My European Vacation October, 2007
Brenda Bader

I am going to review some hotels, and of course, the ship, the new Carnival Freedom.

Rome –
I stayed at the Hotel Flori Marriott. It is located close to the park and a 15 minute walk to the Spanish Steps. It was in an excellent area, amongst the high end restaurants, etc. of Rome. The room we had was on the smaller side, but I was able to check out a couple other rooms there and they were a little larger. They have a couple of beautiful restaurants. The service at the hotel was extremely impressive. The Concierge worked night and day to get out lost luggage to us before we checked out and went to the ship. His diligence was extremely welcomed, and we had our luggage the morning we departed for the ship.

I also checked out the Imperiale Hotel, which was located about 3 blocks down the hill from the Marriott and it is a great 3 star property. The rooms were larger than those at the MC Flori and the location was better, closer to everything. There were many great restaurants located right outside the hotel. I also saw Quarinale, located in the middle of Rome, closer to the Teremi train station and easy access to everything. The rooms in this hotel were far larger than the other two. Also, the price of eating out was a lot less here vs near the Marriott and Imperiale. My daughter stayed at the Intercontinental De La Val, which was right at the top of the Spanish Steps. It was a very beautiful hotel with a roof top bar with an excellent view of the city. They had many café inspired restaurants which were quaint located in the hotel.

After our 3 days in Rome we had a private transfer to our ship, the Carnival Freedom, in the port of Civvicchia. We used a service by John Fiore, which was excellent, and a lot less than any other vendor.

John Fiore
www.RomeLimousinebyJohn.com
Rome Limousine Service in Italy by John Cell. 39.338.428.9389
Limousine Service/ShoreTour www.RomeLimousinebyJohn.com
www.romelimousineshoretours.com/price.html

We were dropped off at ship. Our large luggage had to go through security and was taken to our cabin later. We were allowed to carry on our luggage. And note, Carnival will allow you to bring on your own wine at embarkation. Two bottles of wine per cabin, as well as limited amounts of soda and bottle water! They do charge a corking fee if you drink it in the dining room.




The ship was very tastefully decorated and did not have the loud colors, etc. associated with Carnival. The cabins, as always, were large. We had a balcony and they will unlock the divider between cabins if requested, to open up the space. This was nice because my daughter and her husband, Tom & I would sit out there at sail away.

After the cruise we spent two nights in Amalfi, Italy. I was able to inspect a few hotels that I have sold in the past and ones I heard were great.

We stayed in Amalfi at the Grand Hotel Excelsior. This hotel is located on the hillside above Amalfi and has an amazing view of the area. It is a 3 star property and used by Cosmos and Grand Circle Tours. It even had a bellman, and they parked your car and told you how to get around the area without driving. The hotel offers free transportation from the town city about 4 times a day. Otherwise, the bus system S.I.T.A. goes up and down quite often and can drop you off right next to the hotel. It is a 15 minute ride from the town center to the hotel. The main hotel is carved into the hillside and the décor is that of the 1950’s. The lobby and eating areas were comfortable. They have many terraces with spectacular view to eat or have cocktails on. The rooms were very large, and all have huge terraces with great views. The hotel was clean and the service great. They also have a pool on the cliff and a bar which is located in a cave. I would suggest this property if the client won’t mind not being in the center of things.

Also, I want to mention a few factors on getting to and from the Amalfi coast.
You can take the train to Salerno from Rome or Naples and the local train to Amalfi. If you drive a car from Salerno to Amalfi it takes about 40 minutes. If you take the train, it takes 10 minutes. Ofcourse, taking the train you wouldn’t experience your fingers gripping the steering wheel drive, while car pass you on hairpin turns!

Amalfi was a quaint little town. Not as attractive as Positano, but had many sites to see. The La Cattedrale di S. Andrea Apostola, or the church in Amalfi, was very interesting and very beautiful. The town was not as clean as Positano and Ravello, but not as many upscale tourist stay or visit this town.

To get to other towns from Amalfi, or other coastal towns, there are ferries from Amalfi to Positano, Capri, and Salerno. The cost is 5 Euro to 8 Euro one way per person.
There is also the local bus, the S.I.T.A. that goes between the coastal towns and the Unico bus that travels between a variety of towns. The cost for a full day pass, unlimited travel is 8 Euro. We were able to take the ferry to Positano in the morning and make it back in the early afternoon to take the bus up to Ravello. We had a car, but the stress of driving the roads was too much. I highly suggest the ferry’s and buses. The passes and tickets can be purchased in many locations.

In Positano I saw the Le Sirenuse hotel. This is a 4 star property offered through the Leading Hotels of the World. The hotel is located a short walk up hill from the town center. The hotel was at one time a family residence, and was made into a hotel. It is still owned and operated by the same family. The hotel was full but I was able to see a deluxe room. The hotel rooms are beautifully appointed and many with spectacular views of the town and coastal area. The attention to detail was amazing and awe inspiring. The door handles, alone, were extremely beautiful. Some of the suites have bathtubs with amazing views. But what I like the best were the extremely elegant and beautiful public spaces. Many places to sit and enjoy the views outside, and better yet, if you don’t want to look at the views, just look at the amazing detail in the building and public spaces in the hotel.
A true winner!

Then we went to Ravello. What an amazing town. It is relatively small, perched on a cliff, and offers 5 five star hotels. I was able to inspect 3 of these hotels in detail and walked the grounds of the 4th. Time was short so I did not get to the 5th. But I did get to see another hotel that was listed as a 4 star, but I would say it’s a 3 ½ star, read below.

The town of Ravello is perched high on a cliff overlooking on one side the town of Amalfi and the other side the breathtaking coastline. You enter the town through a man made tunnel and right into the town square. On your left is the Villa Rufolo, straight ahead is the quaint town center, and to the right the road to 3 of the 5 star properties.
This town and the view from just about everywhere made Positano pale in comparison.
Because I had limited time I did not get to see the Villa Rufolo, which many said was worth the visit. We did walk up hill quite a ways to get to the Cimbrone, with spectacular grounds. The Cimbrone offers rooms and is one of the 5 star properties. It was closed for a private function the day were where there so unable to see the Villa.

There are 3 hotels right next to each other, and all very impressive. All with spectacular view, and all very expensive!

The first one you come to is the Hotel Palumbo, a 5 star property. The rooms are large and most, not all, have great views. It has a great terrace, of course, with a view. And they hadmany great dining options. The hotel staff here was friendly.

Then next in line was the Palazzo Sasso, a 5 star property. This hotel was a 12th century Italian villa. It had great terraced areas with great view. I could not see a room here and I found the staff to be a little stuffy and they made me feel as if I was an intrusion.. The hotel is known for their spa.

The last one I looked at along this road was the highlight of my day. The Hotel Caruso, a 5 star property, This was an 11th century palazzo and now one of the Orient-Express Hotels. Every part of the hotel was spectacular. Everywhere you looked there was gardens, and flowers, and views. The rooms were extremely large and had magnificent views. I saw a deluxe room and a deluxe junior suite and they were nice.. They all had great pools, but this one was exceptional. It had an infinity pool overlooking this spectacular view and was located next to a resort old building. It just re-opened last year after extensive renovation and because they are using some existing historical building that had to be restored to exact detail. And it is Beautiful! Every room they showed me and all public rooms were amazing.

We also looked at a 3 ½ star property, Hotel Rufolo, located right next to the villa Rufolo and was one of the easiest to get to. The hotel was clean and had great views. They do need to update their beds and bedding. The rooms were mid to large on scale and had round bathtubs in many of the rooms. I would recommend this to someone who wanted to be in Ravello, but not pay the high price. Great grounds too!

I have pictures of all the hotels above and new brochures. Please let me know if you are interested in seeing them.

After the Amalfi coast we drove to Sicily, via the Chiunzi pass. Tom’s a WWII history buff. It took about 7 ½ hours to get to the ferry and then once we crossed, about 50 minutes to get off the ferry and out of Messina to Taormina highway. Then it took about 1 ½ hours to get to Taormina. We stayed in Taormina for 5 nights at the hotel Ariston, which is listed as a 4 star and in some cases a 5 star. I rated it maybe a 3 star. It’s located on one of the highest hills in the town and very hard to find. For a 4 star, they did not have a bellman to help with luggage. I had called and asked about parking and was told that they had it and it was free, but there was a catch. They only have 6 free stalls. We ended parking down the hill in a garage for 10 Euros per day. So after you parked the car you need to climb straight up this giant hill about 2 ½ blocks to the hotel. There was a group from Grand Circle staying they were very disappointed in the rooms. The carpeting was carpet squares in the halls an rooms and they were very dirty. The breakfast room I don’t think was swept once during our 5 days there. I would not recommend this hotel.

However, the town of Taormina was beautiful with Mount Etna to the back and spectacular view of the sea. The town had some very beautiful old building and quaint squares. There is an old 3rd-centry BC Greek Theatre in Taormina that has great views and worth the visit.
We also drove to Syacuse which is about 1 ½ hours south of Taormina and has many great ancient sites. We didn’t go to Mt. Etna because of the 1 ½ feet of snow, and we were heading back to Minnesota, knowing that we would see the white stuff soon enough! I enjoyed Sicily, but it was not as clean, anywhere, as in Italy. And noticeable northern Italy is far cleaner than southern Italy.