Norwegian Spirit Review
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Love the ports of call and variety of places this cruise took and the ship was very comfortable and well maintained, although this ship is among the older ones. Booking and boarding was excellent, but once on board they charge for literally every item, including bottled water at high prices - and then attach a service charge and 20% gratuity charge on top of that. Food quality was only mediocre and pastries and desserts seemed to come from pre-packaged vendors that could make it look delicious but lacked in taste and texture. As compared to a previous cruise on another line, I would rate the food on this cruise as only fair. Public speaking announcements from the captain could not be understood, although other staff announcements were clear. Cabin quality was excellent, albeit small, as all interior cabins are. These were well organized and had spaces and hangers for everything and the bathroom was very well appointed with an excellent shower. Pool area accommodations seemed cramped and a full side of it was set aside for smokers, making access to tables and chaises with no smoke even more cramped at times. The pool was too hot on a couple of days days and not refreshing. On other days (maybe after draining and refilling?), the salt water pool was very comfortable, although quite small and the only pool available. Most of the passengers were older, likely due to the time of year of the cruise. Accommodations for children appeared good. Embarkation and debarking was excellent and well organized. Hint - although the ship allows you to carry a small pocket knife, ports of call customs will confiscate it and it will be returned when the cruise ends - so don't bother with trying to carry it. Entertainment was very good and a good variety. Liquor drinks were well made, but overly expensive. Service was generally good. We would sail with the ship again; primarily because of the sailing itinerary - but not the food. I would rather cruise lines charge a bit more for the cruise and provide common breverages (soft drinks, refreshments, etc.) for little or no charge rather than charge excessive prices for every single item and then add gratuity and service charges to everything. Just pay your staff better out of the cruise charges and don't expect the passengers to be nickel and dimed in order to pay the staff (or wherever these fees go). It makes the cruise less relaxing when one has to watch ever charge so carefully (even a small glass of pop costs about $4 in a plastic cup). This just forces the less well to do cruiser wait for the ports of call to buy a reasonably priced coffee, soft drink or beer; rather than in the ship where it is usually more than double the price.
Cabin Review
Mid-Ship Inside
Very well appointed with creative storage and a very nice bathroom and shower. Very quiet. Nice access to stairs. We seldom used elevators because they were slow and often filled and we got exercise by walking stairs (3 sets along the ship).
Port Reviews
Dubrovnik
Beautiful place and very maintained for tourists. Walked the wall and old city on our own and enjoyed it immensely. This is a place we'd love to go back to and spend more time.
Venice
Loved Venice! Want to spend a few days here because there is so much to see. We just took a walking tour arranged off the ship and learned a great deal about Venice.
Koper
Again, we arranged our tour off the ship. Rented a car and toured the caves and castle. Both were fantastic, but especially the castle with its many rooms and beautiful views of the valley. Slovenia is a beautiful, clean country with equally beautiful people. I would live here - especially now when our country is being ruined by Trump.
Split
Like Dubrovnik, this part of Croatia is beautiful and unique for its great history. We arranged a walking tour of Docletians palace on our own and we're very happy with it.
Corfu
A beautiful island, we hired a taxi tour of the island and the driver was very informative. Views around the island were impressive. Greece is being inundated with refugees from other countries and the economy is in the pits. Our driver and the countryside reflect this. For the sake of their beautiful country, I hope their issues can be worked out. The taxi tour was expensive, but well worth it when split between 4 people. On Greece I would consider one of the ships excursions if we didn't have another couple to share the costs.
Katakolon (Olympia)
Again we arranged a taki tour to take us to the Olympic village. The taxi ride was sub par, but the sites were neat. Need far more time to see the ruins of the Olympic village and a tour guide would be advised, as many of the ruins are not labeled or explained. After the Olympic area our driver took us to an excellent homely farm - one of the highlights of our trip. Garbage disposal and government services are really lacking in this area of Greece and apparent nearly everywhere with mounds of garbage and areas of litter. Smokers are common and as in other countries (except Croatia and Slovenia), smokers just litter their cigarette butts everywhere.
Malta (Valletta)
We took a hop on/hop off bus tour on our own - a big mistake. The bus was loud and crowded, although low cost. We were scheduled for the Rolling Geeks tour but had to cancel. There are several small cities to see here and lots of fantastic views and cultural history. Taking an organized tour would likely work out better to see the island (or small parts of it as time allows).
Rome (Civitavecchia)
We booked all of our excursions off the ship or just went on our own. Rome is several miles from the airport or the cruise terminal; thus getting there's is a major cost of any excursion for hiring a taxi or other transport. Overall impression of Rome is that it was crowded, littered that'd to get into sites and see things due to the crowds and numerous hawkers. The history and archeological sites are fantastic but one needs to be there a few days and find ways to visit sites at more pooortune times.