We have cruised with NCL about 10 times, and are always pleased at the energy on NCL ships! I don't know if it is due to "Freestyle", but the passenger's energy always seem to be greater on NCL.

We stayed at the Intercontinental Tampa prior to the cruise and were very happy with the accommodations. Nice, clean room and a very comfortable bed. It was walking distance to several fast-food restaurants. In the morning we used Uber for the first time and had a very pleasant trip with our driver at a very good price.

We arrived at the pier at about 1:00 and there was a wait, but the line moved quickly. My husband and are are new Platinum members as of this cruise an really enjoyed the extra "perks"---but we did miss having a robe in our cabin. Since we are newly retired, we are watching our pennies in order to travel more so we booked an inside cabin, where you don't receive robes, even if you are Platinum. We were in cabin 9009, forward. We love the ships rocking, so didn't mind those white caps the first night! The room is very tiny--smaller than other insides we have been in. We could also hear our neighbors on one side, and they were by NO means loud. They spoke in normal tones and we could clearly hear what they were saying (and hear them snoring). I'm sure they heard us too. The bathroom is a good size, especially the shower. We had several issues with the toilet not flushing, but it always seemed to work, even if the flush was delayed. There was a wet area on the carpet just inside the door, which grew a bit more everyday. I'm not sure what that was about, but at least it didn't have an odor. Read more