My husband and I are 47 years old and celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. We were joined on this cruise by our two teenagers (16 and 18) and my parents who are both in their 70's. After researching several different cruise lines and itineraries, we decided that NCL's western Mediterranean cruise out of Barcelona was the best fit. My husband and I and our kids had done almost the same itinerary with RCI a few years ago, and we had a great experience. Since my parents had never been to Europe before, we decided that we should do it again. We chose NCL because the freestyle cruising seemed to fit our group consisting of three different generations.

I had booked a mini-suite on deck 11 for my husband and I, a balcony stateroom on deck 9 for my parents, and my teenagers had an inside stateroom across the hall from my parents' room. About a week prior to the cruise, I was offered an upsell from my mini-suite to the A2 deluxe owner's suite on deck 15 for a very reasonable fee. The A2 included a butler, concierge, complimentary mini-bar, breakfast and lunch at Cagney's steakhouse, access to a private courtyard area, and numerous other advantages which benefitted not only my husband and I but also my kids and parents. I quickly accepted, and I am so glad I did. More on that later.

We arrived in Barcelona at about 8:45 a.m. on Saturday morning, a day before our cruise. I had made arrangements for a tour guide to pick us up at the airport and provide us with a 4 hour tour of Barcelona, since our hotel room was not going to be ready until 2:00 p.m. Carlos, our guide from Pepito Tours (info@pepitotours.com) gave us a wonderful tour of the highlights of Barcelona. We checked into our hotel rooms at the Praktik Rambla, which is located at Rambla Catalunya, 27. The hotel is located just north of Las Ramblas, away from all the noise and craziness but within walking distance. There were plenty of good restaurants and bars right there in front of the hotel with lots of upscale shopping nearby. Each of our rooms had balconies overlooking the street and accommodated three people. The rooms were very nice and clean. I would highly recommend this hotel. Read more