I'm a little torn on the rating. This was our first cruise with CCL, and our second overall (first one with NCL). So, can only compare the two. CCL is definitely more cost-effective, hands down. BUT, there's a constant upsell/marketing going on that gets old after a while. Also, a tendency to get carried away with trying to be FUN - you can't force that on people, we have to experience it for ourselves - trying to make us be loud all the time doesn't equal fun for us. The food was much better on CCL, though this could be ship-specific, so a hard one to call.

We were a little disappointed with the lack of Christmas decorations in the MDR, or anywhere other than the main atrium, actually, considering we were onboard for Christmas day. Christmas movies were only played on the day as well, though the classic songs played in the MDR were appreciated.

They needed to police the clamshells and deck chairs better - we saw people constantly reserving them, ignoring the signs telling them not to, but staff didn't do anything about it. One man, in particular, kept moving towels and belongings around in a clamshell and two chairs on the Serenity (adults only) deck, which nobody was actually using them - we watched it for about two hours, and he was still there when we left... NCL didn't do anything about this, either. Very annoying. Read more