Our trip began in Barcelona and ended in Venice. In between we stopped in Toulon, France; Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy; Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy; Naples, Italy; Sea Day; Mykonos, Greece; Istanbul, Turkey; Ephesus (Izmir), Turkey; Athens, Greece (due to a strike called for the day we were to be in Athens, the ship made arrangements to call in Dubrovnik, Croatia instead, so the day we were to be in Athens became a sea day and the second sea day became a stop in Croatia) ; Sea Day; Venice, Venice.
We (my wife and myself) got into Barcelona the day before sailing. We stayed at the Hotel Jazz and liked the hotel. It was near Las Ramblas, restaurants, shopping, and transportation. While in Barcelona we went to the Familia Sagrada, Park Guell, and Las Ramblas - the three things we wanted to do on this trip. We ended up loving Barcelona and hope to go back there some day. We found the port and embarking the NCL Spirit to be easy and quick, but then we arrived well after people leaving ships and early arrivals getting on the ship(s), so this probably is the reason it wasn't a problem for us.
Toulon, France: We took a ship-booked excursion to St. Tropez and Grimaud. St. Tropez is a coastal town where kicking back and grabbing a bite to eat, looking at the scenery of water and expensive yachts is the order of the day - if you have the time. We didn't really have too much time to eat, so didn't even try. We did walk along the docks admiring the ships, though. Grimaud is a man-made town a drive away from St. Tropez. The town is designed in the style of Venice with canals running through it, but after having been to the real Venice, Grimaud is to new, minus the large buildings, and the ambiance of the famous city. It reminded me more of places in Florida along the ocean - with the expensive homes with expensive boats docked outside in the canal running behind the homes. But Grimaud was interesting to see, none the less. Bridget Bardot is the most notable famous person from the area.