey disappeared into zzzz's.
Our arrival at Flumicino Airport, Rome was roughly 1.30pm Rome time and although the walk through the airport to baggage pickup, customs, then to the bus platform was a long one it was without issues. We missed the bus by 2 minutes and had to wait an hour for another whilst chatting to another Kiwi couple heading to the same cruise. By now we had met a few other groups heading for the same destination, including a family of about 20 of all ages. The bus we took reintroduced us to the Italian road rules, we sat in the front seats and had a bird's eye view of the crazy way Italians drive bringing back memories of when we drove around over here about 12 years ago. We chose this bus because it dropped us very close to our Rome hotel near the Vatican.
It was a nice hotel and we were fairly quickly settled into our room. Kent had a quick nap whilst I headed off to find an ATM that couldn't eat our card (this happpened to us in Afrika) and got some Euro cash and a couple of staples for the fridge from a small supermarket which was quite difficult to find. We headed straight out to walk around the city centre on a journey we had planned whilst at home taking in the Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps and we ate at a small local restaurant. Despite being evening there were a lot of people out and about and lots at each of the tourist sites. Dinner time in Italy is from 8 to 10pm approximately which can make for a long day if you are an early riser. Back to the hotel about midnight.
Our second day we caught an early taxi to the Roma Termini and got on the 6am train to Napoli where we had breakfast (E$4 for a cappucino, croissant and a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice) and caught another train to Pompeii. We had prepurchased all these tickets online in NZ, the sites weren't all exactly easy to navigate in English but we managed and had no hiccups when using them. Pompeii opened at 9am and we were the first ones through the gates. It's an amazing place to walk around, I wasn't that enthused about going to see a place where so many died but discovered it was more about visiting a city that had been frozen in time. It was very interesting although I ran out of steam well before Kent did so I just sat in the shade on the huge stones lining the streets and waited for him to finish exploring.
2 trains back to Rome again, the Rome - Napoli one was a fast train and on the return journey it had the speed showing in the carriage, it peaked at 300kmph which was pretty cool. Train travel is very reasonable as to cost, time and comfort.
Back in Rome we walked to the Colloseum and went through it catching the end of the day and so no lines and less people, still plenty of time to see it all. Next the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. The wander through the streets back to the hotel took us through some very interesting streets and buildings, it was late and many areas were lit up and especially along the river it was magical. We ate at our hotel and we so shattered (I did 23,941 steps and Kent 29,320!) that we could hardly converse with our maitre d' or eat very much. Bed and out to it!
No early start today, we only had to pack up and catch the metro to the Termini (much cheaper!) and try to find the train to Civitavecchia, the port near Rome. It was quite a mission and we only found the right platform by Kent reading the very small print on a very large poster. We stowed out bags and had a good trip to the station that was only a shuttle ride away from the port. We joined a long line of people dropping bags in one spot and carrying on to customs in another. It was all pretty seamless and quick and next thing we were on the huge liner called "MSC Divina" which was to be our home for the next 25 nights.
Our cabin was mid ship and mid levels, an internal cabin with a queen sized bed with sidetables, armchair, large wardrobe, desk and compact but perfectly ok ensuite. As we're in the cheapseats there's no porthole to look out or balcony for stargazing. We went up on deck and had an explore and sat by the pool in the sun. I haven't mentioned that the weather so far has been absolutely perfect.
We had been given a time of 7pm for dining in the Black Crab Restaurant each evening if we wish to otherwise there was a large buffet we could eat at at any time. Being the first night we chose the Restaurant and met a few more Kiwis seated with and near us. All very exciting. Each night there is to be a show on at the Pantheon Theatre so we went to see the show and headed to bed. So far it's fabulous and we have made the most of our time each day which we plan to continue to do going forward.
Next = we head East
