4th time NCL cruiser and this was the most and probably the one that will push me toward Carnival or RC. First off, i must say the staff was absolutely great. very friendly, courteous, and most seemed to be willing to do anything for you. they are mostly phillipine and just genuinely nice! embarkation and disembarkation was a breeze. very easy, and friendly staff there as well.
the ship itself is just a mishmash. very nicely laid out cabins, although they were definitely worn and showed a great deal of wear & tear. signage on the ship could have been better. food quality was about 2 star. the buffets were the same old stuff, boring, bland, lacking visually. specialty restaurants were indeed better, but really only about 2.5- maybe 3 star at best. there was nothing extraordinary or exciting about any of the food! with all the phillipino staff on board why not offer a few native entrees, at least on the buffet line -- NCL should take advantage of this! (trying new cuisines from different cultures would have been most welcomed) Food in the main dining rooms was boring, bland, and just not very good at all. Service was better at specialty restaurants also (more senior staff?)
layout of the ship was blech. terrible pool deck. the tiered effect just didnt work for us. it seeme like they tried to cram in the pool, hot tubs, and silly, unused waterslides in far too small of a space.
mini suite on deck 11, nice layout, nice balcony, bed, bathroom, clean, but in terrible need of a redo!