July 9th Rome

How can you see Rome in 8 hours? We decided to use Port Promotions for our excursion. Their pricing was 20% less than NCL’s and offered a similar itinerary. We met the designated driver / host (Antonio)at our scheduled 8:00 am time. We were quickly loaded into an 8 passenger van with 4 other guests who had also booked with Port Promotions. What a fabulous way to see Rome pronto! While those who booked with the cruise line were hoarded onto busses, we had our own very intimate tour.



Our first stop was the coliseum, followed by a couple of secret stops that I promised Antonio I would not tell others about, we visited the Pantheon, a visit to Trevi fountain where we made our secret wishes, a drive by the Spanish Steps, and then we stopped for lunch where we were met by a local vineyard owner who had us sample his wines and olive oil while we enjoyed a very nice lunch. Our next stop was the Vatican where we spent 3 hours with Antonio acting as our guide (he does this almost daily so he is very knowledgeable). At 4pm it was time to return to the ship. All of us (except Antonio) had a little nap on the return drive which takes approximately 1 hour. The only regret we had was that there was just not enough time. In the evening we dined at the Asian restaurant and found the food was good but probably not worth the surcharge ($15pp). The entertainment was the Second City Comedy group. All four of us enjoyed the show and will return for the improve night later in the cruise. The comedians did a great job of tailoring the humor to the family crowd.