First time trying Norwegian and it would be our last time. We should have stuck with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. Food in the Taste dining room was so plain that we went to bed hungry the first night. It's unthinkable to be hungry on a cruise ship. First time ever after 10 cruises with other cruise lines. Lunch was not better there either. Our arugula salad was soaked with vinegar and salt that none of us could finish. We saw people sitting at the next table also returning their salad to the kitchen so it's not just us being picky. The following day we asked for the dressing and salt separate from the salad so we could adjust the amount. Our waiter came back from the kitchen telling us they could not meet our simple request. The fact that your service staff is not dedicated to your table for the week doesn't seem to encourage them to try hard for your tip. Desserts taste really plain that we usually just skipped that part of the meal, which used to be our favorite on other ships.

At least food is decent in the specialty restaurants when you pay the extra cover charge. However, expect to pay even more if you work up a good appetite and ask for an extra main dish. The service staff is nowhere as attentive as we would normally get on other cruises, with the exception for one in the Brazilian restaurant.

Free style dining didn't turn out to be much special. We ended up going for dinner at 6:00 every day to avoid long line-ups after that. Read more