My wife and I were traveling with another couple. We stayed at the Confortel Barcelona Hotel the night before the 7 day cruise and also the night after the cruise ended. The room was clean but looked more like a dorm room than a hotel room - very austere. We took a taxi from the hotel to the dock on day of embarkation. The embarkation went smoothly accompanied by a glass of champagne upon ...
We sailed on the Gem in October. The ship was almost exactly like the Pride of American we took last year with the freestyle dining. I will cover the dining first. To give some background, my husband and I (40's) traveled with our in-laws (60's)and no children. We took the trip to get my father in law to take my mother in law to Europe and see as much as we could in a short time since he ...
First and foremost I want to talk about the excursions. I would say don't book with the ship because it's overpriced and you'll sit on a bus with 100 other people and be on their schedule. Booking a private tour offers flexibility and convenience. I reviewed each port individually but I cannot say enough about Your Tour in Italy (www.yourtourinitaly.com). We booked all three days in Italy with ...
First of all, let me give a disclaimer. There are up to 3,000 people on each cruise. Each person is going to have a different experience from the next. Your experience also depends on your level of expectation. This also varies from person to person. Read these reviews and do your best to create the experience YOU want. The possibilities to do so are endless on a trip like this.
That being said, ...
The overall cruise was a great experience with fantastic ports. The food was good and the boat was quite clean. A far cry from the Norwegian Hawaii cruise we took two years ago that did not have good service and was not as clean. I think it had to do with the all American crew.
The freestyle experience is quite good, especially when traveling with children. It gives you the flexibility to eat ...
I read a lot of reviews to try to become informed as possible before embarking on this cruise. It was only my second cruise and wanted to try to be prepared. We used RomeInLimo at two of the ports and were extremely pleased.I originally booked an inside cabin, but switched to an obstructed ocean view when they became available at a price cheaper than the inside cabins. There was a view between ...
We are a family of 4, 2 adults and 2 teenage kids. We the adults have been on a total of 3 cruises before 2 Carnivals and one Norwegian. So, we are not first time cruisers. This was quite different than going on Carnival to the Caribbean as the passenger were really from all over the world, so lots of different cultures, languages to cater to ,tough most everything was announced in English. We ...
First day back at work after our cruise. Here's a few personal observations.I thought the general attitude of the passengers was a little more inconsiderate than when I did the NCL Jewel on a similar itinerary two years ago. There was a lot more cutting into lines and just pushing around you as if you didn't exist. At the chocoholic buffet, we actually got disgusted and left. When you see an ...
Pre-cruise - Saturday, 6/13 Barcelona
Just for some background, this was my sixth cruise, my wife's fourth cruise and my step kids (daughter age 13 and son age 17) second cruise. I have previously cruised on Carnival and Royal Caribbean and have found them to be comparable in quality. This would be our first time on Norwegian Cruise Lines so I was eager to try out freestyle cruising.
We ...
This was our first cruise but certainly not our last, we have got the bug. I was travelling with my 2 children aged 15 (girl) 12 (boy)and my mother who is a very fussy 73yr old.
We flew from Edinburgh Scotland to Frankfurt and then to Barcelona, it was a long day but when we arrived at Barcelona the staff from NCL made themselves known to us telling us what to do when we had our luggage. They ...