The ship is VERY big, yet, with the exception of breakfast the first day, I never was aware of the large number of fellow passengers. Embarkation was a breeze. Our cabin was perfectly located on deck 11 with easy access to my favorite area (the spa). Our cabin steward was attentive and as requested kept a constant supply of clean fresh towels in our room. The foreward walkway at the end of the hall provided a fantastic panorama for those of us without balconies. Food was very good and offered a more highly seasoned and ethnic variety than I remember (a plus for us). Drinks overpriced but we took a wine package which gave us a nice offering of fairly priced wines to enjoy nightly with dinner. We did most of our tours privately though we had on board credit that we used for a few. Of the ship's tours, one was mediocre, other two very good. As has been stated previously, the pools on the Dream class of ships on Carnival are too few and too small and there exists a major problem with people saving deck chairs for the day to have them available when they wanted, leaving a shortage for others. Shops on board were same old same old, but heck I don't cruise to shop (though I did have to pay 5.50 for a $2 tube of toothpaste and resented it). This trip there were less than 10 children on board (that's why we chose to travel at this time!!) and a more international crowd than Carnival usually gets. Shows very okay, nothing great, but we chose the ship for the itinerary. We got GREAT VALUE for our money and would do this trip again in a heartbeat.

Debarkation was even easier than embarkation. We could have made an early flight out but not realizing it would be that easy we stayed an extra day in Barcelona.

Barcelona: We enjoyed a wonderful variety of sights, museums, artifacts, food and entertainment. Experienced tapas, Flamenco, Gaudi, Monsterrat, tour of the city, Picasso museum and people watching. Had no problems with pick pockets but maybe that's, because having grown up in NY, our antennas are always up. Read more