The Itinerary was just what we wanted.
Holland America does a good job of highlighting the ports and their history and culture.
The ship had just been renovated and I did love the new 'Music Walk' which was one deck with a duel piano bar (Billboard Onboard), a BB King Blues Club venue and a Lincoln Center Stage venue. All of the performers were very talented and we enjoyed all of the venues as well as the shows in the main showroom.
The air conditioning did not work properly for the first day and a half, making our cabin
uncomfortably warm. It took a little complaining to get the staff to fix it. Also, the divider between our veranda and the one next to ours had a loose bolt that caused it to rattle loudly.
That was repaired on the same day that I reported it. We were not offered any ship credit for the inconvenience. Otherwise, the cabin was fine. Nice large flat screen TV and new carpet
and drapery.
We stayed on our own for 4 nights in Venice before our cruise.
Our first trip to this enchanting city!
We were so glad to have the extra days to explore and enjoy.
No matter how many photos or movies you see of Venice, you must see it in person!
We walked all over this wonderful and interesting city and took public transportation (bus and metro). Bought an Athens City Pass and saw many sights. Wonderful Archeological Museum near the Acropolis.
After exploring the town for a bit, we took a city bus to a beautiful beach with the clearest water I have ever seen.
We bought a one day metro pass and used it to get up to the National Archeological museum. We used Rick Steve's Naples walking tour to explore the town and we stopped at a church that had an underground tour of Roman ruins. We had delicious and inexpensive pizza and gelato and granitas. Naples was fun!
Our cruise ended in Rome, but about a third of the ships passengers were continuing on for another 12 days.
We used a shared transport that we booked on Viator to get us to our hotel in Rome, where were stayed for 4 nights before returning home.
Rome was amazing and we walked 50 miles in 4 days seeing as much as we could.
The Colosseum, The Forum, Palantine Hill, the Pantheon, Trevi fountain, Spanish steps, St. Peter's and the Sistine Chapel (bought tickets online before we left home), the Borghese Gallery (also bought tickets online before leaving home, which is a must at this museum).
We also used the metro.