We did back to back cruises, total of 24 days, both in Balcony cabins having booked BD guarantees we were assigned a BC on Aloha- 226 for the Venice to Barcelona cruise and a BA on Caribe-632 for the Barcelona to Civitavecchia cruise. Having read reviews about the many children causing problems on this ship while doing this itinerary we were very pleased to have the announcement made that there were 32 children on the first cruise and 7 on the second cruise. Passengers were from all over the world with groups from China, Philippines, and Russia. The majority seemed to be from the United States and Europe. There was a wide age range from early 20s to 80+ with the average age probably around 60. The ship was in very good condition. The crew was friendly and always greeted you with a smile.

Service in the dining room was very good but in the Horizon Court it was lacking with tables being slowly cleared and infrequent beverage service. We had "anytime" dining and found the perfect table for two in the Capri Dining room, which originally was for four giving us a great deal of room, on the second evening. Our waiter was very good so we then made a standing reservation for that same table. On the second cruise the dining room staff moved up to the Portofino dining room keeping the same station so we moved our reservation up with them. Several of the head waiters and the maitre'd would stop by our table and chat each evening. When we arrived at the dining room for breakfast or lunch one of the waiters, Jorge, would greet us with a smile and select the perfect table for two by a window for us. Food was very good and prepared just to our liking. We had dinner in the alternative restaurant serving steaks which are brought to your table for selection. We enjoyed this meal but found there was just too much food with so much going to waste. We tried to order half portions but were told that was not possible. Food in the Horizon Court has never been our favorite and we visit there mainly when time does not allow us to go to the dining room. This cruise, we found several things were better than on previous cruises, but still cannot rate it more than fair.

There were 3 production shows and the dancers were very good. The remainder of the entertainment in the evening was composed mainly of comedians with one singer, one magician, and a juggler. Several evening a movie was shown and there was also an evening of Big Band Dancing each cruise. Our ports of call were: Venice, Kusadasi, Athens, Naples, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Casablanca, Gibraltar, Cannes, Valletta, and Messina. Naples and Livorno were repeated giving us the opportunity to do something different on the second visit. The itinerary was all that we had hoped for and more - a perfect cruise in the Mediterranean.