I traveled with my husband and teen daughter on the 8/2 Western Med sailing on Navigator of the Seas. For my husband and me, this was our 5th cruise, and second on Royal. We had wanted to take a Med cruise last year, but ended up putting it off, so this was a long-awaited trip that we were very excited about. In the past I'd acted as my family's travel agent, but this time we used a professional and were very happy to have the assistance.

We flew into Rome and spent a night at the Mecenate Palace Hotel. We used Rome Cabs for the transfer, and had them come again the next day for the transfer to the port. They were reliable and this worked out very well. The scene at the port was a bit chaotic. No one helped us with our bags; it seemed that porters were going to everyone else but us, even after we directly approached them asking for help. Finally, someone agreed to actually take our bags, and we went on to check in. Check in was smooth and quick, and in no time we were on the ship.

The ship was beautiful. It was the largest cruise ship we'd been on, but generally did not feel crowded. We had a balcony cabin. It was not large, but was adequate, especially since we were able to stow our suitcases under the bed, giving us the maximum amount of storage space possible. Read more