Our vacation began with two days prior to the cruise in Barcelona, Spain. We booked the Husa Oriente through the Norwegian web site. The hotel was average and a little disappointing, but that would change quickly. We toured Barcelona using the double decker tour bus. A great value and we saw the most we could see.

The cruise experience began on Sunday. The bus picked us up at the hotel and took us to the port. We were escorted to the VIP check-in line, which had no wait. We were then escorted to the VIP lounge, had a few snacks and were quickly taken aboard the ship before the other passengers. We were brought to the Haven Lounge where the concierge, Adrian, met us. He took us on a tour of the Haven, which included, all private, a lounge, a restaurant, a gym, spa room, sauna, steam room, pool, bar deck, and a freestyle sun deck. We had a wonderful lunch of shrimp cocktail, filet of beef and banana cream pie (to die for).

Our rooms were ready after lunch. I knew what the Owner's Suite looked like from YouTube videos and pictures, but those were nothing compared to what we walked into. This was the most luxurious cabin we had ever seen or heard about. Four rooms, including a living room, private lounging deck, a master bath which rivaled the best hotels out there and a bedroom that I did not want to leave. The room was equipped with a laptop, two televisions, floor to ceiling windows (including the shower), a tub, full closets with room to spare and a half bathroom. Read more