Never having been to the Mediterranean we were looking forward to this cruise with stops at 5 different Italian ports, plus Cannes, France & Split, Croatia. We had planned on arriving into Barcelona two days early to see the city that seems to be the favorite of so many, but that was not to be. Coming from Phoenix on Friday morning we had four flights to take, PHX-MSP, MSP-ORD (Both on Delta), ORD-DUS, DUS-BCN (both on Lufthansa), with the ship sailing on Monday. In Chicago, the ORD-DUS flight was cancelled at 730pm Friday, necessitating an overnight stay in Chicago, courtesy of Lufthansa. We were booked on United for the next day via EWR, but the ORD-EWR flight was cancelled several hours prior to departure. Finally we were booked on US Air via Philadelphia arriving Barcelona on Sunday morning 8am.(NOTE: we had so much friendly help from so many different ticket agents with these canceled & rebooked flights, thank you). In Barcelona our first task was to file a bag claim form for our one checked bag; after that we took the aerobus into the town center for 5.75E each (quick & inexpensive), arriving at our hotel (Zenit Borrell in the Eixample area) at 10am. Nice hotel, off the beaten path, our courtyard room was very quiet and nice ($127 USD/night). We had pre-purchased tickets to the Sagrada Familia (12.3E each) for entry 11-12N so used the metro to go there. Huge line for those without tickets, we went in within a few minutes--spectacular & very crowded. Next we went to Mont Juic via the funicular to view the fort, city & port area. Monday morning we had word our bag was coming at 12 noon & would be delivered to the ship in time (sailing at 5pm),not taking a chance, we made a trip to the airport (aerobus 5.75E each), got the bag at 12noon & took a cab to the port (28.55E), arriving 1pm. This bag contained all our exterior clothing items. A quick entry onto the Serenade, hit the room, then to the windjammer. This was the only bad meal we had the entire trip in the windjammer, we hoped this was not a prelude to our dining experience. (it was not).

DINING: we ate only in the included dining areas. Evening dining in the MDR: We were seated with 5 other couples at a table for 12, 3 from England, 1 from B.C., 1 from Ohio. What a marvelous group--we all looked forward to dinner each evening; the service (from Gener & Carl) was outstanding, the food was always very good to excellent & as a rule all couples ate there each evening. We normally used the windjammer for breakfast & lunch, with lunches being some of the best food of the cruise. We saw no reason to spend $30 each to eat elsewhere.

SHIP CONDITION: We were concerned the ship might not be up to par as it was heading to dry dock very soon - not a problem, we found it clean and well maintained, though a refreshing of some areas (carpets) would be good. As in the past, virtually all Royal employees always provided a greeting and smile. Our oceanview room was also clean and in good shape, our housekeeper always keept it clean and neat. Read more