We pondered long and hard about this holiday. The idea of a rigid dining regime was the main reason a cruise had not appealed to us in the past but NCL's 'Freestyle Cruising' concept seemed different. Still, to be honest, my wife was not looking forward to this cruise one bit. By the end of our trip I had to drag her kicking and screaming off the ship - the cruise was that good!
Our holiday included an overnight in Barcelona. This was no biggie for me as we only live a two and half hour's flight away and I had been to Barcelona many times previously. Still, it's always good to re-visit this special city. We stayed in the Catalonia Aragón Hotel near La Sagrada Familia which was fine.
Embarcation, and disembarcation, were quite quick and smooth. Our cabins were not ready but that gave us the opportunity to do a quick recce of the ship. The decor may not be to everyone's taste - the ship's heritage as the former 'Pride of Hawaii' - is obvious but, you know what, we thought it was fun! The only thing that jarred a bit for me was the ceiling in the Aloha Bar on deck 7 but it was nothing I couldn't live with.