Here We Come! | Italy | August 26, 2025 | Cruise and Land
Activities (🎟️Booked 🎟️)
- Day 1- 08/26/26 Depart Newark for Naples, Italy
- Day 2- 08/27/25 Arrive Naples, Italy
- Day 2- Ferry from Naples to Amalfi or Private Transportation
- Day 2- Hotel La Bussola Amalfi
- Day 3 and 4- Amalfi Coast
- Day 5- Early Train from Naples or Salerno to Rome
- Day 5- Rome Hotel- early arrival, store luggage
- Option: Hotel Scalinata Rome
- Day 6- Rome
- Option: Rome Trastevere Food Tour at Twilight
- Option: Rome Food Tasting Tour with Visit to Trionfale Food Market
- Option: Rome Cooking Class in the Heart of Rome- Pizza &Tiramisu Making
- 🌅 Rome Weather Forecast 🌇
- Day 7- Train from Rome to Civitavecchia Cruise Port
- Days 7-17 Cruise through BJ Travel
- Day 17- Train from Civitavecchia to Florence
- Days 17 to 21- Hotel Loggiato de Serviti Brunelleschi Suite
- Option: Florence Dome Climb Tour
- Option: Florence Pasta Cooking Class with Unlimited Wine
- Option: Florence Street Food Tour with Local Expert
- 🌅 Florence Weather Forecast 🌇
- Day 21- Train from Florence to Venice
- Days 21 to 23- Hotel Olimpia
- Day 23- United Airlines Venice to Newark
Other Information
- Transportation to Rome Hotels from Train Station
- Using the Rome Metro (subway) | Tap & Go Payments
- Wine Windows of Florence
- Claiming your VAT refund prior to departure
Day 1 | Depart Newark (EWR) Airport
Tuesday | 08/26/25
Depart at 8:35 pm
United 966 for Naples, Italy.
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Hotel La Bussola
Situated on Lungomare dei Cavalieri, 16 on the sea front. Saint Andrew’s Cathedral, the bus station and the port, from which you can take a boat or the hydrofoil, are walking distance from the hotel. (MAP)
Day 2 | Arrive in Naples, Italy | Wed. 08/27/25
NAPLES AIRPORT
CAPODOCHINO, ITALY (NAP)
United Airlines Flight 966
Arrive 11:30 am
NLG Ferry
Naples (Beverello) 
Amalfi
AmalfiThe ferry schedule is currently available through March 2025. The 2024 departure times are below:
8:35 am, 10:00 am, 2:40 pm, 3:35 pm
Private Driver
A private driver or taxi can be arranged for travel from NAP to your Amalfi Hotel. This is a good option as it is possible for ferries to be cancelled due to weather conditions.
It can take 1h to 1h 30m depending on traffic.
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Days 17-21 in Florence, Italy
Thur. – Mon. | 09/11/25 – 9/15/25
Loggiato dei Serviti
This upscale hotel in a 16th-century structure facing a square is a 3-minute walk from the Accademia Gallery, a 7-minute walk from the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.
The elegant rooms offer period furniture, Wi-Fi, flat-screen TVs with satellite channels, and desks. They also come with minibars.
Breakfast is served in a casual dining room. Other amenities include a low-key bar, a TV room and a lobby lounge.
OPTION 2
Plaza Hotel Lucchesi (map)
The view is breath-taking: the River Arno and San Miniato al Monte are of unfathomable beauty when seen from the broad windows of the Suites.
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Wind: 6mph S
Humidity: 64%
Pressure: 29.8"Hg
UV index: 3
75°F
75°F
72°F / 50°F
73°F / 54°F
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Florence OPTION | TBD
Duomo Area Tour and Brunelleschi Dome Climb
Meeting Point: Piazza di San Giovanni #4 outside Farmacia S. Antonino between Caffé and Orologeria Panerai. Look for your guide holding a sign that says “FlorencePass” (map). More info.
Time: Please arrive at the meeting point 5 minutes before your chosen time so you don’t lose your time slot.
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Monday | 12/02/24 | 6:30 pm
🎟️Pasta Cooking Class with Unlimited Wine
Learn to make fresh pasta like the grandmothers of Italy during a class at a cooking school inside Florence’s Medieval Tower. Learn every step of the cooking process with a chef leading the way.
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Day 4 | Tuesday | 12/03/2024 |
🎟️Street Food Tour with Local Expert Guide
Meeting Point: The obelisk at Piazza dell’Unità Italiana just outside the Grand Hotel Baglioni. Your guide will be holding a sign saying “Street Food Tour” (map). More info.
Time: Please arrive at the meeting point by 10:45 am so you don’t lose your time slot.
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🎟️ Tipsy Tour: Fun Pub Crawl in Florence | 8:00 pm
Meeting Point: Giardino Martin Lutero
Lungarno Torrigiani, 3, 50125 Firenze (map)
- Wine, 2 Cocktails and a Shot.
- Local Guide
Indulge in a 3-hour bar crawl through Florence, guided by a local expert. Savor the finest Italian concoctions while discovering the vibrant nightlife this enchanting city has to offer. Stroll, sip, and socialize with fellow travelers who share your appetite for adventure.
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Wine Windows of Florence
Click here for information on the wine windows and a self-guided stroll to visit some.
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Day 5 | Wednesday | 12/04/2024 | 11:28 am
Train from Florence to Rome
Depart 11:28 am- Arrive 1:05 pm
Map to Station.
Ask at the front desk for a taxi to Termini Station or use Uber Black.
You will be travelling in Prima Business class in Coach 4 of Italo train 8907. Don’t forget to watch the Partenze board for your Binario!
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Days 5-10 in Rome, Italy
Wednesday – Monday | 12/04/24 – 12/09/24
Transportation to Hotel
There is a taxi stand just outside the Roma Termini station. Make sure to go to the stand at the end of the station and enter the queue for an official taxi. Make sure that they use the meter and confirm before getting in that they will accept a credit card. If someone approaches you and asks if you need a taxi, it is likely a scam! Wait at the actual stands.
You can also travel by the Rome subway system (the Metro) which has a station in a lower level of the train station complex. Take Line A toward Battistini and exit at the stop for Spagna. Follow the map to your hotel, it is a two-minute walk. Here is a YouTube video for taking Metro A to Spagna.
Rome Metro (ATAC) Network
There are three lines: A, B, and C covering the City of Rome. Lines A & B meet at Termini Station which is the center of the bus, metro, and railways.
Click for more information. MAP
TAP AND GO ON ATAC
With Tap & Go your ticket is in your wallet! With a contactless credit, debit or prepaid card that shows the contactless symbol you don’t need a paper ticket for buses, trams, trolleys, and metro lines. You may also be able to use your NFC-enabled devices (smartphones, smartwatches, wearables) if you have payment setup on the device. No need to register for ATAC unless you want an account to track your travels.
You will tap your card or device to the reader and be charged the going rate for your ticket. Each time you board or pass a turnstile, you need to tap before you go. Taps made to change between different means of transport (bus-metro/railway, metro/railway-bus and bus-bus), if made within the validity period of the ticket (100 minutes), are considered as one single tap and there will be no further charge.
REMEMBER TO TAP ON EACH VEHICLE BEFORE TIME RUNS OUT
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Hotel Scalinata di Spagna
A charming 3-star Hotel in downtown Rome, located inside an age-old building built in 1888, on a pre-existing late seventeenth-century building. You will be staying in the Grand Tour Apartment.
It is located on top of the Spanish Steps, Piazza Trinita dei Monti, one of the most beautiful places of the capital. From the veranda and the adjacent terrace of the Hotel you can enjoy a view over the roofs and domes of Rome.
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Wind: 6mph SE
Humidity: 76%
Pressure: 29.88"Hg
UV index: 2
73°F
73°F
75°F / 55°F
75°F / 57°F
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Wednesday | 12/04/24 | 5:30 pm
🎟️Rome Trastevere Food Tour at Twilight 5:30 pm
The meeting point of the Twilight Trastevere Food Tour is on “Isola Tiberina”. Your guide will meet you right in the center of the square by the San Bartolomeo church, next to a tall pointy monument. Look for the guide holding an Eating Europe sign. (map)
Exclusive access to two of Rome’s most famous restaurants.
- Skip the long line at local institution Da Enzo Restaurant to toast with DOC prosecco and enjoy some of their most famous dishes.
- Get the exclusive access to the oldest wine cellar in the city (2000 years) Taste Julius Caesar’s favorite dish while tasting amazing wine.
Read more about – Rome Trastevere Food Tour at Twilight
End point: Via Roma Libera, 11, 00153 Roma (map)
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Thursday | 12/05/24 | 10:45 am
🎟️Roman Food Tasting Tour with Visit to the Trionfale Food Market
Indulge in a true epicurean feast in Rome with this lavish tasting of 18 different types of food during this gluttonous 4-hour eating and walking tour of Rome. Stroll around the dynamic food markets, chat with the so-called Michelangelo of pizza at the famed Pizzarium (and sample a slice). Munch on cured meets and cheeses at Paciotti Salumeria, the best gourmet shop in the city. And savor fresh pasta and wine at an award-winning restaurant. Finally, finish off the tour with some delicious gelato.
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Friday | 12/06/24 | 6:00 pm
🎟️Christmas Nativities and Angels Tour in Rome
Meeting Point (MAP)
Basilica Parrocchiale Santa Maria del Popolo. Piazza del Popolo, 12, 00187
End point:Saint Peter’s Square
Piazza San Pietro, 00120 Città del Vaticano, Vatican City
Read more here.
This tour has been designed to showcase the magic of Christmas time in Rome and provide a better understanding of the importance of the holiday. Learn about local Christmas traditions and legends as you visit some of the most beautifully decorated spots in the city.
The tour begins in Piazza del Popolo, in front of the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, where you can learn about the miraculous holy water. Near it, you will also be able to admire the Twin Churches’ Christmas nativity. Continue the tour to Piazza Venezia and admire the stunning decorations while listening to historical anecdotes about Christmas in Rome.
Next, marvel at the majestic Church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli and the Holy Child, a sculpture baptized in the River Jordan that features as the center of the Christmas nativity scene. Stop in Piazza Navona, then cross the Bridge of Angels before ending the tour in the center of the Catholic world, Piazza San Pietro.
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Saturday | 12/07/24 | 5:00 pm
🎟️Cooking Class in the Heart of Rome- Pizza and Tiramisu Making
Learn how to make two classic Italian dishes—pizza and tiramisu—during this short workshop with a local Italian chef as your guide. After the learning and the baking, with all ingredients and equipment provided, comes the eating and the drinking alongside your new friends.
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Vatican Tree Lighting 6:30 pm
The 95-foot tall spruce tree that will light up St. Peter’s Square is from the Alpine forests of Ledro, in Trentino. The Nativity scene showcasing 20th century life and traditions in Grado, a lagoon town is set to be unveiled at 5 pm.
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Christmas Markets in Rome (click here)
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Day 9 | Sunday | 12/08/24 | Feast of the Immaculate Conception
The Feast Day is a national holiday in Italy, and it’s also considered the official start of the Christmas shopping season. Festa dell’Immacolata Concezione in Italian, it is celebrated in Rome on December 8th with a variety of events and traditions.
- Firefighters’ ceremony: At 7 AM, a firefighter climbs the column to place a wreath of flowers in the Virgin Mary’s arms. The Italian fire department also presents a bouquet with the motto “Flammas domamus, donamus Corda” (“We stop fires, giving our hearts”).
- Pope’s pilgrimage: At 4 pm, the pope visits the Column of the Immaculate Conception in Piazza Mignanelli near Piazza Spagna to leave a wreath of flowers at the base of the column and pray. This tradition dates back to 1958. (Map)
- Christmas tree lighting: The mayor of Rome lights the Christmas tree in the Piazza del Popolo and turns on the lights along Via del Corso.
- Free public transportation: The city offers free public transportation to encourage Christmas shopping.
- Floral tribute: At Piazza Mignanelli, a floral tribute is paid to the Madonna.
- Traditional mass: A mass is held at the church of the Santissima Trinità dei Monti.
- Angelus: The pope celebrates the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square at noon.
- Songs and prayers: The Franciscans of the Basilica dei Santi XII Apostoli animate the day with songs and prayers.
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Taxi Stands in Rome
Preparing to Return – The VAT
Purchases of many articles in European Union countries are subject to a value added tax. In Italy you may see the tax on your receipt as “IVA”.
You may claim a refund of the tax on articles that will be taken home without being used in the E.U. Here is a guide for the process.
Please watch this video about claiming your VAT refund at Fiumicino airport in Rome.
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Day 10 | Depart Rome, Italy at 12:45 pm
Rome Fiumicino Airport
Delta Flight 67 to Atlanta
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
Arrive at 5:55pm
Delta Flight 2395
Depart for CVG at 10:30 pm
Arrival at Atlanta Airport (ATL)
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Arrive at 11:55 pm – Greater Cincinnati Airport (CVG)
Links for More Information
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