Oh - Good reminder about standard transmission. That’s fine for DH, but if he’ll want backup driver we need automatic.
We did like the easier mechanics of the cruise. We had 7 nights in one “hotel” room - loved that. We had one night in Barcelona before and another night afterward (same hotel). Then we took high speed train to Madrid for 2 nights. It was great… no regrets at all. That will be a piece of cake compared to the next trip.
But this time we are being more flexible to the wishes of the grown kids. This is our first trip to Europe with them and probably last trip as a family foursome. Based on their experience from a Taiwan/Singapore trip together (after DS’s semester in Singapore) and DS’s tour of Vietnam … they like moving around more. And I’m as young as I will ever be 
Sorry to meander - thinking out loud here.