May 06, 2026
On this, the third day of the cruise, the ship docked in Livorno Italy, which is the gateway to Tuscany for cruise-goers. There are many types of excursions to take from walking tours of Pisa and Florence to wineries in the Tuscan countryside.
I had been to Italy in high school but unfortunately we didn't see Pisa at that time and so it is one of the things that was high on this list of must see activities. Since I knew we wouldn't have time to do Florence and Pisa in one day, as Florence was a must see with many activities, we chose a Pisa and Lucca daytrip.
We visited Lucca first which is probably best known for the preservation of the walls around the town. You can walk around on top of the walls now, which are like a park above the town. My family loved this aspect of Lucca. Lucca is a very easy to walk with great architecture and lovely squares.
The other unique thing we loved in Lucca was Torre Guinigi which is a medieval tower with garden of oak trees on the top. None of us felt up to the many stairs to get to the top, but it was still a wonderful thing to see.
For lunch we visited Piazza dell'Anfiteatro which is a square that is actually an oval. The buildings around the square mark out the footprint of an old Roman amphitheatre. There are many cafes to choose from in the Piazza, and we enjoyed a wonderful meal here. Though we ate indoors, by the time we were finished eating the rain had stopped and we could really enjoy the Piazza.
After lunch we were off for a quick stop in Pisa. Here again, none of us were up the the many stairs to get to the top of the tower. We opted instead for a snack with the infamous leaning tower in the background. We all took the popular 'leaning on the leaning tower' photos, which was a lot of fun. The whole Piazza dei Miracoli — Square of Miracles, from the tower, cathedral and baptistery were so beautiful. There was some work being done on the cathedral when we were there, but it certainly didn't detract from our enjoyment of the scenery.
After returning to the ship we had dinner at Cagney's Steakhouse, a specialty dining restaurant we made reservations for before we left on our trip. It was a wonderful meal at the end of a great day.
May 07, 2026
This was our ‘at sea’ day and a huge opportunity to take advantage of many ship entertainment offerings. Kasey and I tied for first in an Emoji Trivia contest in the ship's atrium and we also viewed a ABBA cover band here as well. It was standing room only and some of the audience went up front to dance and sing with the band. It was a lot of fun.
My husband and daughter also enjoyed some pool at O'Sheehan's another complimentary eatery on board the ship and a great place to meet up before an evening's entertainment. We all went to the art auction and got some complimentary champagne. My husband and I had previously purchased a great piece of artwork on our last cruise, so we were interested to see what was available on this cruise. There were many great pieces, but we all liked a set of prints which showed Pisa and Ponte Vecchio (in Florence), so that is what we came away with. In my opinion, the art auction is a great way to spend an hour or so on your sea day. My husband also enjoyed some time to relax on the balcony of our stateroom.
That evening we had dinner in one of the other complementary restaurants, The Manhattan Room. After dinner we went to see a magician/illusionist in the Epic Theatre and we all really enjoyed the show. After the magical entertainment, Kasey and I visited the Skyy Vodka Ice Bar. This ‘ice’ bar was first introduced on the Norwegian Epic. You have to make a pre-paid reservation for ½ hour in this bar, which trust me, you will not want to spend the full ½ hour in here. Despite the cool thermal ponchos provided, it was freezing. You get two vodka cocktails with your reservation and there is a choice of two different cocktails. My daughter and I enjoyed this experience, but we weren't long tipping back our cocktails to get back to the warm parts of the ship.
A big day in Sicily coming up next!