We had anticipated this cruise for several months, only to be very disappointed. Embarkation was relatively smooth, but more like a cattle call. Directions were poor, but the line moved quickly. We were impressed by the ship as we boarded. Well decorated and the public spaces seemed well kept. From there it went down hill. My family had two balcony adjoining staterooms and as we enter them, realized that they were filthy. One stateroom had food and beverage cartons in the trashcans, crumbs on the carpet, stained bedspread, and dusty and dirty shelves. The second stateroom revealed damaged (torn and melted) upholstery, dirty carpets, nail clippings and hair in the bathroom, as well as dirty walls, mirrors and shelves. I immediately proceeded to the front desk, only to be told that due to the full occupancy of the ship, that we could not change rooms. My family's decision was to get off the ship while we could. Calls were placed to our travel agent who contacted NCL and only after speaking to the housekeeping supervisor, the executive housekeeper, and the Hotel Director, and receiving assurances that the rooms would be sanitized, did we agree to stay. The remainder of the afternoon and early evening were spent supervising the cleaning of the rooms. Many times my wife had to point out areas that still need attention. The upholstery was replaced as well. Eventually, the staterooms were cleaned to our expectation and, to the credit of the hotel director, remained well kept for the duration of the cruse. However, first impressions are everything. As a result of remaining with the cabins until they were cleaned, we missed our opportunity to sign up for any of the excursions, which we were told had filed up when we approached the desk the following morning. (By the time we had eaten on the night of embarkation, the excursion desk had closed.) Further, we were unable to make reservations for dinner. A bright spot in this ordeal, was our interaction with the hotel director and his secretary who went out of their way to try and help us with dinner reservations and contacted us daily to ensure that the rooms were being kept clean.
While the free style cruising has benefits, we found out that many of the choice reservations are made days in advance by the concierge staff, while only reservations one day in advance could be made for all other passengers and were filled by early morning. We were able to eat at the steakhouse, where the food was very good. The food in the remainder of the restaurants was average and the service fair to good, with the exception of Azura, where the service was poor. The garden cafe (buffet) food quality was fair at best and the service poor.
We were unable to comment on the shore excursions, as they were all booked when we tried. Both my son and myself are avid scuba divers and were unable to dive at all on this cruse. One of the reasons we had selected this cruise was because of its many opportunities to dive.