An overview of a European Capitals cruise, Rome to Dover, aboard Holland America's ms Rotterdam VI in June 2005. We purchased HA's Fly/Cruise package and were very satisfied with the air and land arrangements, especially the return flight on Delta. The cruise definitely 'exceeded our expectations'. The ship is beautifully maintained and exceptionally well crewed.

I'll lead with the only two complaints worth mentioning: The embarkation process at Civitivecchia was chaos. The temps who perform the preboarding procedures are under trained. Every minor mishap requires assistance from a ship's officer. The lines are long and meld together causing much confusion. Ours was so mishandled that we had to repeat the complete process on board. The dining room is sorely understaffed. Our steward had minimal help and had to run himself ragged to keep up.

Enough of that. The rest was all good. The itinerary included eight ports with an overnight in Barcelona. All our tours were booked through the ship. As in our previous two Europe odysseys, the guides were all informative, exceptionally well qualified and pleasant to deal with. Our personal favorites were 'Florence and The Accademia' from Livorno, 'A Day in Provence' out of Marseille and 'Paris From The Seine'. The latter included a scenic two-hour Seine River cruise w/lunch. Given the opportunity, don't miss a drive along the Upper Corniche between Monaco and Nice. Not part of a tour, but both Guernsey (The Channel Isles) and the Jacques Cousteau Aquarium in Monte Carlo were highlights. The aquarium's animal life including the corals are exceptional in selection, quality and dynamism. In St. Peter's Port, Guernsey, we walked thru town and spent the better part of the day touring Castle Cornet. This was more than just a castle walk. The castle also contains a number of small museums. Twice a day, there's an amusing 'living history' performance conducted just inside the entrance. One of the player's is a dead ringer for John Cleese. Read more