About a year ago, I asked my active, healthy 80-year-old parents, "What haven't you seen yet that you would like to see?" My mom immediately answered, "The pyramids in Egypt." She added it would be nice to have seen the Colosseum, Acropolis, and other famous sites as well. I found this cruise and knew we just had to go. They agreed, and we looked forward to it and planned for it for a year! It was well worth the wait.

THE SHIP: We are not particularly fussy people, so the ship was fine. Nothing super fancy, but it does the job. Of course, it was designed to be sailing the Hawaiian Islands, so the decor has a bit to be desired. I think NCL should spend the money and re-decorate the darn ship. It really wouldn't cost that much, and it would add to the wonder and excitement of being in the Mediterranean. That being said, the ship was very clean and the crew went to great lengths to make sure there were no outbreaks of any kind on board. The first couple of days, we were served everything by the crew for this very reason. I am not sure why people are put out by this (the crew mentioned that some people complained), since it helps to ensure fewer people get sick. Once we came back from our first port of call, everything was back to normal. No outbreaks occurred on a large scale anyway. The crew was friendly and polite and very helpful. I did run into one young woman at the main desk who was a bit unfriendly, even though I was putting money down on my next cruise with NCL. I was expecting a warm and friendly "thank you," but she just pointed to the other side of the long counter and said, "Drop it in the box over there." When I couldn't really tell which box she was talking about, she rolled her eyes and walked over to show me it was the small plastic box with no sign on it. Okay... Our stateroom (inside, Deck 9, midship) was just fine. We spend the money on the ports instead of the room and it always seems to be a good decision. It was too cold to sit out on a balcony anyway. Others complained that their neighbors would smoke constantly out on the balcony and they couldn't enjoy their balcony or even open their window. That would be disappointing. Anyway, the room was fine, we loved the towel animals, and our cabin steward was great. All three of us were in one room and I have to say the pull-down bed was very comfortable. I was pleasantly surprised! Don't get me wrong--I would love a balcony or suite or villa...maybe some day.

THE FOOD: Again, we are not fussy where food is concerned. For us the cruise is about the ports of call and meeting great people, and the food is simply a necessity. I love going to the main dining room for dinner, but I always overeat there...the bread with butter is so good and I love the cold fruit soups and entrees and desserts. It's hard to not eat too much! We usually head to the buffet or the Blue Lagoon (I love the tomato soup there!) and eat light. So many choices, and most of them are really very good. I have worked hard to keep my weight down for many years now, so eating healthy and light are really important. I love freestyle dining where you can relax and don't have to dress up if you don't want to. We always looked nice, but I didn't bring anything super formal to wear and neither did my parents. We even skipped lobster night because we just weren't hungry! Read more