Our family sailed on Navigator of the Seas for the second time, but the first time on a European itinerary. We were my wife and I, and out two teenage daughters, 13 and 16. We spent a few days in Rome exploring, booking a nice apartment via HomeAway, which was fabulous. We took the express train from Rome Termini to Civitavecchia, the Rome port just north of the main airport. It was about a 45-1hr train journey, complicated by the hundreds of local Romans heading for the beaches on this beautiful Sunday morning. It was very easy to walk from the train terminal to the waiting buses, which whisked us to the ship. Confusingly, there were no signs, so simply walk north (turn right on exit of the train station) along the sidewalks, until you see the old fort on your left. Its in a fairly busy roundabout, where the entrance to the port proper begins. You will see buses waiting off to your left.

We had to wait a bit to get to our room, and yes, we did have an emergency drill before departure, which thankfully did not require us to head to the cabin to get life preservers, as they were handed out in our station.

As we have been on 5 RCCL cruises before, here are a few brief observations on this particular cruise: Read more