We decided to book this cruise on fairly short notice (sail date was June 28, 2014) and we booked the mini-suite with a balcony stateroom (GTY). We knew that the cruise line would choose our stateroom, though we did not think that they would place us in the "family deck" as we were traveling as a mature couple with no children. As our luck would have it, we were assigned stateroom 12788, right by the "Splash Academy", in the middle of the family deck 12. I called them a few days before the sail date and asked to be moved to another deck, they would not consider this at all. They even stated that this stateroom was "an upgrade" from our MX category stateroom. I was very appreciative for this "upgrade" but was concerned about being in the middle of an area designed for families traveling with young children. Still, NCL refused to consider a change.

Boarding went smoothly, the ship had lots of options for dining so we purchased the ultimate dining package ($119.00 pp) so we could sample all the specialty restaurants, with only exception (additional $30.00 per person) from this package being the Ocean Blu (by Iron Chef G. Zacharian). We were glad we did this, most of them were very good...We would rate Cagney's as number 1, followed by La Cucina, Ocean Blu, Moderno and lastly Tappenyaki. We did not dine at the Tropicana Room, though we should have instead of Moderno or Tappenyaki. We brought our own wine bottles for our dining reservations and the corkage fee of $15 per bottle was very reasonable. We also purchased a pass for The Vibe Beach Club for the entire cruise...suggest that you do this as soon as you board because the number of passes are very limited ($79.00 pp). This area is quieter, better quality chaise lounges and no children...has its own bar, 2 hot tubs and 5 cabanas...

The stateroom was a mini-suite, supposedly 3-4 can sleep in it...bathroom has a wide sink with two faucets and a full shower/tub...though the shower is a hand eld wand-type. Water pressure was very low, though if you use the wand, it does the job. The rest of the room has a couch, a closet and a large bed (close to a king size). The balcony was small in our view, room enough for 2 small chairs...but being on deck 12, mid-ship starboard made for a nice view. The amenities included a safe, a mini-bar and a TV. The bathroom offered hand soap, shower gel and shampoo containers, no conditioner, no bars of soap. Read more