A moderately short transatlantic cruise at a great price seemed just the ticket for someone who hates hates the overnight eastbound flight. Especially for me, a veteran cruiser on other lines who has somehow managed until now to avoid NCL because nearly everyone I knew who had sailed with them seemed to have had problems including one near capsizing in the Straits of Juan de Fuca.
But what the heck, I went ahead and booked two of us in separate balcony cabins, looking forward to experiencing the much-vaunted "freestyle" change of pace. And I did get my money's worth barely.
First off, I thought the best features of this particular cruise were (1) the Tsar's Palace dining room; (2) the largely Filipino waitstaff and cabin attendants who all spoke fluent English; (3) the smoothness of the Atlantic contrary to what some others have written here; (3) the shower in my cabin that exceeded the quality of many other lines' cramped and silly ones; and (4) the generally adequate and sometimes excellent entertainment. I also thought the check-in and check-out processes were only normally inconvenient. And the overall food quality in all dining locations was well above average.
Barely average for a balcony cabin on a newer ship. I think it was only 167 sq. ft., and in spite of a commodious shower the bathroom was tiny beyond belief. I could as well barely make out the tiny TV screen from across the room. Other than that it was what you might expect on a moderately-priced cruise line/