I am really glad we went on this cruise. It was our first time in Spain and this part of France and Italy. I now know what areas I would like to revisit.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
very quick, simple and convenient
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Could not expect better.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
All of the fitness classes were fee based and became annoying to try to figure out how much they would cost if one attended the majority of classes
Entertainment
3 out of 5
There was one act that returned twice "Vox Fortura" that was great. All the others including the Flaminco Dancers appeared to be a scaled down version of a great act.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Extremely competent, capable and kind. We especially enjoyed the diligence and friendliness of our room stewards and the ones working in our area that weren't even assigned to us!
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
I was expecting a self service laundry and was disappointed that there was none. The ship itself was very easy to navigate. There were probably too many specialty restaurants.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
We expected a tub as most other Holland America ships have; but there was none. The bathroom could have used a little more cabinet space; as it was the hairdryer was stored in the cabin desk drawer, because there was no room in the bathroom for it.
Ship tip
It's big, 2900 passengers and even when it is full does not appear to be difficult to navigate.
Yes, we did. It was a tapas and wine experience walking around the town. Well worth the cost and enjoyed the others on the excursion as well as the town.
Took an excursion to the Rock that was really interesting and educational. We also took an excursion for tapas and sangria, but it was a bit disappointing. There was almost no guidance about what we were seeing or experiencing or what to photograph.
We took the hop on hop off and visiting the birth home of Pablo Picasso. We then went to the Pablo Picasso library; all fees were included with the hop on hop off price. Very enjoyable.
We took an expensive ($189 a person) excursion with a local chef who took us to the open air food market "La Boqueria" and then made us lunch. It was worth every penny! We voted this our best excursion.
It rained this day, so we took the shuttle to downtown and walked around to look at the architecture, but headed back for an early dinner reservation. Not very remarkable port and no excursion.
We really enjoyed this particular port as well. The guide told us a lot of interesting details and our lunch was wonderful. We got to see the "changing of the guards" but were unable to take photos because we weren't situated properly or knew where to stand. The lunch that was included was very good and included dessert.
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