We chose this specific cruise for the Ports of Call. We have only been on one other cruise before (Royal Caribbean -- Alaska) -- and had a Wonderful experience.
We arrived in Rome a few days prior to our cruise and used a company called Bags Free (they met us at the airport, stored our larger suitcase, and brought it to the ship the day of sailing - it was in our room when we arrived. We Highly Recommend this company!)
Both embarkation and disembarkation was very quick and organized. Impressed.
The cabin was on the last slant of the bulge. It was very spacious with lots of storage space. The bathroom was large enough, the shower -- good size, and lots of storage space. It came with 2 bathrobes. We were very happy with our selection!
We took a tour of Taormina and Mt. Etna. Very pretty countryside. I would not go back to Taormina, since we did not go on vacation to shop. If you want to do a lot of tourist shopping, then I would recommend Taormina.
Since it was Sunday, a lot of the historical sites were closed. We took a local bus to the other side of the harbor and did some exploring on our own and then took another local bus back and walked around town.
Lots of tourist shopping. Picturesque town. Windmills.
Roads and sidewalks -- a lot of them are made up of stones that are more upright than flat! Wear good walking shoes. Middle ages walls...
We took a boat to Oia. All the photos of Santorini you see -- White houses against the Blue Mediterranean Sea! So pretty!! Narrow streets are Very Crowded with tourists. Know of 3 weddings while we were there (saw 2 while in town, and one bride and groom was on our ship). Bus to Thera (?), and took the tram down to the water front instead of dealing with the donkey poo on the stairs.
Walked all around and tried to hit the highlights. Would have been great to have an overnight in Athens to be able to see more.
We did take an excursion, but not from the ship. We went to the Amfli Coast and Pompeii. Visited two towns on the Amfli coast. The towns are mostly for shopping; and if you can, going on the beach and boating. Pompeii was Amazing! A guided tour, in our opinion, was a great choice. We were able to get a lot more information. Would not do the towns again, but would highly recommend Pompeii.