Just returned from a great cruise with my husband and wanted to share. We are young 50 yr olds ( if that is such a thing) and left the UK to live in Australia. Feeling homesick , we wanted a taste of the Europe we remembered. Having worked on cruiseships many years ago, they hold no romance for me and we used ours as a cheap way of getting reacquainted with Europe. The Norwegian Spirit is nowhere near as dowdy as some reviewers would have you believe and it was short of nothing except a cinema or some in-cabin films, as the evening entertainment was absolutely appalling. However this seems to be normal on most cruise lines. Why they feel the need to force Carribean tunes down our throats in the middle of the Med I have no idea, but the entertainment is generic around the world. (Please tell me the relevance of Village People tribute act in 2014?). We actually had to leave some bars when the singers arrived.
The food was also generic, with much the same menus as I remember from 25 years ago on Carnival.It was acceptable and no-one looked like they were going hungry!
BOOK YOUR OWN EXCURSIONS BEFORE YOU GO. There are dozens of companies, none wanting payment upfront, try checking Tripadvisor.
Constant sound of running water overhead. Toilet keeps running despite several attempt to fix it. Just means that it overflows if not flushed regularly.