Boarding of Celebrity Beyond and Disembark for Catania, Sicily, Italy

 June 26, 2023 – Rome, Italy to Civitavecchia

After a good night’s sleep, we had breakfast and walked back with our luggage to the T3 Arrival Hall at the airport.  There we met the Celebrity Beyond representative before 9:30 am and began the transfer process from the Rome airport to Civitavecchia.  

Civitavecchia was settled in 108 CE by the Emperor Trajan and has since served faithfully as a gateway to Rome. Our luggage was loaded onto the transfer bus, and we had an hour drive to the Civitavecchia port, which is located on the west coast of Italy and houses a large seaport.  We arrived at the ship, Celebrity Beyond, and immediately were able to board even though we had an appointed time for checking in. 

Since we had done the online check-in, I received wallet check-in passes and these expedited the boarding once shown.  It was so easy, and we just kept walking directly to our “muster station” where we received a clearance check off.  Then we were off to find our room, which is on the 12^th deck (of 14 decks) in the far AFT of the ship.  In fact, we are almost in the center with our veranda extending over the stern with an unobstructed view.  

We beat our luggage and the room wasn’t completely ready.  So, we headed to the Oceanview Café, which is one deck above us, to have a light lunch.  

The café is set up with lots of specialty food stations (no long buffet!!):  salads, stir-fry, carving, Asian, bakery, ….  To top it off, three sides of the café were glass with great views.  

Emily, Sean, Olivia, and Gavin arrived on board just as we were finishing lunch and joined us.  

We got connected to the Starlink-supported, premier internet to keep us connected with home and maintain the daily blog.  Supposedly, you can stream movies.  So, there should be no problem posting pictures.  

Emily volunteered to give us a tour of the ship, because they cruised on the Beyond last year when they were in Italy.  

We started with the Spa, where a few appointments were made for haircuts.  Then off to the Fitness Center on the FWD of the 15^th deck.  It was filled with a great variety of fitness machines – running, biking, weights, etc. – and it open 24/7.  There is no charge unless you enjoy a class.  I will try it out to keep up the biking, which is great for my left leg recovery.  In the center of the ship between decks 3, 4, & 5, it is open with multiple restaurants, a martini bar with entertainment viewed from all 3 decks, and a variety of shops (decks 3 & 4).  We then viewed the restaurant Eden on the AFT end of the ship and where we will have dinner tomorrow evening.  After returning to the room to unpack and relax, we all gathered to watch the ship disembark and head out for our overnight sailing to Catania, Sicily.  

At 6:10 pm we headed for a most enjoyable dinner at the Cosmopolitan.  Bev and I had the black Cod for our entrée, which was very good.  Afterwards we went to the outside area behind the Oceanview to enjoy the sunset before going to bed at 10 pm.  

We will attempt to get a transportation ticket from Catania for the Independent Exploration of Taormina excursion and visit the archeological site at Taormina, which sets high above Catania.