My wife and I went on this cruise to Europe, it was out 6th cruise. We met my cousin and her husband in Ny and all 4 of us traveled together. We got to Barcelona 2 days in advance of the cruise and visited barcelona. We walked Las Ramblas and took the red and blue on and off tour bus. We stayed on the outskirts of the city and had to take the tram and metro to downtown barcelona, both seemed very safe and easy to get around. They say watch for pick pockets in Barcelona, especially Las Ramblas, it is very crowded on that street but we had no problem but just be aware of the pick pockets, we saw some people in the metro running after some guys who tried to pick pocket them..

The embarkation to the ship was smooth and fast, boom, right on the ship in 10 minutes. The ship is large and never seemed too crowded in any area. We had an inside room which was very nice, the shower even had a sliding glass door. The inside room was adequate especially for this cruise since most of the day was on shore sightseeing. FOOD....The main dining rooms were fine, nothing spectacular. If you like to eat early you didn't have to wait, otherwise later you may have to wait 10-20 mins. They'll give you a beeper. The buffet was good, lots of choices and we always could find a seat. We only ate in one PAY restaurant, that was Cagney's the steak place. On the first night you can get 2 for 1 , so it was worth the 10 dollars per person(otherwise 20). The shows were ok, the singing and dancing was nice. They had a "second city improv troupe one night which was not that good, our opinion, but other than that it was ok. WE DID NOT DO ANY EXCURSIONS THROUGH NCL EXCURSIONS: Malta: We just got off the ship and taxi's are everywhere and they will offer a 2 hour ride around town for 52 euro, maybe another hour for 20 euro, the driver waits with you. That price is for the whole taxi(not per person)That was very nice. NAPLES: We did the same here 200 Euro for SORRENTO and POMPEII, it is about a little more than an hour to Sorrento from the port, but we thought it was beautiful. We ate in a sidewalk cafe,and walked all over. Pompeii on the way back was ok, lots of rocks...Naples is right by the port so you can walk around there when you get back, very busy streets but a good experience to see. ROME: I booked a private tour with romeinlimo.com, 500 euro for the car, well worth it since there is so much to see in Rome.They pick you up at the port(another hour trip) and take you all day. We saw Colosseum, Pantheon, Forum, Spanish steps, Trevi Fountain, Vatican(Sistine Chapel, Basilica)we must have spent 2-3 hrs in the Vatican and didn't see half of it and didn't have time to eat all day. Florence: Another long trip, You can take the bus at the port to the train station in Livorno and then take bus/train to Florence, but they don't run too often so we did the 400 euro for the whole van( picked up another 4 people and went all together to Florence and Pisa) It was only 50 euro each. Florence is very pretty. NICE: Here we took the train from the port(Villefrance) to NICE,(not much in Nice for us, it's more of a big city) then took the train to Monaco. Beautiful countryside. Just walking around the town at the port was great. The train was only under 10 euro each to go both ways to Nice and Monaco. The Monte Carlo casino doesn't open until 2 pm, so we just took pictures outside and walked around town. All in all a great cruise. Very friendly cruise staff. The first 3 days it felt warm on the ship, maybe Europeans like it like that? But after the 3rd day or so it cooled down, maybe a lot of people complained. Some tips: There are no washcloths in the hotels in Europe. But the cruise does have them. Also, I wouldn't do this cruise in the hot summer, it's too much walking and in and out of cars and buses to be sweating. The say the heat is very oppressive. If you need more Euros you can get them on the ship or banks at the ports, Malta had a nice one right at the port where I got some Euros, no fee and good rate. The ship charges a 10 dollar fee. If anyone has any question just email me I'll be happy to answer any questions. Vinnie2957@yahoo.com Have fun

Tony