Day 11~ Naples, Italy (Amalfi Coast, Sorrento & Pompeii)
We arrived in Naples, Italy early in the morning and quickly got ready for the day. Originally, we were planning to do another hop-on-hop-off bus tour when we got there, but after hearing about a Pompeii & Amalfi Coast Excursion through Can’t Be Missed Tours, we decided to go that route.
It cost a bit more than the hop-on-hop-off, but it included transportation in a modern, air-conditioned bus and guided tours with specific stops. It went to places we really wanted to see more than Naples, the scenic Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, the cliffs of Positano, and a guided walking tour of Pompeii (additional charge for entrance to Pompeii). Plus, they guarantee to have you back at your ship before departure time. It is also a tour highly recommended by Rick Steves, whose books we’ve used for our travels around Germany.
We met the tour guide and driver right outside the cruise terminal around 8am. Once everyone was settled on the bus, we hit the road. When they say leaving promptly at 8:30, they mean it.
The tour started with an incredible scenic drive along the Amalfi Coast. Looking out at the beautiful coastline and cute little Italian villages was quite relaxing. The comfort of being in an air-conditioned bus instead of the sweltering heat or baking in the sun probably helped with that too.
Our first stop was Sorrento, a charming little town known for their lemons, limoncello, and ingenious woodwork. We were fascinated by the lemons! Never in my life have I seen lemons this huge!
After a quick bit of information about the town, we had about 2 hours to meander through the town and shops, get some souvenirs, and break for some lunch at a local restaurant. Nearly every food or drink place we passed had a sample of their limoncello to try. It was delightfully sweet and pucker-up sour at the same time.
When lunch was finished up, we were back on the bus heading towards Positano, or more specifically, the summit of the cliffs of Positano. It was a short stop, about 20-30 minutes, but enough to take pictures of the view and get a souvenir or drink, if needed. Perhaps another limoncello! 😉
The next stop, and highlight of the day, was the walking tour of Pompeii. Getting to explore the entire ancient Roman city, seeing preserved ruins of villas, streets, baths, and even people, leaves you awestruck. And I took soooo many pictures there, it took me quite awhile to narrow down which ones to use here.
Skye really loved this part of the trip. After having just studied Ancient Rome, Pompeii, and the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, she wanted to literally see every single part of the town.
While exploring what was once people’s homes, seeing their paintings, or frescoes, on the walls, I think Skye told us nearly as much as the tour recording did. As homeschoolers, it was an amazing opportunity to make history come alive, not just be something we read about.
When we came to the bodies, it became quite a bit more somber, but both kids took it in stride. Skye knew what to expect and was intrigued by the whole process of how they archaeologists have preserved the bodies as they were found (plaster inside the ash created mold of the body). I don’t think Caleb, being 5, fully understood what had happened or what we were looking at.
After Pompeii, the tour bus took us back to the terminal and we boarded around 5pm. As it was our last night, we headed back to our cabin to begin the sad process of packing up.
Part of the disembarking process involved putting our suitcases outside our cabin door that night, with special tags on them, and then they’d be ready for collection at the shuttle bus in the morning. We took a little time to make sure everything we needed in the morning was ready and would fit in our carry-on bags, and that everything else, especially souvenirs, were all packed up in the suitcases.
After enjoying our final dinner of the cruise, Caleb went to the Fun Factory for a Farewell Party, while Skye went to the X Club for the Cruise Reflection (looking back at pictures from the week and exchanging info) and their own Farewell Dance Party. It was nice that the counselors scheduled specific time for them to exchange social media information and emails to keep in touch with new friends.
Corey and I took a walk around the ship (it had become a favorite time for us) talking about what we enjoyed the most about the cruise and the trip as a whole. I think the only thing we would do different, if we were to take another cruise in the future, would be to take part in more of the planned events (this trip we just wanted to spend as much time together as we could) and get two adjoining rooms. When sharing a single room with two kids, it’s quite difficult to have much privacy.
Otherwise, everything about the cruise was fabulous. The food was amazing (and I am picky about what’s good), it wasn’t crowded anywhere, even knowing there were thousands of people on-board. And the kids had a blast!
This is Part 9 of Review: 11-Night Eastern Mediterranean Cruise with Celebrity Cruises- Read other parts below:
Part 1-Civitavecchia & Check-in
Part 2- At Sea
Part 3- Santorini, Greece
Part 4- At Sea/Istanbul, Turkey
Part 5- Istanbul, Turkey/At Sea/Kusadasi, Turkey
Part 6- Mykonos, Greece
Part 7- Piraeus (Athens), Greece
Part 8- At Sea
Part 9- Amalfi Coast/Sorrento/Pompeii, Italy
Part 10- Disembark Civitavacchia & Wrap-up
(This was NOT a sponsored post.)
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