We took a 4-day Nice to Rome, stayed on the ship, and returned to Nice on the July 2 7-day cruise. This gave us 11 days of beautiful ports. We loved visiting Elba and Corsica twice and still would like to return to each. We both agree that Portofino is one of the most beautiful ports we have ever been to. Oh, to return there as well. From Monaco, we took buses to the Ephrussi-Rothschild mansion and gardens in St. Jean Cap Ferrat--absolutely stunning.

The ship staff was wonderful, from waiters in all dining areas, to our stewards. We changed rooms after the 4-day short cruise, going from a Continent Suite to a smaller verandah room on deck 6. I find the smaller rooms to be fine as long as I have a verandah. We did not miss the larger space on deck 8.

I particularly appreciated the full description of excursions by the staff there which encouraged us to try quite a few. We were not disappointed. The days were busy and in the evening, we usually headed back on shore to have a drink or dinner in the ports, so we didn't explore the evening entertainment. We did attend several lectures by historian Don Schwartz, who was excellent. Read more