June 13 - It is time to say goodbye to Crystal Symphony, which marks the completion of our 148th cruise! We are scheduled to fly back to DFW from Rome (FCO) tomorrow morning on American Airlines. Therefore, we are planning to spend one post-cruise evening in Rome. As such, we are in no rush to disembark the ship and have requested the latest disembarkation time of 9:45am. Since our larger luggage had to be placed outside our door by 11pm last night, we have plenty of time to pack our carry-on luggage and enjoy a relaxing breakfast in Waterside restaurant before disembarkation.

This is the first, and only, time we dined in Waterside for breakfast. Traditionally, we don’t eat breakfast except on disembarkation day. On many cruise ships, main dining breakfast is not a pleasant experience. The staff usually try to seat you at a large table with other guests because it is easier for the wait staff. Maybe that is one of the reasons we have avoided main dining breakfast all these years. But, on Crystal (and most luxury cruise lines), they will seat you at a table for two, if you request it. We had a nice table for two next to a window.

As you can see from the photo above, they offer an extensive breakfast menu. Rickee ordered her favorite, Eggs Benedict, while I opted for the Steak and Egg breakfast with a side of hash browns. Rickee’s eggs were perfectly poached and my eggs were delivered over-medium, as ordered. My steak, a very thin NY strip, was cooked Medium, as ordered. It was the perfect-sized steak for breakfast.

After our delicious breakfast, it was sadly time to disembark Crystal Symphony and claim our luggage.

After claiming our larger luggage in the adjacent cruise terminal building, we rolled all of our bags out to an area where we were instructed to wait for the port shuttle to take us to the entry of the port. A little explanation is in order. Instead of booking a private car transfer through the Shore Excursions desk, we decided to book an Uber on our own. Our understanding was that all taxis and Uber rides were picked up at the entrance to the port, an area called Largo Della Pace.

While waiting for the city-operated port shuttle to arrive, which is supposed to run every 20 minutes, we had an opportunity to take one last look at Crystal Symphony docked in Civitavecchia (below).

It should be noted that we are not the only ones waiting for the shuttle bus. The crowd of people waiting for the shuttle grows by the minute, as does the mountain of luggage with which people travel these days. To make the experience even more challenging, it is getting quite warm outside and we are standing in the sun waiting for the shuttle that ends up taking more than 30 minutes to arrive.

When the shuttle finally does arrive there is, of course, no place on the bus for luggage. So now we are all trying to cram this shuttle full of all of our luggage. Forget trying to get a seat! You were lucky if you were able to find something to hold on to in order to keep from falling when the shuttle started and stopped moving.

It is obvious, at this point, that the Crystal experience is over and we are back to real life. To make matters worse, during the 30 minutes we spend waiting for the shuttle, we can see other, much more intelligent guests, getting into pre-arranged air-conditioned Mercedes and BMWs pier side, right next to the ship. How come they don’t have to wait for the shuttle? Turns out, when you book your private car through Shore Excursions, the drivers can pick you up pier side. What is really sad is, I should have known this because we went through this ten years ago in Civitavecchia when we had a private car pick us up pier side. The old mind isn’t what it used to be.

Oh, it gets better. When the shuttle finally does drop us off, we have to walk to Largo Della Pace, which is basically a sidewalk on a busy street where dozens of guests are fighting for a spot to wait for their taxi or Uber ride. By now it is only 10am and our Uber is not scheduled to arrive until 10:45. So, we have to spend 45 minutes waiting in the heat on a crowded sidewalk? We were encouraged the day before to cancel our Uber and take the ship’s private transfer, but we were afraid we would have to eat the $190 Uber fare (we are travelling about 60 miles from the port).

Long story short (too late for that), our Uber ride showed up a little early. We had a really nice driver who told us that if we had texted him the name of our ship and the number of the pier, he could have picked us up right next to the ship. This is the wisdom you only gain from going on 148 cruises! So, our advice (not that you would ever listen to our advice after this story), book your private transfer through the ship.

The drive from the port to our Air BNB in Ostia (a small community that is only 5 minutes from the Rome airport) took about 60 minutes. You may be wondering why we chose an Air BNB. Well, this was Rickee’s doing. My strategy was to simply book a room at the airport Hilton for about $350 per night. But, Rickee’s research revealed that the Hilton, and all of the airport hotels, got really bad reviews and even complaints of bed bugs. She spent more than a week researching places to stay near the airport and came up with an Air BNB in Ostia. When the Uber driver dropped us off in front of the building, I was beginning to question her decision.

Rickee had assured me that the Air BNB got rave reviews on Booking.com, but all I could see was a rusty gate between me and the front door of what looked like a very unkept apartment complex. The entry gate to the apartment was locked and we had no idea how to get in. Rickee tried calling the owner of the Air BNB but got voice mail. She left a message telling him that we were out front. Fortunately, another tenant in this complex showed up and let us into the building.

The next challenge was how were we going to get our luggage up the to the third floor apartment. That’s right, there’s no elevator. I was about to start jack-assing the luggage up the stairs when Simone, the owner, called Rickee and said he was on his way. He showed up a few minutes later and, being younger and stronger, was happy to haul our luggage up the three flights of stairs.

The pleasant surprise was when we walked inside and found a spotlessly clean and modern two-bedroom apartment.

There was a small kitchenette with a refrigerator, dishwasher, small sink and two-burner stove. They even had a washer and dryer available for our use. Everything looked brand new. The bathrooms were new, modern and spotless, as was the entire apartment. Rickee’s research really paid off. The only negative was one of the neighbors in an apartment below ours had two barking dogs that continued to bark until after midnight.

The best feature of this Air BNB was location. Even though the neighborhood looked a bit sketchy at first glance, it was actually perfectly located for some exploring of nearby Ostia Antica, a large archeological site.

According to the legend, Ancus Marcius, king of Rome, founded Ostia in 620 BC as a crucial spot to make use of the salt pans at the mouth of the Tiber River. The oldest archaeological remains, however, date back much earlier, to the second half of the 4th century BC, and belong to an armed camp (Lat. castrum) built in tufa blocks. It was built by Roman settlers to protect the river’s mouth and the Lazio coast.

The archeological site is within easy walking distance from our Air BNB, so after minimal unpacking, off we went to do some exploring. Our first visit was to the Julius II Castle. We purchased tickets to explore the castle and the nearby archeological site of Roman ruins.

The Castle was built in 1483 by Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, who commissioned the Florentine architect, Baccio Pontelli, to design it.

As one of the most important examples of Renaissance military architecture, the complex includes a perimeter wall with casematte (cannon-proof rooms), three towers (one of which incorporates the Pope Martin V tower), a rivellino (the highest tower built to protect the main entrance) and a wide ditch.

After thoroughly inspecting the castle, we walk across the street where we find the archeological site of Ostia Antica.

We spent well over an hour walking down the ancient Roman main road of this site. It is amazing how many of these structures are still in tact. Even though Ostia Antica is not as pristine as Pompeii because it was not covered (and therefore preserved) by volcanic ash, the place is fascinating.

Marble Roman carvings have survived for centuries

Even in broken condition, the sign below shows the level of craftsmanship that the ancient Romans possessed. The borders of this sign are perfectly square and straight, not to mention the precise carved lettering.

The amphitheater is the most impressive structure we explored. The stone work is amazing. That this Roman engineering dates back to the first century BC is almost hard to believe.

By the time we reached the amphitheater, we knew we were going to have to turn back. It was just too hot to go any further, but there was plenty more to see. Maybe we will return in the future, when temperatures are cooler. Rickee and I each racked up more than 12,000 steps on our FitBit and Apple Watch exploring Ostia Antica. It was a real hidden treasure that we discovered by accident because of a post-cruise stay.

Our exploring ended at about 5:00pm and I was stating to get pretty hungry. We walked back into the area near the castle were we saw a couple of pasta and pizza cafes. Unfortunately, nothing was open and we were told at two different places we stopped that they did not open until 7pm. People eat much later in Europe!

I think we were just too tired and hot to fight it and decided to head back to our BNB and cool off. Fortunately, the BNB had excellent air conditioners in every room. On the walk back down the residential street to the BNB, we saw a small restaurant. It was closed and after doing to research on Google, we discovered it does not open until 6:30. Oh well, another fail.

We arrived back at the BNB, did some unpacking, watched a little TV and then, around 6:30 I suggested to Rickee that we walk back down the street to that little neighborhood restaurant. She agreed, and off we went.

When we arrived at Coccode, we walked in and were greeted by Viviana, one of the owners. By this time, Rickee had done her research and discovered that this little restaurant gets rave reviews on Tripadvisor with a 5-star rating! Viviana told us that they don’t start serving dinner until 7, but that they do have aperitifs. We ordered two glasses of Prosecco and asked her to bring us whatever she had to snack on.

We were also introduced to Ripple, the 6-month old hound pup that greets guests as they arrive.

Ripple, the restaurant’s official greeter

Viviana arrived with two glasses of cold, refreshing Prosecco.

Soon, Viviana also brought us each a platter with Bruschetta (potato and eggplant), hot French Fries and delicious Arancini (deep-fried ball stuffed with risotto, mushrooms and cheese).

After we devoured the appetizers, Viviana returned table side with a chalkboard displaying the day’s menu choices. I chose the Ravioli Cacio e Pepe. I can’t remember what the Raviolo were stuffed with, but it was some of the best pasta I have ever eaten. We later learned that Viviana’s husband is a chef who makes all of their pasta from scratch, fresh, every single day! You can definitely taste the difference.

We spent a fair amount of time talking with Viviana, and her husband, Adam. What a great couple with a great story! Viviana is from Ostia and Adam is from England. They met in Australia where Viviana worked in his restaurant and love blossomed. Sometimes the best travel memories are completely unplanned.

If you ever need to spend a day or two pre-cruise or post-cruise, definitely consider staying in Ostia.

Tomorrow, we will fly back to our home in Texas and this adventure will come to an end. Our next planned adventure will be a 10-night cruise in Iceland and Greenland with Swan Hellenic. That will be our 149th cruise! Stay tuned.

Day Ten - Disembarkation and Post-Cruise in Rome

Day Nine - Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy