sailawaygirlfriend

I sailed the NCL Spirit in Feb 2017. My only previous NCL cruise was the Epic in 2016, which I loved - both the ship and the itinerary (Canary Islands from Barcelona).

When I booked the Spirit, it was from Barcelona again, but to the Western Med. The ship itself was fine, much smaller than Epic, but interesting decor, seemed well maintained. The cabin was also standard and satisfactory. My main complaint issue was with the food and dining options. The two main included restaurants had exactly the same very limited menus day after day, and included a number of 'pay extra' a la carte items. Menu options were repeated during the course of the trip. Got boring after a few days, especially for vegetarian options. Quality was barely average, similar to a decent diner on land. If I wanted to pay extra I would have chosen the upgrade restaurants. The Asian option was fine, but not for every night. The buffet was the worst. I am guessing because it is a smaller ship, but the options were minimal, as opposed to the Epic a year before. Again, could have been a school cafeteria for the quality and creative options. Epic had offered specialty nights, i.e. pasta night, seafood night, Indian night, etc. Nothing like that on Spirit.

The other negative was that it seemed that every where you turn, someone was trying to sell you something - t-shirt, jewelry, scarves, other junk, etc. Enough already!!

Entertainment was fine, just mediocre, again not up to the quality on Epic. Again, guessing smaller ship has something to do with that.

Overall I manly picked this ship for the port of departure and the itinerary, so that was perfect and just what I wanted. Otherwise, the cruise part on the ship itself was less than impressive.

From Civitavecchi, take local bus to Tarquinia, a delightful, old, historic, Etruscan town about 20-30 minutes drive. Walking from port toward cathedral, get the Cotral bus opposite the cathedral, first buying ticket at Piazza Calamata/World School market, Casa del Gelato.

Tickets are €1.30 if you buy them ahead.The tickets are €7 each way if you buy them on board the bus.The bus is about20-30min and will drop you off in front of the Barriera San Giusto just outsidethe city center wall and 30 meters from the Etruscan Museum. There is a free'Navetta' that will take you to the Etruscan Necropolis. The tourism office isalso here where you can ask for a free map of the city. For further informationgo to www.etruscantourism.it or write to etruscaninfo@etruscantourism.it.

Bus times Port to Tarquinia: Time table Cotral Mon-Fri: : 06:30 08:0009:03 09:20 10:05 11:15 12:05(P2) 12:12

Saturday: 06:30 08:03 09:03 09:18 10:03 12:03

Sunday and holidays: 09:15

Tarquinia to Port: Time table Cotral: Mon-Fri:13:35 15:00 15:55 16:4017:35 18:20 19:30 20:45

Sat: 13:34 14:57 15:55 17:28 18:14 19:22 20:40

Sun and holidays: 17:45

Just did this trip in February and it was one of the best days off ship.

Ellen

I recently booked 4 small group day excursions with ItalyTours.Eu from cruise ports in Marseilles, Livorno, Messina, and Naples. These tours were the BEST I have taken. Reserving and payment was easy. Correspondance leading up to the dates was prompt and clear. Each tour guide was smart, personable, so very knowledgable about their route, accommoating and very considerate of group requests for stops, or special interests. The daily schedules included more than you would thing you could cover, but never seemed rushed. We were all happy with every trip. Pick up and drop off at the ship was always on time with no worries. Unfortunately, our ship was not able to dock at Marseilles due to bad weather. As promised, a refund was given quickly with no problem. For future travel in Italy or France, I will surely use them again.

Ellen

I was trying to find roll call, saw there were 10 but would not let me open it up. We are getting to Barcelona 2 days early already book a hotel. Has anyone used transportation there? I saw there was a hop on and off but but also a metro system. Does anyone one know about either of them?

I found the metro system very easy to use. Buy the 10 trip ticket. You can use iy for your group for the 2 days/ There is a roll call for the Feb 2-13 NCL Spirit. Try to find it by acccessing it through the Message Board. Looking for morew people to join for day excursions.

Ellen