My husband and I used the cruise critic to prepare for our cruise in October 2008. A few things we would like to add. We're from the US and the flight was long. To make things easy we booked the NCL pick-up at the airport. If you arrive in Barcelona before 11am this service will include a 2 - 2 1/2 hour tour of Barcelona. It was worth the 25.00 per person fee for us and we enjoyed it, but if you're really tired or traveling with a family and your children do not want to sit longer, this may be something to think about. Also the terminal does not open until 11am. For those that like to travel light, there are washers and dryers on board and the only fee is for detergent. Bring your own because the machine dispenser wasn't always working. They did bring detergent for those that lost there quarters. There are also irons and ironing boards. We found this "laundry room" in the middle of deck 10. It wasn't a big deal to do laundry. You start it when you're at sea, leave it to wash for 50 min and come back to switch it. Have drinks inbetween. If watching TV is important to you then good luck. There is nothing to watch except news, 1 sport channel, Turner Classic Moviesone movie a day and the voices were out of sync, or ship info. They charge 5.95 for old movies and 11.95 for new releases. Not that people need to watch TV on a cruise but if you're looking for an hour of down time now and then, TV is not the answer. Nothing for children! We booked a few tours and found them to be overpriced but good. We loved the Cinque Terre. It was well worth the money and a escape from the city. We decided to take a tour to Sorrento, Pompeii, and a farm. Sorrento was very busy and not worth the long drive. Pompeii was wonderful. The farm was alright. If you decide to do this port on your own be aware that Naples is very dirty and very large. The train is not that inviting. I felt it made the NY subway look good. Rome was very easy to see on your own. For those that are afraid of big cities you will find this one to be very tourist friendly. We stayed an extra night in Barcelona after the cruise because our travel agent told us we needed to catch a flight after 12pm. This is true if you use NCL travel. But if your flight leaves early in the morning you can get to the airport without a problem. The cruise line will let you off the boat as early as 6AM. You just walk off the boat and there are taxis waiting to take passengers anywhere in the city. If we had known that we would get the free tour before boarding the ship we would not have stayed the extra night. The tour covered a lot of the city and we had time to get off the bus to see things. Our flight left everyday at 10am and we could have left the day of disembarkment. NCL does nickle and dime you for everything but the cruise is priced lower than other cruise lines and the ship is new and very clean. Alcohol was very expensive and not easy to get on board. Beer and wine are the best buy. A "bottle" of wine is the better value than a glass. They will let you take that bottle anywhere it's free style. We felt the staff to be friendlier than Royal Caribbean. You can choose to buy all the frills or not. The free style dinning is for those people that like to eat alone or when ever. The food was fine, not great, but fine. Be aware...A bottle of water bottle will cost you 4.50 so a word of advice. Save a few bottles from shore or the airport, have room service bring you in a pitch or ice water every morning then fill your bottles and put them in your fridge. Each room has a refrigerator. Each day you have cold water to take with you. 4.50 a bottle will add up. Also, our cruise was filled with a lot of adults. At least 50% were US passengers. Very few children were on board. This may not always be the case if you travel during school holidays so if you're looking to get away from children do your research and find out when school is in session in Europe. This itinerary picks up passengers as it travels from port to port. All in all we would take NCL again. Done Carnival and Royal Caribbean and NCL does make their guests feel special. And they do let you have it your way. For a price.