We loved our cruise (NCL Spirit "Twelve Day Grand Mediterranean from Barcelona"--June 12-24, 2015)) and had a wonderful time! This was our 5th cruise and the 3rd NCL cruise. The size of the Spirit was just right. A bigger ship makes it more confusing. We were able to see and visit with people we had met throughout our 12 day cruise over and over at the entertainment, dinner, and after dinner entertainment. We never missed the evening entertainment and thought it was superb. The ship was in good shape and we had no problems with it. We liked it better than the Star, because the Galaxy of the Stars (Spirit) was a beautiful room with lots of windows, whereas the Star was inside and felt like a cave. The food was good, but the people were not quite as friendly as on the Star. However, I can't imagine doing what those people do with very little time for themselves. It has to be a hard job to stay upbeat all of the time. Two years ago (June, 2013) we took the NCL 9 day cruise (Capitals of the Baltics) on the Star which I did use as a comparison. The following are things that I wish would have happened this cruise on the NCL Spirit: 1.) When we boarded the ship in Copenhagen (NCL Star, 2013) all or most of the staff lined the walkway in dancing and playing upbeat music. We loved this as it set the mood for the whole cruise. I missed this a lot as we boarded the Spirit. 2.) Of major discontent to me was the lack of shopping on the ship. Goodness, I can buy an Anne Klein watch at home with great sales. I don't need to shop for that on my cruise. On the Star there was wonderful shopping on board. We were able to shop without the hectic-ness and hassle in port. The items available were what you would see in each of the different ports, especially St. Petersburg, Russia. I loved this opportunity to shop and browse after we left port. Very disappointed this did not happen on the Spirit. 3.) I was surprised at the cost of the drinks. Didn't even hear about the package option until 3 days into the cruise. However, the prices of the package were higher than I would drink in 12 days. Need more options with less of a total. 4.) We went on an NCL excursion every day offered--9 of them. They were well done, but more expensive than I remember from the Star. We have been to Italy 3 times before, so we took excursions to things we had not previously done. Our main reason we choose this particular cruise were the ports of Istanbul, Kasudasi (Ephesus), and Athens. They did not disappoint although we were in Istanbul on the first day of Ramadan which meant the Blue Mosque was closed. (This was not the fault of NCL.) However, we did go inside of Hagia Sophia which is now a museum.) 5.) One small suggestion: Geo, (cruise director) looks you in the eye when he greets you--never did. We realize that he does work ALL of the time!
However, the cruise was fantastic, and we would recommend NCL, the Spirit, and this itinerary. I sincerely hope that someone from NCL considers my concerns which is why I wrote this review.
Nice and clean--Yeah Jesus! (He took care of our cabin.)
We did Mykonos on our own.
We were in Barcelona for 3 days prior to our cruise.