La Spezia, Italy
Sunday, April 7, 2024
Today was the final day of our Sun Princess cruise. I can hardly believe it’s already been 10 days on the ship! Time really does fly when you’re having fun. We enjoy cruising so much because it’s a welcomed break from making so many logistical decisions when we’re traveling. We absolutely love our style of traveling; figuring out things on the go, navigating new languages, foods, customs, etc., but a few days on a cruise ship is rejuvenating after living that way for a few months. Take breakfast on the ship, for example — we all get what we want to eat in The Eatery Restaurant; Tory gets black beans from the Mexican station and a baked potato with sour cream from the comfort foods station. Aden and Aden love eating Asian foods for breakfast, and I almost always go for a version of eggs, yogurt, and toast.
The Sun Princess docked in La Spezia, Italy overnight so today we planned to visit the five towns of Cinque Terre. Given this was our last full day on the cruise, Aden was sad to leave the ship. He begged us over breakfast to let him stay in the Kids Club while we explored the area. It’s crazy to me that this is even an option, but in fact it is possible to leave your kids on board the ship for the day. We explained to him that he’d be stuck there all day, and that we wouldn’t be able to come back to pick him up until 5:00pm. He assured us that this was fine, and that he’d rather spend the day with the new friends he’d made on the ship than see Cinque Terre. So, we agreed. Around 8:30am, Andi, Tory, and I checked Aden into the ship’s Kids Club and left him in their care for the day. Then, the three of us exited the ship to see La Spezia.
Lucky for us, Andi’s cousin Laura gave us some tips for visiting this area. She suggested we take the train to Monterosso and then hike to the village of Vernazza. In her opinion, this is the prettiest stretch between all of the villages, and Monterosso is the biggest of the five Cinque Terre towns so there’s more to see & do there. Visitors do need a Cinque Terre Card to hike along the trail between the two towns because technically Cinque Terre is considered a national park. We were able to buy the Cinque Terre Card coupled with our train tickets at the station (cost of €18.20 per person).
The train ride from La Spezia to Monterosso was easy and surprisingly, wasn’t very crowded. We had a chuckle along the way about Tory’s log in the Notes section of her phone of Andi’s deposits and withdrawals as he uses her for his small change account. He deposits money into her online bank account or he gives her euros in cash to hang onto, and then she pays for his small change purchases like espresso or parking. It’s a win-win for them both because Tory makes a little extra cash and Andi doesn’t have to carry around pocket
change.
Once we reached Monterosso, we departed the train and walked into town. It was so cute; so picturesque! Tory had €20 of her own money she wanted to spend, so she purchased a cloth Cinque Terre bag from one of the shops before we continued on our way to the town of Vernazza.
The hiking trail from Monterosso to Vernazza starts at the end of the main promenade near Hotel Porto Roca. The three of us ascended several stairs out of town before reaching a control booth where a gate agent checked our trail passes. There, we met an older woman who introduced herself and asked if we could help her locate some water. Through conversation, she informed us she was hiking the trail alone, but was a homeschooling nanny for a family from Texas. To be honest, we really started to worry for this woman as we began hiking the trail. She was a sweaty mess when we saw her, and the trail was tough. There were a lot of stairs and our hearts were beating hard, so I can only imagine how she felt as an older, heavy-set woman. Andi and I really worried about her condition as we navigating the trail, but we never encountered her again.
In Monterosso, the scenery was already beautiful. We hiked along the coastline with the ocean on one side and olive and wine groves on the other. It was a steep climb up the hillside, but worth it for the views. We thought the coast of Monterosso was beautiful, but it became increasing more beautiful as we walked to Vernazza.
At this point in our hike, the three of us were feeling good. The weather was perfect — not too hot, not too cold — and the trail wasn’t too busy. Tory struggled with the depth of some of the stairs which were sometimes as tall as her waist, but she did great walking along the trail and complained very minimally. It’s amazing how much less fighting there is with only one child. Both Andi and I were really proud of Tory for conquering this moderately-challenging hiking route.
All three of us worked up quite a sweat by the time we reached Vernazza. We saw several people starting out on the trail as we approached town, and we assured them that the trail was strenuous but worth the effort. Some people did not look like they were prepared to hike a billion stairs. The view as we approached Vernazza felt like such a treat, though. The prize! It was in sight, and lunch and a drink in town were on the docket.
Several restaurants were in view as we approached town. We searched until we found one that had a menu that spoke to all three of us. We ended up choosing Ristorante di Moretto because it had a shaded patio and fresh seafood.
Andi and I were craving fresh fish again, after eating a variety of fresh seafood yesterday in Portofino. Our waitstaff was iffy at this restaurant — they seemed understaffed and overwhelmed by all their customers. Andi ordered us two aperol spritzes, as well as a seafood appetizer to start. Tory ordered her usual gnocchi. Freshly made — nothing but the best in Italy.
Andi and I were a little confused by our seafood appeitzer. The first plate that arrived to our table featured cold cuts of fish. They were fine, but not a food I would necessarily order again. Andi and I ate what was served because we were on the coast and the fish was so fresh — it didn’t necessarily taste good, but we should be enjoying it, right?
We were a little surprised when a second plate of fish arrived some time later with warm fish. Apparently, the first plate was our cold fish appetizer and this was the warm fish portion. Again, we choked the fish down because honestly it wasn’t our favorite. I know I should love fresh seafood in these coastal regions, but I just don’t. Finally, we did try sardines which has been on our seafood list in this region of Europe. They were … okay.
After lunch, we walked around the village of Vernazza a bit before making our way back to the train. Andi wasn’t feeling the best after eating lunch, so he wanted to get back to the cruise ship. We just missed the train back to La Spezia, so we had about 30 minutes to burn until the next ride. In the meantime, we bought Tory gelato from a local vendor and then waited in the sunshine until it was time to go.
I imagine these beaches are packed full of people during peak tourism season!
The train car was much fuller on the return trip to La Spezia. Luckily, we were able to snag three seats on the train for our journey, but there were plenty of passengers scrambling for places to sit.
Once we arrived at the La Spezia train station, we had to take a shuttle bus back to the cruise port terminal. This part of our navigation was free, but a bit of a pain in the butt. Just one more logistical hoop before we arrived to the ship.
Back on the ship, we stopped first at the Firefly Kids Club to pick up Aden. He seemed a little cooped up, but would never admit that he didn’t enjoy his choice of staying on the ship vs. going on a hike with Andi, Tory, and I. My mama heart was a little sad he missed out on our family experience in a new place, but he seemed happy he spent the day with new friends.
As soon as we settled back onto the ship, Aden, Tory, and I headed to Deck 17 to enjoy the last minutes of sunshine by the pool. There were lots of kids and families already there enjoying the pool as well. Aden resumed his usual fun swimming with the other kids while Tory and I lounged on the pool chairs. Andi stayed back at the room to catch up on emails.
Tory thought she earned a fancy ice cream sundae from Coffee & Cones after all the hiking she did today, so she ordered her usual from the bar by the pool. I enjoyed an aperol spritz as we watched Aden swim with his friends from the UK.
For our last dinner on the ship, we decided to eat in the main dining room. We didn’t make reservations, but were able to get in right away on Deck 6. Andi and Aden both ordered the asian pork ribs for their entree, and reported their meals were very tasty. Tory had her usual chicken caesar salad, and I had the chicken entree. Our waitress was very accommodating, even ordering an extra fruit platter because she was worried the kids wouldn’t get enough to eat.
This was the “love boat” dessert featured on the final day of the Princess Cruise Ship. We’ve been so impressed with all the food on this ship; impressive and delicious.
Tomorrow, we say good-bye to the Sun Princess — we’re all so sad! Aden spent his final night on the ship at the Kids Club while Tory, Andi, and I returned to our room and began to pack up. We’re all sad our time on the ship is coming to an end and wishing we were continuing on to the next leg of ports in Greece. Not in the cards for us this trip through. Nevertheless, the adventure continues for us. Tomorrow — Germany!
