If you would like an introduction to Danielle or to start this trip report from the beginning, click here.
Day 7: Naples/Amalfi Coast/Pompeii
Get ready for this day of the trip report, because it includes my favorite sites of Italy and the entire world! While I have always been interested in Naples, much of what I knew about the area came from reading “Eat, Pray, Love.” I always remember the part where she talks about how Naples is where pizza and ice cream were invented, so it has to make the best pizza and ice cream in Italy, and by extension, the world.
So, that’s what I was thinking about when I woke up to the beautiful coastline of Napoli. Pizza and ice cream. And that just about summarizes my goals and expectations for the day. I knew that I wanted to eat well, and I knew that I wanted to take beautiful photos. And that’s exactly what Naples provided for me, plus so much more.
First of all, here is the daily navigator:
And the port map:
Our day started early in the D Lounge, and we were extremely excited for our port adventure! We opted for the Amalfi Coast Drive and Ruins of Pompeii (NP 04), which is a 9.5 hour tour of some of the most popular areas of Naples, and really all of Italy. This excursion is described as active and athletic, but really I think that the intensity was relatively low compared to our other excursions.
We boarded our bus to meet the best tour guide that I’ve ever had in my entire life. He was so enthusiastic and made a genuine effort to get to know everyone in the group and make our excursion the best one of our lives. As he told us several times “If you get lost or need anything, ask anyone – they all know me!” We laughed when he said this at first, but he really wasn’t kidding – everyone that we encountered knew him and told us that we had the best guide, and we really did.
Our tour started with a 2 hour drive along the Amalfi Coast, where the plan was for our first stop to be in Positano for free time. You heard me mention that everyone knew our tour guide, right? Well, he would be talking with us about something, anything, about the area and it would remind him of a potential addition to our itinerary – so we would stop there!
Normally, I would be bothered by this, but every place we stopped was beautiful and offered an insight to the local culture. It was such a well put together yet spontaneous trip. Our first spontaneous stop? The Limoncello Factory!
Lemons grow everywhere along the Amalfi Coast, so it makes sense that lemon liquor would be produced along the Amalfi Coast. The liquor is made with the peel of the lemon, and we were able to sample some and purchase some ceramics. The factory’s glass let you see how they produce the liquor, and it reminded me of the set up that Krispy Kreme has. I am usually anti-souvenir (I take more than enough pictures to count as souvenirs), but I purchased two of the ceramic pieces for my kitchen. They are simply beautiful and have “made in Italy” branded on them. As for the limoncello, it’s just not my flavor of alcohol, but I did get to sample some. There’s quite a few variations of it including a creamier version which was my favorite. I feel like I would have enjoyed it more with a mixer.
We enjoyed a nice view before boarding our bus to heading to Positano, our next stop. If you’ve never driven the Amalfi Coast, you need to add it to your short list and buckle your seat belt! These twisting, turning roads overlook some of the most beautiful cliffs and views that you could imagine. Truthfully, I was a little fearful at times given how narrow the roads were and how wide our bus was, and I am seriously impressed at any driver let alone a bus driver that can navigate those roads!
I’ll let the photos speak for themselves, but you can easily see the beauty and charm of this coast. There are countless numbers of charming hotels, homes, and shops for miles and miles through dozens of cute towns. It’s easy to see why this place appears in travel magazines and all over Instagram!
We stopped in Positano where we were able to explore a bit on our own. Positano is known for its custom-made sandals and its paper products, both of which we browsed as we wandered in and out of the shops. We also stopped in a bakery, and I looked at their wine on display (it was all bizarrely from San Francisco, which made me laugh). These pastries are world famous and were out of this world. When you’re visiting Positano, be sure to keep an eye out for cars and scooters. I wasn’t joking about the winding roads, especially up and down steep hills. Cars and scooters jump out of nowhere, and the sidewalks and streets tend to blend together.
This bakery is apparently world famous, and their pastries were unbelievably good! So worth spoiling our lunch over!
Saying goodbye to this gorgeous view before heading to lunch!
We then boarded our bus again to head to lunch. We stopped in another charming town and walked up the street to a beautiful white hotel where we ate the most delicious meal that I’ve ever had in Italy. We were extremely grateful for some water, and sat with a Spanish-speaking family. We always jump at the opportunity to practice our languages (my mom is fluent in Spanish, so she was able to facilitate the conversation among everyone). We all get by pretty well with our Spanish, but it’s always great to practice, and there is no place like a European cruise to do just that!
After lunch, it was time to see a different view of the Amalfi Coast and head to Pompeii! We drove for about 45 minutes past cliffs, castles, and lemon farms until we reached Pompeii.
I was relatively surprised by how commercialized the city of Pompeii is. We passed several signs advertising for various Pompeii-themed businesses and even passed an advertisement for Pompeii summer camp ( I really hope it’s archeology themed and not themed for the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius).
Pompeii was the most unbelievable site that I’ve ever visited. As we stepped off the bus, our guide waved to various street vendors that all knew him (told you he wasn’t kidding!), and we started our tour of the city.
Did you know that Pompeii is the largest archeological site in the world? Archeologists are actively working every single day to uncover the mystery behind what life in Pompeii was like. In the year 79 AD, Mt. Vesuvius erupted, and the magnitude of the eruption was 500 times greater than an atomic bomb explosion. The timing of this eruption and the location of Pompeii is why the entire city is so well preserved. Had the city been closer to the volcano, it would have been hit with lava instead of just ash, and it would have melted the contents of the city. Instead, over 15 meters of hot ash fell on the city, encasing and eternalizing the residents and their way of life for us to later uncover.
We walked through what used to be bakeries (they even found bread in the oven!), homes, spas, and more. We learned that the streets of Pompeii were actually designed by the Persian empire, and we really gained a great deal of insight for what life in Pompeii was like.
Although you can see many molds of corposes, this is the only one that you can see 360 degrees around. Most of the bodies found were curled up into balls due to the effects that the gases released from the eruption caused on the nervous system.
We saw the Colosseum, which is the world’s oldest stone Colosseum. Before the destruction of Pompeii, gladiators used to duel here, and after its recovery, Pink Floyd has since filmed a concert film in the Colosseum.
The technology behind the spas was very advanced, and we were very impressed. My personal favorite part about Pompeii was all of the art. Did you know that the art of Pompeii outnumbers the amount of preserved art in the entire Roman empire combined? The writings on the wall (literally – the signage and political advertisements) really gave historians and archeologists an accurate idea of what living in Pompeii was like, and we have the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius to thank for that.
When we were finished with our tour, we boarded our bus feeling dusty and covered in volcano ash and we drove back to the ship. Our guide decided spur of the moment to stop at a friend’s shop to see how they make jewelry out of shells, and we had the opportunity to shop there as well. They showed us all of the tools that they use to make such intricate and beautiful pieces of jewelry.
Here is what the final product looked like! They were gorgeous, and there was a wide variety of options!
After what felt like the hottest day of our lives, we finally arrived back to the port to board our ship. We were so sad to say goodbye to our guide! He was such a joy to spend the day with! The port at Naples was especially interesting because they had excursions only disembark from the 3rd deck, but everyone boarded the ship from the 1st deck. This was the first port that had shopping immediately in the building, so I purchased a few bottles of wine to carry on board. Disney allows you to carry on two bottles of wine or 6 beers per person at each stop! Check out Disney Cruise Mom Blog’s very helpful post about DCL’s alcohol policy here.
I quickly jumped in the shower to wash off the dust from Pompeii and then met my friends for drinks before dinner. We ate dinner at Lumiere’s again, beginning the 3rd round of our dining rotation. Later that night, our family headed to the family pool to watch Moana (my sister had been singing “How Far I’ll Go” all day and had still not seen the movie!). After two back-to-back days with 12 hour excursions, we were exhausted and excited for a shorter day in Palermo, so we headed to bed, eager for our first glimpse of Sicily.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, I did get my pizza and gelato 🙂
Up Next: Day 8
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Danielle is a 23 year old Disney fanatic, ICU Nurse, and travel blogger from Nashville, TN. When she is not traveling, you can find her snuggling with her 2 English bulldogs and spending time with her family of 7. You can read more about her trips and adventures at www.daniellefarideh.com.
Instagram: @daniellefarideh
Facebook: www.facebook.com/daniellefarideh
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