We are experienced cruisers. We have sailed with Norwegian, Holland, Celebrity and Oceania in the past, as well as been on board very small cruise ships in Alaska and Patagonia. We selected this cruise via a Friendly Planet booking based on previous very favorable trips with them and due to the itinerary that would take us to Mykonos, Santorini and Crete in addition to Kusadasi in Turkey. We booked over a year in advance with three friends that travelled with us on this cruise.

Embarkation was very easy. It is a small ship. Our tour manager also had us check in at 4 p.m. in the afternoon for a 9 p.m. sailing. This worked out very well. No one was in line ahead of our group (a total of 19 people) and we sailed easily through the process. Bags were delivered to the cabins within 30 minutes of getting on board.

First glitch was upon arrival in the cabin. I have used in room safe deposit boxes at least a zillion times. The instructions for the in room safe deposit box left out key information. Everyone in our party could not figure out how to use the darn thing which resulted in a call to reception. An hour later, no one came to fix the problem. With the life boat drill starting in 10 minutes, we were much more insistent and finally a nice member of the staff came and gave us the missing information that resolved the problem. This was the beginning of our understanding that if you have a problem, calling reception is a total waste of time. Read more