I read a lot of reviews on this cruise before we went and was a bit worried about the negative ones. We are in our 40s and have cruised 3 times. Basically, NCL nickel and dimes you for everything but if you read reviews in advance and prepare to take care of some things yourself you can have a wonderful cruise experience with the.
First thing - embarkation. I had read it was a nightmare. We had no trouble. Because most of the Mexican R. cruises are 7 days and NCL is 8 we were not embarking on a "mass" day with more than one ship. You may wish to check this before you book. With only 1 ship in port the process was as easy as could be (we've sailed with RC out of Harwich England and Disney out of Port Canaveral and this one was the easiest by far). We flew to LA that morning and were on the ship so early that our room wasn't even ready yet. you cannot complain about that. Be prepared, with any cruise you usually have to wait a half hour or more for your "boarding number" to be called.
Our room (inside): We were not travelling with our kids so we took an inside stateroom. I sure was glad I had read in advance to bring a power cord and digital clock (also bring conditioner - the hair dryer is better than my professional one at home so don't bring one of those). The room was really small and, it's funny to say, but the drawer squeaked so badly that I could hear the people next door and I'm sure they could here us each time we opened a drawer. We brought a sound soother (white noise maker) and I'm glad we did because the walls were not very soundproof. Also, the cabin is very small. It had no sitting area (but I think the balcony cabins do have a sitting area) so we sat on the bed when we watched TV in the room). There is only one power outlet and hence the need for a power bar. The room steward was nice and emptied the mini-bar for us and also did not unplug our clock.