We are a family of five who all enjoy cruising, and to date have tried the major cruise lines but only on Caribbean itineraries. Though this was our first time to Europe, we had come to expect a certain level of service with RCI and they did not disappoint.
We flew into Rome the day before embarkation and spent a whirlwind 24 hrs exploring as much as the city as we could in a jet-lagged state. We chose to save some euros by taking the regional train from our hotel near the Vatican to the port of Civitavecchia and everything went extremely smoothly. We met some crew from the ship at the train station and they stayed with us, even helping us with our luggage up and down the steep stairs at the train station. Thank you Francis!!!!
We did the easy walk from the train station to the shuttle busses to the ship, arriving about 2 p.m. Embarkation was a breeze. The ship is required to keep your passports until you leave the last port of call. We dropped our carry-ons in the stateroom and headed to the Windjammer along with hundreds of other starving and excited passengers.