My wife and I cruise primarily for the convenience and comfort of visiting a great variety of world-wide destinations. Our emphasis on incredible itineraries has taken us to over 60 countries. On this, our tenth cruise, we chose to explore the eastern Mediterranean. Our ten day cruise included visits to Pompeii, the Egyptian pyramids, coastal Turkey, Santorini,and Sicily. We began cruising 18 years ago when we were usually the youngest passengers on board.
Since 1990, a lot has changed in the cruise industry. Costa Atlantica is a huge ship, the largest we've sailed on. We didn't have a problem with this since exploring our "floating hotel" has always been a big part of the cruise adventure. This ship, however, is NOT for those seeking an intimate cruise experience.
We also didn't mind that we never met another American on board. We did meet a few Canadians and a few English, but we understood most passengers were European. We once took an Epirotiki cruise where English was the last of five languages and found it added to the adventure. This time however, it did get old, particularly when the cruise director rambled on in five languages every time he had to introduce an act.