We traveled from JFK to Barcelona via Iberia Airlines which did stop in Madrid where we had to change planes to Barcelona. The one strange occurrence was when we changed planes we had to go through security again in Madrid which may be problematic if you had purchased any liquid duty free items in JFK that were more than 3oz. and didn't fit in your quart size zip lock bag. We arrived in Barcelona and found the railroad which we took to the Barceló Sants Hotel which is located directly above the Sants train station and was approximately 15 minutes from airport. Although some prior reviews I had read complained about the hotel distance from central tourist areas we found the location fine as you could take the Metro system for a brief ride easily to any area. The price of this hotel was much more reasonable than many of the hotels in Barcelona that the extra few minutes on subway was well worth the savings of staying at this hotel. The hotel was fine but we all did complain about the bed and mattress being very hard. We used Saturday afternoon to do some sightseeing in Barcelona and were a little disappointed that we awoke on Sunday morning to heavy rain which did curtail the amount of sightseeing we planned on doing before going to cruise terminal that day. Although we were told we could take the Metro to the port we did take a taxi and were very glad as the cruise terminal was a very long distance from nearest Metro station. My recommendation for any passengers who are considering taking train to pier is to when you get off the train hail a taxi as it is not a convenient walk to cruise terminal. The embarkation process was extremely smooth when we arrived around 1pm and boarded the ship within 15-20 minutes after arrival. We were greeted with free champagne as we walked on board and were directed to lunch at the buffet area or Grand Pacific restaurant. We stayed in a Mini Suite which was located on Deck 11 midship and an ideal location to access pool deck and buffet areas. Our stateroom was quite spacious and had adequate storage spaces for 4 people when compared to other balcony cabins we have stayed in on prior cruises. The bathroom was large and did include a full size tub which we never used. I loved the little wheels outside each cabin where you could indicate do not disturb, make up my cabin, and turn down service for the cabin steward. The regular beds were the most comfortable I have ever slept on while cruising. We did eat at most of the restaurants on board with the exception of the Asian Grill and La Cucina and had few complaints. The buffet was plentiful with a wide selection of foods available for breakfast, lunch and dinner. My husband did not like the omelettes and scrambled eggs (possibly made from prepackaged mix as opposed to fresh eggs) but otherwise no other complaints. I have mixed feelings about having to pay additional surcharges in some of the specialty restaurants because after eating superb meals at Le Bistro and Cagney's it can be a little bit of a letdown when you go to eat at Magenta and Pacific Grill. We also enjoyed Tequila which did not involve a surcharge. Free style dining was great but we did try to make our reservations 48hrs in advance as we preferred to dine around 7-8pm which was a popular time for many passengers. We did not do any of the NCL sponsored shore excursions and were able to navigate the various ports on our own. Malta was our first port and we walked up the hill to the Valetta and explored the beautiful fortress city. The highlight was touring the cathedral and learning about the various knights buried there. We took the ferry from Naples directly to Sorrento and had an enjoyable day walking around the town and experiencing authentic pizza at a local restaurant with and drinking some regional wine. In Civitavecchia we exited the shuttle bus from pier and walked to railroad station and took train into Rome which costs about 9 Euros round trip per person. The train ride was about 1 hr but when we arrived in Rome it was raining hard and it was not enjoyable walking to various attractions in the downpours especially as the streets were flooded and very slippery. We saw some sights but ended up staying dry in a restaurant eating pasta and drinking wine to avoid the heavy downpours. Livorno ended up being our most frustrating port as passengers had to take a shuttle bus from ship to town center and then take a bus from there to train station to get to Florence. It took us approximately 3 hrs from when we exited ship to arrive in Florence which did not allow us a lot of time to explore the city. There were many lines for main attractions so we chose to just view outside buildings (I believe if you took the NCL excursions you may bypass some of the lines but I am not sure of this) and wander around the city which is just so beautiful. Too bad that the weather was not cooperative again and decided to rain most of this day too. The last day of cruise we decided to just walk to the local beach in Villefranche and finally enjoy the most sunshine we saw this week. We definitely needed a relaxing day after the previous hectic days of rushing to get off the ship to see the sights with limited time constraints. We had a 10 am flight back to New York and chose to do the express checkout and left the ship at 6:30am and took taxi to airport where we encountered no delays in checking in for our flight. Probably the worst part of our trip was not having enough time to spend in Rome and Florence but it did give us a taste of Italy and hopefully we will return there in the future to see the sights we missed this trip.