I took a cruise around the Mediterranean. Here are 5 things that surprised me — from the coffee to the navigation.

• Insider's Christian Mayer took a trip around the Mediterranean on the AIDAblu cruise ship.
• Mayer, a cruise novice, sailed from Germany to mainland Italy, Malta, Sicily, and Sardinia.
• Here are the five things that surprised him most about the trip.

This is an edited, translated version of an article that originally appeared on January 17, 2023.

I recently booked a spontaneous weeklong cruise with the German cruise line Aida Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation and PLC, one of the largest cruise companies in the world.