This is my 3rd cruise with NCL and my husband's 2nd. We love the concept of freestyle cruising and we are "go with the flow" type cruisers and try not to plan every minute of the day. We left Miami on Nov. 1 and stayed in downtown Miami the night before. We did not feel the need to make reservations for restaurants or shows prior to the cruise and did not feel that was necessary for the 2 of us. If you are traveling with a larger group, I do recommend doing so. We did not see the Illusionarium but heard great things about it from fellow cruisers. The comedy show was good and we really liked Headliners which was also where the dueling piano show was. (Don't miss that!) Burn the Floor was really good and we also enjoyed the Newlywed game, Name that Tune and listening to Matan Franco on piano. We also enjoyed the Sail Away party and fireworks! We ate mostly at the Tropicana Room for dinner along with Le Bistro as part of our Anniversary package (Which was jam packed with a nice array of items that made us feel extra special!) Roses, chocolate covered strawberries, couple's massage, breakfast in bed, tea service, bottle of wine etc).

Le Bistro was fantastic and the location of this restaurant on this ship is really fun! It is in the middle of all the action! We also ate at La Cucina and the food was wonderful! The grilled shrimp and Ossobucco was fantastic! The service everywhere was wonderful and everyone was so friendly and accommodating! We loved our room steward Shashank who was always taking time to ask about our day and if we needed anything to make us more comfortable. We really enjoyed talking with him and our room was always so clean and neat! We had a balcony stateroom which was really nice since we did have rain on a few occasions. We also opted for the week-long spa pass which was a wonderful place to relax in the thermal suite, sauna, steam room and thermal pool! We also enjoyed the buffet for quick snacks and ice cream! The food was perfectly fine- we are not picky eaters but we did notice there were always salad, french fries, hot dogs, hamburgers, fruit etc. for those who may not like the specialty items.

Even with a larger ship, the only day it felt crowded was when we were at sea with a full sunny day! We arrived on deck early and could only stand the hot sun from 9am-1pm. We opted for the spa and our balcony after that. Read more