This was an anniversary cruise with husband, second cruise overall, first with Royal Caribbean.  We flew direct from Chicago to Rome.  We booked our air travel ourselves and had quite a time getting out of Chicago.  Our airline got everyone on the plane, then announced the plane had an oil leak and we would be taking a new plane.  Here's the problem, we booked our flight for a Friday evening so we would arrive in Rome on Saturday morning for a day of sightseeing.  With the delay, it was afternoon when we finally got into Rome to sightsee.  I highly suggest arriving 2-3 days earlier so that you have time to see everything in Rome.  I'm so disappointed that I didn't get to go into the Coliseum.  Don't make the same mistake we did!Scheduled our own transfer with rental company from hotel to ship.  Arrived at Civitavecchia at 11:00.  We had completed our Set Sail pass prior to leaving the states so check-in was a breeze.  We walked right up to the counter and got our cards.  Don't be surprised when you are asked to give them your passport, they keep if for the entire trip and you get it back the last sea day.  We were on the ship by 11:30.  Went directly to the spa to make a reservation and got the day and time that we wanted.  Had lunch in Windjammer, it was busy but we found a table easily.  Our room was ready at  1:00 and our luggage arrived at 1:05!  We had a balcony room.  It was clean, had enough storage space for our needs.  What more do you need!?!?  We didn't come this far to hang out in the room!  Cabin steward did a great job, we never saw her, but our room was always made up.Our sailing was the Eastern Mediterranean so next day was in Sicily.  We scheduled excursion through the ship to Taormina.  Our tour guide was friendly and knowledgable.  Disembarkation was quick and efficient.  Taormina was absolutely gorgeous.  I highly recommend visiting there if it is your first time to Sicily.  Even our neighbors that are from Palermo told us to go there.  We spent out time seeing the Greek Theater, having lunch and shopping.  Lots of great souvenirs.Day at sea was next. We had our scheduled massages in the spa.  Service was great and they were running on time.  Remember, the price of your service already includes gratuity.  I heard lots of complaints at the front desk from people who were not aware of this!Athens, Greece: This is where I wish we had not gone through the ship for our excursion.  Our tour guide was not enthused about having to work.  We did A Taste of Athens.  It began with trip to Acropolis and Parthenon.  When we arrived, there was NO ONE at the gate to enter the Acropolis.  Our tour guide decided to walk us around, tell us some Greek mythology, stop at bathroom, etc.  Half an hour later she decided we should go in, well, by that time there were easily 1,000 people waiting to shove through gate that they closed because it got so busy!  She shrugged and said that's what happens during peak summertime.  Wish she had taken us straight in.  By the time we got through the gate and up to Parthenon, she didn't even allow time for pictures!  SUGGESTION:  Book your own travel agent, get off the ship ASAP and go straight to Acropolis.  Our day went downhill from there, but I don't want to ramble more about it here. Ephesus:  We again did excursion through ship.  It took us to ancient Ephesus, House of Virgin Mary, and provided lunch at a 5 star resort.  We were very pleased with the company they partner with.  Loved our tour guide and they even provide a bottle water to everyone on the bus.  House of Virgin Mary was ok, would have been fine not going there.  Ephesus was amazing!!!!!!!!  Easily our favorite place to visit out of the whole trip.  This is not to be missed!!!  Lunch at the resort was traditional Turkish food and was very tasty.  Spent rest of day in Turkish bazaar, lots of good souvenirs here as well.Crete:  Took excursion through ship to the beach.  Nice relaxing day, your ticket also gets you a free soda or bottle water from the resort.  Water sports available.  So glad I didn't go to Knossos.  I didn't meet one person who was happy with going there, they all felt it was a waste of time.Dining:  We did my time dining.  Another thing I learned:  My time dining still requires reservations.  For those who have cruised with Princess as we have, their my time allows you to show up at anytime to dine.  Not so here, you need to choose what time you want to eat and request a table.  We would always just request a time the day before.  We sat in the same section every night because we loved our waiter!  If you can sit in Mihai's section, you'll get great service and a smile.  We really enjoyed getting to know him during the week and made our dining experience very memorable.  Food was very good, typical fancy cruise food with lots of choices each night.Misc:  Rock climbing wall was lots of fun.  The shows and entertainment were top notch, we enjoyed everything we saw.  We went to the Mystery Dinner Theater one night in Portofino.  It was fun, don't know if it was $50 fun, but did include dinner in Portofino.  However, they only gave us two option because of the theater.  I would have rather eaten there on a normal night and had to whole menu to choose from.  Solarium was pleasant break from the children on the ship.  Just wish they would fill their pools with chlorinated water instead of salt water.  This midwesterner is not used to salty water!Overall, we were very happy with this ship and Royal Caribbean.  We are already planning our next cruise, hopefully on the new Oasis class ships.