Disney Magic – Exploring Pompeii, Sorrento, and the Amalfi Coast

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After spending all day exploring the Disney Magic on a Sea Day, our first day at a port was the port of Naples-Pompeii.

We were so excited to book the entire cruise because of this port.

Ever since my family visited a museum in Los Angeles that had artifacts and casks from Pompeii. Once we saw the ruins, we knew that we just had to get to Pompeii and explore the city. Brushing up on some travel tips to Italy we were able to make sure we had a great time exploring this port destination.

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Breakfast on the Disney Magic on Naples-Pompeii Day

Knowing that we were going to have a long day ahead of us, we ordered room service first thing in the morning. Cabanas opened at 6:15 in the morning, so I ran upstairs to grab some additional goodies to round out our breakfast.

For a quick breakfast, we order fruit, pastry treats, cereals and milk, and coffee from room service, and grab a plate of meats and cheeses from cabanas.

Disney Port Adventures vs Private Excursions

For our Disney Alaskan Cruise, we took Port Adventures everywhere. They were very convenient and handicapable for our mobility needs.

When researching Disney Port Adventures for our Mediterranean cruise, we noticed that all the excursions were very intense, and the slower paced one only lasted a few hours.

Wanting to maximize our time in Italy, we booked a full day exploring Pompeii, Sorrento, & The Amalfi Coast.

Getting off of the Disney Magic in Naples

The all ashore time was 7:30 am and our meeting time was promptly at 8:10 am. We got off the Disney Magic a little early to make sure that we met our driver and tour guides on time.

Lucky for us our guides were there early – we were able to spend the entire day with Alessandra and Ricardo, and had a private guide in Pompeii.

Touring Pompeii with a private guide

Traffic around the Port of Naples is usually pretty bad, but with getting to our car early, and traffic being light, we were able to get to Pompeii before it opened at 9 am.

We took this time to walk around the adorable gift shop outside of Pompeii and taste some limoncello, this was the first time we saw the creamy limoncello.

Getting into Pompeii

When arriving in Pompeii, our tour guide skipped the ticket line for us, and we were able to go through an exclusive tour guide only line to pass the bus loads of people. We opted to bring a walker-wheelchair combo to Pompeii because we knew that our standard wheelchair wouldn’t hold up on the ancient streets.

The high claims that it was 76 F, but instead it was in the upper 80s when we went in May. There isn’t any shade in Pompeii so if you are visiting in the summer make sure to dress light and bring a lot of water.

Using the transport chair/walker was interesting because this was our first time having to navigate a site seeing area with a large crowd, and we were going to be in Pompeii for a three hour tour. I would say that mom was able to ride and walk the tour pretty half and half. We like to save her energy which is why we invested in the chair.

Touring Pompeii

Some of my favorite things that we learned about Pompeii were the different ways of life. Our guide pointed out the difference between a shop and a house.

She also showed us the grooves where the wagon wheels from the horses would drive. Other interesting points was seeing the different graffitis littered all throughout Pompeii.

After touring for three hours in the hot sun, we finally ended up in the town square where it seemed like everyone was gathered. For the city being so ancient, it had wonderful crowd control.

My favorite thing about the entire city was the streets! Who would have thought that the roads were created as a modern-day sewer system?

All water, waste, and anything else that were in the streets would travel down out of the city center.

Handicap accessibility in Pompeii

I am not sure if someone who was in a motorized chair or even more mobility issues than my mom would be able to do the tour that we went on. There were plenty of times where we had to lift the chair and assist mom across the street or around a large group of tourists.

I did notice, that since everyone spoke different languages and had earbuds to listen to their tour guides, they were less aware of their own surroundings.

The one thing that I was disappointed in was the handicapped bathroom was out of order. Was it really out of order?

I’m not sure, but it had a sign on it saying it was out of order and no one gave us any instruction on having to use a key. Luckily, the steps were not too steep, and we just took our time climbing the stairs.

Another good thing is mom got a good view of Pompeii from the bathroom window!

I cannot express how beautiful our guide was assisting us with the wheelchair, navigating us in and out of the large groups of tourists, and allowing us to go at a slower pace.

Pompeii in photos

In trying to keep this blog post short, I will post a couple of my favorite photos from the trip. Make sure to read all the captions and check back later for my full in-depth blog post on Pompeii.

My main tip for Pompeii is to go first thing in the morning, if at all possible, avoid the summer time. There are a lot of crowds and it’s quite warm!

Traveling to Sorrento

Once we were reunited with our guides, traffic really started picking up. Ricardo was able to skillfully navigate in and out of the traffic to safely bring us to our next stop: Sorrento.

Alessandra gave us two options, we could have a longer time in Sorrento and maybe have to skip the Amalfi Coast, or have a quick lunch and have more time for sightseeing. We, of course, opted for the quick meal!

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Dining in Sorrento

We did a real quick drive in Sorrento (don’t worry – we are going to return hopefully in 2019!) and picked a place to eat. We ate at Il Convivio – a cute little restaurant that had some outside seating.

Sis started us off with some Aperol Spritz, a vibrant orange cocktail with ice and sparkling wine. This bitter drink was not my favorite, so I allowed Sis to finish it off while we finished eating dinner.

Don’t worry – we found a prosecco that I really like to make the Aperol Spritz so we are enjoying them at home and I found out that Bar Tonique, a bar in New Orleans, serves delicious cocktails using Aperol.

Our lunch was funny, we explained to the English speaking waiter that we were in a hurry due to time constraints, and he let us know that we would be in and out in no time. The three of each ordered a summer minestrone soup, a lightly fried eggplant parmesan appetizer, and one small pizza.

When we asked for the check, there was a communication issue, so let’s just say I made mom and Sis hurry up to make their way back to our meeting point for our guides. Luckily for us, Alessandra and Ricardo were waiting for us to wrap up our lunch so we could drive around the square.

Getting Desserts in Sorrento

We didn’t have time for desserts in Sorrento, and one of the conversations we had with Alessandra was the delicious treats in Sorrento. Before we headed off to see the Amalfi Coast, Alessandra and I went straight to a bakery to buy some delicious baked goods for our family.

Thank goodness Alessandra speaks impeccable English and Italian because the bakery did not speak any English at all. When I was ordering there was a lot of pointing and smiling from my end, and I do not think the pastry chef was amused. We ended up buying some cannolis and Sfogliatelle.

Viewing the Amalfi Coast

We drove through the Amalfi Coast to soak up the sites and enjoy the scenery. We stopped at a very popular vista, one of the last stops before descending into town, and gazed down at Positano.

I enjoyed driving the coast and seeing the town from far away, but this just added to my wanderlust of wanting to get down there and explore. While we were looking at the city, there were a couple of gift shops to buy trinkets and candies.

We ended up purchasing some sweets to bring home because what is better than candy? We bought Perle di Sole Amalfi Lemon Drops, Orange Drops, and Lemon Creme Sconza Almonds.

After taking photos and swearing that we will come back, we piled in the car and took the long ride back to Naples.

The Port of Naples

Cutting it close to get on board, we wanted to make sure to get some goodies before getting back on the ship. The shops had a good selection of wines and candies and didn’t seem like the prices were outrages.

We bought more sweets, limoncello, and wines to bring back on board.

Nervous that we were going to be left behind because the all aboard time was 6 pm, but the actual ship didn’t leave until about 645 pm. I’m not sure if we left late because of Port Adventures excursions or not, but we didn’t see anyone nervously running towards the ship.

Animator’s Palate

That evening we dined at Animator’s Palate, one of my favorite restaurants on the Magic and WonderWonder.

That evening I ate the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes with Truffled-scented Cheese coated with a delicate Champagne Sauce (my favorite thing on the entire cruise).

I opted for the Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese Soup, and this is when I remembered that I am not a fan of the soups on the Disney Cruise Line, they taste like you just threw them into a Vitamix and blended furiously.

My Main course was the Ginger-Teriyaki dusted Angus Beef Tenderloin with Wasabi Mashed Potatoes, Bok Choy, and a Tamarind-Barbeque Reduction.

At the end of dinner, Mickey Mouse came out in his fantasia costume to great everyone and tell them hi. Seeing Mickey during this time is one of my favorite ways to spend my dinner.

The Rest of the Evening on the Disney Magic

Since Tangled was playing twice on our ship, we opted to go back to our room and enjoy some of the wine we bought in Naples. One of our favorite things to do in the evening is to sit on the verandah enjoying a glass of wine with some Minnie Mouse ears and viewing the sunset.

The next day was busy with a full day exploring Rome and everything it had to offer.

Stay tuned this summer to read about all of my trip reports for our May 25, 2018, Mediterranean Cruise out of Barcelona.

Day 1 Boarding the Disney Magic

Day 2 Sea Day

Day 3 Naples (Pompeii), Italy

Day 4 Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

Day 5 Livorno (Florence, Pisa), Italy

Day 6 Villefranche (Monte Carlo/Nice), France

Day 7 Sea Day

Day 8 Disembarkation – Barcelona, Spain

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