Let me begin by saying the ship is absolutely beautiful and we have no complaints whatsoever with respect to the ship - great food, great entertainment, good crew. That being said a few suggestions on how to improve your cruise experience:
- We spent a couple of nights in Rome prior to the cruise so we took the train from Rome (easy and affordable). When you arrive at the Civitavecchia train station take a taxi to the ship (maybe 15 Euros). It is long walk with luggage to the free shuttle and the wait and disorganization at the shuffle is not worth it.
- We booked every shore excursion on the Internet before we left home. Lots of choice. Every trip worked out well and we saved a lot of money over the ship's excursions and in most cases ended up with a much smaller more enjoyable tour.
Nice cabin, not really sure what extras we got for being Concierge other than nicer bathrobes, sparking wine, pathetic canapés each day if we ordered (only did once) .... nothing else of note that I could see