We booked the cruise about 10 days before it sailed. Suites were full and there were only few balcony cabins remaining. Not sure about insides. We paid per person £775 + £84 (port fees etc) + £70 prepaid tips, cruise only. We flew to Barcelona - a 2 hour Ryanair flight from Liverpool. Taxi from the airport to the old town city was €40 with baggage. We stayed overnight in the Gothic Quarter, near the cathedral and La Ramblas. We had a lovely meal nearby at Rossini in Placa Real with my niece Ellen who lives here.

EMBARCATION 8/10. We took a cab from our hotel to the ship (€20) and arrived at the dock for 12.30, where our cases were swiftly taken from us and labelled. It was quite busy, but check in was fast and efficient. There were queues, but they moved rapidly due to the large number of very efficient staff. We went directly to our room, which was ready. Deck 11 - balcony cabin 11626 port side towards the aft. We went directly to Windows for a waiter served lunch.

SHIP 7/10. Oldish, but in pretty good shape. Very clean and tidy everywhere. Having no DIY laundry room is poor (they used to have them, but they were taken out). We liked the size of the ship with everything not too far away. We walked the lovely wide Promenade Deck most days and I used the open air running track on Deck 13. Plenty of places to find peace and quiet or entertainment if you wished. Read more