We picked the cruise for the itinerary. We were able to get Greece, Israel, and Turkey on one trip with the bonus of starting in Barcelona. We were originally booked into standard balcony class on deck eight. We were offered a modestly priced upgrade to concierge class on deck ten and decided to try it.

We spent three days in Barcelona (our second time there). The highlight was a food and wine crawl with a very good guide. It was our first exposure to Basque food and we will remember it.

The first stop was Malta, where we had been once before. We saw some different things this time with an excellent guide and afterward had a nice lunch and got introduced to some surprisingly good Maltese wine. We couldn't find any roasted falcon on the menu. Read more