My wife gets motion sick so we held off going on a cruise. She never got ill on this cruise it was mostly smooth, only one windy day precluding a stop at Mykonos for safety reasons. The staff were very helpful and friendly.

As a first cruise we went in a standard State room which was kind of crowded for the three of us. Hindsight I would have spent the extra $900p/p for a Suite on deck 10, still we enjoyed the trip. Internet was very slow and I advise those that have teenagers spend the $275 for 1000 minutes, as our incremental purchases put us well over that. For 14 days we would have come under 1000 minutes of internet, oh well, next time. I would have indulged in the alcohol package, I think that was several hundred dollars, but the lifestyle on board is more relaxed and the odd tipple is hard to knock back. We did get the Admiral Package of 7 quality wines for $320. Oh yeah, all my dollar references are in AUD which was about 91c USD at the time. Plan your trips ashore, if you are slack you must attend the daily briefings help on the ship about the next stops activities. You can do it more cheaply by researching, chatting to other Cruise Critic users, but be warned: if the tour is late the ship goes unless it is a tour organised by the ship. I found this trip an excellent way of exploring for future holidays, loved Venice, Santorini and Istanbul and have them on my future holiday list. The Karaoke was too short as were most shows, but remember this trip catered to older clientele so 45 minutes was good for them. The ship staff at Karaoke, particularly Henry and Alvin, were very talented singers and very funny also. From Australia I would not go by Emerites again, as even booking QANTAS meant delays in Dubai (ex Brisbane). The Captain has a second career as a Stand Up Comedian. Food was second to none, even the Lido Restaurant held it one. In all we will plan more cruising holidays - thanks Ryndam.