The Great Adventure! VISION OF THE SEAS 12-Night Med Cruise: A Full PICTORIAL Review!

[Nicole721]

We opted out of the optional tour and demo and headed off to do what we do best: shop. Shopping prices were much better in Sorrento than in Capri. You can get pashminas and scarves for as low as €3, so we stocked up on those. We also hit a perfumerie, a souvenir market to pick up some magnets and postcards and stopped into a few salumerias to check out the limoncello options (it is the local liquor!).

 

 

 

 

Across this trip, I’d bought liquor and honey in Montserrat, perfume in Grasse, leather in Florence, coffee in Greece and ceramics in Turkey, but I still had one purchase I had to find: a wooden music box. Inlaid woodwork is one of the must-buy items on the Amalfi Coast and it seemed like such a special piece to buy. Thankfully, our meeting point was right near a woodwork gallery. We weren’t sure how much was a good price for these, but the €55 price tag (€50 if paying in cash) seemed more than reasonable. I bought one that plays O Sole Mio and Stephanie bought one that plays the Funicular song (appropriate for our morning in Capri!) and both of us agreed that these were amongst the best purchases we made.

 

 

 

We were a couple of minutes late as we were getting rung up, but we were in good company of others also trying to get in one last purchase. We rushed back onto the bus and headed out of Sorrento and began the journey to our last stop for the day: Pompeii.

 

[Nicole721]

…But If You Close Your Eyes…

 

The city of Pompeii is located about an hour away from Sorrento. Vincenzo and Antonio (our driver) played some Italian tunes on the bus ride. Most people dozed off. I looked out the window.

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

The Italian music was turned off as we drove into the entrance of the Pompeii grounds and Vincenzo played a rooster alarm to wake everyone up. I’ve been to many ruins sites and even more UNESCO World Heritage Sites, but nothing quite like Pompeii. It was almost like an amusement park outside the entrance, with food stands, a vast souvenir market and our first stop at Pompeii: a cameo factory.

 

 

 

 

 

The 15-minute tour of the cameo factory was completely optional. I love cameos and always wanted one, so I begged Mom and Stephanie to go in with me, but both of them still had some kind of Turkish PTSD from the rug school. I came out of the factory with two cameos. I blame them for leaving me and my credit card alone in a jewelry store. Pieces ran from €30-€500+, depending on the material and experience level of the artist, but the shopping after the demo was much lower pressure from the carpet fiasco in Kusadasi.

 

 

[Nicole721]

As our group reconvened, Vincenzo mentioned that going into Pompeii was completely optional – it was a steep walk up to get in (but level once inside), so those with limited mobility had the option to hang around outside the gates. Not going in wasn’t an option for us, so we followed Vincenzo through the climb to the entrance gate. He told us to imagine our tour bus was a time machine as we arrived in Pompeii, and it very much felt that way.

 

 

And just as we crossed the gates and entered the ruins, my sandal broke. Only me, I swear. This actually happens frequently when we’re touring. The last time was last summer when I was in Los Angeles with my best friend and I broke the strap of my flip flop stepping off a bus in Hollywood. It was easy then – I sat in a Starbucks while Ali ran to the nearest Walgreens to get me some backup flip flops. There wasn’t a nearby Walgreens (or nearby any store that sells shoes) in Pompeii, and sitting this one out wasn’t an option, so I just kind of shuffled along as we toured. No shoe problem is going to keep this girl down.

 

 

Pompeii was an ancient Roman city that was frozen in time when nearby Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, killing the 11,000 citizens who lived there and burying the city in almost 20 feet of ash. Much of the city has been excavated and lays open for tourists to explore. I’m used to visiting Mayan ruins in our Caribbean adventures, where the best parts are frequently roped off. At Pompeii, I was surprised by how much of it is open for tourists to walk through, touch and explore and how, even after centuries of excavation, there is still so much they are excavating and studying.

 

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

 

 

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

Vincenzo led us from site to site, pointing out these ancient bath houses and kitchens, amphitheaters and aqueducts – the history of an entire civilization that sits frozen in time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

 

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

I’ve been on so many of these tours exploring ancient sites. Hearing about the history is one thing. Seeing it is another. But actually interacting with it the way you can in Pompeii is a completely different experience. This is a land…this community…is literally frozen. It’s amazing. There’s so much to see and do in Naples and along the Amalfi Coast. Visiting Pompeii is a must. Find the time to do it. Just once. I promise you won’t regret it.

 

 

 

 

 

We exited out the way we came in (and, if you were wondering, walking downhill in a broken sandal is worse than walking uphill in functional footwear). Vincenzo left us with 10 minutes of free time to grab a snack or peruse the souvenir market, and we couldn’t let our last day in Italy pass without some gelato.

 

 

[Nicole721]

We walked, as a group, to the bus depot to meet our tour bus for the drive back to Naples.

 

 

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

As long of a day as we had, I wasn’t ready for our day in Naples to end. The Amalfi Coast is so stunning and we’d barely scratched the surface. We pulled into the dock and bid farewell to Vincenzo and Antonio before heading back onboard the ship.

 

 

[Nicole721]

Barcelona Bound

 

We sprinted back to the room to drop off our purchases and freshen up for dinner. Our time onboard the Vision was drawing to a close, and it felt like forever and nothing had passed at the same time. We savored our time with our dining staff, pouring over details of our days in Naples and discussing our favorite dishes of the night (and the cruise).

 

Chilled Honeydew Melon Soup

 

Crab Cake

 

Smoked Duck Breast

 

Summer Fruit Medley

 

Arugula and Bosc Pear Salad

[Nicole721]

Orecchiette Pasta

 

Chicken Cordon Bleu

 

Braised Beef Duo

 

Jaffa Cake

 

Cherries Jubilee

[Nicole721]

We finished dinner just as we began pulling out of Naples to begin our journey back to Barcelona and spent a couple of hours after dinner just sitting out on the promenade. Yes, hours. It’s amazing how much time can pass by you when you’re completely immersed in your surroundings.

 

 

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

We headed inside to grab our sweaters and check out the shops before sunset (I don’t think I’ve mentioned it in awhile, but in the Mediterranean in the late spring/early summer, the sunsets are usually between 9:15 pm and 10:00 pm and it will throw your internal clock more than the jetlag). The shops had put out the souvenirs from all of our stops, so if you missed out on goods from Spain, France, Greece, Turkey or the other Italy ports, you had another chance to spend the money you didn’t spend on land.

 

 

[Nicole721]

We were pulling past Capri just as the sun began to set. We’d been treated to some of the most spectacular sunsets on this voyage, but none so stunning as the one over Capri on our last port day. This trip had truly spoiled me for amazing sunsets and some of my favorite memories involve the time we spent sitting on that promenade just watching the sunsets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nicole721]

We walked around for a bit after the skies darkened, from the shops to the casino to the lobby and back, ultimately ending up in the Masquerade for the headliner show, a quartet called Fourever.

 

 

 

We didn’t make it through the entire show, opting to head upstairs to get some tea before falling into bed. We had one sea day ahead of us before the next (and final) leg of this adventure began, but I knew there was one thing worse than the boredom of these sea days: packing.

[Virtopia]

Can I just say again that your pictures are absolutely amazing? That one with you or your sister watching the sun set is gorgeous. Excited to see the next instalment!!

[TxStacey]

Thanks so much Nicole for taking the time to write this review and post the pictures..they are stunning! Naples is the port that I am most looking forward to on my upcoming Harmony cruise. I noticed that you all had on sweaters in your pictures there. Do you know what the approx. temperature was? We will be going in early July and I just want to be prepared.

[searoses]

So happy to be reading your review....what a great job.....

[telecruiser]

Thank you for this amazing review. It has brought back many memories.

[lola2013]

Nicole,

I have chills reading your latest posts (and not just because of the temp here in Chicago this morning or the fact that the Cubs are going all the way........). Sorrento is just about my favorite place on the planet and you took me back with your wonderful pictures and description of your day. On our last trip, we did a similar excursion with Celebrity. But we opted out of the lunch, instead choosing pizza slices while wandering the town and shop, shop, shopping.

Thanks for the wonderful memories!

Susan

[midwestsunshine]

Nicole,

Quick question. We'll be on the Vision Monday and will head for the BarcelonaSants train station after the cruise. Our train for Paris leaves at 9:25a.

Did you do self disembark or was there enough time to get your luggage?

 

Love your review and so excited our trip is finally here.( We're going to Venice and Kotor instead of Greece/Turkey).

Thanks,

Judy

[Bostonjetset]

Nicole, thank you for this wonderful review. Your pictures are AMAZING and your writing is thorough yet engaging. A truly fun read that I cannot wait to continue as you post along. This was such a special trip to share with your mom and sister; something you will all remember for a lifetime. :D

 

We will be sailing her sister ship, Rhapsody OTS, next May on the eastern Med to Italy, Greece and Montenegro [roundtrip from Venice] thus I am really enjoying your pictures of the ship as it should be similar. We have never sailed with Royal Caribbean before so you have whet our appetites so to speak.

[ken_nyc]

Thanks so much Nicole for taking the time to write this review and post the pictures..they are stunning! Naples is the port that I am most looking forward to on my upcoming Harmony cruise. I noticed that you all had on sweaters in your pictures there. Do you know what the approx. temperature was? We will be going in early July and I just want to be prepared.

 

Stacey you will be getting on the Harmony after we get off, will try and leave her in top shape! LOL ;)

 

Nicole, what a wonderful review! Well written and marvelous photos! Makes me wanting for time to fly by so we have less of a wait for the cruise. :)

[wnycruisefam66]

Hi Nicole:

 

I just started reading your review but wanted to stop in to say how much I'm enjoying it! Also wanted to say that your travel experience on your flight out was almost exactly the same as our 1st trip to Europe last year (Delta). Flight delays for hours, missed connections, when we did finally get a flight out, no good seats together like we had chosen & paid extra for. Finally got on the plane & found out they had assigned my 14 yr old son's seat to someone else. Waiting forever to see if he actually had a seat on the plane, finally arriving in Venice in the very late afternoon, so basically that day wasted! Sorry to go on & on. Like you, we had a wonderful trip after that & are planning to go back in 2016. Oh, & we did the Spirit 12 day Grand Med that was your other choice. Loved the cruise ports, but found out we would have preferred a Royal Caribbean ship. Going to enjoy more of your adventures now!

 

Tina