Just got back from a week on the Mediterranean Cruise and had a wonderful time.

In summer 2014, our family had an excellent opportunity to visit Europe. Our travel agent arranged our 7-Day Western Mediterranean tour in a Norwegian Cruise from Barcelona with an honest price.

The Journey

Our journey began on 4th July 2014. We booked Turkish flight from Kuwait to Istanbul and from Istanbul to Barcelona.

We landed Barcelona at 11.30 am, from there to the hotel Medinaceli by a cab. In the evening, we went around Barcelona by a Hop on/ Hop off service touristic bus. The bus was a great way to tour the city and to see as many sights as possible. The audio commentary was very informative and enjoyable.

After that we took some nice snaps near the Christopher Columbus Tower and had a short walk through the Las Ramblas Street. Las Ramblas is crazy – it’s full of buskers and street artists, markets, shops, cafes, bars, tourists, locals...It’s also known to have many pickpockets.

The Ramblas is famous for street performers including human statues with crazy costumes.

This was our first cruise journey, we had no idea about our multi-days voyage, what to expect and went with no expectations.

It was a warm sunny day. After 11am, the Ramblas became crowded with tourists to see the Harley- Davidson Bike show. The Barcelona Harley Days 2014, the biggest Harley Davidson festival in Europe was scheduled from 4th until the 6th of July. It was a thrilling experience to see thousands of Harley bikes roaring through the streets of Barcelona during the flag parade.

Day One

Embarkation Barcelona, Spain

We took a cab and got dropped off in the terminal parking. It’s a fabulous port to take a cruise out of. Upon arrival everything flowed so easily. No waiting, no huge crowds. Most guests are from English speaking countries. It was a well-organized boarding process and we checked-in within 20 minutes. We proceeded to the escalator with our ID cards. A hearty welcome on board by the crew members. Our stateroom was on deck 10 with a lovely balcony.

The cabin itself was great, loved the new curvy style and the storage room was incredible.

Our cabin in charge was a Nicaraguan lady, very attentive to our needs and daily surprise towel animals were found returning after dinner.

We started with lunch at the Garden café buffet near the pool side. Food was lovely, plentiful. There was a small Indian section which was vegetarian and had rice, roti, dhal, another vegetable curry, and a selection of cucumber raita, mango pickle, and mint yoghurt.

Buffet was of excellent variety and quality. Apart from lobster and prawns we found stir fry, roast, fish, pasta, pizza, salads, burgers, chips, mashed, lots of vegie dishes, Ice cream and puddings, lovely pastries and several varieties of bread. Wow!! Outdoor grill and snacks in the afternoon was also good. Free tea, coffee, water, fruit punch, and iced tea available from virtually everywhere all the time.

We only ate in the complimentary restaurants; mainly O'Sheehans for lunch, and Manhattans/Taste for dinner.

Very clean and hygiene conscious. Antibacterial sprayers everywhere and staff spraying the hands of people at key times. We started our ‘Freestyle Cruising’ from Barcelona port at 6pm Sunday 6th July. The ship was very stable and we slept very well in fact.

Day Two

At Sea

Day two was a leisurely morning, not rushing around to do any of the many things available on board.

After breakfast, we spent some time to watch the Zumba at the top deck. We started exploring the ship. The ship is huge and there were an awful lot of people on board! In fact nearly 5000 passengers and about 1700 staff. Nearly 250 Indian staffs.Lovely crews!! Passengers on board were all informal and friendly.

There are duty free shops, spa rooms, Barber shop, Casino, Ice bar, Comedy club, theatre, sports complex, fitness center, Aqua Park, hot tubs, kid’s pool, climbing and rappelling wall and much more. Various entertainments day and night like Legends in Concert, live comedy, white hot party, jazz club, dueling piano bar, and a wealth of clubs and lounges.

In the evening we enjoyed the Blue Man Group show at the Epic Theater. It was really amazing!! We had Champaign and dinner at Manhattans.

Dinner dress codes for men are collared shirts and pants. For women slacks, jeans, dresses, skirts, and tops are fine. If we would like to dress up for dinner and wear something more formal or glamorous that is OK too.

During daytime, casual clothes such as shorts, jeans, and sundresses are appropriate. Swimsuit attire is even welcome at the poolside grill.

There were 90 shore excursions available and we booked some of them, which include low activity level.

Day Three

Naples, Italy

At 7 am, we reached at the port Naples in Italy. After a quick breakfast, we rushed at the Epic Theatre to join with our team to go to Sorrento. This was our first stop on our European cruise and it was a great way to start out the trip. We started our trip at 8 am. Sorrento is a beautiful city, an hour and a half drive from the port.

We got some really cool pictures of the beautiful Amalfi coastline. Sorrento is the land of lemons. Lemons, which grow abundantly throughout the hills, are in every form of product like candies, soaps, cookies, cakes, pies etc. Sorrento is famous for the production of limoncello, a digestif made from lemon rinds, alcohol, water and sugar.

We stopped at a wood shop where they make inlaid furniture. We were given a quick demonstration from the owner of the wood factory.

Our group was given one and half hour to walk around Sorrento on our own. We had our lunch in a restaurant; there they served the pizza and lots of wine.

We reached the port at 4.30.We need to swipe our security cards and screen our baggage on every boarding to the ship.

In the evening we enjoyed the music by Manhattan Band.

We departed at 7pm from Naples.

Day Four

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

We reached Rome at 6am. On this day we started our trip to Rome, an hour away from the port Civitavecchia. Our Italian tour guide was enthusiastic and funny. She was saying ‘Oh, Mamma Mia!’ meaning My Mother while our coach stopped some busy streets of Rome.

We visited the symbol of Ancient Rome – the magnificent Colosseum.

The Colosseum is one of the great works of Roman engineering and was built in 72AD. It once held 55,000 people while they watched gladiator combat games and wild animal shows. Spent some time there for pics and had our lunch in a restaurant. Next our journey is to the Vatican City.

The Vatican is very crowded (estimates 30,000+ visitors per day). But we were able to see the Vatican museum, the Sistine chapel and St. Peter's Basilica just as scheduled.

The Vatican is very strict and does not allow anyone to wear shorts inside (knees can't show nor shoulders).

We walk through the long corridors to the Sistine Chapel. Strictly no photos, even without flash. They were very strict about this and all you hear is "Shhhhhhh..... QUIET! No photos!" and lots of whispering. The chapel is crowded with people gazing upwards to the Michelangelo ceiling. Every inch, Michelangelo's ceiling was amazing and beautiful.

We saw the Swiss soldiers on guard at the gates of Vatican City. Allora! Let’s go. (Allora is an Italian word means now/ then). We boarded the bus for ride back to the ship.

We departed from Civitavecchia at 7pm.

Day Five

Florence (Livorno), Italy

We reached Livorno at 7am. We planned a trip to Florence. Florence is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and a centre of medieval European trade and financ