We really had a good time on this cruise, and did about half of the excursions on our own.
We were a mom and daughter traveling together, 6th cruise for me and 5th for my daughter. We paid extra for a Carnival flight deviation so we could fly direct to Rome and found it was well worth it!
We were met at the airport by Carnival reps, who helped us book the "Holy Rome" tour. Yes, we were warned that we would be jet-lagged, and it would be a long day, but we did it anyway. In hind-sight, we were glad to have seen the Vatican, but wish we had done the "Rome at a Glance" instead. Vatican was hot, crowded, and long.