August 23-30 was cloudy, drizzly, rainy, cool but we still managed to do all we had planned.

Embarkation was a breeze. Our first cruise on NCL. 15th cruise in total. We were onboard having lunch in Tsar DR at 12:30 and at 1 we heard the announcement that the rooms were ready. Because of reviews about the food I had paid for the dining pkg and had made reservations ahead for Moderno the first night. I tried their Classic Caipiroska cocktail even though I am not a cocktail drinker but it sounded so different and it was very good. The salad bar is amazing. Be sure to try the mushrooms, hearts of palm and yellow beet salad. I had seconds of those. Don't take the bread from the buffet table, wait for the Brazilian cheese bread to be put on your table. Meat: lamb chop very good, chicken breast/leg very good, beef ribs excellent, all other meats (except sausage which we didn't try) were tough. Desserts okay. Sides were rice (plain), black beans, garlic mashed very good and fried sweet bananas excellent. Evening show introduced dancers, Nickolodian and comedian. Pretty good show.

Breakfast in Garden Cafe early. Several omelet stations. Other cruises we've been on had only one and always a big line up so this was great. Breakfast was great. We noticed prime rib being served one evening and it looked really good but..we had the dining pkg. Tried bingo but as with other cruise lines it is overpriced. I am a bingo player so I know that to get a full card in 47 numbers is almost impossible. I play 3 times a week and I've never seen it done yet. So you might as well wait for the last session of the week when they offer a $1000 in whatever numbers it takes. 55 is definitely possible for a full card. It had been 30C when we left Seattle but the temperature had quickly dropped to 20C and continued to go lower over the week. The Seattle sun disappeared never to be seen but briefly again. First time we'd heard a ship's foghorn. Lunch in Tzar. Do try the roasted peach dessert if they offer it. That was the best dessert of the entire cruise! Dinner at Teppanyaki. Very entertaining but way too much food. Better than saying too little but a lot of waste of seafood, chicken and beef. Even the guys could not finish. Entertainment tonight was Duo Deja Vu, a couple from Russia who combined dance, gymnastics, acrobatic skills and even singing. Excellent. Do not miss it. Clocks back 1 hour tonight. Read more