It was with some sadness that we departed the Norwegian Spirit after 9 days out of Barcelona having visited Casablanca on to the Canaries and back, stopping at Malaga. Despite one rather rough day at sea, the trip was comfortable enough, a good variety of food was well presented and of excellent quality, service in bars and restaurants was good and we were well looked after in our balcony cabin. This review however is not uncritical. I found the entertainment weak by comparison with other NCL cruises we have undertaken, and the whole trip far too geared towards getting passengers to part with as much money as possible.

Let's start with the shows. One show early in the trip entitled 'Broadway' did not go down too well, consisting mostly of excepts from many, many shows the largely European audience had never heard of. It did end with Mamma Mia which warmed things up - but too late it then stopped. Other nights seemed so unattractive I didn't go (an hour of two acrobats one night and someone playing his guitar whose claim to fame was that he came third in a TV voting programme on another: does this excite you?). The one exception to this drab diet was a Rock & Roll show which was very good. Elsewhere in the ship there was indeed music but not of the stunning quality we got last time out in the Western Caribbean with New Orleans Jazz bands and a singer piano player who could easily become the next Ray Charles. There was no comedy nor improv to mix up the entertainment.

There was a daily programme of events many of which were free, table tennis tournaments every day, walk-a-mile invitations, and you could use the gym, the pools, and walk/run around the decks as you'd like. But adverts on the tv, announcements over the PA system, listings in the daily newsletter, and notices everywhere were for Bingo, the Casino, dance and keep-fit classes, art auctions, jewellery sales (every day all day in the atrium) - indeed there seemed to be no aspect of human activity that hadn't been identified as a source of income and charged for and plugged incessantly. Even while we were having breakfast in the restaurant someone came round to the tables to try to persuade us to have brunch the next day in the Jazz restaurant (at $15pp). Read more