We flew into Rome 4 days prior to embarkation. Through a friend, we arranged a car service from the airport to Rome via the USO. Our driver must have had an appointment to get to, because I can't remember going that fast on a highway - ever. The car was a big Mercedes Sedan, which would have been great except for the fact that we were scared to death the entire trip. "Honey, I love you." were words exchanged between my wife and I several times in the 10 minutes or so it took to carreen through the streets of Rome from the Airport. Once we arrived, we checked to make sure we were still in one piece. Once this had been accomplished to our satisfaction, we proceeded to check into the Hotel Rafaello. Luckily, this was the hotel we had a reservation for, not just some random place the driver found. Over the next few days, we managed to see the Vatican, the Roman Forum, Palantine Hill, the Colisseum, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Basillica Maria Maggiore (don't miss this), Trevi Fountain and Villa Borghese. I woke up on the date of embarkation and said "Damn, we have to get on the ship today". Rome is fabulous.

We took the train from Rome Termini to Civitavecchia. While waiting for the train, my wife counted no less than 135 pairs of boots in a 35 minute period. The women in Rome LOVE their boots. I have to say, they look quite good. The train ride was nice. A word of advice if you're planning this: take the Eurostar, it's worth the extra. And let's be honest, the cost isn't that much to begin with. 25 Euro for two people beats the heck out of hiring a cab for 150 Euro.

Once we got off the train, it was a relatively short walk to the entrance to the Civitavecchia port. I couldn't see our ship. I started to panic. Thoughts of "did we get the wrong date?" crept into my head. We didn't see any shuttle busses. We finally came upon a bus for one of the ships I could see, and they told us where to go to catch the bus for the Star Princess. I breathed a sigh of relief. I may not be able to see the ship, but it's evidently here. We find the spot to catch the bus, and within a couple minutes one pulls up. We all line our luggage up next to the bus and wait for it to be loaded... nothing. The driver gets off the bus and goes and starts up a conversation with a buddy who is cleaning off another bus. They apparently have a very nice chat, because he is showing no interest whatsoever in loading our luggage on the bus and taking us to the ship. We stare at him. He ignores us. This war of wills goes on for a good 10 minutes before he finally comes over and says "Luggage". Yes, luggage. We know. Luggage. We want it put on the bus. Are we supposed to do that? "Luggage" was the response. Yes, luggage. We got that part. What now? "Luggage" was the response once again. OK, so I finally figure out that this guy has no intention of putting the luggage on the bus and in addition, it's our responsibility to do so. Glad we got that worked out. Read more