This was our 4th cruise but the first on the Island Escape, we have previously sailed on the Sunbird and the Carousel twice, so we have some experience of cruising. Overall the cruise was excellent and I would recommend trying it, the ship the Island escape was built in 1982 so is a bit dated inside, but also very clean and lavishly decorated.
Our itinerary was sail from Palma-Ibiza-Alicante-Malaga-Cadiz-Gibraltar-Palma, Alicante and Malaga were disappointing as there is not much to see, they are big cities, noisy and dirty, but worth seeing, please go to Malaga cathedral, it is the most breathtaking cathedral I have ever visited. I find going on one of the many tourist buses helps you to find your way round, the one in Malaga is 13 euros for a 90 minute tour, 90 minutes because of the bad traffic though, but it goes up to the castle and you can get on and off all day. Ibiza ok but a little boring, lots of shops selling tourist tat and bars, but a lovely harbour. Cadiz is lovely, I like this place the more I go to it, it is full of history and little streets with nice shops selling quality goods, I recommend going into the cathedral and up the bell tower, what a view, a very nice place. Gibraltar is our favorite, a piece of England in Spain, go up the rock on the cable car to see the apes and the spectacular views, lots of good shops selling cigarettes and alcohol at unbelievable prices, 1 litre bottle of whisky 6 pounds!!! 200 ciggys 8.90 (sorry my pound key is not working) But the restaurants were pricey beware!
Here are good points and not so good points about the cruise