We've cruised this ship and itinerary before and it was pretty much the same except for the cabin. We upgraded at the last minute (with a very good rate) to an aft facing penthouse suite. The cabin number was 8132. Remember that number and location because if you dare to book it please be aware that the motion and shaking in the middle of the night will most likely leave you sleepless as it did us. The closet doors were slamming all night; I finally wrapped some rubber bands around the knobs and that helped. I also think someone came to help secure them better while we were out of the cabin after I told the butler about it. The view was GORGEOUS, especially at sail away from the islands and I'm glad we did it once but never again will we book that location. The forward suite (not forward facing) we had last time was much easier for sleep.

The renovations are lovely and more subdued. The ship itself is very relaxing. If you are looking for lots of activities, this is not the ship. There was an outbreak of "flu" they told us so we weren't allowed to handle buffet tools which was fine with me. I never saw so many people not covering their coughs! Disgusting.

We had a great enrichment lecturer on board, "Lou" the retired TWA pilot. He did talks on how planes fly using a simulator, the stars (on the forward outside deck at night which was really cool) and on the tides. My 9 year old was absolutely fascinated with all the scientific talk. We love this kind of thing and wish NCL and other cruise lines would do more of it. Read more