We chose this itinerary as we were looking for one that offered my father ports to which he hadn't traveled. Beginning in Rome, and visiting Naples, Messina, Olympia, Athens, Limassol, (not really) Cairo, Haifa, Aqaba, Safaga, Salalah, Muscat, and Dubai, this sailing fit the bill and seemed a reasonable price to this virgin cruiser.

We began our trip with five days in Istanbul. I was unaware that this has initially been scheduled as our sailing's port of origination. In retrospect, I am glad that piece had changed. Istanbul, in my opinion, deserves days upon days to visit. We flew via Turkish Airlines to Rome in an easy and inexpensive hop. In Rome we stayed at the Infinity Roma Hotel which was lovely--comfortable, convenient, and gracious in its hospitality. Arranging a late check out to bridge the gap before our transfer service arrived was easy. Breakfast was good enough and included, as were the minibar in our room and the special bonus earthquake.

We used Bob's Limo for our transfer. Those arrangements were easy once the initial contact was made. That first bit took several tries. Through Cruisecritic we had arranged to share the service with another party, for a small fee they were picked up directly at their accommodations and we at ours. We were 5 people in an 8 person van, so it was truly a comfortable drive and worth the extra price--especially given the amount of our luggage and the schlep to the port from the train. I'm not double checking my numbers, but I recall the cost as being 191Euros for the five of us, big-ass van, and two points for pick-ups. Read more