We recently sailed on our 5th Royal Caribbean cruise to the Mediterranean. It was a 12 night cruise sailing from Barcelona Spain on July 3/15. On our previous cruises we had taken they were all through the Caribbean and were on a little bigger ship. This ship was a disappointment, not sure if it was the ship or if the overall quality has gone down hill with Royal Caribbean as it has been 2 years since our last cruise. The food selection in the dining room was limited and not very good, all the pasta dishes were undercooked (al dente), the reminder of the meals lacked their usual flair of tasty and creativity. The staff were clearly advised to push the speciality restaurants (which cost you more money out of your pocket) a it was recommended almost every evening to us to consider the speciality restaurants. We paid a lot of money to take this trip, inclusive of the excursions which were expensive for a family of 4 and having 7 ports it gets really expensive. I feel that the food quality and lack of selection made us feel very dissatisfied with the experience. Thank goodness the waiters were great! The breakfast in the main dining room was also limited in selection, and we started to prefer the Windjammer which is buffet style (I have never liked buffet style when on vacation as you want to feel like your at a restaurant for service).

The shore excursions through the ship were ok, in one word. I would not recommend booking through the ship, find a private tour operator through Trip Advisor. The shows for evening entertainment were the worst I have seen on all the cruises, they had a mime, 3 really bad comedians, a so so magician. The social games played on the ship such as the Marriage game were better than the entertainment. What a disappointment for such an expensive vacation. The front desk staff were unapologetic and didn't seem to care much if you were upset. We sent some clothes to laundry and it took them 4 days to get them back to us. We were a family of 4 travelling, 2 adults and a 3 & 15 year old. Fortunately the kids were able to entertain themselves by making friends on the ship. There is only 1 small pool on the ship for the kids, if you go into is and stand upright and don't move you could probably fit 75 people in it. The ship holds 2500 passengers, and there is an adult pool which is off limits to the teens. However the adults can choose to go to the small outdoor pool or the small indoor adult pool. The teens do not have the same option. Overall I would rate this ship as a "DON"T DO IT" ship. Sorry to say that.