My husband and I booked this cruise as an easy and cost-effective way to get a taste of Italy and other Mediterranean ports while sharing the experience with our two sons who are in their early 20's. We all had a wonderful time, although our sons probably would have preferred a shorter cruise of 7 days rather than 12 days.

Barcelona: We flew into Barcelona two days early for some sightseeing on our own and we all loved Barcelona! Beautiful city with lots to do. We stayed at the Hotel Gaudi one block off the Ramblas and spent extra to get a Superior Room on the top floor with a huge terrace overlooking the city. Well worth the extra expense. Nice local hotel with an excellent location. I highly recommend the Bus Turistic, a double-decker hop-on hop-off bus that has three separate routes: Blue line (north including Sagrada Familia and Camp Nou/Barcelona football stadium), red line (Montjuic and site of the Olympic stadium), and green line (Barcelona beaches). We bought a two day pass and rode all three lines and it was definitely a great way to see much of the city and get to the various attractions. One tip: Everyone wants to sit on the top of the bus so there were long lines waiting while buses would leave half empty. Go to the attendant at the front and tell him/her that you'd be willing to sit down below. Once people on the top start leaving at various stops, you just take the stairs up to the top and get one of the prime spots. We used this strategy successfully several times.

Embarkation in Barcelona Port: We took a taxi to the port around noon and were on the ship less than an hour later - very efficient. Read more