We departed from Barcelona after arriving a day early. We took a fantastic private tour with Jose Soler of Pepito Tours. We went to Montserrat the first afternoon. And then Jose picked us up from our hotel the next morning and we toured the architectural wonders of Barcelona and the old town. Love the works of Gaudi. Ship embarkation was lengthy and hot. Our cabin was clean and comfortable. Very glad we got a balcony for this cruise. The first tour stop was Rome. It is a lot to see in a day and so we opted to take a private tour with a guide to eliviate the long lines and bus rides. We were wise to spend the extra money because we got first rate service, no lines, and didn't have to battle the crowds like others. We use Rome Tourism and our guide was Giuseppe, a veteran guide and published author. He was amazing. There is a lot of walking on the Roman Tours...be prepared with good walking shoes and cool clothes. The next day was Naples and we chose to go to Capri, Sorento and Pompei on the cruise shore excursion. Wonderful tour...beautiful. A lot of walking in Pompei. Next stop was Dubrovnik, Croatia. A stunning walled city with beauty and charm and history. We traveled to Cavtat and then sailed back to Dubrovnik on a recreated pirate ship with the music of MaMa Mia blaring. A little cheesy for some, but we enjoyed the scenic cruise immensely. From Dubrovnik we went to Venice. It is a beautiful sail into Venice. We chose a private half-day tour to the lagoon islands of Murano and Burano. We saw an amazing glass making demonstration at a place that had been there since the 1300's. Burano is the colorful island community of lace making...the old fashioned way...by hand. That night we went to see St Mark's on a ship shore excursion that allowed a small group to see it at night. A phenominal experience. From Venice we went to Greece. I really did not like anything about Greece. Olympia was boring and Athens was dirty and crowded. My husband, however, enjoyed trekking around all of the ruins. They began to look all the same to me. Our next stop was Izmir, Turkey. A highlight being the visit to Ephesus. Again I hired a private guide for Turkey. City of Sultans was a fantastic company and the guides were knowledgeable, professional and just what we needed for this part of the world. Ephesus was a very positive experience and well restored. Istanbul was the second and third days. Enough cannot be said about the beauty of this city of Mosques. They were all so beautiful. We saw, Sofia, the Blue Mosque, and the Sultan Palace of Topkapi. Overall, it was a fantastic way to see lots of places in a short time. However, we were exhausted when it was all over. We had sailed on the Jade before around the Hawaiian Islands, so we were familiar with this ship. I like the ship. We were not overly impressed with the dining room selections. We, did, however enjoy the themed restaurants: Cagney's , Le Bistro, PaPa's Kitchen, and the Tapa's restaurant. The entertainment on board was both good and marginal. We weren't impressed with the musical troupe on board. The individual comedians, jugglers, spanish dancers, puppeteers and the Cruise Director were very good. We noticed, and I am sure the economy had a lot to do with it, that people were not eating in the specialty restaurants where you had to pay extra. Also, a lot of people did shore excursions on their own instead of the high priced ship board organized ones. Overall, we did have a mostly positive experience. Europe is expensive and I don't think we realized how expensive it was.