Day 7 – Salerno
Originally, Naples was on our itinerary.
We had everything planned – trains to the Herculaneum, a walking tour of Naples and lunch plans (Hello deepfried pizza pocket). We had important things marked on a map of Naples, including a supermarket to stock up on water and prosecco.
Disney then threw a spanner in the works and changed the port to Salerno. Thanks Disney. This change came pretty late in the game in May. Apparently there is no room in Naples for us to dock – surely they knew this before!
We were a bit disheartened by the change and lost our planning mojo a bit. It took a few weeks before we could look at Salerno.
In fairness, it does look beautiful…
The plan now is to get the train from Salerno to Pompei (I’ve only just pre-booked our tickets). A brief wander round Salerno will follow and we’ll get back on board early afternoon.
Salerno is a lesser known port, which means it has been really difficult to find information. I was even finding contradicting information on where the ship would dock. I eventually emailed Disney who provided me with the address. It’s a bit of a trek so we’ll probably get a bus to the train station.
I’m sure we’ll see the show before dinner, and try not to be in bed too late as the next day will be busy.
Day 8 – Civitavechia (Rome)
We are not tour group kind of people. With this in mind, we wanted to find transport to and from Rome, and then do our own thing. Disney wanted $99 dollars for the privilege of driving us to Rome. No thank you. I know you can get the train fairly easily, but I’m a little paranoid about Italian trains and getting back to the ship on time. (I know we’re taking the train in Salerno, but Pompei is much closer to port and we’re only a planning a half day so there is lots of contingency time).
We’ve booked via Viator for a coach transfer to Rome. I got the confirmation through straightaway and the details of the local company used.
The tour drops us off near the Vatican, which will be our first stop. This is our main focus (I really want to see the Sistine chapel) so we’ve booked the tickets in advance to skip some of the line. Although, I have been warned they rush you through pretty quickly.
After this, it will be a case of trying to see as much as possible! We’ll get the metro to the Colosseum, I’m quite happy to see this from the outside. Then we’ll see what we have time for, before getting the metro back to the Vatican for our pick up. The pick up is pretty early, but at least this gives us lots of contingency time to get back to the ship!
Our usual routine of show-dinner will follow.