We recently completed a 12 day cruise to/from Barcelona.
We were disappointed in:
a. The number of children on board ... from various cruise reviews I expected a older group of passengers and a more peaceful atmosphere. The ship was so large that we seemed to be waiting in line for everything. Getting a table and eating in the Ocean Cafe (the buffet) required a good deal of patience
Villefranche, when the tender dropped us off was too far from either Nice or Monaco. The train service was horrendous and the ports were crowded. Several large cruise ships arrived at the same time.
The port was Laspezia.. at least an hour's drive from Florence or Pisa.
Passengers were warned to be back at the ship by a certain hour; however, the ships' excursion returned up to 2 - 4 hours late.
The actual stop was Cititavecchia, at least one hour from Rome which made a shore excursion absolutely necessary as no shuttle service was provided.
Lots of options at this stop.. see Naples, Capri or the Amalfi coast.
There was a 3 hours wait to get on the shuttle service (at additional cost) , which was insufficent, for the size of the ship. Perhaps the intent was to steer more passengers to purchase the shore excursion.