We booked this cruise way back in Feb '21 with everything crossed that the pandemic would have eased by June '22 having already had two previous cruises cancelled (an Asia one in Feb '20 and a Mediterranean one, similar to this in September '21). Luckily for us things had eased sufficiently for this one to go ahead.
We booked with two friends with Celebrity Cruises aboard their Edge class ship the Celebrity Edge leaving Rome (well Civittavechia) and calling at Santorini, Rhodes, Mykonos and Naples before returning to Civittavechia. Our friends are have done a good few cruises, this was just our second. We decided to fly out a couple of days before sail date to enable us to have a couple of nights in Rome - the Eternal City which we last visited in 2013, but you can never get enough of the place, trust me.
With covid restrictions easing, the only covid related thing we had to ensure was that we undertook a supervised LFT 24 hours before boarding (ie when we were in Rome). Supervised because it's an American ship and that's what they say we had to do (apparently we can't be trusted to stick a swab up our noses on our own). This would be done over a video call, so we duly ordered our tests before leaving the UK and they arrived a couple of days before we left.
Needing to be at Heathrow by 9am (ish) we left at 6.30am, and surprisingly, the journey was pretty straightforward, with traffic on the M4 very (relatively) light all the way. The only slight hiccough was having to briefly stop behind a traffic officers car just outside Reading whilst they hoisted a dead deer off the motorway.
Arriving at Heathrow T5 we dropped our cars at Valet parking (expensive, but SO worth it). The journey had been so good bag drop wasn't even open, so we opted for breakfast. Following that our bag drop and pass through security was straightforward and we were fairly quickly in departures. The flight departed more or less on time and was pretty quick at a smidge over two hours. Masks were being worn on the plane but it wasn't too bad. These days any food or drink has to be pre-ordered on basic BA flights. We hadn't done so, and therefore got the default mini bottle of water and a bag of ready salted crisps!
The descent into Rome's Fiumicino airport was a tad lumpy, as there were some serious thunderclouds around, but we landed safely enough. Security was rather painless, but now that we're not part of the EU we had to get our passports stamped! Baggage claim also wasn't too painless.
Fiumicino is a way out of Rome itself (about 30km), and although you can catch a train in, we'd opted for a private transfer. Cue our first problem of the trip. No driver to pick us up. We gave it a few minutes before calling, to find out than the driver had "gone to the toilet". Eventually, about 20 mins after we exited departures, he arrived and there ensued a fast, music trip into Rome and our hotel, the NH Collection Roma Fori Imperiali.
This small, almost boutique hotel was one of the highlights of our entire holiday. It's slap bang in the middle of Rome, within easy walking distance of all the major attractions - the Trevi Fountain is 10 mins one way, the Colosseum 10 mins the other way. The Pantheon and Spanish Steps are about 20 mins and even the Vatican and St Peter's Basilica are within 20-30 minutes easy walking.
Check in was nice and and made easier by the complimentary Prosecco. Our room had no view, but the whole hotel was very nicely furnished and the staff were excellent. We'd booked two mights here including dinner (which we had to reserve a table for before arriving). We thought we'd be eating in the small breakfast area downstairs, but it was on the roof terrace. Luckily, the thunderclouds had disappeared, and it was a warm Roman evening. And what a view for dinner - this was literally our view!
This vast memorial to the first king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II is also knows as Altare della Patria (Alter of the Fatherland) and more colloquially as "The Wedding Cake" and is pretty much visible from every key vantage point in the city. It's HUGE! It also contains the tomb of the unknown soldier, and is guarded by armed soldiers.
Not a bad spot for an excellent dinner helped down by a couple of bottles of expensive wine. That's not a boast by the way, just the observation that the cheapest bottle of wine on the wine list was €50 !!!!! However, bear in mind that we were in one of the most beautiful and historic cities in the world, and slap bang in the centre of the main tourist area to boot with a view to die for. We didn't begrudge it, and to be fair, the wine (along with the food) was glorious. And we were on our first holiday abroad since summer 2019. So we had two bottles!
After all that, we needed to walk some of our dinner off, so it was on with the trainers (central Rome is mainly cobbled streets and you need really comfy shoes to wear if you're walking anywhere) and a 10 minute walk to the Trevi Fountain. It is stunning, but if you haven't been to Rome before, please be prepared for the crowds. You ain't going to see this on your own. The throngs of people can be quite claustrophobic - as they are at all the main attractions in Rome, and if you have a bag, keep it close to you and you're wallet protected. Pickpockets abound, although there are more police around than before (and we later found out many undercover police) keeping their eyes out for pickpockets and the multitude of hawkers.
And with that, we were all pretty shattered, and so it was back to the hotel for our first night away.
The next post will tell you about our full day in Rome.
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