I have been on several cruises primarily on smaller ships and wanted to try a larger ship. Barcelona is a favorite place of mine, so it was an easy choice to choose it as a beginning port.

I was lucky to get a package that had included WiFi and drinks....the caveat is that there is also a gratuity charge up front for the drink package and the WiFi package only covered about 15 minutes per day. I did trade up to a paid WiFi package so that I could upload photos, etc.

Ports were pretty usual for ports, not much around the dock, but you could walk to one or two towns and take tours to the rest. You do need a transport to Florence and Pisa from the port. You can get a train or do a tour that takes you to both places and you get back in time to sail away. Naples is an easy walking tour. I loaded a Rick Steves walking tour into my phone and used it to get around in port. I think to go to Capri would have been a better choice, but it was a rainy day. Cannes was beautiful! We did do a walking tour that we did not plan on taking because when we signed up, we were told it was full at 20 people (which would have been great)....but we got tickets in our stateroom the night before and we had been told that would happen only if someone else dropped out. The walking tour was horrible. There were 43 people on the tour, so someone fibbed. The group was too big for the small crowded streets and the poor guide. Also, something to pay attention to: Ratings on activity levels. This was supposed to be a 3, which was alot of uphill and uneven footing. There were people who could not move along as fast and a couple who had to hit the bathroom the minute we got to our first sight. We wasted time waiting for the couple to return. We told the tour guide we were leaving and went off on our own to have a great day! Rome was a long way from the port of Civitavecchia and we had been there, so we walked the local town, which was very nice. Read more