Hi All,

We got back a few days ago from celebrating my Lady Wife's Diamond Jubilee.

We flew ATL to Rome; took a shuttle van to Civitavecchia to board the MS Prinsendam bound for Duborvnik, Corfu, Kantakolon, Alexandria, Ashdod, Haifa, Antalya, Bodrum, Kudasisi and Athens; spent two nights in Athens and flew to Paris before returning to the States.

I'll give a full report of the cruise on the Cruise Board. It was much like taking daytrips from a single location, except that the location moved around a lot.

Since we didn't spend much time in any one place, I can only give you impressions and a few recommendations for hotels and restos.

We left home about 12:00 and arrived Rome at 07:10 after an uneventful flight on a Delta A300 that was about 80% full. Dropped our stuff at the hotel and wandered a bit. We were let into our room about 13:30.

"I am sitting in a window of our room at the Hotel Maikol, overlooking the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, watching the evening rush hour traffic pile up and sipping on a Lachryma di Christi (4.3E at the store around th corner). There are kids playing basketball and practicing soccer; dogs out for an evening romp in the park - playing with the multitude of cats that inhabit the ruins of a 2nd C fountain. Very pleasant.

The Hotel Maikol (http://www.hotelmaikol.com/) is a pleasant 2**, run by very nice, friendly and helpful people, 1/2 block from the Metro. Breakfast, served in the room, was standard continental (juice, coffee, hot chocolate, pastries, yogurt, etc). We enjoyed our visit.

Restaurant Leonetti, about 6 min walk, was recommended by the hotel. The fish was excellent, the gnocchi were quite good, the primo and the contorni were very generous. The rest of the dinner was OK. 70E with wine

Scoglio di Frisio (http://www.scogliodifrisio.com/) was very good. The room is decorated as if it were a grotto, and has a lot of nautical touches. We each had the 26E menu (available at the web site) along with a bottle of Pinot Grigio.

I was surprised to be given a bottle of Santa Margherita ($27 at the local store), as I had asked for the 16E house wine. That was the 16E house wine. Quite good.

We enjoyed our dinner enough to go back the next night for pizza. Roberta had the Margherita - more than enough for one. I had the Theodora Surprise. I shan't spoil the surprise, except to say that it is not for people of small appetite.

Impressions of Rome:

The Colosseum is really, really big.

The Trevi Fountain is worth a visit, even if it is mobbed.

The various forums (fora?) are interesting to those with an archaeological bent.

The Vittorio Emanuele II Monument is what inspired Mussolini in his architectural taste.

The Gallery Pamphilj is proof that if you start with a Pope and carefully attend to business for 450 years, you will likely build up a very impressive art collection - eg, 5 Breughels in one "small" wall arrangement. (See wiki for more info.)

If you like large, busy, noisy cities with a readily viewed ancient heritage, you will like Rome.

Next day, off to Civitavecchia.

You had never been to Rome before, Ira?

Rome's ancient vestiges enthralled me constantly every time I went, as they pop up everywhere. When you compare the experience to finding a few vestiges in Paris like the Cluny or the Arènes de Lutèce, Paris can't hold a candle to Rome historically.

Looking forward to the rest of the report!

Welcome back. Looking forward to the rest of your report and appreciate all the details.

Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio is my favorite, but I only buy it for a treat because it's a bit pricy. When we were a the Windsurf cruise, it was much less and I was surprised. They probably buy it for less in Europe than what we pay here.

t

Well, with ALL those many MANY posts about the "best way to get to Civitavecchia from Rome" I can't wait to hear which one you opted for.

Ira, welcome back!! It sounds as though your trip went very well, and your LW had a good birthday, too. Can't wait to hear more from you, my friend, and you have been very much missed here in Fodorville.


BC

Welcome home Ira! I'm looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip. And echoing Bookie, yes, you were indeed missed.

Signing in for more delightful chapters.

I was just thinking about you two the other day, ira, and thought we would soon be seeing a trip report. Your dear Roberta sure had a special birthday celebration! Like everyone else I look forward to reading more about your trip.

"The Colosseum is really, really big."

Welcome home! Looking forward to reading about Corfu and Katakolon in Cruises as we'll have these 2 stops next year.

Hi K,

>You had never been to Rome before, Ira?<

Not to visit.

I agree with what you said about the ancient artifacts. It just doesn't appeal to us as much as it does to you.
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Thanks for the kind words from the rest of you.
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Hi Du1
........."best way to get to Civitavecchia from Rome"........

According to the Holland America Line, we had to be in Civitavecchia by 1:00 PM on Sunday for our 5:00 PM sailing. Europcar was able to accommodate us with a pickup in Rome and a same day drop off in C. It would have taken some walking, but it was doable if I got the car by 09:00.

I came across an advert from www.limoservicerome.com that would take both of us to C for less than the cost of the car rental. So that is what we did.

LSR said that they would pick us up at 11:30 and get us to the pier by 1:00 PM. At 11:45 they hadn't arrived. The Hotel Maikol folks called them - they would be there by 12:00. Well, with me fidgeting all the way, we picked up another couple in Rome and another at FCO before we got to the pier at 1:45 PM.

As it turned out, and as the limo operator knew, it didn't matter. People were boarding the ship as late as 4:00 PM.

OOPS,

It was www.airportshuttle.it that took us to Civitavecchia.

We used www.limoservicerome.com from FCO into the city.

We found the Colosseum really really small. Maybe it's the Canadian concept of space.

All ashore who's going ashore, Embarking for Athens )with several stops).

Just a quick review:

My first cruise (1964) was on The Queen of Bermuda 23000 t, out of Southhampton. She was considered a good sized ship - 600 passengers.

This cruise was on The MS Prinsendam (ships have always been of the feminine gender, but now we have to call them Ms); 38000 t, out of Rotterdam, and is one of the smaller cruise ships - only 900 pax.

Impressions:
There is no natural color as blue as the Mediterranean on a nice day.
There are no natural colors as beautiful as a Mediterranean sunset on a nice day.

Sipping wine and nibbling from a cheese tray on your balcony while making 17 knots (just fast enough to hear "swoosh, swoosh"), is better than being poked in the eye.

Dubrovnik is a tourist trap, but a very pleasant one. I think it is worth returning to for several days.

Corfu is not quite so much of a tourist trap. Interesting small city.

We didn't visit Katakolon (gateway to Olympia).

Alexandria is a tourist trap. (So what's new). A walk along The Corniche to the Library is quite pleasant. There are those who will say that Alexandria is a filthy pesthole filled with scheming thieves and beggars. I say, "picky, picky, picky".

Ashdod is a major port from which one gets to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is one of the world's oldest tourist traps. In the Old City:

Beware of men in sober, black garb who will shake your hand, make a blessing over you and ask for 10 shekels. They split the tourists up amongst themselves so that everyone, Jewish, Latin, Orthodox, Muslim, gets a share.

Beware of men who offer to help you find your way, drag you to their souvenir shops displaying "genuine" Arabic handicrafts, and then ask you for 10 shekels..

Beware of just about everyone you haven't been introduced to.

Haifa is interesting. Worth a couple of days if you are in the neighborhood.

Israel is very expensive.

Antalya: I'm thinking of buying an apartment there.

Bodrum is a Mediterranean Miami Beach. We stayed aboard.

Kusadisi is not so much of a tourist trap. Real people live there year 'round. It is the port from which you visit Ephesus and the Archaeological Museum at Selcuk. Both are worth a visit if you are in that part of the world.

Cruise ships are the major cause of the world-wide obesity epidemic.

Next up - Athens.

"Jerusalem is one of the world's oldest tourist traps. In the Old City:

Beware of men in sober, black garb who will shake your hand, make a blessing over you and ask for 10 shekels. They split the tourists up amongst themselves so that everyone, Jewish, Latin, Orthodox, Muslim, gets a share.

Beware of men who offer to help you find your way, drag you to their souvenir shops displaying "genuine" Arabic handicrafts, and then ask you for 10 shekels..

Beware of just about everyone you haven't been introduced to."

To avoid all of the above, use the circular bus 99, the Jerusalem version of hop-on, hop-off.

Ira, you mentioned in your opening post that you would be doing a full report on the Cruise Board so my question may be answered there but just in case it isn't I will post here.

I am going on my first cruise next year and one of the stops is Ashdod for Jerusalem. I particularly wanted to visit the Yad Vashem museum but was disappointed to discover (after I had booked) to find out it was not included in the ships excursions for Jerusalem. Is it easy to take a bus from Ashdod to Jerusalem and do this on my own?

Dayenu, does the hop-on-hop-off bus stop at the Yad Vashem?

Thanks

This is from CruiseCritic:



<If you're not on a tour or in a cab, take a public bus to the Mount Herzl bus stop, where free shuttles will take you into the Yad Vashem campus (open Sunday through Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.).>

Yad Vashem is essential, in my opinion.

Thanks ekscrunchy, essential for me also.

"The Gallery Pamphilj is proof that if you start with a Pope and carefully attend to business for 450 years, you will likely build up a very impressive art collection.... "

LOL!!! Welcome home.

Welcome back, Ira. Your presence has been missed.

<i>Sipping wine and nibbling from a cheese tray on your balcony while making 17 knots (just fast enough to hear "swoosh, swoosh"), is better than being poked in the eye.</i>

And your gift for understatement remains undiminished.