I just back from a 12 day cruise from Barcelona to Barcelona. We visited Cannes (side-tripped to Grasse by local bus), La Spezia (visited three Cinque Terre villages by train), Civitavecchia (visited Rome by train), Salerno (visited Pompeii by train), Venice (a day and a half), and Dubrovnik. The port was closed in Ravenna due to high winds. In addition to this unexpected sea day, we had three scheduled days on board.

I was travelling with three of my sisters and we chose a mainstream budget cruise line - Royal Caribbean and enjoyed our large family room. It was comfy with twin beds, a bunk in a separate curtained alcove and a double sofa bed which we did not need. About 313 square feet. This cruise line is new to me and I was pleased with the trip. If you are looking for reasonable food, good service and tons of activities and nightlife, this is for you. Look for specials, though, especially if you are flexible about dates. We met a traveller who got a room to himself for about the usual price of sharing. (If you know cruises, you know that they often charge the single as if they are a couple - i.e. double price.) I did find there was a bit more smoking onboard compared to Oceania, my only comparator. For example, the casino and an English-style pub are both smoking. Perhaps because we were sailing from Spain, many announcements from the activities staff were bilingual. Passengers did hail from all over the world, though.

We stayed at a budget hotel in Barcelona the night before our cruise. Great location in the Gothic Quarter, very clean, friendly and cheap (for Barcelona). Recommended if you don't need door man, room service, etc. Hotel Canton is walking distance to the port. Read more