Wow -- I'm not sure why it took me so long to take my first cruise! I just returned from a 12-day Mediterranean cruise on the Norwegian Jade, and definitely it was a trip of a life-time!

My partner and I flew into Barcelona a day before our cruise was to depart. We enjoyed site-seeing and nightlife in Barcelona, before heading to the port around 2pm on our embarkation date. The port was rather busy, but check-in was a breeze, and once through we were able to have immediate access to our room. We had a partially-obstructed view cabin; it was actually much more spacious than I thought it would be, and there was much storage space. It was so nice to unpack for 12 days and concentrate on site-seeing in all the great ports, rather than hauling luggage around.

The 12 days on the Jade flew by. There was never a moment to be board, from eating and drinking, to hanging out on the decks, to watching (and participating in) the entertainment. We wound up doing martini tastings almost every other day (the staff at Mixers Bar was GREAT!), and spending much of our time in the Spinnaker Bar at nights. The cruise director's staff was rather amazing and personable, and we got to meet several. BIG kudos to Gabby, who was omni-present, from hosting karaoke night to waving us off the boat in the morning; we wound up hanging out with her several evenings. (I'd also say that our room stewards were excellent; I swear, they were in our room like 3 times a day, always making sure that things were picked up.) Read more