We were on this ship from 4 to 14th September for a roundtrip from Southampton to Lisbon with several ports of call.
Having read the reviews on here we were a little concerned as to what we would find, but overall the ship was fine, and we had a good cruise. I have to say, this was helped by the fact that we were part of the 400 plus people who were on-board for a Ceroc dance cruise. However, even without this we would have enjoyed the ship and its facilities.
The Opera was launched in 2004, and it is starting to show, with rust in evidence around the window in our cabin and in some other parts of the ship. Also, in a few places the carpets are looking a little threadbare. Overall though the ship was in good condition with the crew working constantly to keep it clean. I don't know if it is because of the ship's age that the stabiliser system is old fashioned, but even a fairly small swell made the ship rock.
Although there is a reasonable amount of storage space in the cabins and en suite bathrooms, they are quite small by the standards of other ships we have been on. My wife and I are fairly slim, but we struggled to use the tiny shower, so I don't know how larger people coped. Opposite crew access door so could be a little noisy at times.