This was our first trip to Alaska and also our first time cruising with NCL. Embarkation was great. The lines flowed smoothly, we made it on board quickly and without any real issues. It did however take longer than expected for our bags to make it to our state room. We found them in the hall along with some other luggage that hadn't been processed and we carried them to the room ourselves. The balcony room we had was roomy and I loved that we had a partition for toilet sink and shower. The boat seemed understaffed compared to some cruises on other cruise lines. The staff was polite but not overly friendly as a whole.

We enjoyed the Java bar in the atrium, the bartenders there were very friendly and personable. Our cabin steward was nice and efficient, but again I feel like he may have been carrying a greater workload than some of our previous cruises. We did our best to avoid the buffet area on deck 12. It was always crowded and seating was hard to come by. The complementary dining was good but not exceptional and the variety was not that great. I'm sure that is by design to entice you to select premium dining options.

As far as the entertainment goes, we enjoyed the legends show and the comedians version of the wizard of Oz. The swing show was painful. If you want to have a decent seat (or any seat for that matter) you need to go super early at least 30 minutes prior to showtime. The theatre seats are close together and do not offer any drink holders or tables. As for the freestyle dining, We loved the concept of less structure and more casual, but we found out we would rather sacrifice that for having the same waiter/ waitress every night and having after dining dancing with the wait staff. Read more