To begin with, this was my first cruise. I was travelling with my girlfriend and her parents, who had been on a number of cruises before. For the most part, this was a very positive experience for me.
Both the embarkation and disembarkation process went far smoother than I expected. My girlfriend's parents, who are veteran cruisers, said it was one of the quickest and most organized disembarkations they have ever had.
The ship itself was wonderful. Although this was considered a mid-size ship, I thought with something like 6 bars, 2 pools, a casino, a fitness center, many places to eat, and more, there was more than enough on board to fill the time. Royal Caribbean really seems to do a great job with having many activities; we like doing quizzes and there were literally 4-5 quizzes per day, along with dozens of other activities.
Plenty of room, and certainly enough storage space for all our stuff. I was very pleased with it.
Venice is an amazing city. Incredibly busy but we found an off-the-beaten-path restaurant to eat dinner at and then took a night gondola tour, it was truly magical.
Athens is not the best city in the world. We took a cab from Pireaus for a very affordable price and walked around Plaka and up the Acropolis. It's something you should do, but nothing special.