As parents, my DH and I have recognized that time was passing by so quickly when our beautiful 15 year old twin daughters where standing in line for their driver's permits 4 months ago. We were in a complete dilemma as to how to spend the summer. A little more background, we are a avid travelers both born with wanderlust in our genes. In October, my DH and I spent 2 weeks exploring China on our own. As for our kids, they have traveled to the Middle East, London, the Caribbean and the US extensively. This cruise was to be a great introduction for them, an opportunity for them to see a few highlights of each location and for us, to share their excitement.

We booked the Ruby Princess, departure July 27 out of Barcelona with stops in Monte Carlo, Florence, Rome, Naples, @ sea, Mykonos, Istanbul, Athens, Kusadasi (Ephesus), @ sea and ending in the magical city of Venice, solely because of the itinerary. My expectations for the ship, meals, entertainment and accommodations were not very high as I really didn't care too much about those elements. We booked the trip through an on line Travel Agency about 2 months prior to the trip after ensuring we got flights that worked well for us (out the Miami area) in both timing and price. I would not use the Travel Agency again as they did not provide information in a prompt and adequate manner. Our flights, on paper, looked great but US Airways really let us down (that is a WHOLE other review!).

We booked 2 guarantee obstructed cabins and that was exactly what we got, rooms E517 and E519 which were assigned within 2 weeks of us booking. Our flights, Miami to Philadelphia, and Philadelphia to Barcelona with return on Vueling from Venice to Barcelona, Barcelona to Philadelphia and then back to Miami, were done in that we had a day before the cruise and a full day after to see more of Venice. Read more