For us this was our first cruise so we had few preconceived ideas about what we would find.

Preparation for the cruise was done mainly with Cruise Critic boards and that prepared us very well for the ship experience and the excursions.

EMBARKATION This went so smoothly. We made our own arrangements for pre cruise flying from Aus to London, 5 day stop and then to Rome on the day before the cruise. Visited Gallerie Borghese in the morning and then picked up a lift to the ship arriving about 1pm. Car drove right up to the tent, luggage straight onto a trolley and away then no more than 15 minutes of procedures before we were walking up the gangplank. Found our cabin and within 15 minutes the luggage was in the corridor. Read more