Boarded Allure of the Sea on June 7th from Barcelona. The harbour and facilities are very well organized, this is a great gateway. Being our first cruise as a family of three, a tour of the western Med. seemed like a great 7 day adventure. The ship and cabin were new, slick and impressive. Our balcony state room was neatly designed and very functional. The balcony option is certainly a good upgrade for 3 or more persons. Our experience on the boat was pleasant and engaging. Staff were plentiful, polite and accommodating. Each day was filled with novel activities to keep things moving, although our main focus was making the most of our daily shore excursions (Cinqa Tera, Rome, Marseille, Capri and Mallorca). Most of our issues related to shore access and excursion operations, a few of the misadventures are highlighted below...

Strike 1. Took a non-negotiable excursion in Marseilles to visit the city and was left out in the sun - an open parking lot queue, for 1.5hrs while they organized coaches. 3,000+ shore trips and only 2 or 3 buses initially showed up!

Strike 2. We had pre-booked Island of Capri from Naples harbour on our last day. Our guide steered the majority of our group into his "most suggested" restaurant, where we proceeded to be charged 77 Euro for a light lunch for three people! The tour guide had been quite careful to mention that many of the vendors on Capri are dishonest, and that it would be wise to stick with merchants that he had previously vetted. Most of the "ding" was taxes/service charges and drinks...none of which was published or posted for $. Upon raising some concern, our tour guide blew us off, surprised we might be upset about what amounts to a $107 ($Can) lunch. Royal Caribbean customer service patiently took our complaint upon re-embankment and past that, nothing useful happened.