Arrived in Rome just after a big rainstorm that left the city flooded and in temporary chaos. Due to weather in NY, we arrived 1.5 hours late. Our pre-arranged transportation, Rome Cabs - left us high and dry. After 2 calls to find out status, we were told the driver got tired of waiting in traffic and wasn't coming...so we got in the taxi queue and caught a ride to our hotel (Cavilieri) for less than our Rome Cab quoted price. Hotel view was stunning, located about a 12 euro ride from city center. Friday we met our guide from Walks of Italy, for the "eternity in a day" tour. Our guide, Claudia, was fantastic and our only low point was the Colosieum was closed. Due to the previous day's rain (we got a refund for that part)...enjoyed the beauty and life of Rome...

Took a cab to the port in Citivecchia....didn't want to schlep bags on and off the train. Had to pull bags about 300 yards to Celebrity embarkation area, from there our bags were taken, prosecco was provided, and our vacation of pampering had begun! We were on the beautiful Silhouette within 10 minutes, and under sunny skies we mad our way to the lawn area of the ship, enjoyed some adult beverages and had a lovely lunch (great curries!) before heading to our room. Lots of space, extra hangers handed out (Albert was so helpful) unpacked and down to drill within an hour. We were part of Food Networks group with cooking classes so below is a summary of our experiences...

Shore Excursuions - went on our own...met family in Portugal in driving wind and rain, but saw the Castle and swam into a great place for Vino Verde and Cataplana to spend the too short of time catching up before boarding the ship for the TA crossing. Read more