Destinations

LOCATION, LOCATION, location is as important in cruising as it is in real estate. Norwegian Cruise Line has captured the concept beautifully on a cruise in the Mediterranean, a voyage back in time to the beginnings of civilization. It includes a taste of Rome in its pre-Christ glory, Athens and its Acropolis, plus the wonders of Egyptian pyramids, which date back thousands of years before Christ.

The Norwegian cruise provided 12 days of history coming alive, starting and ending in Barcelona. The port stops were in Rome, Athens, Alexandria, medieval Malta and Izmir, Turkey, which is close to the ruins of the ancient city of Ephesus, What made the trip even more remarkable is that it can be done in winter. Norwegian has opened up year-round Mediterranean exploring.

Two-year-old Norwegian Jade is the ideal ship for this itinerary. It accommodates almost 2,400 passengers in an atmosphere of resort-style flexibility. Freestyle is the catch word. Eat where you want, when you want and how you want.

There’s no formal dress code, because it varies according to the restaurant of choice. Some passengers do the entire cruise in jeans, and some get dressed to the nines for an evening of dining in one of the ship’s many specialty restaurants. There are seven of them, featuring French, Italian, Japanese, Mexican. Three other theme restaurants have a dress code called country club casual.

Norwegian’s concept of cruising is different from its competitors. They have a reasonable fare structure, and make up for it with priced ala carte choices aboard. If you so choose, you can dine lavishly in any one of the many restaurants that are included in the fare. Or you can pay a cover charge of $10 to $25 to eat in one of the more intimate specialty restaurants.

Think of it this way. You pay for the kind of cruise that suits you without getting nicked into paying for others’ grander desires. Norwegian wisely has chosen Barcelona as its home port in Europe. It’s the logical gateway to the Mediterranean.

Starting and ending the cruise in Barcelona also is a plus because it’s a great city for spending time before or after the cruise. Barcelona’s sparkling new cruise terminal is a joy. It takes first prize from frequent cruisers because of its design for convenient boarding and post-cruise disembarking. Color-coded airport-style baggage carousels are a wonderful solution to the usual scramble to retrieve luggage.

All of this makes for a very cosmopolitan atmosphere on board. Americans travel to Europe to experience a diversity of cultures. Norwegian seeks to provide that experience on board in addition to the experiences ashore. Non-American tourists apparently like the idea because half of the ship’s passengers were from 50 countries. The largest groups were from the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Australia, Austria, Switzerland, Mexico and the Netherlands. And the mix of ages is more diverse than usually found on large cruise ships.

Diversity also shows up in other ways. Public areas are plentiful, and there are 11 bars and lounges. There’s an Internet café and a library far superior to libraries on most other cruise ships. The ship’s spas have a wider range of offerings, including acupuncture and various exotic massages. There are lectures about the ports and nightly entertainment in the theater and lounges.

English is the official shipboard language, and all currency transactions are in dollars. The staterooms are on 110 AC current, and all contain a refrigerator, hair dryer and safe. The upper open deck has swimming pools, four hot tubs, a pool slide, and even some open-air casino tables. All the public areas and restaurants are smoke-free, but smokers have various locales available for them, including areas in the ship’s casino.

Norwegian Cruise Line figures it must be doing something right with its different approach. Fully one third of the passengers on my cruise were repeat cruisers with Norwegian.

Ed Arnow’s “On the Go” column about travel and leisure appears monthly. He can be reached at BrentwoodBuzz@aol.com.