Norwegian Spirit Review
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We (family of five, kids 10, 14, 16) are not experienced cruisers, and picked this cruise only because of the itinerary, having few expectations for the ship itself. The itinerary was indeed the star of the show, but the cruise staff and the ship also made for a fantastic holiday.
We spent to days in Venice before embarkation, which really is an amazing place. My favorite thing to do was just to walk around the quieter parts of the city, getting lost a few times. Th embarkation process was quite smooth and easy. We checked our bags, thinking we had to. If I had it to do over again, we would have taken them with us, because we had packed fairly lightly, and it would have been nice to have access to our bags earlier.
My teenage son found the sport court right away, which became his go-to spot, and the place he met his friends. My daughters lived doing different activities, and getting the next day's schedule and circling activities was a daily highlight. The staff who ran the entertainment and activities we great (yeah Ariel and Alex).
Cabin Review
Mid-Ship Balcony
We loved this cabin. Its shape is an anomaly, apparently because it is the last room before the end of the ship, with the kid's club being on the other side. The room is actually large, although somewhat narrow.
There is definitely a feel of having some space. The balcony is also the longest of the regular balcony rooms, and the only one large enough for a lounger, even though the lounger couldn't face out to the water.
Compared to the room itself, the bathroom is amusingly tiny, but items era nice to have extra room in the cabin. Our kids could come in and hang out, because their room was a regular room with three people, so you could barely find the floor to walk on in there.
Port Reviews
Venice
Just loved walking around and getting lost. Very unique place. St. Mark's Square can get crazy in the middle of the day, so try to avoid that time if you can.
Kotor
The ride into Kotor was amazing. There are some narrow bits in between mountains and the scenery is beautiful. It was very foggy for part of it, which was exciting, as we couldn't see where we were going for a little stretch.
The ship was able to pull right up to the town. Just walk off the ship, across the road, and you are in the old town, which is quite small, but cool. Lots of cats roaming around, which my kids loved.
Hiking up to the fortress is a must do. It is quite a climb, with stunning views the whole way. Many places to reward yourself with a drink afterward.
Dubrovnik
The old town in Dubrovnik is nice, but the entrance can get completely overwhelmed with people in the middle of the day. This would be a nice place to spend time when there were no cruise ships around.
Not recommended to walk from ship to old town. Take a taxi or bus. Definitely walk around city walls. That was the highlight. The cable car was also fun.
Athens (Piraeus)
We were approached by a taxi driver right outside the ship, who proposed a guided tour of Athens. We did not regret taking him up on his offer. Alexandros drove us to many different sites, getting us as close as possible to the entrances. He told us what to do and where to go, and then met us with an air conditioned taxi. Doing it only our own would have been a nightmare.
Mykonos
I would recommend trying to see some of the island somehow. We just got off the ship and walked around the town. It was hot and not that interesting for us. I heard other people saying how great the island was. I am assuming they saw more of it than us.
Naples
We took some of Rick Steeves' advice and did his walking tour of Naples. I really liked the city, especially being able to just walk off the ship into the city. Our main goal was to find good pizza, which wan of problem.
Rome (Civitavecchia)
Rome is one of my favorite places, but not easy to do from a cruise ship. It involves a lot of travel to get there, leaving you hurried and watching your time so you can get back.
We took a shuttle bus (you have to) out of the port facility, which just drops you outside the facility. You then need to make your way to the train station, about a mile away. There was bus waiting to take people there for row euros each, which we did, but walked back at the end of the day.
The train ride to Rome is long. You may need to change trains depending on where you want to go. I would recommend some kind of tour, which may give you more time to do and see things.
Florence (Livorno)
The port was kind of confusing. There was an area with tour operators and taxi drivers, and busses just as we got off the ship. We thought that there was a shuttle bus to get us out of the facility, like the day before, but they were pay busses. We only wanted to go to Pisa, because we had tickets to go up the tower.
We ended up just hiring a taxi, because we couldn't figure out how to get to the train station. The tower was very cool, and we enjoyed walking around the town.
Toulon
The ship comes right up to the town. We just walked around and shopped for a while, which was fine.