Carnival Vista Review: Day 7 – Romefeatured

Oh, Rome.

What can I say about Rome? How many words exist to describe a city so rich and unique?

The sun was up and we were already docking in Civitavecchia when we woke up this morning. Our tour wasn’t meeting as early as our tour the previous day had, so we had a little more time to have a proper breakfast (arepas from the Blue Iguana Cantina, obviously) before we had to check in for our tour at the Liquid Lounge.

We’ve been to Rome before, almost a year to the day ago. We did probably the most comprehensive tour you can do in a single day in Rome: we started the day at the Trevi Fountain, followed by a visit inside the Colosseum, lunch at the Ambasciatori Hotel and an entire afternoon exploring the Musei Vaticani, complete with a walk through the Sistine Chapel.

We explored the best of what Rome has to offer…except for the city, itself. We drove past the Spanish Steps, we saw the cityscape through the window of our bus, but we experienced the landmarks, not the city. So our plan this time? No guided tours. Nothing formal. Just us and Rome and whatever the day brought us.

So we booked the Rome on Your Own tour, which was basically a guided roundtrip transfer between Civitavecchia and Rome. The ship also offers a train version but we figured the bus option would leave us closer to where we wanted to be.

Our tour left the pier at 8:30 am and we were greeted by our tour guide. I don’t remember her name because I’m not sure if she gave it to us. She didn’t speak much English and the English she could speak was pretty broken (she did get out that she usually handles groups of German or French speaking groups). Maps were waiting on our seats with the layout of the city and a phone number we could call with questions or emergencies.

The drive to Rome takes about an hour/hour and a half depending on traffic. I always find it pretty fascinating to watch the transition of the landscape as you enter the city.

Our drop off point at the Teatro Marcello would also serve as our pick up point at 5:00 sharp that afternoon. There wasn’t much from our guide beyond that and there wasn’t really much beyond that that we needed.

Operators from the major Hop On Hop Off busses were waiting as we exited the bus. The Teatro Marcello is a stop on all of the major lines, which makes it a convenient spot to begin a DIY tour. We bought tickets from the first operator that approached us because, one, we weren’t sure how many (and what) our options were and two, because the price was right at €20. So we ended up on Big Bus, which probably wouldn’t have been our first choice because we aren’t as familiar with it as we are Grey Line and Citysights, but it ended up being the best choice because while all of the other busses were packed, ours weren’t and we rode around comfortably in some primo seats all day long.

As we rode around Rome, through narrowed streets and past some of the most beautiful structures with fabled histories that reach centuries back, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else on such a gorgeous day. If you’ve never been to Rome before, absolutely see as much of it as you can. Go inside the sites, experience the rich history that spans the entire city, you won’t regret it. But once you’ve seen the inside of the Colosseum, walked through the Sistine Chapel, marveled at St. Peter’s Basilica…there’s so much more to experience in Rome just by immersing yourself in it.

We first hopped off at the stop for the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. We’d visited the Trevi Fountain last year, but it was under restoration and tons of scaffolding. Restorations were complete by the time this year’s visit rolled around, so we were eager to see the beauty of the fountain unobstructed. And, you know, we threw coins in last year and it worked and brought us back to Rome this year, so we had to go back and throw in more coins to see if it would bring us back again. The bus stop was a few blocks away from the fountain, and just as we were questioning whether we were following the right path on our map, we heard the distinct sound of water moving across stone. We turned a corner, and suddenly, there it was.

For those who don’t know the lore, the history of the Trevi Fountain dates back to 19 BC. Roman soldiers, parched and thirsty, were led to water by a beautiful young woman. An aqueduct was constructed from the water source to the city and named Aqua Virgo in honor of the girl who had led the soldiers to the water, and a fountain was constructed at the end of the viaduct. Centuries later in the mid-1600s, Pope Urban VIII asked famed Italian architect Gian Bernini to begin sketching out renovations on the fountain, which weren’t complete until over a century later. Legend has it that if you throw a coin from your right hand over your left shoulder, you will return to Rome. A second coin will bring you love. A third coin? Marriage or divorce, depending on who you ask!

The Trevi Fountain was constructed with white stone, the most beautiful water running through it, a gorgeous aqua blue reflecting the color of the sky. It’s easy to get lost in the magnificence and beauty of the fountain, but you really have to be careful when visiting for pick pocketers who run rampant in the area. It’s a very busy space and with so many people distracted by the enormity and beauty of the fountain, it’s easy for thieves to make away with your money, phone or whatever you have in your pockets.

Seeing the fountain without all of the scaffolding that was there last year was really breathtaking. A special experience I’d do all over again, even with all of the crowds.

While we were leaving, we saw a sunflower sign poking up in the crowd and Stephanie quipped that it looked like Laura’s (our tour guide last year) sign. Lo and behold, Laura peeked out to lead another tour group away from the fountain. It’s a small world sometimes, isn’t it?

There are many shops and cafes immediately around the Trevi Fountain. The prices aren’t as inflated as they could be, but we knew we could do better if we walked a little further out. We ultimately found a little bar a few blocks away to grab a cappuccino as we plotted out our next moves.

After we were fully caffeinated, we set out to find the Spanish Steps. The Spanish Steps were built in the 1720’s to connect the Trinità dei Monti to the Spanish square sitting below the church. 138 steps bridge the church to the square, designed in the traditional Roman Baroque style by architect Francesco de Sanctis. The Spanish Steps are the widest stairway in all of Europe and have become a gathering place for Romans and tourists alike to sit and people watch, grab a snack or enjoy a beautiful day. We didn’t get to see the Spanish Steps the year before and we didn’t get a chance to sit on them this year because they’re under restoration, but we did get to sit at the fountain just across from the steps, taking everything in. We definitely felt the Spanish influence in the architecture and color of the buildings. It almost had a Cuban vibe. The area is ripe with high-end shopping and tons of busy restaurants and cafes and I could have easily spent the entire day just sitting there, taking it all in and exploring every place I could find along the narrow streets that feed out from the square.

Spending an entire day at the Spanish Steps would only really work if I had more than one day to spend, and in this case, we didn’t, so we tore ourselves away and headed back towards the Hop On Hop Off stop a few blocks away, stopping for some gelato on our way.

We rode the Hop On Hop Off bus for a couple of hours, just enjoying the weather and taking in the city as we passed it by, marveling in the beauty of everything we saw, appreciating every small detail. Rome is a modern city built around ancient artifacts and sites. It’s such a fascinating juxtaposition. And despite Matt’s morning weather forecast of showers, no rain fell from the time we left the port in the morning until late in the afternoon. The temperatures were in the upper 60s, but felt like they were in the upper 70s. A perfect day for riding around an open air bus.

The bus took us past all of the sites: we saw the gorgeous Altare della Patria, we rode past Circus Maximus, the Pantheon and Vatican City. Each corner we turned brought something more beautiful into view than the last. But the moment when the Colosseum came into view…that’s always something special. The sloping arches, the intricate façade…it’s a marvel in every sense of the word.

The afternoon was passing us by quicker than we were prepared for, and we did one last loop to take in every bit of Rome that we could.

Our meeting time was 5:00 pm and we hopped off the bus back at the Teatro Marcello around 4:40 pm. Multiple tour groups were using the Teatro Marcello as a meeting spot and it took us some time to find people from our group to ensure we were in the right place at the right time. Amidst all of the chaos, we found our tour bus before our guide found our group.

The ride back to Civitavecchia took around an hour and a half and I probably slept for most of it. These early morning wakeups followed by full days of touring had been completely exhausting, but the long bus rides back were the perfect opportunity to catch a quick nap.

After a quick stop at the room to drop off our souvenirs and change into some fresh clothes, we headed off to dinner. Our room steward had quickly acclimated to our schedule, and our room had already been turned down before we even got back in from port.

Because we hold Platinum status, instead of going to Ocean Plaza to check in for dinner and wait for a table, we were able to go straight to the dining room for preferred seating. I think we would have been seated immediately either way regardless of status – the dining room never seemed even half full throughout our trip. Service in the main dining room was fantastic, even as we switched service teams nightly. We hadn’t eaten since our gelato break earlier in the afternoon, so we appreciated the quick service.

There weren’t any Playlist shows, which meant we had an open night to do whatever we wanted. The sun was starting to set as we pulled out of Civitavecchia and our Havana Patio was the perfect place to enjoy it from.

We strolled around the ship for a couple of hours, browsing the shops, enjoying some live music at the Red Frog Pub (which, sidenote, features the first brewery at sea – cool, huh?!) and enjoying some fresh air up on the Lido deck.

Stephanie and I wanted to get a round or two in at the Piano Bar, but we had a 6:00 am wakeup in Naples and another full day planned, so we headed back to the room and scrolled through the On Demand movie list until we found one we could all agree on and watched movies until we passed out. We had two wonderful days in Italy behind us, but our next (and final) day on the Italian coast was the one we were anticipating the most.