SeaJane

I agree completely with what you say. Most of our cruises have been for 19 nights each time and we always opt for table for 8 second sitting. We have met a lot of lovely people over the years and have really enjoyed getting to know them. We are booked for 7 nights on Ventura in May and have opted for Freedom dining as an experiment. We also have a high OBS so are thinking we will make use of the speciality restaurants. I must admit the problems that some seem to have with the “app” are making me wonder if we would have been better to stick with what we know!

We’ve also done this tour and thoroughly enjoyed it inspite of it’s rather “cheesy” description. The coach trip took us through some lovely countryside. However I’m pretty sure this was only on offer from Messina and not Palermo or Catania.

We did a tour from Palermo that took us to Monreale. It was a lovely town with a cathedral with the most beautiful gold mosaic ceiling. In the afternoon we walked around the sights in Palermo. I’m afraid Catania is our least favourite port in the Med as we have found the town dirty and crowded with quite a threatening atmosphere - I would suggest doing a tour from there perhaps to see Mt Etna. Cagliari is a nice place and easy to wander around on your own. It is a steep climb to the top, but pleasant to then have a drink or lunch looking down out over the harbour.

You can obtain a letter from Reception onboard that details the port(s) that have been missed. We have always found that to be readily accepted by our insurance company.

Quite agree - we enjoyed it very much even though one or two of the acts would not have been our first choice! Altogether a very pleasant way to spend Saturday evening with a couple of glasses of wine 🍷