Allure of Seas Mediterranean Journey 11-22 Oct 15 with Lots of Pictures

[transam84]

Hi Everyone,

 

I'm Laura and my husband Tom and I recently returned from a vacation to Rome and a Mediterranean cruise on Allure of Seas. It was the most amazing vacation ever, and we have been on some really great ones. We loved every minute. I will admit there were a few minor snags, but no show stoppers and quite minimal on a trip of this magnitude.

 

I thought I would share my day to day journal with you. I will not post it all at once as it would be too burdensome on me and you. Plus I can only include 6 pictures at a time, LOL. I hope you enjoy it. I love sharing my adventures.

 

If you want to see my entire adventure you can join me on my shutterfly site or Flickr. I posted my shutterfly link previously but I figured some people would rather read a thread than go to a link.

Shutterfly

https://allureoftheseasmediterranean2015.shutterfly.com/

Flickr

https://www.flickr.com/photos/135507416@N02/albums

 

I will start with land based part and then move on to cruise. We spent 3 nights in Rome prior to the cruise. This cruise used inter-porting and it was our first experience with this. We embarked in Rome, which was the minor embarkation point. It had it's pros and cons, that I will speak about when I get to that day.

 

So, let's start at the beginning. We were traveling from NJ to Rome via London on Virgin Atlantic with a connection using BA in London Heathrow. We opted to make travel arrangements using Choice Air and we were happy with that. We decided to go first class on this trip, as it was our first pleasure trip to the Mediterranean and wanted it to be special. Choice Air gave us the best price, better than discount internet first class sites. And I got to try out the Dreamliner, which I was very excited about.

 

11-12 Oct 15

 

The travel day was finally here! I had done so much planning and dreaming that it was hard to believe it had finally arrived. I was all packed and ready to go first thing in the morning. We were not leaving Newark until 10:30 pm so the day was long.

 

I don't pack light. Good thing were going first class and had 3 bags each

 

The car scheduled for 6pm arrived early which was good, but in our rush and excitement to leave my husband left the Euros we had ordered home. Good thing we don't live far from airport and my son was home. He saved the day and dropped them off to us. Crisis averted. We could have managed without them and planned on getting most of our Euros there out of ATM machines, but it would have been a waste as we had ordered them months prior to have a small start.

 

We were taking Virgin Atlantic and since Newark is not a major hub for them it was a bit confusing finding the counter and then the club. As I mentioned we opted for first class on this trip and were glad we did. The Virgin Atlantic Club at EWR is small but very nice.

 

Here are a few pictures of the clubhouse.

 

 

Even "Pink Bear" liked it.

 

We had a bite to eat and then relaxed before the flight.

 

Next Up the Dreamliner!

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I was very excited to finally be getting to see the Dreamliner in person. It was very nice but I was a bit disappointed as we did not do a good job picking our seats. Because of the herringbone design seats of same number are not next to each other. We were both in 2 but my husbands back was to me with the aisle in between. Next time we know to select 1 and 2. Oh, well it was fine, we kept busy.

 

Here is what the interior of First Class looked like:

 

 

 

Here is my home for 7 hours. I actually had them make my bed up right away and slept most of the flight.

 

Arrived in Heathrow on schedule 10:30 AM local time. Since our flight did not leave until 1pm we spent a little time at the British Air Club. Heathrow is huge. We had to take a shuttle between Virgin and British Air terminals. It was rather confusing as there are multiple clubs too. We found our way eventually.They had lots of food and drinks, but we had breakfast on Virgin so we were not hungry.

 

Here is the BA Club at Heathrow:

 

 

Our flight was on time. The 767 was not as nice as Dreamliner First class but it worked.

 

Next up Rome!

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We arrived in Rome to bright sunshine. Our LivItaly driver was there waiting for us in a nice Mercedes mini van. I had made all my transfer and tour reservations with LivItaly and they were great. Our driver was very nice and he pointed out the amazing sights along the way to our hotel.

 

We arrived at the Marriott Grand Flora on the Via Veneto around 5pm. I always stay at Marriott since I am a Gold member and Vacation Club owner. I requested a mini suite on the top floor, however due to a government function the entire top floor was booked. So they gave us a two room executive suite on the second floor. Wow, it was gorgeous and overlooked the old wall of Rome across from Borghese Gardens. The suite had a circular living room beautifully decorated in antiques, a lovely bedroom with a king size bed, two full baths, one with a separate shower and two tvs. I am loyal to my brands, Royal and Marriott and it pays off.

 

The Lobby

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The Stairway

Our Room Entrance

The Living Room:

The Bedroom:

One of the two bathrooms

 

Next up a walk down the Via Veneto to the Spanish Steps and dinner.

[ken_nyc]

Looking forward to the rest of your trip! Thank you for posting!

[transam84]

We quickly unpacked our stuff for the next 3 days only and set out to find the Spanish Steps. We walked down the Via Veneto and along the Wall. We got a little lost but eventually found our way. Not too bad for a couple of lost tourists out first evening. The steps are closed for renovation but it was still fun taking pictures.

 

The Via Veneto outside our hotel:

Along the way:

 

 

The Spanish Steps at night:

No one is on them because there is gate around them. I was taking this through the fence.

 

This is the Piazza in front of the steps. It is still very crowded even through the steps are closed.

 

Next up, our amazing first dinner in Italy and beginning of Food Porn.

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We walked back along the Via Veneto. We were going to eat at Harry's across from Marriott but it was too fancy for our taste that first night. So we strolled down the Via Veneto. There are tons of glass enclosed cafés along the side walk. Loved these so much. We decide on a casual place called Cafe Veneto. It was a great choice. It was probably my favorite meal. Maybe because it was the first one and I was so excited.

 

Our first vacation meal

 

We had Buffulo mozzarella and prosciutto. It was so good and there was so much to share.

 

For dinner Tom has Lasagna and I had Linguini carbona. Both delicious.

Lasagna

Linguini Carbonara a bacon lover's dream. Huge pieces of bacon in a delicious cream sauce

 

We both had peach iced tea made with fresh peaches. No Snapple for these people. So delicious.

 

 

For dessert we had coffee of course, and I had tiramisu and Tom had a custard with chocolate topping. Again both fantastic.

 

Tiramisu

 

 

What a great first night. Everyone was so nice and helpful. We walked back to our hotel and went to bed.

 

Next up some amazing sights.

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We woke to a warm but slightly overcast day. We went to the rooftop restaurant for breakfast. Amazing location and lovely breakfast spot.

 

Restaurant inside

 

As a gold members we both got a free continental breakfast but they gave us the full breakfast buffet. It had, eggs, breakfast meats, breads, cakes, pastries, and the European cold cuts. It was very nice and the food quite good. The coffee was so rich and delicious. Bold but not bitter.

Delicious pastries

 

The view from the roof was incredible, even though a bit cloudy. The staff were all so sweet, they took our pictures on the roof.

 

Views

 

 

 

 

Next up our sightseeing begins

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Then it was time for our tour with LivItaly. We got to the lobby and our driver was waiting with a Mercedes. He took us straight to the Vatican to meet our guide. Valentina was really wonderful. She had our tickets and we bypassed the huge lines and went right in. It was very crowded but because we had a private tour guide we moved more quickly. Highly recommended. We walked through the Vatican and also the Vatican gardens. She was very informative.

 

The Entrance Stairs

First Stop the Gardens

Only the beginning of the incredible art and architecture on this trip

 

We then walked through the gallery to the Sistine Chapel.

 

Some sights along the way.

 

 

 

 

The Sistine Chapel is incredible. But you can no longer take pictures. This is very disappointing. It was great to have a private guide. She pointed out some very interesting things about the artwork we would have surely missed.

 

Next up St. Peter's Basillica

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We then walked through St. Peter's Square and went into the Basilica. It is just incredible.

 

St. Peter's

St. Peter's Square

 

 

Inside

 

 

We did not have time to climb the duomo but next time we will.

 

The duomo

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A highlight of St. Peter's for me was the Pieta

 

 

 

Although it was crowded, the museum, seemed more so than the Basilica. Also it was not so crowded that I could not stop and gaze at this magnificent work of art. The weather was a little cool and changeable but the lack of summer crowds was a definite plus to going in Oct.

 

We came out and we're just in time to see the changing of the Swiss guards. That was very cool.

 

 

 

They may wear funny looking uniforms but you don't want to mess with these guys.

 

We then walked through the square again on our way to take a taxi to the Flavian Amphitheater.

 

[LuCruise]

Following along. Great trip so far and you're not even on the ship. Looking forward to hearing more.

[mj]

Enjoyed your review so far. Brought back great memories of my trip on the Vision earlier this year.

 

I do agree, if you can afford it, go with the private guide concerning the Vatican. Went in early May and the line was long and it was crowded inside and the private guide was worth the extra money. What an amazing place!

 

Looking forward to hearing the rest of your review.

[transam84]

Thanks everyone. Tomorrow I'll get to the remainder of the Rome sights and embarkation.

[transam84]

We then took a cab to the Flavian Amphitheater, or Coliseum as most people call it. She took us to a wonderful pizzeria where we shared a small pie with spicey salami. It was so yummy. By the afternoon the sun was out and it was warm just in time for us to tour the Colosseum. We started with the underground tour. Valentina explained how the animals and gladiators were raised into the arena and showed us the replica devices they used. She explained a lot about the gladiators and animals and various events. Then we went to the second level. She explained how the for was covered with sand to absorb the blood and excremental from animals and also for effect so it seemed like the animals were raised from no where. Then we went to the top. Looking down the view into the arena was beyond description. She told us about the "bathrooms" and showed us the drainage and she explained where the different classes sat. We also saw Constantine arch from the top.

 

Exterior

 

 

Interior

 

 

 

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Next we went to see the Arch of Constantine from the street. She explained about the arch and its history.

 

 

We then went over to the Palatine Hill.

 

 

We walked around and she explain the story of how Rome was founded by Romulous and Remus. I had heard it, but she gave us a lot more detail.

 

 

We had a great view from the top of the hill.

 

 

As our final stop of the day we went to the Roman Forum and Nero's Palace. It was very interesting. Unfortunately it stated to rain so we cut the visit just a little short.

 

 

She found us a cab and we headed back to the hotel.

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We had breakfast on the roof top again. After breakfast we headed out. We wanted to get money from the ATM for the cruise so took a walk to BNL up the Via Veneto. We stopped at Hard Rock Cafe to get pictures and t-shirts then headed to the bank. But what should have been an easy transaction turned into a huge deal. We could not seem to get the card to work and bank people were no help. Tom ended up going to concierge who was so nice and even walked him to bank but by the time they figured out the card was in backwards it was getting late. So we knew would have to go back first thing in the morning. Lesson learned, make sure your debit card is not in the ATM backwards, LOL.

 

Hard Rock Exterior Via Veneto

 

 

Hard Rock Interior

 

 

After that we met Valentina in the hotel lobby and we took a cab to the Basilica of Clemente. This is actually multiple churches since the earlier ones were buried when the ground level in Rome rose. Lots of old artifacts and she explained the interesting evolution of the church. Pictures were not allowed in the lower church. This is some place I would have missed without a guide.

 

Interior of Upper Church

 

Exterior Very Unassuming and a sight easily missed

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We then took a cab and rode over the Appian Way. It was just awe inspiring to ride along the oldest road in the world.

 

The Appian Way

 

We took the Appian Way to St. Sebastian Catacombs. We visited the church of St. Sebastian. We learned about his martyrdom and saw what are supposed to be the footprints of Christ. Valentina explained that St. Peter was fleeing Rome in fear of his life after Christ's death, when he met Jesus along the way. Jesus told him he was heading to Rome to be crucified for the second time and he disappeared but left his footprints on the road. Peter took it as a sign and returned to Rome and his death. The footprints are in the Church.

 

Exterior of Church

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Statue of St. Sebastian

 

Upper level of Catacombs

 

Christ's Footprints

 

 

We then went down into the Catacombs. First we saw the Christian section. Simple and plain. We came to a section where Peter and Paul were first buried. The guide asked her to see if we could find their stones. Immediately my eye found the word Paul etched on a small stone. It was so emotional and chilling. Then a short distance away was Peter. I was moved to tears to see there original markers. I am extremely religious and this was one of the most moving experiences of my life. And I would have missed it, if we had not hire a guide. Yeah, I may be beating this up, but it was worth every penny and I will do it again when I return to Europe. Photographs were not allowed in the catacombs.

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After the Catecombs we visited a restaurant down the street called Archeologia. It has a massive wine cellar and is beautiful and scenic. Next time in Rome I want to eat there.

 

Wine Cellar

 

Interior of Restaurant

 

From there we returned to Rome to visit the Piazza Navarro. We got delicious gelato. I had tiramisu and Tom chocolate I think. We then walked to the beautiful fountain and Valentina recommended a restaurant here for dinner.

 

Piazza

 

 

 

Tiramisu Gelato!!!! Yummy.

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More pictures in Piazza Navarro. The fountain is exquisite.

 

 

 

 

Our walk to Trevi Fountain from Piazza

 

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From the piazza we walked to Trevi Fountain. Even though it is still being renovated it is still very beautiful.

 

 

 

 

We then walked to the Panteon. Just walking the streets of Rome is such a wonderful experience

 

 

I love all the fresh produce.

 

 

And the sidewalk cafes

 

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The Pantheon! It is just incredible that this ancient building is so well intact. Valentina said it was because it was converted to a church early on.

 

 

 

Also it is the largest unsupported concrete done in the world. Such amazing architecture.

 

 

More Interior Pictures

 

 

The door!

 

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Finally we waked through an underground pedestrian walkway to the Borghese Park and Gallery.

 

The Walkway. Very cool and something else we might have missed

 

 

The Roman Wall across from our hotel and the Park

 

 

The Gardens

 

 

Exterior of the Gallery

 

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We walked through the lovely park to the Gallery. The gallery is so impressive. It was just incredible seeing Bernini's sculptures. I love his work. I especially loved the "Rape of Porserpina" the work is just incredible.

 

 

A closer view

 

 

Notice the imprint of his hand on her thigh. Just amazing.

 

 

 

Bernini's David is pretty impressive too. But nothing compared to the one I will show you in Florence by Michaelangelo.

 

 

We then said good bye to Valentina and went the hotel to change for dinner.

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For dinner we back to the Piazza Navarro at ate at Tre Scalini. For appetizer we had Prosciutto and melon. For dinner I had risotto and scallops and Tom had ravioli. For dessert I had a dark Chocolate cake and tom had gelato. We ate outside overlooking the piazza. We watched the vendors and love muscians were playing. It was a great last night in Rome.

 

The sidewalk tables we ate at.

 

Appetizer

 

 

Main Course

Risotto and scallops

 

 

Ravioli

 

 

Dessert

 

 

We then went backed to hotel and packed up for the cruise.

 

Up next what you have all been waiting for. Hope all my pre-cruise stuff was not too much. Tomorrow is embarkation day.:cool:

[transam84]

This was a day I had been anticipating for what seemed to be forever. I promised my mom a Mediterranean cruise after my dad passed away but she so quickly deteriorated from COPD we never made it. The last cruise she took was Oasis March 2014 and I am grateful for that. My son got engaged and it was a beautiful family affair. But now this one is for you in Heaven Mom.

 

 

We started our day with breakfast on the rooftop one last time. Then we checked out and waited for out driver. Our driver from LivItaly picked us up at 9:30am as scheduled and we make our way to civetivecchia port. It took a little over an hour from Rome to the port. The first ship sighting is always thrilling and this was no different.

 

Not a great picture, but you all understand I'm sure.

 

 

We got to the port and gave our luggage over to the porter and off we went. The terminal was virtually empty at 10:45am so we were immediately sent to check in desk and in about 10 minutes we were on our way. We took our embarkation pictures and went outside to board. This is one thing I really liked about inter-porting. Embarkation, especially at the minor port is a breeze. Honestly felt a bit like "second class" citizens in some aspects of pre-cruise planning, but it really was minor. I would do this inter-porting thing again in a heartbeat.

 

The Terminal

 

 

Embarkation Photo

 

 

By 11am the first ding of the sea pass was heard. I teared up. We entered the Royal promenade and it was just as I remember from Oasis. We walked around the Promanade then went on deck to take pictures.

 

This is a view I know well as I'm sure you all do

 

Pictures on deck at port

 

 

Edited November 3, 2015 by transam84