Looking forward to the new quest next year which will be less formal, it should be interesting on a smaller ship and smaller ports of call. We can't wait, see you onboard on the 29th March 2008.

I recently treated my sister to a Mediterranean cruise aboard Galaxy cruise ship, Celebrity cruise lines. We began our cruise on 12 July and completed it on 23 July. Although every vacation has its ups and downs, overall our experience was positive. Galaxy provided us service that "exceeded expectations" just like their motto states.

I met my sister in Rome and upon arrival found Celebrity personnel holding signs for their guests. We were unable to book transportation to Civitavecchia port online, so we were told that we could pay for transportation at the bus. We were given baggage stickers (similar to the ones the airlines mark your baggage with for flights). Our baggage was then loaded on a cart and taken to our bus as we were escorted to it. We had to wait approximately one hour before we were able to go through port authority to board our ship. It was no problem for my sister and I since we had a lot to catch up on.

Once we boarded our ship we were escorted to our room and upon arrival decided to visit the spa facilities as the appointments fill up quickly! We were escorted through the facility and given an excellent tour. We were excited to see the different treatments, gym, sauna, and thelossotherapy pool! We immediately booked massage treatments and purchased a pass to have unlimited use of the T-pool. Although it was only mid-afternoon on embarkation day, there weren't many appointments open for massage. Since there was no way to book online in advance, I surmised that the spa's reputation precedes them. I later realized why.

We decided to check out the food that we had been reading about. There was a pizza bar, but we decided to go to the buffet. From the first plate, we were hooked. We must have tried every dessert in the duration of our cruise! The only complaint about the food is that it was a bit blander than what we would've expected.

Upon return to our room, we noticed that we had all but one piece of luggage awaiting us. Between the time of discovery and before dinner, our luggage miraculously arrived after we jovially repeated our room number and the colour of our missing bag to the room attendants on passing them countless times while trying to navigate our way around the ship. From then on, we had a great relationship with the room attendants. They were more than willing to go above and beyond their typical duty at our request. After noticing the pitcher in our room was filled with water and we had an ice container as well, we asked for two carafes and were pleased to find them refilled each time we'd leave our cabin. The attendants kept our room immaculate and even steamed the carpets, as well as our linens, when we'd discovered a couple of ants scurrying about.

We tried changing our dining from main seating to evening, but gave up after seeing the long line of people wanting the same. Our Assistant Maitre'D was very pleasant. Our table mates were a very nice couple from New York. We had a great time conversing with them and the couple at the table next to us. We didn't have the best table in terms of placement, but I think that we had the best company, waiter, assistant waiter, and wine service. There were several instances where we'd make a request and our waiter was more than happy to comply. I would tell him the time that I'd have my spa appointments and he'd take care of arranging the food arrival so that I didn't feel rushed. I even had ample time for dessert!! My sister and I would usually order every dessert on the menu and share them. We asked for baklava as a special request and by the end of our meal, we had a plate of it that was "discovered" somewhere in the kitchen. We had noticed that the table next to us ordered shrimp cocktail every night, so by the third night, our table followed suit. In the bread basket, we found one roll that all of us particularly liked, so our assistant waiter arranged for us to have a special basket of our favourite bread. Our table and the one next to us were usually the last to depart before the evening diners, but we were never rushed out. On the last night, our assistant waiter made a beautiful flower out of 2 napkins for me.

The first night of the cruise, I received my first massage from the AquaSpa. I practically lived there for the rest of the cruise. The massage was by far the best I've received. My massage therapist would cater each massage to my personal needs. I was medically discharged from the military over a year ago and am not able to complete many physically challenging tasks. I was apprehensive about our excursions, walking countless flights of stairs, and working out at the gym everyday. After my first massage I knew that I had no worries for the remainder of the cruise. I was taken care of so well that although I've had insomnia since I was 10, I was able to sleep like I've never slept before. My sister has had breathing problems due to asthma and allergies and once the massage therapist realized this, he massaged a part of her foot that opened up her nasal passages. The spa was nothing short of amazing! We loved working out everyday in their large gym. We would stack steps in order for our DVD player to fit between the windows and we'd work out on the elliptical machine while watching movies or listening to music. The T-pool was helped our overworked muscles relax and was a lot of fun to use. We would go at least once a day, sometimes twice. We also loved going in the sauna after our T-pool session.

Besides hanging out in the spa, we found lying out in the sun was relaxing as well. The deck chairs were very comfortable and there were always clean towels to use. We found the pool staff to be very friendly and kind in bringing us water upon request. Occasionally, they'd offer cold towels, which were rather refreshing.

On our formal night, we had a great time getting ready and walking around in formal attire and being treated like royalty. We were highly entertained in the Celebrity Theatre watching a production encompassing musicals from our favourite operas. We enjoyed dancing until 4 am in the Stratosphere Lounge.

Although it was rather expensive, we enjoyed having internet access on the ship and found that the connection is better at sea than at port. The Rendezvous Square usually was populated with people entertained by musicians or a singing duo. The Martini Bar had excellent service and delicious drinks. Room service was good for the most part, but the pizza and chocolate chip cookies did not live up to our expectations. We were able to order room service during dining hours and our room attendant kept it fresh for us until we had finished our spa sessions, which ended after dining hours. The presentation was amazing.

As for the excursions, we quickly figured out that it is worth the money to book through the ship. Once in Naples, we tried to "do it ourselves", big mistake. We were able to go to Sorrento, Pompeii, and eat pizza in Naples, but I'm sure that the excursions were much cheaper. In Rhodes, we booked the hotel beach excursion. It was too windy for me to enjoy as my contact was pushed behind my eye! We had an hour before my sister's spa appointment to shop in Rhodes. We found the best prices and the best purchases in Rhodes. It was absolutely breath taking at sunset! I was able to watch the ship pull away from dock while working out in the gym. In Santorini, the shopping was excellent, we loved Oia and Perivolos beach. We went to Delos while we were in Mykonos and had an awesome lecture on the history of the island. We were docked until midnight, so we managed to get in some shopping and Baklava! It was later rumoured that Harrison Ford was there as well. In Piraeus, we were able to check out Athens, the Acropolis, the Parthenon, Cape Sounion, and Poseidon's Temple. The water at the beaches looked more than tempting, but we didn't have time to go swimming as well. Dubrovnik was beautiful. We didn't have time to go to the city because our excursion to Lopud Island took up all of our time. We hiked to a hidden beach and it was well worth it. The water was so amazing and the fish would follow us as we swam. We were told that the beaches where we docked would be rocky and the hidden beach was sandy, but both beaches were absolutely beautiful. The pizza at a nearby bakery was not as good as the typical pizza enjoyed in Europe. Our last port of call before returning to Civitavecchia was at Messina. Our excursion to see the black Madonna had been cancelled, so we decided to "do it ourselves" again. We checked out the city of Messina and noticed that our map was left in our cabin. We went to the Guest Relations desk while back in the ship to ask for saline since the shops were sold out. They didn't have saline, but the Italian at the desk told us to go to Taormina and Naxos Giardini instead of spending the day in Messina. We took his advice and found the bus station. We found a beautiful beach with the most beautiful rocks in Naxos Giardini. We shopped in Taormina and loved its quaintness.

We made sure that we were on deck to watch the ship pull away from Messina. It was absolutely perfect. The weather was gorgeous, the city lights were spectacular, and the ship played "Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" from the "Meet Joe Black" soundtrack.

It was hard saying our goodbyes and leaving the ship. We had a wonderful time. We have already started planning our "reunion cruise". I've been recommending this cruise to everyone at work and all of my friends and family! What a great vacation.