We joined the Marina in Barcelona on 7th June 2010, our 5th Costa cruise out of about 30 in total. We have enjoyed all of them and Marina was no exception but it is, of course, one of their small, older ships, almost identical to the Allegra. There were only about 30 English speakers on board, the majority Italian and French, with a few German & Spanish. Rather than having a 'beginning' and an 'end' there were people boarding and disembarking nearly every day.

We picked this cruise because it had no sea days and we had a 600 euro voucher each from when the Europa sadly broke down in the Indian Ocean last year which covered the cost (except for about 50 euros each in tax and our Easyjet flights.

We flew into Barcelona a day early and stayed at thed Hotel Coronado which was fine, if not luxurious, and was conveniently situated a short walk from the port. In fact we took the longer route, walkng through to Las Ramblas, up to Placa Catalunya then back down to the port, all quite doable with my husband's mobility scooter and me pulling our one small suitcase. Read more