We chose this cruise for its itinerary. We explored Barcelona for the day before embarking. We arrived at the terminal around 1230pm and found the embarkation process to be smooth. There was a lot of staff there to help and guide passengers. Although our room wasn't completely available, we were allowed to drop off our bags. We appreciated that! This differed from my experience on the Carnival Sensation. On that ship they had the hall doors closed and we could not drop off anything for a few hours after the ship sailed. I should mention that this Norwegian cruise is only my second cruise and my husband's first. We got off at all but one port (Palma de Mallorca). Only because we had just been there and wanted to rest. If you haven't been there, be sure to get off and explore, it's a great place.

All of the disembarkation processes went smoothly with the exception of Cannes, France. We had to tender from the ship and unfortunately the local company that was contracted didn't have as many tender boats as we needed. It took us close to two hours to get off of the ship. Dave, our cruise director, I apologized for the inconvenience and assured us that our next tendering experience in Kotor would run smoother. And it did. On top of that the captain was able to move the ship inland during the middle of the day so that we did not have to tender upon our return in the evening.

We found the ship to be clean and nice looking. The staff were friendly and helpful. I enjoyed using the library.We also enjoyed eating at the buffet. There was a different theme every night and the food was hot and fresh. We also ate at both the Windows and Garden's dining room. There was steak available every night which was the wonderful treat. We also enjoyed a few meals at Shoguns. The food was good but I really liked the hot and sour soup. We went to most of the nightly shows. The theater production was talented but we mainly enjoyed the dance couple that performed with hula hoops and acrobatics. The magic show was cool too. Read more