Today was our final morning in Rome before we headed to the Roma Cruise Terminal at 11:00 AM. The weather was much cooler than previous days. It was cloudy and windy with temps in the 70s to start the day. It got much warmer, but the highs were supposed to stay in the 80s.
We took the Metro A-Line to the Octavia station to have breakfast at Trecaffè again (Thanks Chris!). This time we sat outside near the street, which was quite pleasant with the cloud cover.
Kate and Sara both got Italian hot chocolate and they gave me a taste. It is much thicker than the American version of hot chocolate, but was delicious. Olivia and I both had awesome cappuccinos.
Olivia and Kate had avocado toast with feta and Sara had a ham and cheese omelette.
I had a sampler plate with avocado toast (topped with scrambled eggs) and small pancakes with fruit. Another wonderful meal in Rome!
Next we took the Metro to the Roma Termini and switched to the B-Line train. From there we went one stop to the Cavour station for a quick visit to the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli.
This Basilica is home to the Tomb of Pope Julius II, which was sculpted by Michelangelo from 1505 to 1545. Pope Julius II died in 1513, so it took much quite a while after his death to complete, and ended up being much smaller than originally planned.
The centerpiece of this tomb is the famous statue of Moses with the tablets of the Law in his right hand. I found it interesting that Moses is depicted with horns, which was apparently common for his image in iconography. Whatever the reason for the horns, the sculpture is stunning.
Near the alter of this Basilica there is an urn containing chains that are claimed to be those used for the imprisonment of the Apostle Peter. While I’m very skeptical of this possibility, I did find it interesting that the urn had two images of upside down crosses on the front. It is traditionally understood that Peter was crucified upside down. In John 21:18-19, Jesus predicted the death of Peter with the words “you will stretch out your hands”, which many believe to be a reference to Roman crucifixion.
Olivia donated one Euro to hear the organ play a piece by J.S. Bach, which was pretty cool.
After leaving the Basilica, we walked to the Colosseum to see it one last time. We went out on a bridge overlooking the amphitheater to take some photos.
I took one of Kate and Sara, and then Kate used my camera to take one of Olivia and I. I love the way both of these turned out!
From there, we quickly walked back to our hotel (was faster than taking the Metro) to finish packing up and then board the transfer shuttle to the Roma Cruise Terminal in Civitavecchia were we would board Voyager of the Seas. We left the hotel at 11:00am, and The ride to the port was quite relaxing after several crazy days in a row. Both Kate and Sara took naps and I worked on my journal/blog.
Sailing on Voyager of the Seas is kind of a full circle moment for Olivia and I. Back before either Kate or Sara were born, we took a Western Caribbean cruise on Voyager to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary. Back then, this was the flagship of the Royal Caribbean fleet, and the largest cruise ship in the world. Now, 23 years later, we’re getting back on Voyager with 20 and 16 year-old daughters for a cruise on the Mediterranean. Pretty cool.
Anyway, at the Roma Cruise Terminal we checked our bags, navigated security, and boarded the ship relatively painlessly. Once onboard, our room was ready so we dumped our carry-on bags, watched the safety briefing videos, and then headed to the Windjammer buffet to grab some lunch.
We actually made a detour before lunch to show the girls the Royal Promenade on deck 5 through the middle of the ship.
It still has the same old car in the Promenade as it did 23 years ago.
At the Windjammer, we had a nice relaxing meal with yummy desserts and a great view!
After leaving the Windjammer, we headed back to our stateroom to unpack. Only one of our bags had been delivered, so Olivia, Kate, and Sara went to a port of call session in the theater while I hung out in the room. After they returned, we headed up to deck 12 to watch as the ship disembarked from Civitavecchia.
Once we left port, we headed up to deck 13 and played a windy, wobbly game of mini-golf on their 9-hole course. We had quite a hoot trying to play in those conditions. Sara was having a hard time seeing because the wind was constantly blowing her hair in front of her eyes.
After golf, we hung out for a while on deck 11 just lounging and enjoying the ride.
We decided to head back to the stateroom to unpack before dinner and met our Cabin Steward Amron who is from India. He was super nice.
For dinner, we went to the Main Dining Room on deck 3 (the Main Dining Room is 3 levels) and were seated at a table served by Raj, who is from India, and Ara, who is from the Philippines.
For my meal, I had escargot, a caesar salad, prime rib, and key lime pie. Olivia also had prime rib, Kate had fish, and Sara had spaghetti. I think we were all really tired because we kept cutting each other up and laughing so hard through dinner. We were quite goofy!
After dinner, we headed back up to the room for the evening, since we have a very early morning tomorrow as we continue to tour Italy! at the start of the day.