We are a family of three - Mom (US) and Dad (UK) in their forties, and just-turned-11 daughter, and we've had a busy summer. We were looking for a one week holiday option in mid August which didn't involve too many logistics or planning inputs. A cruise seemed ideal. We live in Switzerland, but our daughter had spent the summer at camp in the US. With school about to start, we thought a Europe itinerary would be better - have some time together and deal with jet lag all in one go. When we saw the NCL Greek Islands itinerary (one of the few which fit in our tight time frame) departing from Venice, we knew that would fit the bill perfectly. It meant we could avoid crowded summer airports and take the train, which was a nice bonus.

Thanks to Cruise Critic, I was able to get a lot of advance information, and I'll try to pay back by adding possibly useful details here. It's a long set of impressions, but I tried to organize it by category. Please take all this with a grain of salt - these are all just my own comments, but I know how much I appreciated all the other efforts which went into prior reviews. Also, I'll admit at the outset that I'm critical and tend to focus on things which could be better rather than on all the things which were already great, but I'll try to keep it balanced. I can say right now that we really enjoyed our cruise - much more than I expected we would given the crowded ship, hot weather, and busy itinerary.

Cabin: When we decided to book, the ship was already filling up. We had hoped to get a Garden Villa, but the last one sold literally as we were on line, but we did manage to get the last AB suite. I knew we'd be comfortable, but I must say the cabin exceeded all expectation. I hadn't really focussed on the fact that the suite has two bedrooms, which meant our daughter had her own room. That room, with no window, was still a reasonable size, with a couch that turned into a double bed, as well as a pull down upper single bunk. In theory, you could get three people, just in her one room. It also had its own bathroom, so it was like her having her own cabin, which she was thrilled about. Read more