We arranged our trip and did airfare and transfers through NCL. We are headed to Hawaii later this summer and did NOT book air and transfers. Dover is a long way from Heathrow and we were flying in same day. NCL put our connection at less than 45 minutes and due to a short delay on the outbound flight, we were quickly rerouted to another airline in order to make the transatlantic flight. Of course our 4 suitcases did not make the change. We received our bags in Copenhagen. NCL was most gracious, offering toiletries (we had these), T shirts to sleep in/wear and free laudry service. They also handled all of the luggage communication with United.Ship/Cabins: we had two adjoining balcony cabins, 9610 and 9612. The cabins were very nice, very comfortable beds and everything was efficiently organized.  Ryan and Randy were our two cabin stewards and were super!  Both were personable and seemed to enjoy interacting with the guests.  If we asked, they delivered. These two are terrific NCL ambassadors.Entertainment: Attended almost all shows and enjoyed them. The ship dancer/singer/acrobats were better than any from other ships and the Cirque show is not to be missed. Even the Country show was good (and I expected Broadway country which would have been awful).  Dont miss the comedian or the juggler...Activities: I communicated my disappointment in the activities group early on. They do lots of trivia, bingo and karaoke but not much else during the morning or afternoon. After my comments, the Director called me. He noted that the weather on previous Baltic trips had been terrible and that as a result, they hadnt planned much for the pool. On the last two of the 4 sea days, Rich did add more activities during the day. In comparison to Holland and Celebrity, activities are pretty lame.  There is tons to do in the evening but less in the later morning early afternoon. The pool is heated but air temps were unpredictable and the activities staff tended to stay indoors doing trivia lists.  Only one of the team appeared to love what they do...Vaughn.  The others wanted to please but just seemed to be going through the motions.Food:  Get ready for spray sanitizer as you enter any eating area. (and this is a GOOD thing, folks). Complaints about the NCL food had us worried. Unless you are a real foody, it is good. Main dining room food was good to ,in a couple of cases, very good. Fish dishes were spotty. Many passengers noted that it seemed that the pay extra dining was more like standard fare on RCL, Celebrity, Princess and Holland. I am not sure how easy it is to make such a determination. I will say that the dining room service was efficient but never friendly. Personal service is what you miss with "As you wish" dining. We ate at Le Bistro twice, loved the food, but were not thrilled with the service. The restaurant manager seated us then came to bring water (due to some delays with the server) and was actually on his cell phone while he handled our table. I have never seen this before...anywhere. He was also what I call 'fake nice' to the guests but very rude to the staff.We also ate at Mamas. I liked it but the other 10 folks at our table thought it wasnt worth paying extra for. We very much recommend lunch at Tzar's palace. For some reason, these lunches offered our best meals of the trip.My son tried Chin Chin with some friends and raved about it.Seats are very limited at the Garden cafe at breakfast and lunch...we always agreed to meet outside at the bow or in Mamas kitchen with our plates and didnt try to fight for the few seats near the buffet.Bar Service:  Our family and new friends met at the end of each port day to sail away in Spinnaker lounge. We enjoyed the views and companionship there.  Service was sketchy there with one terrific exception. We very much enjoyed Vladko. He was very nice, adjusted blinds for us without being asked, helped us get to the top deck for sail the 'under the bridge' on the last at sea evening. Dont miss seeing this or the sail away out of Stockholm.Ports: I will make this short as many reviews cover the ports well.Copenhagen: took the hop on hop off bus at the pier. Do NOT go to Tivoli as nothing there really opens until 4pm. They open the park at 11am but most rides, 90% of restaurants and all shows are not open. It was an expensive lesson for us.Warndemunde: Took the Gerstrow excursion through NCL and then wandered around the sea side port and beach. Very nice day since we had beautiful weather.Talinn, Estonia:  Follow the walking tour (Rick Steves), eat lunch at HellHunt (kitchen is open 12-2) and make sure to catch the views at Toompea. Wonderful port!St. Petersburg: Most amazing city visited. Booked active tour through SPB-Viktoria. Our guide was Elena. She was a perfect ambassador and hostess/guide for our whirlwind two days.  My Dad's pedometer showed us walking 28,000 steps on Day 1 (that is about 12 miles). Debarkation was very smooth. Just eat breakfast early, have your documents (NCL pre prints the landing card for you now) and be at the independent gangway by 6:45. As soon as the ship clears you will sail out before the NCL tours make their way down. Day 2 is very easy. Almost everyone accepts credit cards or Euros here. Do Peterhof Fountains, Catherines Palace, The Hermitage, Church of Spilled Blood, Peter and Paul's Cathedral. We did a very quick and cheap lunch stop.Helsinki, Finland. Our friends did the bus and had a little trouble because they got lost. We did Sommolina Fortress and then were dropped back at the market for shopping. GREAT shopping with beautiful handmade finnish goods. Later we met our friends at the Ice Bar at La Bodega. It opened at 4 and they called a taxi for us to make a speedy return to the ship. $10 euro per adult, $5 euro per child and great fun!Stockholm: We did the Vasa and City Hall (dont miss either of these folks). You can do a hop on hop off boat or a ship tour. We also caught the changing of the guard at 12:15. Get there early and be at the Royal Palace ticket office for best view.  This is an EXPENSIVE port. Lunch (sandwiches and drinks) came out to be $80 for 4 people. We walked back to the ship from Old Town...dont believe the 20 minute walk but it isnt too bad.  This is the shortest port time so dont miss being on board at 330pm.Overall: The itinerary is wonderful and the ship is a great value for price paid. The ships staff is efficient and makes a strong effort at resolving any issues. While it rained heavily on all prior departures, we had perfect days with no rain. NCL has some opportunities for sure but we are booked on the Pride of America to Hawaii and have no concerns anout the trip.