Don and I took a cruise of Europe on the Norwegian Cruise Line March 6-20th, 2009. The ports that we visited were Civitavecchia Italy (1 hour train ride to Rome); Piraeus Greece (near Athens); Ephesus Turkey; Alexandria Egypt (3 hour car drive to Cairo); and Valletta Malta. This was a trip of a lifetime. With the help of our daughter-in-law Bridget, we booked private tours in Greece, Turkey and Egypt. The private tours were fantastic and certainly worth the expense. We were able to ask questions of our tour guides on the culture, economics, religious beliefs, etc and tour the sites at our own pace.
The pictures of each port are published by port…….check them out 
Hope you enjoy them!!!
We did not like the food on the Norwegian Cruise Line. They have “Freestyle Dining” and the food in the main dining room was similar to cafeteria food. We ended up eating in 6 of their ’specialty’ restaurants which we VERY good, however, there was an extra charge ($10-$35.00 per person depending on the restaurant). The main entertainment shows were ’so-so’. Instead, we went to see an improv group about 6 times. They were GREAT and a lot of fun!!!
The captain told everyone BEFORE their visit ashore to Egypt that they needed to be VERY diligent about washing their hands (all the way to the elbows) and not to drink the water unless it was bottled. After the ships visit to Egypt (day 9 of the cruise), there was an outbreak of gastroenteritis onboard. At that point, we were no longer allowed to use the serving spoons at the buffet on the ship. The crew had to dish out our food and the public bathroom doors were kept open. Don and I managed to escape the GI problem, I carried Purell and we used it like every hour while in Egypt!!!
