I am rating this cruise Excellent, basically due to the Itinerary. You are in Venice, Split, Santorini, Mykonos, Dubrovnik, Ancona, and back to Venice. Here are the pluses of the cruise ship. It's a smaller cruise ship compared to the "mega ships" out there today, and that's the type of ship I personally like. I do not care for the super large ships. It reminded me of old world cruising. The ship is not new, but it was very clean and well maintained for the most part. The international flavor/mix of the guests on board, we particularly enjoyed. Although language could be an issue at times, but we did find some english speaking folks on board from the UK, Ireland, Australia, etc. Quite nice.
At first, once I studied the ports of call, I was concerned there was not enough time in each of them (after all, we always want "more") but to be honest, it all worked out quite fine. Even with the shorter time in Mykonos. The times we had to tender and or dock, were well organized and were very seamless. Embarkation was a little clustered, we got there shortly after 12noon, and apparently so did everyone else :) After about 30 minutes, the lines moved and it was much more organized. We were onboard about 1pm give or take. Our Cabin was just about ready at that time, and we met our Cabin Attendant...he told us to come back in about a 1/2 hour and he'd have our cruise cards for us. Sure enough he did. In the meantime, they had a buffet open up on Deck 11, so we went up there, grabbed a bite and went to the Capri Bar (which turned out to be our favorite bar on the ship). We got to know the Bartenders and Servers right away, and they became best buddies before you knew it. They would see us coming and no matter how busy they were, they would always sneak us our drinks before others.(We did tip them from time to time but we were also very nice to them. As you can imagine, not all guests are pleasant. Anyway, after we got out cruise cards, we went down to the Reception desk and activated our cards with a credit card for any "extras". We did by the Drink Package (we got the middle package, for we didn't need the top shelf) and it turned out to be a wise choice. I strongly suggest if you enjoy your adult beverages. The prices (for those who do not want to buy a package, were averaging 6.50 Euros per drink. With the drink package, all beverages were comped, ie: bottled waters, soft drinks, cappuccinos/espressos, etc.
Cabin- We were on Deck 10, cabin 1096, balcony. I strongly suggest Balcony cabins if you can afford them. It adds to the space of your cabin and with such beautiful scenery to take advantage of, we utilized the balcony a lot. The bathroom was a standard cruise ship bathroom. The shower was a little challenging for a 6'2 guy, but I managed. There's plenty of storage space for luggage, drawers, nightstands, etc. The cabin has both 110 volt and 220 volt electric current. The bathrooms have a built in hair dryer.
Great Cabin. It was nice being on Deck 10. It was easy for us to get just about anywhere we needed. It had good closet space. Now, we didn't bring an excessive amount a clothing, we were creative so we didn't need a ton of space, but with what they offered in the cabin it was just fine.
We stayed 3 nights in Venice before our cruise, so we did not sign up for any excursions. We toured Venice on our own.
We bought an hour city tour by private taxi, who took us around the city of Split. We were picked up at the Promenade (center of town) and he took us around the area. We paid 30 Euros each for it. It was fun. Takes you to a great overlook atop the city, where you get stunning views of Split. There's also an ancient jewish cemetary up there that we walked through. Very cool.
We are seasoned travelers with experience in Santorini, so we struck out on our own. Took a jeep/bubby to Oai and walked around Thira, enjoyed a late Breakfast and a snack before going back down the tram.
This is another town we did not take the excursions. We ventured out on our own.It's a small town, that is easily walkable. Many lovely restaurants on the Wharf, and bars/clubs, all within the immediate area. Great vibe. Loved Mykonos.Would of loved to stay longer.
You are taken to the center of Dubrovnik at the entrance to the Old City. Spectacular!!! You can walk through the old city, and walk up to the top of the walled in areas, for spectacular views. We thoroughly enjoyed walking around in the walled in city. Had a bottle of wine at one of the local cafe's and enjoyed the people watching. Loved Dubrovnik.
This is a sleepy old seaport. Not a lot to see in town, however, we wished we would of signed up for the tour of these Caverns. That was our only regret.