Wanted to see the Med. The Captain, John Scott, was the friendliest and most personable one ever. The staff went out of their way to make us feel special. The ship was brand new, and everything was just pristine. We had a balcony for the first time, and were kept up to date with the islands and shores we were passing.

The entertainment was excellent, and the comedians were really really funny. My husband loved the Captain's coffee hour each day at sea, and got to know him very well. He shared funny stories about his history as a ship's captain, including some really good ones about herding sheep and a shop steward. I will not say more.

The cooks let us show them how to make real Cajun gumbo, and meals were very good and I loved the Tuscany excursion to the Wine Country, made me want to move there. I did quite a lot of excursions, and I found you don't have to be on the really expensive ones to have a great excursion. Care has been taken by HAL to have the best excursions available. I recommend highly the back to back eastern and western Med cruises out of Rome.