Thursday 25 September 2025
Eleven months ago as we were Cruising Canada’s Coast aboard Jewel of the Seas we booked a Seven Night Western Mediterranean Cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas, a round trip voyage out of Rome. We booked it with a bit of trepidation because we know that we enjoy small ships with port intensive itineraries. It’s a comfortable way to explore multiple destinations while enjoying the comfort of the same lodgings and dining each night. But the Allure is one of the Oasis Class cruise ships carrying 5,500 passengers. We’d sailed previously on two of the Freedom Class ships that carry 4,200 cruisers and felt crowded onboard as well as when we and an Oasis class both docked in Falmouth, Jamaica disgorging nearly ten thousand people into a town with a population of about seven thousand. Also although these behemoths offer a wealth of activities and dining options they cannot access smaller ports. There’s definitely pros and cons. Often they’re berthed some distance from town. But we liked the itinerary and it was an opportunity to cruise the Mediterranean and visit some European destinations for the first time. So today after a leisurely morning we donned our backpacks and headed to an outdoor cafe in Civitavecchi, Rome’s port city, for tea and croissants. Yes, it’d be more Italian to order capuccino, but we’re in the mood for tea. Then although it was still hours before our scheduled boarding time we hiked on out to the cruise terminal fully prepared to sit and wait for our turn to board but lo and behold we were onboard before 11:30AM. After the trek out the pier we were ready for refreshment so we immediately visited the Promenade Cafe on Deck Five and soon thereafter we’d deposited our backpacks in our stateroom on Deck 10. Soon thereafter we encountered Esteban, who we’d befriended aboard Jewel of the Seas in May of last year. We sat down with him in NextCruise and swapped travel stories with him. From there we wandered the ship that was recently updated in dry dock in Cadiz, Spain. There are so many decks and so many activities we are certain we will not get to know all the nooks and crannies in the mere seven days we’ll be onboard. We had a lovely dinner then headed to the AquaTheater for the Aqua80too show, an amazing 45 minutes of dancing, acrobatics, synchronized swimming, an ultra high diving set to 1980’s music. It’s going to be an interesting week. If things get too hectic or too loud, we can always retreat to our stateroom with its oceanside balcony. Meanwhile we’re looking forward to tomorrow’s adventure, The Ruins of Pompeii!.
0 Comments