We chose the cruise, as we always do, because of the itinerary and because we love Oceania's larger ships with the 4 specialty restaurants and larger bathrooms. Oceania included 6 free excursions and though we have rarely taken ship excursions, we did do so on this cruise. Only 2 out of the 6 were enjoyable, with one being particularly awful. The good excursions were in Palma de Mallorca to Valldemossa & the excursion to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar. The worst was to the lovely town of Mojacar near Almeria where the guide, though very pleasant, was inexperienced, spoke English poorly, shortened our free time from 1 hour to 15 minutes, and then the National Park which was the 2nd part of the excursion offered nothing but driving for 2 uninteresting hours with nothing special to see before reaching the visitor's center. Just a small exhibit, nothing to see in the park itself and the movie we were supposed to view was inoperable. Oceania should re-think this excursion. We used Spain Day Tours for Valencia & Seville & had a private guide in Lisbon to see Sintra & Cascais through A Different Portugal. Both excellent companies. Went to Cassis easily on our own by train & took a 2 hour boat ride there. Loved it.

Some of the ports we had looked forward to turned out to be disappointing (it seems we were not on the most beautiful side of Sardinia). Our tours were mostly in the morning and afternoons were spent around the pool. I much preferred our British Isles cruise last summer where the ports filled most of the day & the temperatures were a welcome change from the hot summer. But my husband loved the warm, sunny afternoons on this cruise so it is a personal preference.

Food & service are always excellent on Oceania. The ship is lovely. Entertainment seemed more professional than on past cruises. There was a resident lecturer who did talks about the various ports, but since he basically read from his notes, I did not find him too stimulating. Some people sign up for what seemed to be very interesting cooking courses. Since Oceania is very itinerary-oriented, there isn't a whole lot to do beside the spa & fitness center, but that is fine. There is also a library on board.