Jewel of the Seas: Naples

Today is the last full day of the Greek Isles cruise and we’re visiting the port of Naples.

We were up and enjoying coffee while sailing in to port.

The view to the left as we docked.

We could see the Epic on the other side. I remember talking to a cruise passenger from the Jewel of the Seas last year in Naples on the bus back from Herculaneum.

We went to the dining room for our last breakfast there this cruise.

I liked the fruit and cereal bar in the center of the dining room. This must cut down on food waste as passengers only take what they like.

I’m thinking it was the chocolate breakfast based on the waffles.

My husband and I have toured Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri and Herculaneum (me). But we never explored Naples so my plan was to follow the Rick Steve’s cruise guide book on a walking tour ending up at the best pizza in Naples.

Naples Walk

We got ready for our walk in Naples and left the ship about 9 am. We had to take a scenic picture of us. The Costa ship was in docked in front of us.

Steve got his turn.

We stopped at the information booth and got a map there to supplement my information from Rick Steves. We first explored the harbor sights.

Castel Nuovo is right across from the cruise port. You can see it behind us in the pictures above. This medeival castle was first built in 1279. We followed the road to the left (facing the castle).

We had to take a picture of the clay tennis courts we came across.

Don’t see those often in the states. We next came upon what appeared to be a popular sunbathing and swimming spot.

I can’t imagine doing either there! Next sight was a statue of Umberto I (the first) who was an Italian king assassinated in 1900.

Next sight was this monument put up by the Rotary Club of Napoli.

I don’t know the meaning. The next sight was a restaurant with my sister’s name so I had to take a picture!

It was by the next major sight, Castel dell’Ovo which is the oldest castle in Naples. It was first built in the 12th century.

Medieval castles sure don’t have many windows. At this point we turned around to head inland to the Piazza Plebiscito.

The residential area we walked through was charming but a bit gritty.

The square was huge. Apparently rock concerts have been held here. To the left was the cathedral and to the right is the royal palace. The church, San Fracesco di Paola is architecturally unique compared to all the churches I’ve seen in Italy.

It appears to have been inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.

The royal palace isn’t much to look at from the outside but from what I’ve seen online it would be worth a visit.

We then followed the route up via Toledo and made it to Dante’s piazza but couldn’t find the right turn at that point.

By Mstyslav Chernov [CC BY-SA 3.0 ], from Wikimedia Commons

We gave up and started heading back but it was a lot of walking. We did see some picture worthy sights.

We apparently walked down Via dei Tribunali where we found this statue of Pulcinella.

Pulcinella is a character created in the 17th century and used in puppetry and comedy.

We also walked down Christmas Alley, Via San Gregorio Armeno, which has stores selling Christmas items year round. At this point we were getting tired and lost so I didn’t enjoy it as much as I should have. We kept heading the direction of the harbor and finally we saw a ship (Norwegian Epic) and headed that way.

Part of our problem was even though we didn’t find the best pizza in Naples, it was too early for any pizzeria to be open for lunch. It was hot though and we got back sunburned (me), hot (both of us) and tired after walking 7 miles per my watch.

Last Afternoon and Evening Onboard

We got on-board and went straight to the windjammer for lunch and lots of liquids to re-hydrate. The options didn’t thrill either of us; same old same old. I ended up with a burger!

We then went to the room and slept after that exhausting walk! Afterwards I t started packing. We had it all packed before dinner except for what we wore to the final night.

We even had time for one more habernaro grapefruit martini in the Schooner bar. We were surprised to have the six of us for dinner tonight and on time!

I had the wedge salad…

And pork taco for starters.

Both were very good. Steve got to the taco and his standby …. shrimp cocktail. Steve and I both selected the grilled shrimp entrees which were just okay.

For dessert I picked cherries jubilee…

and Steve had tres leches cake.

The staff did their parade and it was time to say goodbye to everyone.

We had envelopes with a little extra for Humberto and Ilmaden. We then headed back to the room to finish packing and put our bags out. Tomorrow is going to be a terribly long day so we wanted an early night.