Overall, we had a great cruise, the ports of call were excellent. We selected the cruise for the itinerary and took note of the comments of the ship itself from other reviews we had read before cruising.The cruise ship itself was as other described was good but a bit tired and needing some updating. None of the necessary updates really distracted from our cruise experience, but you need to set the appropriate expectation (ie bit of rust at the bottom outside the shower stall, the balcony railings were twisted and need of a varnish... which occurred on the last day of the cruise to name a few). The beds were very comfortable and afforded a very restful sleep. We found the elevators slow and opted more often to take the stairs as it was generally faster and more convenient, besides a good way to work of those extra calories. This was our first time on a "smaller" ship and as such there were less places and activities but it made navigating the ship easier. We had two specialty dinners at La Trattoria and Cagney's and were disappointed in the both restaurants to the point we cancelled other speciality dining reservations. The location of the restaurants on the ship was inside with no view at all, the service was not the best, and the food was a marginal upgrade from the main dining room. We really did not see the value in the premium we paid to dine at these restaurants.
We found that there was a variety and different entertainment opportunities each night which was very good.
We thought there could have been more information on the Disembarkation in Barcelona, coming off other ships in US ports there were typically delays and longer lines for luggage collection and customs clearance, so we had planned accordingly but the anticipated delays did not occur, and we spent more time waiting for our excursion pick-up outside the cruise terminal.
Small but adequate for our purposes. There were aspect that showed the aged of the ship and that it may be time for a refit but overall the cabin was good.
We wandered the streets in the morning to about 10:30-11:00 then hoped the local bus to paradise beach (cost $7.20 euros) for the two of us return. We returned on the 2:30 bus back and had a cocktail and Saganaki watching the line for the tenders back to the ship. Good port for a DIY shore excursion.
We walked the City for a bit then returned to the ship, after three long shore excursion in Italy we were a little burnt out so did not book a tour and opted for a leisurely walk of Toulon.
We did our own thing in Venice and enjoyed our visit, we would differently go back.