Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas Cruise Review

Eastbound Transatlantic Crossing on the Navigator of the Seas - Page 4

When choosing restaurants we always search travel guides or ask the local people for their favorite place, but when possible we take suggestions from our Italian relatives who are themselves gourmets or, as they say in Italy, "buongustai". In Foggia our nephew Matteo suggested "L'Angolo Preferito" (Preferred Corner), a restaurant serving only sea food. Here we ate a delicious sea food appetizer, Troccoli ai Frutti di Mare (home made pasta with mixed shell fish), grilled and fried sea food, all served with a smooth local white wine, and finished with dessert, fresh fruit and caffe` espresso. In Perugia we parked the car in Piazza Italia and there was the Hotel & Restaurant "La Rosetta," we saw a beautiful and inviting courtyard full of people dining al fresco. We lucked out, we entered and had one of the best reasonably priced lunches in Italy: Vincent's choice was Umbricelli ai Porcini e Tartufo Nero di Norcia (a locally home made pasta with Porcini mushroom and black truffles from Norcia), simply delicious; Mary's choice were Lasagnette Tartufate (Small Lasagna with white truffles) and Vitello Tonnato (thinly sliced veal with tuna sauce), both superb; and our cousin Mario had Lombatina alla Griglia (Grilled veal loin), also delicious. Two days before our return home we invited our Roman friends and relatives to a banquet at the restaurant "Grazia Deledda" in Ladispoli. This is one of our cousin's favorite restaurants and we have had other banquets there many times before so we knew it was going to be good. And extraordinarily good it was! Most of our 26 guests enjoyed the same menu: A mixed sea food appetizer with octopus salad, Risotto allo Scoglio (sea food risotto) Tonnerelli alle Vongole (pasta with clams), Grigliata Mista and Frittura Mista di Pesce (grilled and fried mixed sea food) served with wild greens salad, local white wine, Macedonia di Frutta (mixed fruit cocktail), and Vincent's favorite dessert Pan di Spagna (Italian rum cake) served with Prosecco (Italian sparkling wine): A superb feast of Italian delectable flavors!

Now we are back home in Boca Raton with a whole wealth of beautiful memories of our cruise and land tour of Italy. There were many kisses and tears as we said "Arrivederci" (until we see you again) to our dear relatives and friends. Maybe in a couple of years we'll go back again, but for now we look forward to our summer trip to New England and several cruises we have already booked for this fall: Liberty of the Seas, Eastern Caribbean, September 15; Caribbean Princess, Eastern Caribbean, October 21; and Jewel of the Seas, westbound transatlantic crossing, October 30. Happy Cruising!