AlanAndGlory

Skagway, Alaska

On our last Alaska cruise, we did the White Pass-Yukon Railroad. We loved it enough to do it again on this cruise. It's a do not miss in our book. Before you go, read Call of the Wild to get a sense of its history. Jack London was part of the Yukon gold rush that the railroad was originally built for and based the book on his experiences.

Norwegian Bliss

NCL has a laundry special in the middle of the cruise, anything you can stuff into the good size laundry bag will be cleaned, pressed and returned to your cabin for $29. Always bring binoculars in Alaska, there is a lot of wildlife to see. It will be worth it to book a balcony cabin.

New York, New York

I can't say we visited New York, because we had booked the air through NCL, so we just went from the port to the airport, even though our flight was not until 8:30 pm.

Halifax, Nova Scotia

I really wasn't expecting much in Halifax, but found it to be quite a nice port. It was a cool sunny day, the only day we saw the sun the entire cruise. We took a Hop on, Hop off tour. The highlights for me were the maritime museum, the city garden, and the Titanic cemetery. When the Carpathia reached the site of the sinking of the Titanic and took the survivors on board, the bodies of those who died were brought on board and buried in Halifax. It was quite moving to see rows of headstones that said "Died April 15, 1912." Some were unidentified.

Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland

The ship missed Kirkwall because of a storm, to the disappointment of my wife who was looking forward to it the most of all ports.

Reykjavik, Iceland

We were scheduled to go to Reykjavik at 2:00 pm, but because of missing Kirkwall, we were there at 8:00 am. Iceland sits on the junction of the North American tectonic plate and the Eurasian plate, which means there is much volcanic activity. There are geysers and hot springs all over. We took the Golden Circle shore excursion, which highlighted the geology. Besides being a beautiful country, it has stunning geology. We had an overnight, so the second day we replaced the Kirkwall shore excursion with a tour (the name of it escapes me) that highlighted the use of the geothermal energy. The electricity is cheap in Iceland because of using geothermal energy, and hot water is piped to houses and businesses. Wool clothing seems to be the best thing to shop for. It's expensive, but probably not when compared to the same quality goods in the USA.

Southampton (London), England

I stayed in London two days before the cruise, so all I did in Southampton was go from the train station to the cruise. I did have to rate it five stars because the British people were so helpful and friendly.

Norwegian Prima

All NCL ships have a laundry special, whatever you can stuff into a laundry bad will be cleaned, pressed, folded and returned to your room the next day for $29. There will be a flyer about it in the Freestyle Daily some time in the middle of the cruise, this will help decrease the amount of clothes you need to pack. When you go to bed, leave the sliding door on one of the closets open. The light is on a motion detector, so if you get up in the night to use the bathroom, the light will come on, when you go back to bed, it will come on again and shut off after a few minutes. As I mentioned before, make sure to reserve specialty dining and theater shows as soon as possible, the venues are too small and will sell out.

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

When you look at the port times, and see that you're here for 12 hours, you may think you have a lot of time. (The same goes for Livorno). We did the Rome on Your Own shore excursion, which leaves an hour after the ship docks. Then it's an hour and a half or more, depending on traffic, to get to Rome and back. Then you have to be back on the ship half an hour before departure. So that leaves 7 1/2 hours in Rome. We got tickets for the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. When you get your shore excursion tickets, there is a note saying to not book anything before 11:00 am. Of course, this is too late, keep it in mind when planning your cruise. The same goes in Livorno if you're going to Florence or Pisa. Rome was amazing, but way overcrowded. The cruise goes to Rome on Wednesday, which is the day the Pope gives a public address, so it may be more crowded that day. We couldn't get close enough to the Trevi Fountain to throw a coin in, and even with timed tickets, the Sistine Chapel was wall to wall people, good thing what you want to see is on the ceiling.

Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands

By the time you get to Palma, the itinerary will have you worn out, but you don't get there until 1:00 pm so you can sleep in. Beautiful city, but like Cannes, not a whole lot there. The castle is worth seeing.

Cannes, France

Cannes was nice, but I live in Southern California. If I want to shop at stores I can't afford, I can go to Beverly Hills or Newport Beach. There is a tour called "The Little Train" that will take you around the city, as I recall it was 12 euros, and starts right outside the port. The cathedral is worth seeing. I don't want to say anything bad about Cannes, it was nice but didn't do it for us otherwise.

Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy

See my comments on the timing of the shore excursion on Rome, the same thing applies here. My wife and I both felt that Florence was the best city we visited. We booked the Hop on-Hop off bus, and went ot the Uffizi Gallery. Florence was the center of the Renisannce, and the Uffizi shows it. It did take enough time to see that we didn't do the hop on-hop off bus, after the Uffizi, we got some lunch and went to the Duomo (right next to the Uffizi), did a little shopping then it was time to go.

Barcelona, Spain

We arrived in Barcelona the night before the cruise, and stayed four days after. The two main attractions in Barcelona are La Sagrada Familia and the Picasso museum. Definately get tickets for both of them ahead of time, otherwise you'll be wating in line for a long time if they're not sold out already. There is a park on the east side of La Sagrada Familia with a pond, stop there and get pictures of the church reflected in the pond. If you're staying in Barcelona, food is very reasonable at tapas bars, a good meal for two runs 15 to less than 20 euros. Tickets for the Metro, also good on busses, can be had for 10.60 euros for 10 rides, and the ticket can be shared. This is a big discount over the 2.20 euros for one ride, and will get you everywhere you want to go quickly. If you want to see Park Guell, part of it requires a ticket, and they do sell out, get them ahead of time. Mont Juic is another park worth seeing. Tickets for the Miro museum can be purchased at the door, no long lines or selling out ahead of time.

Naples, Italy

We did a shore excursion to the Amalfi coast and Pompeii. Both were fascinating and well worth seeing.

Norwegian Epic

Reading reviews of the Epic, some people get way too upset about the room layout. You may or may not like it, but don't get upset about it. There is a laundry special in the middle of the cruise on all Norwegian ships, whatever you can stuff into the laundry bag will be cleaned, folded, and deilvered to your room for $20. This is much easier than packing enough clothes for the entire vacation. When you're in Europe, be sure to have a few coins with you. Public restrooms charge half to one euro to use. If you go in a restaurant, coffee shop, or other business with a restroom, you can use the restroom for free if you're a customer.