Med Cruisin' with NCL

It's been a dream of mine to go on a Mediterranean cruise for a very long time, and when my now-husband and I were brainstorming where we should go for our honeymoon, I couldn't think of a better destination!  There is just something romantic about beautiful coastal med villages, sun, salt water and beaches.  It was perfect.






Since I'm a travel agent and I'm spoiled, I was lucky enough to go on a two week Grand Mediterranean cruise with Norwegian Cruise Line in August. I've sailed with Norwegian before and thought it was great, so I was enthusastic to try them again. We sailed on the Norwegian Spirit, which holds about 2000 passengers. Our 12 night itinerary was: Venice, Athens, Izmir, Istanbul, Mykonos, Naples, Rome, Livorno, Toulon, Barcelona. I've written separate entries on each desination, so see the links for more details. We unfortunately didn't get to stop in Mykonos because the weather was bad. It was a very disappointing day as it was one port I was especially looking forward to, but the staff replaced it with a full day of activities on the deck.

Service
One thing that stands out about NCL compared to other cruise lines, is their fantastic friendly service. The staff were always happy, wanting to get to know you, your name, your drink order, and I never felt like I was a burden to them. They were fun. My favourite thing about Norwegian overall is their Freestyle atmosphere. It is very relaxed, there are no assigned dining times, and you can go get food or drink anywhere at anytime. We never once had to wait in line anywhere and none of the passengers seemed rushed or impatient. It was a fabulous atmosphere for a relaxing honeymoon.

The Ship
The Spirit was released in 1998, so it is older compared to other ships, and definitely isn't as modern. It was renovated in 2008, but still you wont' find a rock climbing wall or a water slide on this ship.  This makes it good for couples and adults, and not so much for kids. Even with this there were still tonnes of children on the ship. Because of the time of year, August, when kids are on summer holidays, there were lots of families and kids. It was a little hectic, but I blame it only on seasonality. Had I gone on this same itinerary in September, it wouldn't have been a problem. Even though the ship is a little older, it is beautifully maintained, clean and still has lots of amenities. There are 11 restaurants, 8 bars, and there are lots of activities and events to take part in.

Nightlife
The club Maharini's was a lot of fun, and we met some really awesome people. The first couple nights were slow and not many people went out at night, but it really picked up after a few days. The club didn't pick up until 11pm, and usually the DJ kept it going until 3am or sometimes even later! Some of the bartenders at the club were a lot of fun, too.  The Casino on board was never really hopping, due to the volume of families with kids. The drinks on board were a little pricey, like all cruise lines, but if you checked out the options at the beginning of your cruise you would know there are ways to save money. ie. Wine packages, or Beer buckets: 6 for $25. Individual drinks can range from a beer ($7) to a frozen cocktail ($12). You really have to check pricing on them before you order. One tip is to ask your server what the drink of the day is. They usually have a cocktail each day at a discounted rate. We saved money by trying to avoid those tempting Pina Colada cocktails by the pool in the afternoon, and saving our drinking for in the evening. We definitely caved and had some poolside drinks, but it really does add up!

Food
The food at the sit down restaurants was fantastic! There were great quality options that they were always changing each night. I got to experience a lot of amazing steaks, and cuisines from around the world. The desserts, of course were always delicious, and I had 6 too many pieces of cheescake. The NCL buffet was top notch! It was huge, and the food was really good quality. Some might argue that they didn't change the options enough, but it's because they always had the same 'staple' foods, plus a separate selection of new foods each day. It's one of the best buffet's I've seen. Because NCL focusses on a freestyle/casual atmosphere, I think they put a lot more work into the buffet than other cruiselines. We just loved having fresh fruit every day (and of course self-service soft icecream). I never had to wait in line to get in to the main dining rooms or the buffet. This was fantastic, as I know other cruise lines aren't this way. I recommend making reservations at any specialty restaurants however, because the small ones do fill up. The more intimate one's like Teppanyaki fill up the day before. You can just call Reservations from your stateroom phone to make a booking.





















Entertainment
The shows and entertainment on this ship was good. I wouldn't say it was always a high budget performance, but they had some spectacular guest shows. The Spirit singers and dancers were talented, and had some well-choreographed shows (cheesy like most shows). But the special guests, like the magicians, were fantastic. The game shows were fun and they encouraged involvement, as well as the games by the pool. I thought most of the entertainment staff were very friendly and approachable, but the Cruise Director seemed a little more stressed, not so happy. She was happy when presenting something, but when you saw her aside from that she did not seem approachable. The music played by the pool and at a lot of the bars was not always our style. There was a lot of latin, spanish type music, which makes sense because a lot of the clientelle were from Europe, but I generally enjoy the music played on Caribbean cruises over this one. One thing this particular cruise was missing was a sail away party. Because we set sail at 1:00am, we didn't have the deck party, and they didn't replace is any other night in the whole 2 weeks! It was a little disapointing because it's always fun time where the crew gets everyone dancing with live music. Overall, the entertainment was really great though, and we were definitely never bored!

Staterooms
Our room was average, accptable.  It was an interior cabin. It was clean and our room steward was always helpful, we even had a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries in our room on arrival (this wouldn't normally happen, however). Most cruiselines don't have big cabins, so it's no shock there that the room is small. I found, however, that the bathroom, notibly the shower, was bigger than other cruises I've done. I could have used some mirrors in the room or something to open it up a little so it doesn't seem so small.

I'm a big fan of cruising, and I do think it's a great way to see lots of places in one trip, even see certain areas that you might never see on it's own because it's too expensive. It's a great way to see exotic destinations and ensure you get great food along the way. It a flexible type of trip where you can choose to be active or choose to lazy and relax the whole time. Overall, the general atmosphere onboard Norwegian is relaxed, friendly and fun. I think this cruiseline is perfect for people 20 and up to middle aged, and families. Or it's great for older people who don't want to go on a cruise that's too fancy or formal. Norwegian also has great prices, so it's very affordable considering the level of service. You're guaranteed to have great food options, good service, and endless things to do.