I must say, as a first time cruiser I was a little terrified to go on my first cruise through Europe. Crossing various waters, travelling to new places I have never dreamed of visiting; there is a first for everything right?

My opinion may be biased as I am a first time cruiser, but the Norwegian Spirit was a fantastic first time experience. With an incredible itinerary ahead of us, our journey started in Barcelona and we made our way through Casablanca, Las Palmas, Santa Cruz De Tenerife, Funchal, Malaga (Granada), Alicante, and back to Barcelona. During this 11 day cruise I had lots of time to take in the many parts of the ship itself, but this itinerary also had us on our feet exploring these incredible destinations.

To start, the food was incredible! Each morning we enjoyed fresh omelettes at the buffet, various options for lunch, and for dinner we went to the Windows restaurants and had new options to try every night. To change up our meals, we also tried the Cagney’s Steakhouse (honestly, the best steak I have ever had), and Shogun’s for an amazing assortment of Asian, Chinese, Thai, and Japanese cuisine. I definitely never went to bed hungry! The drink package was beneficial for this cruise as we would have up to 2 days in a row at sea.

One of the highlights of being on the ship was the entertainment. I talked with some frequent cruises and the feeling was mutual; NCL has some of the best shows and performances at sea.

Again, being that this was my first cruise, one of the biggest concerns for me was the rocking of the ship and getting seasick. I was fully prepared for the waves, and when they came the crew on the ship took appropriate caution. This eased my worries and I felt very safe by the welcoming and friendly staff on board.

I would do this exact same itinerary in a heartbeat to view this side of the world again. Make sure you go for the excursions. There are so many to choose from, and each island had unique experiences hosted by NCL.