Our first cruise was Freedom of the Sea's in 2008 when we sailed the Caribbean with our (then) 15 year old daughter. We've since taken another 4 cruises all with RCI because we enjoy their format and until they do something to upset us, we will continue to sail with them.We booked the Spain/Canary Island cruise last September thinking that the Canary Islands would be warm this time of year, however the weather was pretty disappointing but that's ok, we're from the North East and we're a hardy crop up here!! The cost of the excursions through RCI are usually on the expensive side so we normally jump on the City Tour buses and get an overview of the place because sometimes you only have 4 hours in a Port of Call. We were advised by RCI to purchase shuttle bus tickets at $15 each to get to the centre of Lisbon. We stepped off the ship and there were the City Tour buses right in front of the ship. Moral of the story; go up on deck to see what's out there ... $30 for absolutely nothing.We visited Vigo, Lisbon, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Madeira and Ferrol. We don't understand why RCI chose Ferrol as a port of call because it's basically an old Spanish naval town with nothing but tatty shops and a museum. It's a sign of the times, I know, but most of the shops had closed down. There were, however a proliferation of cafes and restaurants but when you've got a 5 star facility sitting at the dock why would you waste your time? Someone said that they chose Ferrol because it was cheaper to refuel there but I guess we'll never know.