Great First Time Mediterranean Cruise

Norwegian Spirit Cruise Review to Europe

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 56

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Spirit

Barcelona, Spain / Barcelona, Spain

Sail date: March 22, 2017

Ship: Norwegian Spirit

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9676

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

Barcelona is the perfect start for your trip. A beautiful, friendly city with lots to see and do. We did Barcelona in March (low season) and the weather was in the 60's. Word to the wise.... summers in Barcelona.... in fact for all the cities in this cruise are very muggy and hot in summer (high season).  Embarkation and debarkation are as smooth as glass. I do not think it took more than 20 minutes each time.

 

All the cities are beautiful and they all have open air hop on/hop off buses at considerably less expense than the cruise excursions. Finding people at shops and restaurants that speak English is not hard and most of the menus are illustrated so that you can see what you are ordering. That is not to say that the shore excursions are a waste of money. The Rome tour that we took was expensive, but worth every penny.

 

The Spirit is well maintained and the staff is cheerful and thorough, but a small old ship is a small old ship. If you take this cruise, think of the boat as a floating hotel, with entertainment. Some of the shows were ridiculous as usual, but some were surprisingly good. If it matters to you, other than a few honeymoon couples, this is an older crowd taking this cruise. Not much of a party boat.

 

 


 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Children's Programs

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5
The balcony room that we booked was a disappointment. It was smaller with less walking space than some inside cabins that I have booked. You literally had to climb over the bed to get to the balcony. Having a balcony is worthwhile on this trip, but the space limitation was annoying to say the least.

Ship tip

Reservations are not really needed for Windows or the Garden restaurants. If you are really in the mood for burger and fries, try the Blue Lagoon on Deck 7.

Ports of call

Barcelona, Spain

5 out of 5

Valletta, Malta

3 out of 5
Skip the tours here. Take the elevator to the city street level and just wander around.

Palermo, Sicily

5 out of 5
The hop on/hop off tour here is an inexpensive alternative to a shore excursion.

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

5 out of 5
Note: it is about two hours of travel between Civitavecchia and Rome. Take a tour in this city unless you have been here before. So much to see in a very short time.

TUSCANY REGION, ITALY

3 out of 5
The tower of Pisa looks exactly like the picture...unless you need to take the picture of you holding up the tower....skip Pisa.

Marseille (Provence), France

5 out of 5
The hop on/hop off bus tour for this city qualifies as a thrill ride..... the hills are very steep, the streets are very narrow, and the driving regulations are optional.

Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands

5 out of 5

Valencia, Spain

5 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 56

1 Comment

Lolosydney    7 years ago

Did you get to get off the boat at the times it says on the port of call? So if it says 7-7 did you get off at around 730?

Other reviews of this sailing