We chose this cruise based on the itinerary. My husband had never been to the Mediterranean and I thought a cruise would be a great introduction.

We stayed in Barcelona for 4 days prior to the cruise to acclimatize. Beautiful city. We were not disappointed. Embarkation was too easy. We used the app and were prioritized. Took one minute to get through to the duty free. Our bags were placed on the scanner, and since we only took hand luggage for a 12 day cruise (still overpacked), we were on our way. Grabbed two bottles of wine at Duty Free and were in the Solarium 5 minutes later bypassing all photo ops. Once we ensconced ourselves on chairs, we realized that no one checked our bags on board. No one asked about wine or anything. I took this as an opportunity and returned to the Duty Free no questions asked to purchase more wine. This was at noon. No one checked for wine/ booze until we saw tables being set up after we got to our cabin. Not sure how many times people could have returned to the Duty Free before having wine confiscated!

Our cabin was the smallest cabin available on deck 4. Perfect for us, only there to sleep and shower, and literally steps from the Centrum for live entertainment daily. Did get tired of the salsa/ Latin music by about the third day, but everything else was great. Read more