Overall rating was hurt by a ship problem and lost the opportunity to tour Malta. Otherwise, it would have been a 4.5. We did the cruise as transportation to the destinations more than as a "cruise." We were refunded our shore excursion cost. We chose this tour because it covered a lot of historical ground and islands we are not likely to visit on our own. As everyone might say, places such as Athens, Sicily, and Naples/Pompeii should be done in more than a single day, but there is still much to accomplish. We could have skipped Mykonos for nearby Delos but got scared off because you take a smallish boat to that island and1/2 of us gets sea sick easily. :) In Athens, we just went to the Acropolis and the Plaka area as it was Sunday. Warning - The climb to the top is a very tough climb and somewhat dangerous with slippery steps, gravel, rocks, and virtually no handrails anywhere. We heard someone fall. The tour guide said she had fallen once. Rhodes was very cool. Santorini was magnificent!! Everyone, as in past reviews, disliked where we stopped in Crete. We should have stopped on the eastern side near Heraklion so we could have seen archaeological sites. Malta was a buiust. On Sicily, we wanted to tour Mt.Etna and we did and then walked around a bit of Messina, though we wish we had the time to tour a lot more. We toured the Amalfi coast and visited Pompeii. What a trip! The drive and Amalfi itself - so incredibly beautiful! Got stopped by sheep herb on mountain crossing, neat, and then the long-awaited tour of Pompeii, simply fantastic!

From a ship perspective, the ship is a bit older and a water leak in a cabin down the hall led to some mildew smell which was eventually taken care of. Service was typical and no real complaints there. The tomato soup at every restaurant (the same) was one of the best we have ever had. Nothing over the top and no real problems. We had a mid-ship balcony and slept every night with the sliding glass door open. Bought thewater package and glad we did.

Norwegian did a good job. The only real issue of the journey was final disembarkation where we were told that everyone would be gone early. Not true! I think everyone was told that, too, and there was a mad dash for the terminal building a the last moment. Horrible crowding and confusion on board and in terminal, but it eventually got worked out.