We booked our flight with Ryanair to Rome Ciampino airport and decided to fly the night before and have a night in a hotel near the airport. We booked one of the Ryanair hotels, the Palacavicchi hotel. We phoned the hotel when we landed at the airport and they came and transferred us to the hotel for 5 Euros. The hotel was very good and we had a nice breakfast and were transferred back to the airport to get the bus to Rome Termini. This I had booked online for 16 Euros return for the two of us. Once at Rome termini, a journey of about 40 mins, we bought tickets for the train to Civitavecchia, 12 Euros for the two of us. The train took about an hour and from the station we walked down the road to the port entrance where there was a free shuttle bus to the ship. The embarkation was very well organised and we were onboard in no time. Unfortunately I had packed my travel iron in my suitcase and so I received a letter saying that I had to come and claim and open my luggage so that the iron could be removed and held until the end of the cruise. This led to my luggage not being delivered promptly.

I had only cruised once before with NCL and that was on the Jade five years ago. I have cruised with many different cruise lines all of which have traditional dining. In some ways, freestyle is good as you can eat at whatever time you want and where you want, provided you book the restaurant before hand to get the time you want. If you eat in the buffet it usually means that you sit on a table on your own so you don't get to meet people and get to know them well as with traditional dining. Also it is very informal in the buffet so you don't need to dress up at all, just jeans will do. This may suit some people but for me part of the cruise experience is getting dressed for the evening in at least a smart casual outfit. There was a good choice of dishes in the buffet for all meals. The best evening meal we had was in the Alizar restaurant where we were sat on a table with another couple and had a good meal and good conversation. The speciality restaurants seemed to be popular but we are not used to paying extra for food on a cruise and so did not go to them. The entertainment was of a good standard overall and shows lasted an hour which was longer than on some other cruise lines.

We did have breakfast in our cabin once as we had to go on an early excursion and thought that it would save us time. It was delivered at the last minute of the time allotted and there were no bowls for the cereal and no coffee in the coffee pot so it was not really acceptable. Read more