We have cruised several times our 4th with Carnival. We booked Air, Cruise and Hotels with Carnival and glad I did as I did not have to worry about anything. Upon departure we brought Euros with us. Getting money is no problem atms everywhere. Day 1: Our flights were smooth but very long we flew AA over. Arrived Rome for 2 day pre cruise at 8am, Carnival people right there to help you thru customs, and get you on the buses. We stayed at Jolly Vittorio Veneto Hotel, excellent rooms, buffet breakfast and service. You will not get your room till around 1pm. We had two walking tours booked online, Through Eternity Tours.com, a twilight tour where we met at Spanish Steps and walked about Rome and visited all the interesting sites and finished at Campo De Fiorio. Our guides were well spoken in English and very knowledgeable of the history of Rome. Prices were extremely reasonable for both the tours about 125E. After being up for 40 hrs we finally made it to bed at 11pm. Italian TV was funny, ER in Italian or NCIS, we laughed as they looked so funny talking. Everything is at least a day behind for news. So the baseball playoffs we never knew till a day later. YEAH CARDINALS!!!

Day 2: Up early for lovely buffet breakfast and taxi ride to Vatican. Met tour group at 10am and proceeded to St. Peters. Lines not long, this tour is exceptional as you see everything possible throughout the Vatican. Our tour lasted approx 6 hours. Lunch on own. We found a pizzeria about 3 blocks from the main square and it was delicious. Price was good also 3.50E Beer in soda vending machine about 1.30E , that was for two. Returned to hotel about 6pm and had a lovely dinner. Great food at this property worth the money ,don't tip on credit card they won't get the money. Food can be expensive any in Italy but everything is ordered a la carte.

Day 3: All aboard the ship. Arrived about 12:30pm by bus, and only took 15 mins to board. Luggage arrived about 4pm. We had a 1A cabin, main deck fwd port side. Very roomy, and no loud noises on our floor or rockiness. We did experience some 10-12' waves at certain points. I actually liked it better than an OV or inside. We had two porthole windows. This ship is large and a bit getting used to but you can get from one end to the other by either the main deck or deck 5 or lido deck. The dEcor of the ship is colorful and very different in each area. Plenty of places to relax, dance, eat and just have fun. The CD is John Heald and the funniest we have ever had. Activities aboard were fun and the shows entertaining. You must remember this is a very port intense cruise so being tired is the norm. Many evening activities were hard to do as sometimes we hit the bed early. Sea days we relaxed and caught up on sleep getting ready for the next run. Read more