We travelled for 7 days starting on the 15 October. We chose the ship because of the itinerary, and the ports were all interesting. The ship seemed to be very crowded most of the time even though the weather was fine enough for the sundecks to be fully utilised. Beacuse the ship is basically Hop on Hop Off type of circular cruise passengers were joining and leaving at each of the 6 ports of call, and by far the majority were Italians. Unless conversant with the language this was somewhat overwhelming. Many of the passengers smoked quite heavily, and to someone from England this seemed a step back into the past.

There were also a large number of young children and babies on board, and apart from the number of prams being pushed round the deck, the children were well behaved, although they seemed to go to bed about midnight or fall asleep in their buggies. With such a large Italian contingent | thought the theatre shows should have reflected their hisory and culture. I think the tour director could have made an effort to arrange for the English speakers to meet each other, and brief language courses would be a help. We had our first Italian lesson on the final day. Food and service was excellent, but drinks quite expensive.