My husband and I are in our mid 50s and this is our 16th cruise on a variety of cruise lines but first on Azamara.  We had the cruise line arrange our air travel and while, not the best way to get there, we arrived on time and had a taxi driver drop us off at the port.  The embarkation team seemed to be new and couldn't answer a lot of questions, but we were on the ship in short order and we were greeted by champagne, smiling faces and directions to lunch as our rooms weren't ready yet.We found the room clean and a decent size, except for the shower.  We learned our way around the ship very quickly as it wasn't as large a ship as we have cruised on previously.We had room service several times because we could eat while getting ready for our days in port.  They are very punctual, but I must say, when you check off that you want a blueberry muffin, that means you want a blueberry muffin, not a bran muffin or one of those other muffins that don't taste like anything.We ate dinner in the Dining Room every night and I'm still not sure if I like the dine when you want thing.  Most of the time, the guests were wonderful, but the waiters seem to have a hard time to adjust to special requests.  We didn't get to eat at either of the specialty restaurants, because we waited will later in the cruise to try and make reservations and they were both full.  I found that the menus were very eleaborate.  Not a lot appealed to me (I do admit to being fussy), but I found that stuff was just too "gussied-up".  My husband doesn't agree - he thought the food was great.We didn't go to see all the entertainment as some nights we were just too tired.  Sue Denning (cruise director) was great, as was Mary Amanda (harpist) and Jim Badger (pianist).  The "production" shows were very small and low key - we do like the "Vegas-style" events.The stores seem to carry only high end items and even the $10 sale was not much fun.  The crew was very friendly and the captain could be seen all over the ship, he even joined people in the Windows Cafe for a chat.  We also got to take a bridge tour - first time we have had that offer.  Regarding  shore excursions.  Our first stop was Chios.  We didn't do a shore excursion there but walked around town on our own.  We were not impressed with anything about this place.  It didn't have the charm of Mykonos or Santorini and the people didn't seem friendly or care if you wanted to buy anything or not.Next stop - Instanbul.  We took the two day tour here offered by the ship.  It was very good.  The guide spoke good English and was a bundle of information.  We enjoyed the sights we saw, Haggia Sofia, Topkaki Palace, the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar.  It would have been nice to have a longer time at the Bazaar.  Next stop - Alexandria.  We took the overnight shore excurion offered by the ship.  This was well worth the money.  Our guide was incredible as were the sights we saw - lunch on the Nile, the Egyptian Museum, Sakkara, the pyramids of Giza, the Sound & Light Show, the Alabaster Mosque and the Papyrus Institute.  So much history!!  The hotel was definitely first rate as were the meals.  I did the camel ride - awesome.Next stop - Ashdod.  We took the Jerusalem and Bethlehem tour here offered by the ship.  Our guide was very knowledgeable and the sights we saw were awesome.  It was very crowded - perhaps even more than normal because the Pope was due to be here the next day.  We had lunch at a Kibbutz which was good.Next stop - Haifa.  Shore excursion from ship to Galilee and Nazareth.  Once again our guide was very good and the sights were beautiful.  A little less intense than the day in Jerusalem.  We had lunch in a Kibbutz this day as well.Next stop - Cyprus.  We took the ship shore excursion to temple of Apollo, the ancient city of Kourion and the village of Omodos.  The tour was good, but after the previous 4 days, it would have been very hard to compete.  Plus the fact that we were very tired.Two days at sea - WONDERFULNext stop - Sorrento.  We just spent some time wandering the streets and alleyways doing a bit of shopping.  It was a very nice place to relax and have a pizza on the sidewalk.Last stop - Rome.  Took the bus from the port right to the airport and flew directly home.  Embarkation was ok except that we missed our colour being called and they had to call us by room number or we would have missed our bus.This was an incredible once-in-a-lifetime trip.  We loved the ship, the crew and the shore excursions offered by the ship were very good.  If there weren't so many other places in the world to see, we would take this cruise again.