We arrived in Barcelona 3 days earlier as we like to have the opportunity to get a more in-depth perspective of our port of embarkation and to give us the adequate time to rest up prior to the cruise. We stayed in the ME Barcelona a Melia 5* property located in the financial district. I cannot say enough about the staff, service & food quality. I highly recommend signing up for the chain's loyalty card program-the MAS card that gives you a 50% discount on meals. Barcelona has apparently been really cleaned up in the past 5-10 years according to both the locals & the tourist bureau. We purchased the 2-day Hop on/Hop off tourist bus pass which really is value for the money. Barcelona is a really easy city to get around in with an excellent transportation system. Some people have commented about the petty crime that is prevalent within the city, however as with any major city worldwide this is a common issue where a large foreign tourist base visits this city,common sense should prevail. We saw more than one American couple strolling Las Ramblas sporting Rolex and Prada products in clear view - Hello pick pockets! We had no issues so enough said, now for the cruise.

My wife & I are first time cruisers with HAL however we are top tier members of HAL's main stream competitors Celebrity and Princess, so we can say with some qualification what is good and what is bad, what is acceptable and what crosses the line into the not accceptable. The boarding process went very smoothly in Barcelona & we were on the ship and checking it out by 12:30PM. She is quite and attractive ship which I would categorize as "understated elegance". With the exception of the cheap & downright ugly carpeting in the stairwells & elevator entranceways, the ship creates a positive first impression. Our stateroom was ready about one hour after boarding and I must give full marks on the positive side for the quality of beds that HAL has chosen for this ship & the user friendly bathroom layout. The first night on board was somewhat rocky even though we were mid-ship on Rotterdam deck and was without incident but night # 2 was when "the problem" began.

At approximately 1:30AM a loud & I mean LOUD (think sledgehammer on steel pipe loud)banging noise started in the wall behind the bed headboard. A quick call to Guest Relations did produce a quick response within minutes when a supervisor showed up to confirm that yes indeed it was a very loud noise but that nothing could be done until the next morning (sleepless night #1). The next day I went to GR to follow up on the issue and was informed that the day supervisor was aware of the problem and it would be "rectified immediately". That night "the problem" started again at about 1:00AM & continued until approximately 7:00AM (sleepless night # 2). The problem now is unacceptable & I asked to meet with the day manager the next morning. She indicated that "the problem" was forwarded to the chief of technical services who stated that one of the main water feeder lines for the pools/ hot tubs passed through the wall behind our stateroom and an airlock was somehow developing but they hoped to correct "the problem" that day. Night # 3 was the same and I once again went to see the day manager about being moved to another stateroom. She indicated that we couldn't be relocated as no stateroom in our category was presently vacant but we were told that the aft pool/hot tubs were going to be drained to possibly help with resolving "the problem" and we were issued with ear plugs (can you believe it!). Read more