Hire a cab at the port and have them take you around Lisbon if you have never been there before. On our second transatlantic we had them take us to Pena/Sintra Palace. Make sure to have the cab make a stop and pick up the Portuguese National dessert, a custard type pastry, and cherry "wine", a drink made from cherries, sugar and a 100 proof alcohol. People line up for the dessert and our driver told us about the "cherry wine" - "One makes the day go better." 


Lisbon

Vigo is a fishing village mostly noted for their seafood. It does not have much in the way of tourism, especially since our ship was there before tourist season, summer months, so there was no transportation out to the nearby islands and sanctuaries. Also available are boarder tours to the villages along the Spain-Portugal boarder. 
Our ship was in Vigo for twelve hours so we used the time to take the train to Santiago de Compostela, a pilgrimage site, where it is said that the remains St. James the apostle are interned. The train ride from Vigo to Santiago de Compostela took about 1.5 hours. The express train is faster, but note that it does requires a reservation and is a little more expensive, but not prohibitively. 
The walk to the Cathedral is an easy one but does require you to navigate a flight of stairs and a small incline to get to the there. The Pilgrim's Mass is at noon. Make sure you stay until the very end when they light the incense in the "Botafumeiro", a 225 pound silver incense burning hanging above the altar. Quite a show, especially when it has to be stopped from swinging. 


Vigo

This is the port closest to the D-Day Beaches. Cabs have a fixed rate for the tour and are reluctant to change the itinerary to suit the travelers. At the dock is a local car rental agency, but a reservation is necessary as they have limited inventory. The car rental company will also rent you a Garmin or other navigation device to aid in traveling the area however the roads are well marked and easy to drive provided you have someone with you to navigate. Also, you need to have Euros and be prepared to pay a few tolls. 
Our ship was in port for 12 hours which was plenty of time to do the sights that our group wanted to see. The down side to our travel was that the ship's visit was on a Sunday and many small town shops were shuttered. 
There is no shortage of "museums" housing a multitude of military armaments. Every little hamlet has at least one, usually more. Except for the American Beach sights and Cemetery, all museums we visited had $5+ Euro entry charges. Some entry charges are adjust for "seasonal entries." 


Le Havre

NOTE: Zeebrugge is an active shipping port. They have extremely strict rules regarding passengers on the dock. You cannot walk from the dock to the town or train, You can only leave the ship's dock by cab or bus, which was provided free of charge by the port/ship. Brugge is about a 20 minute cab ride or 15 minute train ride from the port. The cab price to town is fixed and does not fluctuate, so a cab of 8 is the same price as a cab with 2. 
Brugge was the highlight of the trip. It is a small old town that escaped major damage during WWII. You can use the train to get from Zeebrugge to Brugge. It's clean, quick and affordable. Cruisers on our ship arranged to meet a Historian Guide and take a walking tour of Brugge. The group of 25 paid the Guide $25 euros for the two hour tour, so $1 euro each. 
Make sure to stop in one of chocolate shops and have a hot chocolate. It was cold the day we visited and enjoyed the treat so much many of us had more than one. 


Brugge (Bruges)

Great Bathroom and Wonderful closet.  Great living space with a cabinet stocked with stemware sometimes, and refrigerator.
Loved the Balcony especially with the nice weather during the crossing.
Down the hall from the spa, but "no fumes" were noticed in the corridor or rooms.
Near the exercise room.
Location toward the front of the ship made the rocking motion of the ship more noticeable than locations at mid ship and at lower levels,

There was a "special" breakfast room for guests at the AE level, but the service, in general, for the special breakfast room was inadequate at best. We ended up eating in the Main Dining Room.

The neutral: -Specialty restaurants were great some nights and mediocre on other nights.This is a great option NCL provides.

Norwegian Sun Review

Transatlantic Cruises - Opportunities to enjoy everything!

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Mini-Suite with Balcony

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