We booked a 10 day cruise from Venice to Lisbon. The price was excellent - $349pp. The ports were a little bit unusual - we've done alot of cruising and wanted to do something different. The ship and the cruise itself was, unfortunately, somewhat spotty.

I like the ship. This is an older ship - it is not too large. The cabins (we had an inside cabin) seem to be larger than those on the newer ship. That was very nice.

Boarding the ship in Venice was a real problem. We took a private boat to the boarding area because we had alot of luggage, and my wife used a handicapped scooter to get around. The boat dropped us off near the train terminal. We had to walk from the drop-off point to where a shuttle bus would take us to the boat. As we walked we passed panhandlers akin to those on the 59th street bridge in manhattan. One of them grabbed a bag from me, walked it to the top of the ramp, and then wanted money for walking the bag ten feet. When we got to the bus waiting area there was a line. Unfortunately, when the bus pulled in everyone attacked the bus from all sides, threw whatever luggage they could into the bus and just climbed aboard. There were no Royal Caribbean personnel at the shuttle bus boarding area to maintain order. When we got to the drop off point (by the ship), they got all the luggage off and my wife's scooter. But then when the bus pulled out, it struck her and just pulled off. When I tried to report the matter to ship's personnel (numerous times), I was told that there was no safety/security officer. When we got home I tried to report the matter via internet, but have still not heard from anyone. Read more