This was to be our fifth Mediterranean cruise with Royal Caribbean. On this occasion disembarking from Barcelona and stopping at Marseille, Villefrance, La Spezia (Florence/Pisa), Citavecchia (Rome) and Naples. As we had visited each of these on previous cruises this time we didn't undertake any shore excursions. We knew what to expect from Royal Caribbean and the Freedom of the Seas didn't disappoint - great service, good food, choice of eating venue, shopping bargains, fantastic entertainment.

Drinks are expensive and so we bought both the soda package and the ultimate drinks package. The soda package allowed us to have unlimited refills of fanta, coca cola etc - many flavours of which aren't available in the UK. The ultimate drinks package also allows unlimited cocktails, wine and speciality coffee (eg latte's) up to a limit of $12 each. If this isn't part of your cruise deal it's worth calculating beforehand whether this is a bargain or not. Iced water, lemonade, tea, coffee etc is available free of charge.

Although there are choices of specialty eating venues onboard (eg Johnny Rockets, Sabor, Chops Grille etc) we mainly ate buffet style at the Windjammer, got a snack from Cafe Promonade or pizza slice from Sorrentos. Having to cater for so many people, I'm always amazed at the quality of the food - there was something for everyone. We chose MyTimeDining for the formal nights but as we didn't book a timeslot quick enough were left with eating very early at 6:15. The food and service was however still great. Read more