This will be a review of the May 10 -- 20 sailing of the Seabourn Legend, Idyllic Rivieras and Spain cruise from Rome to Monte Carlo by two Seabourn rookies. Having cruised before on Carnival, Disney and Celebrity and having done a lot of research on the Legend, we thought we knew what to expect (based on all the hype) but were happily astounded by the level of professional service my wife and I received.

My wife and I spent 2 1/2 days in Rome (Hotel Barocco) prior to the cruise and had a wonderful time. The hotel is lovely and very convenient to the sites and Metro. Our concierge was very willing to make the dinner reservations that we requested and checked to make sure everything was in order. Everywhere we went English was spoken and the people were very gracious. I had pre-purchased tickets for the Coliseum and Vatican Museums (we had tickets for 10:00 and were allowed in at 8:45 with almost no one else in front of us) which saved us hours of time in line. (Why more people do not do this simple task is beyond me. We did the same thing with the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and laughed as we passed the 100 or so people waiting to buy tickets.) As we were there on Wednesday, we were able to go into St. Peter's Square for the blessing and greeting from the Pope -- he passed less than 50 feet in front of us. For both transfers we used Rome Cabs and their friendly, ON-TIME, professional drivers eased our trepidations in an unfamiliar port. Then the cruise began and what a cruise it was!

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