Let me start by saying i have been on at least 4 NCL cruises. This weekend cruise to the Bahamas was not like the rest. Checking in was an easy process and although you can't go to the room till 1:30 you can get on board and have lunch and sit by the pool or use the other facilities on board. The luggage was outside the room when we got there at 4pm to prepare for the drill. Usually the cabin steward will greet you and ask if you need anything during your stay. I always give them some money to ensure they are responsive to my needs - usually $25. This on top of the daily mandatory $12 fee for the staff. We never saw the steward at all during the 3.5 days on board so he/she missed out on an extra tip. Our room was cleaned daily and we even found animals on the bed nightly made with the towels which is always a nice surprise. I booked a balcony room mid to aft section of the boat. You feel less motion in this area and most of the dining rooms and show areas are in the back of the boat so this was convenient. You learn where the best rooms are on these boats after being on a few. The room was small but that is to be expected. My fiance who isn't a large person couldn't believe the size of the shower. He kept seeing big people on board and asking how on earth they use that shower as the curtain was all over him while showering and he is small. People reviewed negatively on other reviews about the condition of the ship, rooms, food etc. I am a very strong critic and travel 4 - 6 times a year. Although its an older boat i did not find an issue with any of these areas. they were always shining something, or vacuuming or washing down things. There is a nick here and there but the food was decent and in the dining room, pool and beach the service was excellent. Never had to look for anyone to get a beverage. The dining room selections were similar nightly but we never had a bad meal. I know its a free style cruise but we saw people in the sit down dining room with bathing attire under their clothing and flip flops. I could understand this style of dress at the buffet but not in the dining room. There should at least be a policy that business casual dress be acceptable. No one seemed to stop these people. On this cruise we did not go to any of the specialty restaurants. I have been on other cruises and honestly didn't feel it was worth it. I live in NY and have the best restaurants if i want to go somewhere special. They had room service but we did not use it. We did see lots of plates outside rooms from others that did use it. The pool was a bit of a scene. We are smokers and used the designated areas. Others were smoking in the pool - no one stopped them. There were also children in the adult only pool eating ice cream and spilling in in the pool water. Again no one stopped them. They were pushing the drinks - good service but i also saw them serving people who were so inebriated they should not have been given more alcohol. No one stopped them. The entertainment on the other NCL cruises is usually a magician, comedian and dance shows. This one was only the cruise dancers and the shows were very similar. So much so that we skipped the last night. There were a lot of Spanish people on the boat. Seems some of the singers and events were geared toward that music.

The first port was Nassau. Went to Cable beach - don't bother. You take a taxi to this beach - have to walk up a giant hill and when you get on the beach its a resort area where you cannot use their facilities. They do have chairs at $10 a piece and umbrellas were $15. The little hut there charges $7 for a small bottled water. There is no restroom. We made the mistake by not going to the Atlantis - should have went there and paid for a day pass to use their facilities, pool, beach etc. So we didn't stay at the beach long - walked around Nassau a bit and then went back to the boat early to sit by the pool with the drunks. The second day was Stirrup Cay - their own island. Do not miss this. Lots of chairs with no fee, sand is white and the water calm and turquoise like glass. The water even had little schools of fish which looked like sardines. They have a barbeque with a buffet similar to the boat. They have other things to do with a fee - massages, tubes, kayaking and jet skiing. We had to take a tender to get on the island but we stayed most of the day and enjoyed ourselves.

Only went to the buffet for breakfast. People there were like animals cutting the line and piling their plate so high - i imagine no one could eat that much and most of it was more than likely thrown away. On other NCL boats when you enter the dining room there is someone there with a spray bottle saying "washy washy". Its an antibacterial spray they want to spray on your hands. Its mandatory on other boats - you are not getting in the dining room without being sprayed. This boat they had standing machines to put your hands under and although there is an attendant at each door no one is enforcing the hand washing. One of the reasons besides the free style cruising for me to choose NCL is that they have the lowest incidence of Noro virus. We went to bingo, name that tune and a few of the shows in dazzles that included the passengers in the show. One of them was 18+ due to the risky material discussed which is inappropriate for children yet i saw children there - again no one enforced the policy. We also went to karoeke and name that tune. we did not use the spa, basketball court or driving range. TV in the room has very limited channels for viewing. We did not buy any of the photos taken as they weren't good and very high priced. The casino only had one blackjack table. My fiance tried multiple times to play but could never get a seat at the table. There were only 2 wheel of fortune slot machines. I always have to use the restroom and saw many of them on the boat. Most of the public restrooms on this boat smelled badly and were messy - unflushed toilets and paper overflowing from the trash and on the floor. Departure was very crowded and if you aren't taking a flight or using their transportation you carry your own luggage off the ship. That was a bit of a drill in itself but i have seen worse. The lines were long going through customs. Getting a taxi was easy. Overall it wasn't a horrible cruise. Its what you make of it. We had a nice time despite all the people who were drunk and had no class. I would not do a short cruise again from this port though on NCL.