NCL SPIRIT - Barcelona to Venice

[romeo204]

A few more...

 

Rome

 

Venice

 

Murano

[duffymcduff]

Thank you for your review...we are taking this cruise in reverse next May. Appreciate your tips!

[AF-1]

I agree with OP. Rome in Limo is a great company. They make you feel like your getting your money's worth.

[clarkg]

The pictures are awesome! Thank you so much. I am getting so excited.

[romeo204]

The pictures are awesome! Thank you so much. I am getting so excited.

 

 

You're welcome. Anything I'm particular that you wanted to see? I take requests! Hahaha

[CanadaTraveller]

Great review. Did the same cruise 2 years ago, right from Winnipeg. Review in my signature. Stayed at hotel Jazz and felt the same as you on the hotel and the location. And really enjoyed the subway. Barcelona and Istanbul are two cities I will return to.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[b_cruise]

I will be on this cruise in less than a year, lol...great review!!

 

I went to Athens a couple years ago on RCL, and everyone at our dining table including myself had the same impression as you. I think for me, I was so excited for this port it was somewhat of a disappointment. The rest of the ports were great.

 

What was your favorite area?

 

Any noisy cabins to avoid? I can't remember what one I'm in, an inside though.

 

What were the highlights if Istanbul you can do on own? Istanbul is my main reason for booking plus I want to go to positano again.

[romeo204]

I will be on this cruise in less than a year, lol...great review!!

 

 

 

I went to Athens a couple years ago on RCL, and everyone at our dining table including myself had the same impression as you. I think for me, I was so excited for this port it was somewhat of a disappointment. The rest of the ports were great.

 

What was your favorite area?

 

Any noisy cabins to avoid? I can't remember what one I'm in, an inside though.

 

What were the highlights if Istanbul you can do on own? Istanbul is my main reason for booking plus I want to go to positano again.

 

 

Good Morning b_cruise...its very hard for me to pin down a favourite but If I had to then it would be Rome. The whole experience was just so far over the top that it has to be. The Vatican is simply imdescribable.

 

We stayed on Deck 11 but if I was to book again, I would likely choose Deck 10. Just a bit more convenient and maybe a likely less noise from the shuffling of deck furniture. If you can afford it, get a balcony stateroom...you will not regret it!

 

All the mainstays in Istanbul are worth a look. The Blue Mosque, Hagis Sophia, etc are all very unique and beautiful. Obviously the Grand Bazar is a must see as well. All are within walking distance from each other but a guide certain helps.

 

Positano is incredibly beautiful. Easily in my top 3 places to visit again.

[titangas]

Awesome pics Mark!

Is the Barcelona pic taken from the ship?

 

We leave tomorrow for Barcelona to cruise the Spirit on July 29.

We are also staying at the Hotel Jazz before, we are staying next door to the BW at the Hotel Arlecchino in Venice afterward and on Deck 11 (11606)

Edited July 26, 2014 by titangas

[romeo204]

Awesome pics Mark!

Is the Barcelona pic taken from the ship?

 

We leave tomorrow for Barcelona to cruise the Spirit on July 29.

We are also staying at the Hotel Jazz before, we are staying next door to the BW at the Hotel Arlecchino in Venice afterward and on Deck 11 (11606)

 

 

You are going to have a great time!

The Barcelona pic was taken from the top on the old bull ring which is now a mall. Great view of the city from up there. (See pic)

Make sure you enjoy an evening drink at the Jazz's rooftop lounge. The olives are delicious too!

 

 

 

[Loving My Life]

So excited to read your review. We are planning to do this itinerary in May 2015. It will be our first time to the Mediterranean and our first time with NCL. I am reading all I can here on cc and I have Rick Steve's Med Cruise Ports. Your pics are great. I can't wait to see it all in person!!

[romeo204]

Thanks!

[b_cruise]

Thanks again...

 

One more question, do you think it would be possible to make 1025 flight out of Venice? We disembark at 8 although at one time the cruise said overnight in Venice but now it is a sea day then disembark next day Venice 8 am . I'm assuming we will be in earlier as we are obviously just floating around if before we were already going to be in Venice.

[romeo204]

Thanks again...

 

 

 

One more question, do you think it would be possible to make 1025 flight out of Venice? We disembark at 8 although at one time the cruise said overnight in Venice but now it is a sea day then disembark next day Venice 8 am . I'm assuming we will be in earlier as we are obviously just floating around if before we were already going to be in Venice.

 

 

Before you make any plans, I would suggest that you confirm your schedule with NCL.

 

Venice was one of the most amazing ports and you should at least plan for a day in that wonderful city!

[b_cruise]

Yes, I agree but time restraints and I have been there before. Thanks

[dfm1018]

I'm booked for this cruise next May. Thanks for the informative review! It will be a great help.

[buddy1755]

We will be doing this cruise in reverse may 7, 2015, we opted for inside cabin, as we don't plan to be in cabin a lot. I am curious about a couple things....Which deck do you disembark from? Is there a mad rush to get out? When i look at the schedule, it has port times ie Rome 8 am to 7 pm, what time can u disembark, 9 ish? We will likely go with rome in limo for most of Italy same as you.

[romeo204]

Hi buddy1755...we disembarked on deck 7 and experienced no mad rush at all. As for Rome, when its says "8 AM to 7 PM" that means the ship leaves at 7 PM. Rome-In-Limo is an outstanding choice!

[soakedbythesea]

Hi Mark,

 

We'll be doing the cruise in 6 months and enjoyed your review. Like you, we plan to visit Barcelona a couple of days before the cruise, then have lunch in the dining room when we board about noon or 1PM. We stay at BW Olimpia in Venice for an extra couple of days too.

 

We were originally on Island Princess, but found NCL Spirit to have on extra port and saved about $2000. Our tour guide for Pompeii liked it better too, as we have a bit more time with NCL. With smaller cabins and balconies, we'll suffer :--) We have never been on a cruise we didn't like, incl a couple on NCL.

 

One tip for Barcelona is to get to the Palace (great photos BTW) early evening, as the fountains light up at night and sometimes there is entertainment.

 

Wearing a money belt, like Rick Steves under clothing can protect passports. Wrap cards with foil to protect from scanning scams. We copy everything and keep the colored copies in separate area from wallet, etc. Also, we've found ATM to be the best way to get local currency with debit card, not credit card.

 

Thanks for nice review and pics, eh?

 

Hope this cold weather passes soon, we almost got to freezing here in Houston. Almost time for Hawaii for us, then off to the Med in May. .

[romeo204]

Thanks soakedbytheseas. Have a great trip!

[peterinavon]

thank you so much for the very detailed post, just amazing. I will be doing this cruise next June.

How many people went with you, if any, on the Rome in Limo tours and if you went with others, how did you manage to pull that off and get others to go on the same private tour with you?

[romeo204]

thank you so much for the very detailed post, just amazing. I will be doing this cruise next June.

 

How many people went with you, if any, on the Rome in Limo tours and if you went with others, how did you manage to pull that off and get others to go on the same private tour with you?

 

 

Hi peterinavon...We had 7 in our group. We met our tour mates on the Cruise Critic Roll Call. They just happen to be from Calgary and we are from Winnipeg. Thats a boat load of Canadians! LOL

You can also watch the RomeinLimo website to see if any other groups are looking for extras to fill the quota.

[peterinavon]

Hi Romeo204,

thanks for the quick reply. Did CC rules allow you to post about RomeinLimo on the roll call in order to gather interest and members? Is this allowed?

 

Thanks for the info about looking for members on their web site as well. I would not have known about that, appreciate this tip very much.

 

Adore some of your pictures, the overhead in Barcelona with the square is amazing as are the shots around and in the Vatican.

 

Thank you so much for your help and for sharing.

[romeo204]

Yup, rules allow you to look for gather other members for excursions.

I'm glad you found my posts helpful. Have a great trip!

[peterinavon]

Hi romeo204,

If I can bother you again, I saw that you commented on using Ephesus Shuttle for both Istanbul and Kudasi. I went to their web site and they were recommending on not adding others to your private party and to keep it private even though they offer prices for many different numbers of groups.

 

So I guess my question is did you go with others on your tours here and which ones did you choose? Looks like our sailing will be in Istanbul on Friday and they say that they don't go to the Blue Mosque as it's closed till 4:30pm.

 

Thanks again for all your help.

Peter