We booked our cruise via Cruise Direct after having seen an advertisement in the Sunday papers. The price that we actually paid was a little more than the price that had been advertised, and did not include flights as there were none still available via the cruise line. But we managed to get very reasonable flights from our local airport to Istanbul via Easyjet and from Athens for our return journey. On landing at Istanbul airport we managed to find a shuttle company who were also taking other Norwegian Jade passengers (who had also arrived via Easyjet) to the ship at a reasonable rate. The journey to the port took approximately 1 hour. On arrival it was difficult to actually find the correct area to deposit our luggage. The embarkation process was speedy and efficient but somewhat low key with very little sense of occasion or anticipation. Once we arrived on board we were directed rather than taken to our cabin - which was on the embarkation level. Our was an outside cabin with a porthole which was adequate in size and well equipped. The bathroom was larger than average, and well appointed for a ship of this class. We were disappointed that we did not have a window as opposed to a porthole as this was what we had expected, and meant that lights always needed to be switched on when we were in the cabin On the very first evening we were tired from a long day of travelling and so did not disembark the ship to experience the night life of Istanbul. Food onboard was good, with the meals in the 2 main dining rooms being of good quality if somewhat bland, and never piping hot On one particular evening I requested an omelette as I was not feeling like a large meal, my request did cause some issues but the Maitre D (Eugene) granted my request and the omelette when it eventually came was not very good - but the staff were obliging and had done their best to fulfill my request. We had excellent meals in some of the speciality restaurants particularly Cagney's, and the sushi and chines restaurant. I was somewhat disappointed in the Hibachi style dining experience which did not live up to other similar places I had been to. Overall we particularly enjoyed the Freestyle dining experience as we particularly hate the 2 sitting at pre booked times that is used on other cruise lines - for this reason we would definitely travel again on NCL and Princess which we have experienced on 2-3 other cruises. The buffet was also of good quality, but we and several other passengers were frustrated that we were not allowed to serve ourselves from the buffet (and had to rely on being served from it) once we had been to Egypt and until the end of the cruise. Staff told us this was to protect us from viruses that were often picked up in Egypt. It did however spoil the last few days of our cruise, as we had to wait in line, the seating area was full of uncleared plates as there were insufficient staff to clear them, and food became cold as you waited in line or found a clear place to sit. We only took one of the ship's excursions - Pyramids and Nile in Style. This was not quite as good as we had hoped. Particularly the promised visit to a bazaar, which turned out to be a very touristy department store in a seedy area of the city. However the lunchtime Nile Cruise was very nice and the food far better than expected. Ports of call were all enjoyable although the short stay in Katakolon was a complete waste of time, and of no cultural value at all unless you took a ships excursion.