My wife and I are first time cruisers and although unfamiliar with the terrain (or seascape as the case may be) I will venture several opinions in this review that I hope will be helpful to any cruisers - newbie and seasoned alike.  Firstly the Celebrity Solstice is a remarkably sophisticated ship with an adult flavor (no rockwalls - no water slides) and a staff that caters to your every need and want.  It makes you think of what elegant cruising may have been like back in the days of regular transatlantic crossings.

To begin, we arrived at Rome FCO airport on the 16th of July ex NYC JFK via Alitalia airlines.  Those who may have followed my luggage concerns on CruiseCritic over Alitalia's 11 lb carry-on restrictions need not worry to much as passengers on our ½ full evening flight going and full early afternoon flight returning to NYC ex Rome FCO were not scrutinized much and I could have walked on with a steamer trunk going to Rome and no one would have noticed.  Just kidding of course but with that said I would not take the chance as one lady was stopped at boarding in Rome with a piece over 11 lbs.  But everybody seemed to have large bulky luggage boarding that I am sure weighed well over 11 lbs.  I still would follow our plan and check 3 pieces thru and have 2 carry-ons pp placing one smaller piece, with critical essentials you need to board with, inside the larger piece (also filled around with personal items around the edges) plus the second smaller second carry-on you are allowed.  If stopped at boarding than just pull out the smaller piece from the larger carry-on and redistribute your belongings giving the larger piece now to the attendant to check thru as your 4th allowable piece of checked luggage.  Now you both walk on with your 2 allowable and legal pieces of carry-on luggage.  The weight and size restrictions have penalties that are high, starting at 50 Euros and going up as high as  150 Euros for a third piece of checked luggage pp with weight and size penalties applying on top of that!  I fretted many a night over this I don't see an alternative plan with Alitalia accept for booking with another Airline whose weight carry-on restrictions can be as high as 30 lbs!  I am not so much a seasoned air passenger but I see I may have to go back to school for another degree - this one on the science of airline luggage requirements or how to beat the system at their own game.  Both flights were smooth, fast and my luggage arrived with me so I am not going to complain...for now.

My wife and I, along with a friend we met on CC and arranged to meet at FCO, transferred to the port city of Civitavecchia and stayed at the Hotel Bramante.  Please remember that the 45 minute transfer will run 110-140 Euros depending on the transfer company you may use so get on the CC boards early to arrange to share your ride if you are so inclined.  The Hotel Bramante is a wonderful boutique style hotel - modern and clean - with a full breakfast and within walking distance of several beaches and the port promenade which caters to a lively night time crowd mingling between many nicely decorated restaurants.  The hotel staff was kind and attentive and the owner even gave us a lift to our restaurant engagement at the port.  We dined with several of our new cruise mates and then we strolled the promenade, stopped for some gelato, people watched all those that came out at 10 pm to be seen, strolled out on a walkway jetty to catch the cool summer nighttime breeze off the Mediterranean Sea and on the way back to the promenade eyed a Salsa dance party/instruction on a make shift dance floor on the beach!  Very cool. Read more