No Surprise Food Plays Starring Role in Delightful Naples

Day 107, 2025 Grand World Voyage

Monday, April 21, 2025; Naples, Italy.

Boy, was Naples a wonderful surprise today! After spending my first visit here in 2007 going to Pompeii, four years later I ventured into Naples itself. It’s easy to do on foot, as the cruise pier is in the middle of the city. But Naples in 2011 was very different than today – not yet recovered from a monumental multi-year trash crisis. That year there were huge stacks of black garbage bags on the street curbs. I wondered if it was wise to walk the sidewalks alone, even in the middle of the day, so I soon returned to the ship, only taking away a bad impression of the city.

Last fall I deliberately chose a transfer to the wonderful village of Sorrento, but my friend Deb told me she loved her walking food tour in Naples. So today, she set off for Sorrento while I joined a small group tasting the best of Naples. It was a delight — and not a sight of trash or black garbage bags.

We passed the Castle Nuovo, a huge medieval renaissance fortress where – just like all over this area, it seems – excavations are continuing. Our first stop was in the beautiful Galleria Umberto I, a cross-shaped shopping gallery covered with a giant glass dome and built in the late 19th century. When I stopped gawking at the ceiling, I noticed the marble floor with intricate mosaics, including representations of the zodiac.

Our “first course” was an Italian breakfast of sfogliatella, a delicious pastry with an apricot spread, and an espresso on the side. For someone used to drinking large lattes, it was just a sip.

We worked that off by walking to the Piazza del Plebiscito, a huge square quickly filling up with crowds of tourists and locals. On one side is the presidential palace, where we glanced in the door to see the “Cinderella” stairway. French writer Charles Perrault was so inspired by it that he wrote Cinderella, our guide said.

You can’t go to Naples without eating pizza, as this is where it was invented. We sat down for a nice lunch of caprese salad followed by generous slices of pizza margarita. Both courses feature the red, white and green colors of the Italian flag, and both were delicious – so good that I forgot to take a picture of the pizza until I only had a portion left.

We ended with that other Italian delight – gelato. I then left the tour to walk down to the waterfront before returning to the ship, where friend Martha captured a great photograph of the contrast between our Zuiderdam (right) and MSC’s World Europa (nearly 7,000 passengers) on the pier.

I needed to work off all that food, because I had booked the guest chef dinner in the Pinnacle Grill, featuring Chef Ethan Stowell of Seattle. He is a member of a culinary council that advises Holland America, and it was one of the best guest chef meals I’ve had on board.

We moved quickly through six courses: Hamachi Crudo (raw red fish with citrus), Seared Scallop (with daikon), Mezze Maniche Cacio e Pepe (rigatoni, pecorino Romano), Seared Salmon, Roasted Duck, and Zeppole (friend Italian donuts with chocolate sauce). Riesling and pinot noir wines paired wonderfully.

Yesterday was Easter, which started with a sunrise service on the windy sea view deck, where the sun cooperated. We had choices of Easter brunch in the Pinnacle Grill (surcharge) or dining room. I skipped both, as I had dinner (again) in the Pinnacle Grill with four journalists who joined the ship in Athens. Each is writing about world cruises, and it was a chance for them to visit with several of us who have incorporated these long cruises into our lifestyles.

During our Naples food tour we learned that Pope Francis had died. It felt more personal as we were in Italy and would be in Civitavecchia (the port for Rome) the next day. We’ll just have to wait to hear how his death will affect those who plan to venture into the Eternal City.

This is the start of a busy week of ports, including a big meetup between Holland America’s two grand voyages in Barcelona and a visit from Holland America’s new president, Beth Bodensteiner.