Embarkation - this went as smooth as you could expect.  We had to wait in 3 lines before boarding the ship - one line to drop off luggage before entering the terminal, a second line for customs, and third line to register before boarding the ship.  The entire process took less than one hour.  When we boarded (around 1:30), the rooms were not ready, but by the time were were finished with lunch in the Garden Cafe, the rooms were ready.Dining - As first-time cruisers, my wife and I picked NCL because of the freestyle dining.  We have not cruised before primarily because we do not want to pack formal wear for vacation, and we do not want to be forced to eat with strangers.  After experiencing the freestyle dining, I do not think I could go on a cruise with traditional cruise dining.  We very much prefer the freedom to eat what and when we want.  The food overall was good.  We ate in Le Bistro (for a $15/person surcharge) once and Teppanyaki ($25/person surcharge) once.  The food and experience were nice, but not so much better than the main dining room - Four Seasons - to justify the high surcharge.  The Garden Cafe was disappointing.  On many days, it is the only choice for breakfast and lunch.  The buffet did not flow well, as many passengers often backtracked or simply cut into line.  The buffet food was good, but the seating is a HUGE problem.  Since very few people choose to eat their meal outside (as you may on a tropical cruise), everyone is crammed into the inside area of the Garden Cafe.  Finding a seat here was hopeless.  In fact, many people took their food and ate it in the nearby Sports Bar or Pacific Heights restaurant.  I do not understand why more restaurants were not opened.  We did not look forward to eating breakfast or lunch because of the seating situation.  This is definitely something NCL should try to improve on this ship.

Cabin - our cabin was a balcony cabin on deck 8 on the back of the boat.  The view from our cabin was great as we had a much wider view than a room on the side of the boat.  The room size was adequate, though if we did not have a balcony, we would have felt claustrophobic.  The shower is tiny and bar soap was not provided.  So, unless you want to use the liquid soap dispenser in the shower, I would recommend bringing your own soap.  There was also a faint smell of urine in our room coming from the toilet.  We always kept the toilet seat down, and the bathroom door shut to try to limit the odor.

Excursions - by far, the best part of the trip.  In Ketchikan, we went on the Misty Fjords and Wilderness Explorer.  Though it rained the entire time, the scenery was spectacular.  Binoculars, a souvenir route map, and complimentary snacks were available on the boat.  The naturalist was very informative and the rest of the crew were quite helpful.  In Juneau, we went on the Mendenhall Glacier and whale-watching boat excursion.  For the first hour, we drove by bus to the Mendenhall Glacier and enjoyed some spectacular views before returning to the port for the whale-watching cruise.  We saw many humpback and killer whales along with eagles and seals. This tour was run by the same company as the Ketchikan tour (Allen Marine Tours) and the boat and crew were very good.  In Skagway, we went on the helicopter tour to Meade Glacier. We spent abot 40 minutes flying back and forth to/from the glaicer.  The views were awesome.  We also spent about 40 minutes walking on the glacier (boots provided) where a guide pointed out many of the glacier features.  A once-in-a-lifetime experience.  The entire excursion lasted about 2 hours, so there was plenty of time available to walk around in Skagway.  It is a quaint but very small town with basically just one 7-block long street filled with gift shops.  On the second-to-last day of the cruise, the cruise ship sailed into Endicott Arm (Tracey Arm was to ice-filled).  We were able to enjoy some great scenery from our balcony.Entertainment and Recreation - as a married couple in our late 30's, we did not find much to do on the Sun.  Weather did not permit lounging by the pool, so everyone is pretty much confined inside the ship.  On the final day, it was finally warm enough for people to sit outside by the pool.  However, given the number of passengers on a ship this size, the pool area did seem quite small.  The daytime entertainment was weak and often revolved around getting passengers to spend more money (art, jewelry, etc.).   At night, the bar areas were dead.  On our first night, there were no more than 20 people total at any of the bar areas combined!  We attended some shows in the StarDust Lounge but did stay not long.  The crowd seemed to enjoy the shows, but since we do not enjoy watching Broadway-type shows or magicians when we are not on vacation, we were not too entertained by these shows on a cruise ship.  There were bands playing in various areas around the ship, but the music was typically lounge-style geared for the older crowd.  Service - generally, the staff on this ship did not seem eager to please.  The service was consisently average, as if everyone knew they were going to get their portion of the service charge regardless of the quality of service.  The Internet service was poor.  I once tried to use the wireless connection in the Internet Cafe, and was only able to load 2 pages in 16 minutes.  I had to visit the reception desks 3 times before getting the charges removed.  The service charge of $12/day/person was excessive, in my opinion.  Freestyle dining should also include freestyle tipping.  I added up all of the tips I would have provided to restaurant staff and stewards for the 7 days and did not come close to $168. Read more