May 23, 2017

This city is the gateway to Rome. Our original plan was to take the train to Rome but the arrival of Trump in the city deterred us because of the added security and the potential for not getting back to the ship on time.  At least we missed the G7 security in Sicily!

Last cruise we visited the catacombs in Rome, and the return trip there will wait for another time.

So instead we planned a lunch in Civitavecchia with several other couples.  We had delicious pizza, pasta and of course, wine.  It was a great afternoon, and then we did some shopping in the town.

The two Normans:

As in all the European towns, there are forts, castles and always interesting architecture.

There were four cruise ships in port today but it wasn’t crowded here, most of the organized tours head to Rome.

We were invited to dinner this evening with Steph Armengol, the VP Hotel Operations for Oceania and Regent cruise lines.  He is on the ship for several days and is interested in our feedback about the cruise.  Two other couples joined us and Steph at the table.  He was a wonderful dinner companion and listened thoughtfully to our comments.  It is in keeping with the great reputation that Oceania has that they try to keep getting better.