Recently my friends and I enjoyed a cruise around the Mediterranean. The cruise could not be faulted and the ship was lovely. The food was always appealing but could have been more varied on a day to day basis. We did not book any tours through the ship excursion desk but did our own thing on arrival in each port.This proved to save us a lot of money and on arrival in each port there were numerous tour companies offering day tours. We did however book a tour on the internet from Australia with EKOL Travel Ltd for a day tour to Ephesus from Izmir. This was definitely a highlight of our holiday. We were emailed instructions on what would happen after we disembarked from the ship and to our delight Ali was waiting for us with a sign with our name on it. There was only the 4 of us in a 15 seated mini bus which exceptionally clean and the driver and tour guide went out of there way to ensure we enjoyed a happy and memorable day. Ali's english was excellent and he gave us so much knowledge on the area and on Ephesus itself.

Whilst the atmosphere on the ship was excellent MSC should have a look at their

smoking policy. You can smoke in certain entertainment areas which meant that those areas proved unpleasant for those passengers who do not smoke. Read more