Introduction: Before booking this cruise, we had considered Viking River Cruises, and a trip on the Rhine and Danube rivers. We opted for Royal Caribbean because of price. We flew to Germany, met my daughter who just finished a semester of study abroad in Europe, and drove through Switzerland and Italy to Venice, where we joined the cruise. We had a couple of nights in Venice before the trip, which we enjoyed, except it is difficult to navigate there and difficult to get around with luggage, because of the many bridges with steps over the network of canals.

Boarding: About noon on Saturday we checked out of our hotel and made our way back to Piazza Roma, the end of the road, where the RCI shuttle buses were loading. We loaded our luggage on one bus, but there was no room for us, so we took another bus, hoping we did not lose our luggage. We did not, it was waiting on a luggage cart when we got to the pier. We got in line for security and check in. Since we had a junior suite, we got into a shorter line, and were boarded within an hour. All in all a bit hectic, but not too bad, just about what we expected.

Cabin: Our junior suite was really just a roomier cabin, with a sofa bed separated from the joined twin beds by a small partition, about a foot above the bed, so there was not real privacy, but it was roomy and comfortable. The location of cabin 8034 was amidships, near the stairs and elevators, but just off the traffic areas. It was quiet and convenient in all respects. The bath had a tub-shower, and it was kept stocked with clean towels. Read more