Has anyone taken the Renaissance Cruise and land package "Iberian Treasures?" (Lisbon, Barcelona, Malaga, etc.) What was your experience?

We just returned from the Iberian Treasures trip and had an absolutely wonderful time. We flew over on Sabena Airlines which had great service, stayed at the Barcelona Hilton and did most of our touring in Barcelona on our own. The Renaissance staff were very helpful in showing us how to get around without taking an organized tour. The Renaissance staff on the entire tour were very good, on time, and extremely helpful. <BR> <BR>The ship, R2, is only a year old and very nice. The cabins are large, food service was very good, the onboard entertainment was OK, but not great. Dining is "open seating", so we enjoyed the company of different guests each night. <BR> <BR>The ports we stopped at were all very interesting. We took tours, however Renaissance told us how to catch cabs and where to go if we did not want to spend the money on a tour. <BR> <BR>In Lisbon we stayed at Le Meridian, a very fine hotel. All in all we were very pleased with our trip and would recommend it to any one. This was our twelfth cruise, our first on Renaissance, but not our last.

Jim: Thanks for the info on your experience -- I know people who have done the Tahiti and the Greece/Turkey cruises with Renaissance (which they highly recommended) but was having trouble getting much info on the Iberian cruise. Did you take the 9-night package or the 11-night, and what category of cabin did you have & how was it? Also, did you book directly through Renaissance, or do you have any advice about how to get the best price? I am interested to hear they flew you over on Sabena -- I have heard others complain about Renaissance using charter airlines with bad service and was worried about that. My mother and I are looking into the Iberian Treasures itinerary for later this year but unfortunately they haven't released the itineraries for fall yet and I am hearing rumors they may change the itinerary.

Lisa: I responded to your questions a couple days ago, but my response never got posted for some reason. I'll try again <BR> <BR>We had the 11 night package in Catagory C. Renaissance offers 2 for 1 deals and we took advantage of one of them. While we, and a few other couples, were on Sabena, most passengers seemed to be on KLM, and a few were on other airlines. <BR> <BR> There were quite a few elderly passengers on the trip. Many had trouble getting around, but Renaissance was very good about accomodating them. I think that because of the no children policy they tend to attract an older clientele. <BR> <BR> Let me know if you have any other questions. I know that Renaissance gets bashed on these forums, but that is mostly from disgruntled tavel agents.

We took the Iberian Treasures cruise on 6/8/00 and flew via World Airways (a charter). The flight was comparable to other European flights I have taken -- I have read complaints about the seats being cramped but I saw no difference in size. Had a wonderful trip with no problems.

We took the Iberian Treasures 3/99 and loved it. Renaissance flew us Swissair from Boston to Barcelona and Sabena from Lisbon to Boston and we stayed at Meridien Hotels in both cities. Agree with everything said above regarding Renaissance service and assistance. We also had a Cat C and it was just beautiful and we loved the balcony. Cat D cabins are identical, so I would go with either of them. We are going on a ship with assigning dinner seating in the fall and I will miss the open seating - a really great feature - and no formal nights to take up extra luggage space. Enjoy. <BR>

I just returned from the Iberian cruise <BR>also. It was very good and a great value. I didn't like the Renaissance tours as they were too slow and not active enough for me but they may be <BR>great for your mother. I flew World Airways and it was better than most charters or other lines to Europe because it had more legroom. The seats were just as narrow, however. The service was great and the food was pretty good! <BR> <BR>To read more about this trip, go to Renaissance's website: renaissancecruises.com and then get to the Message Board and look under Iberian Treasures. You'll see many reviews and comments. Also, go to cruisecritic.com and look up the Renaissance cruises index and you'll see a lot more!