We have been on multiple cruise over the past few years including 4 other cruiselines. This cruise was a bit different in that the Roll Call was very active. BOARDING: Wow, this was easy! We took a group bus from the hotel in Barcelona to the pier. Since we left our baggage tags on the desk at home, we pulled our bags out from the group, walked to the curb and got new tags. Walked inside, stood in line maybe three minutes and we were on our way. Oh yes, we did not have cruise tickets either. I handed the guy our online registration copy and they gave us our room keys. Walked onboard and had a one minute wait there. Did not see any evidence of booze police, though there was a table by the elevators to collect stuff. No line there! We opted not to stop either. CABIN Found our cabin with no problem on deck 9 towards the back. Fully functional balcony BB cabin. Had at least two 110 (US type) power outlets and internet jack. They provided a pot to heat water for instant coffee or tea. Bed was fine for sleeping. We had a pullout couch that was marginally comfortable for sitting, but okay. Bathroom is really tight but works. In room safe handled my notebook computer just fine. If you have one of those newer ones with the monster screens, you might have problems. SHIP First walk around the ship found us getting more lost than on other ships, maybe due to so so many restaurants. We did the buffet and ate outside which was great since it was around 70 and sunny. Food was great. Signed the first of way too many checks for two glasses of wine. Least expensive was $13.23 with tip for two. CRUISE CRITIC Meet n Greet: The cruisecritic rollcall was very active for this cruise and we were fortunate to have Karen & Louis host the get together in their Garden Villa. The turnout was great and lots of new friendships were made. Sandy set up and coordinated the gift exchange. We now have another NYC t-shirt to add to our collection. The party went strong for almost two hours with Carla and I among the last guests to leave. I think Karen would have stayed up all night chatting with us. They were great folks. Their 18 year old daughter was a wonderful host. LOST? This is where I stopped doing my daily reports. Will just try to adlib and add some comments. Things turned into a real blur after the first day. GENERAL SHIP COMMENTS- I will cover what I can remember of the ports, but here are some overall ship and cruise comments first. FOOD -Though we did hear some folks complain considerably, most people were very happy with the food. We really had no problems other than a dish here or there. We walked in the Bistro the 2nd night and LOVED the quiet atmosphere and great service along with very good food, for only $10. Went back a second time to relax and enjoy the meal. Also ate in each of the main dining rooms, with great experience. Probably did the buffet the most, just for ease. Blue Lagoon was a sleeper - meaning not many ate there, but food was great. Did Tangos with some new friends one night and had a great dinner. Cagneys was fine as was the Japanese Chop-chop dinner. Breakfast got boring, but then again, how many choices are there? Room service is the basics, but we often did a plate from buffet and took back to the room. Again, Blue Lagoon was a nice alternative. CASINO - Not sure how often NCL does this but the casino had certain times each day for 3 or 4 hours when they offered free drinks. It sort of made sense until I explained it to our accountant! The casino was fun with a good variety of table games and slots. They did have a number of Black Jack, Slot and Texas Hold Em Tournaments. Though the house took their share, it was a good time. There were Texas Hold Em games late most nights, but even with two thousand people onboard, they had trouble getting enough players sometimes. Slots all took dollar bills and returned tickets instead of coins, assuming you won. If you plan to gamble alot, sign up for their card early so they can track your play and reward you accordingly. ENTERTAINMENT - We did not do all the shows, but enjoyed those that we attended. The seating in the main theatre allows for MANY to attend, but once you are seated, you are seated. If you want to have a drink at the show, take it with you.

ACTIVITIES - There appeared to a wide range of activities from Bingo to towel animal classes. The library was basic and had very limited hours. Card room was often full of Bridge players. Daily newsletter kept you informed of what was going on. Overall, we found the staff to be very open, friendly and helpful. Great group. Most events were well organized and everybody seemed to know what they were doing. The cruise director - Mike - seemed to be on top of EVERYTHING that wa going on. PORTS First port was not until mid day which was great. It gave everyone a chance to regroup before the daily hustle began of port after port. VILLEFRANCE/NICE - We arrived around noon and were tendered out. There was congestion at the pier and some confusion as to where the boats were going. Some people missed their tours. We opted to go in, walk around a bit and then grabbed the train to Monte Carlo. Was easy to do. Actually it was just leaving and and were going to pay on the train. Nobody every asked. Walked around Monte Carlo a bit and had two glasses of wine as we overlooked yachts the size of small villages. Those two glasses of wine made NCL look like pocket change. Something like $26 for two glasses. Headed back to the train station and waited in line to get tickets as the departure time approached. Finally a local bumped us to the front of the line so we could buy tickets and ran to the train. Turns out nobody cared if you had a ticket. They also have automated ATM like machines, but we did not have our charge card with us. Twenty minutes later we are walking around Villefrance again and shuttled back to the ship. We heard some bad stories about organized tours. Anytime you have to deal with tenders, you are going to have problems. LIVORNO/FLORENCE/PISA - The port is really for industrial use. You need to take the shuttle even into town. We met up with a few others online and shared a small van going into Pisa and then Florence to see the main sites. Well worth the extra money and I think we saw the same or more than those on the ships tours. ROME - You actually dock in Civitavecchia which is primarily for industrial shipping. You can take a short shuttle to edge of the shipyard and arrive in the local town. We opted to take the train which was about 10 minutes outside the port gates to get into Rome. Train was about an hour. We then met our private guide for the day and began our journey. We opted NOT to use a van to avoid the traffic in town. Good move other than the really tight situation on the first subway due to morning rush hour. Our guide (Mauro) loved to tell us the history of Rome and took us to the Coliseum, Parthenon, Vatican, St Peters and a few other places, talking the entire time about the amazing history of Rome. He took us back the train station at the end of the day and 45 minutes later we were waiting for the shuttle bus at the port. AJACCIO, FRANCE - Another pretty town built along the hills facing the Med. We waited a bit to avoid crowds and took the tender into town, walked around and came back. I sure there was more to see, but we tired. PALMA de MALLORCA - This is an Island off the coast of Spain. We took a ship sponsored tour. What a mistake. The guide would have been fine for maybe 6 people, but not for 40. I guess it was okay, but not big thrill. GIBRALTAR - We arrived at the pier mid day and had signed up for the shortest tour offered that would take you up to the Rock, view the caves and the apes (monkeys). We did walk into town a little before the tour. Not much to see near the port. It was raining and foggy. Lucky for us, our tour was much later in the day when it cleared. Was well worth our time. Due to the weather, we were the last ones back on the ship. They were taking off the ropes as we boarded.

FUNCHAL, PORTUGAL - After a day at sea, we stopped at this beautiful city by the sea. We walked into town and came upon the hop on, hop off bus and decided to take it for $10euro each. It made a loop of town with some narrative via headsets. Was a nice overview. We heard that others others had some good tour experiences. Many would have liked to spend more time here. Then it was time to head for Miami. Though many were concerned with so many days at sea and nothing to do, that passed within a few days. The ship offered plenty of activities, if you could remember them. Casino was always open and offered free drinks for a few hours each day. If you did not sleep too late, there were good breakfast options. Library was small and not open enough. We read, ate, hung out, met new friends and had no problem passing time. MIAMI - Process could have been better, though I think it might have been partly the fault of the Port of Miami. Baggage seemed to be a total mess on the pier. It worked out though. If we had been trying for an early flight, the self-disembark would have been better. We had time and found bags in 10 minutes and walked right out to cab. A a few minutes we were at Miami airport for $25. No fuss. Read more