Had a wonderful time, saw some beautiful places and met some lovely people.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Extremely quick and easy.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
We only ate in the buffet and found the selection of different foods was amazing - There had to be something to suit everyone. However we did find that some of the hot dishes were only lukewarm which was disappointing.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Plenty to do for everyone. We did not use the pools, however they looked very inviting. We really enjoyed all the trivia and games shows. Flori and Morgan were both fabulous presenters. The Cruise Director, Manuel, also took part in several events and was very good.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
The ship’s singers and dancers were very good, however not all the music was to our taste and we found the shows to be too loud most of the time - the singers seemed to be shouting, rather than singing. Enjoyed the Three Queens show, Saxophone player Oli Nez and the acrobatic team were excellent.
The Karaoke shows were also excellent, some very talented people on board.
Children's Programs
Did not travel with children.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Our room steward was very good and worked very hard.
The bar staff in the Rendevous and Reflections Lounges were amazing.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Yes, everything was kept clean and tidy throughout the trip.
We felt the Rendevous Lounge could be designed better = it was a tad annoying having people walking past all the time during trivia or games shows. Surely the walkway could be changed to the outer edge of the Lounge.
The temperature in Reflections was always a little cool, best to take a wrap of some sort.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
The cabin was always clean and tidy, and had plenty of storage. The bathroom was the same as we have had previously in veranda cabins and perfectly adequate. The bed was super comfortable and we both had good nights sleep.
We did the Upper Rock Walking tour and just loved every minute of it. Our guide Tony was great, knew his stuff and made the whole morning so enjoyable. Took the cable car to the top, Saw the Apes of course, wonderful views from the Rock. Visited St Michael’s Cave which was amazing, and also walked down through the Siege Tunnels. It was quite a steep walk climbing back up, so would not recommend that part of the trip if you have difficulty with stairs or slopes.
We did the Walking Tour of Sete. Didn’t find the tour strenuous, but there was a lot of walking over uneven surfaces.
Our tour guide was lovely, but unfortunately she was very hard to hear due to the traffic whizzing by at nearly every place she stopped to tell us something. Perhaps a microphone would have helped.
We did Discovering Monaco and Monte Carlo excursion.
Was not overly impressed with this excursion. The views were breath-taking, but everywhere was packed with tourists which made walking a challenge to keep up with fast walking guide. Huge boat show on at Monte Carlo. Saw the Royal Palace at Monaco. Did not see the casino.
We did the Train to Florence excursion with four hours on our own.
Our tour guide was meant to walk us to Cathedral Square to start our free time.
Several of our group noticed the toilets as we were leaving the station
and asked the guide if we could stop to use them, as the toilets on the train in our area had been locked. She said she did not usually stop there, but agreed to wait. When we went to rejoin the group we found that the guide and most of the group had gone and left at least 6 or 8 people behind - not knowing the meeting place for the return trip to Livorno. We were not impressed and it was only that we saw someone with our tour number later that we found out where to meet in time to catch the return train. No apologies were received from tour guide.
We had planned what we wanted to do with our time etc, but unfortunately for us, there was a walking marathon on in Florence with thousands of competitors on the paths and streets. This also meant that buses weren’t running until 1pm.
We did however get to visit the Ponte Vecchio Bridge and caught a Hop On Hop Off Bus trip which had a stop at Piazza Michaelangelo to see the fabulous view over Florence. Unfortunately we weren’t able to Hop Off at any stops as the circuit was over an hour and we had to be at the return trip meeting place.
Really enjoyed this laid back excursion “Ajaccio Scenic Tour”. Excellent tour guide. Visited Napolean’s monument. Some lovely views. A very busy market was also just a short walk from the ship.
Stayed in Rome for 4 nights after the cruise. Rome is very easy to walk round - we walked to Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Colosseum, Vatican etc from our hotel.
We booked “beat the queue” tickets for the Sistine Chapel and even though our tour was booked for 9.30am (early) the whole place was packed - shoulder to shoulder walking down corridors, up and down lots of stairs. The actual Sistine Chapel was underwhelming - we were not permitted to stop and look at anything, told to keep moving all the time so really did not get to see a lot. Strangely the exit route was a lot quieter and we were able to look at some of the museum exhibits. We would hate to visit the Chapel in high season - it must be very uncomfortable.
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