This was our 10th cruise (third with Celebrity), and our second to the Mediterranean. We were traveling with another couple, and it was their first time in Europe, so we did mostly private excursions that we pre-arranged with other CruiseCritic members.

We traveled in Italy by train for 10 days pre-cruise, and spent 2 nights in Rome prior to boarding the ship. We stayed at Suite Dreams, which was a great location, just a few blocks from the train station and close to many of the main attractions. We explored a bit on our own the first day, then used Rudy's Touring Service for an all-day tour of Rome. Rudy was excellent, getting us to the sites before the crowds, and providing great commentary on all that we saw. He is an art history major, so his insight really brought Rome to life for us. We took the train to the port, which wasn't bad since we were traveling light (we each had a carry-on and one rolling backpack between us).

Embarkation was very quick and efficient. We went to the buffet for lunch, which was not overly crowded. They have a nice, wide selection to choose from. The cabins were open surprisingly early, by about 1:00pm. Read more