Celebrity Solstice...Wow!  This ship was fabulous as was the professionalism and friendliness of their staff.  My husband and I had never been on a cruise preferring to fly into our ports of destinations thinking ships would be too boring.  We were so wrong!  The Solstice had so many dinner, dancing and event options we could barely keep up.  The entertainment was great and we loved the ship's nighttime shows along with many of the educational classes. The ports of call were well chosen and their access to trains, the metro and bus stop were good though one or two were a half mile or so from where the ship docked.  We good walkers so this was fine for us.  W are also very independent liking to be on our own in port not caring for the large crowds on the ship tours.  We did take two ship tours to see what they were like.  The tour to Delos Island we thought terrific but the one to Pompeii was cut short by first stopping an hour and 20 minutes at cameo factory which left us little time in Pompeii.  All in all, we usually walked, rode trains or the metro and otherwise went independent to utilize our days more fully.Turkey was our favorite port of call both in Istanbul and Kusadasi.  Istanbul was an easy access over the foot bridge to the city.  In Kusadasi we hired a private company called, 'ekol travel', and they exceeded our expectations.  We were met promptly at the ship by a professional and friendly gentleman working for ekol travel named Metin.  He had a large sign clearly printed with our name on it which was a relief.  This tour was to Ephesus, Didyma and Miletos and timed to be away from the large crowds which we appreciated not speaking Turkish.  Metin spoke English quite well making it easy to understand him.  This was a relief as our Greek guide had been difficult to understand.  We felt he and his driver Ferit represented 'ekol travel' expertly with a comfortable, luxurious van that was air conditioned to which we are grateful as it was very hot for us.  We come from the north so the cool air was refreshing.  Also, Metin was quite knowledgeable.  We especially loved his information on the sites, the local dieties and habits of these ancient people.  .  Once again we must express our appreciation for the Celebrity Solstice ship and crew.  We heard from many seasoned cruiser onboard that had cruising 10-20 times that it was the best ship they'd been on too.  We can't wait to sign on again.