We picked this cruise because of the itinerary. We appreciate Free Style cruising but we miss some of the special treatment you get from having the same table every night and the food quality outside the "Specialty Restaurants" is a little disappointing. Our room was very nice and the the refurbishment of the ship was certainly evident. There was no port guide, no port talks, no shopping/dining guide, not even a map of the port. The crew and staff were very friendly, attentive, and professional. Absolutely no complaints regarding the service and treatment we received. There is one NCL show we've seen twice and walked out on twice, Blazing Boots with "innovative choreography" it's really more like a Western strip joint. We purchased one ship tour and it was very well done. We used alternate excursion options for the other ports. This is our 8th NCL cruise and we look forward to number 9.
The room was clean and bright with perhaps the largest, best shower of any of the ships we've sailed on in years.
We used the local buses to visit Akrotiri and Oia. It was cheap and easy to do. The problem was too many people at the same time. We couldn't get on the first two buses leaving Akrotiri which cost us an hour. We probably wouldn't do that again on a cruise. It would be fine if you were staying there on the island.
We used the Hop-on-Hop-off to get to the Acropolis and then to get back to the ship. We used the Rick Steve's app to tour the Acropolis and Ancient Agora. The we use FreeTour to do a walking food tour in the Plaka. All good fun.
We walked on our own. We did use suggestions from TomsPortGuides to save time. Lots of pictures and the Aegean Maritime Museum is worth the stop.