Overall, the cruise was great.  The food was decent (dining room was much better than general areas), the staff was wonderful, the shows and trivia were entertaining.  However, be careful when deciding where to spend your money for your ports.  If you are able, I would highly recommend researching the local transportation systems and save yourself lots of money.Barcelona has a fantastic Metro.  You can buy a T10 card for less than 10 Euro and get around the city on your own.  When you get to the dock to board your boat, don't expect any help.  There is absolutely no information posted anywhere.  There is a bus stop and people waiting in line.  A bus will eventually show up, charge you 2 EURO per person and drive you to the ship.  I would give yourself an hour and a half to get to the boat.  OR you can find another couple and take a taxi.  Not sure what it costs, but you will get there faster.  With that said, the longer you wait to board the ship, the faster your boarding will go.  If you get there early, you will just wait in a longer line at the port.  Make sense?Cannes France - the train system here is not horribly reliable.  We took a train to Nice, and had very little time to do anything.  And there's not much to do.  I would just stick to Cannes and look around and go back to the ship.  You get to Cannes via a little boat tender that is free from your cruise ship.  Easy day.Florence - I would not recommend spending the $90 per person to take the cruise's excursion (bus) to Florence.  The train station is very easy.  You simply find another couple of people, take a taxi for 20 Euro which drops you right off at the train and will take you right back.  The taxi drivers know where you are going. The train schedule is posted on www.trenitalia.com.  You are going from Livorno Centrale to Santa Maria Novella and back.  The roundtrip ticket costs 13 EURO per person.  DO NOT get the ship's Shuttle Ticket at $12/person.  Complete waste of money.Rome - again, just go on your own.  There is a free port shuttle that takes you from the ship to the port entrance and from there is it is a 10 minute walk to the train station (train schedule on http://www.trenitalia.com/, you are traveling from Civitavecchia to San Peitro or Termini).  Again, the ship gives you no help.  YOu will have to walk off the ship and find somebody to direct you to the shuttle.  At the train station, buy the BIRG ticket, which costs about 9 EURO each.  It includes roundtrip ticket to Rome and includes the buses and local metro in Rome.  Great transportation.  You will need to do some research but the Rome train system is very user friendly and the Roman people are very helpful. The main train station in Rome is Termini.  You can also get off at St. Peter's.  There are two main lines, A and B, from Termini.  A travels between St. Peter's and Termini.  And B travels between Termini and the Colliseum.  Very easy.  Just do your research.When you get back to Barcelona, don't bother with the ship transport to the airport.  Just get a taxi.  I think the cost is the same and you don't have to wait for the bus to get full and sift through your bags when you get to the airport.Good luck.