Well after reading a few reviews on here i thought oh well lets give it a go, FOOD-To me it wasnt that bad at all,the menus did change and even in the free ones,one night even having lobster and steak,we have gained a fair few pounds from all the food and you never go hungry i felt it wasnt samey but some of the restaurants you paid the extra charge on like the steakhouse and the asian gardens was way overpriced,i liked the service,food and ambience in Le Bistro,the french restaurant and felt it should be of the higher service charge then the others. POOLS-I did not once go in them,the Adult pool only was freezing and not that big at all,then the kids pool which was far to deep and very SALTY to the point other people said that the pigmentation was coming off their skin and i saw it on a few people,my kids hated it and only went in a few times when they were hot,stupid to have only two pools for 2800 guests...... ENTERTAINMENT-Very cheesy and great if you are over 50yrs old most of the time,kids could go to the disco for an hour then for another hour later on,then they had to leave,for those that state about kids shouldnt be allowed to run around or be in bed at a reasonable time get a life,its their holiday just as much as the adults and if there is not entertainment for them wot else are they supposed to do,so most adults had to go back to their rooms with the kids and not enjoy themselves,the kids club was very pathetic good for the first two days so the kids can meet friends.Its called FREESTYLE for a reason..... It was also very expensive per hour if we were at port and the kids didnt want to get off and then in the evening after 10.30 if you wanted some adult time you had to pay a higher rate and the kids didnt want to go in as we were told it was boring. PRICES-The service charges were absolutely ridiculous,paying a service charge for a PEPSI,let alone on everything you purchased whether in Duty free,spa or the only shop which was mainly designer stuff,maybe the Pringles were designer for the price.If you are an American it probably was the same as home but for those others mainly the brits,far too expensive,we knew we had to pay a service charge on alcohol but not EVERYTHING!!!We paid a gratuity at the booking for a reason so after the cost of drinks and everything we had it removed the last day without a whisper from the reception,Do they know that they are overcharging if they are quite free to give it all back??? EXCURSIONS-Totally overpriced if you book through the ship and unless you have thousands to throw away you would have to remortgage your house to pay for them,i agree that reception etc wont give out much info if you dont book with them and want to do your own thing which we did,learn a bit of the lingo and hand signals and it will help alot,get on a train for 4 euros for a day ticket,eat what and where you want just make sure you get back to the ship on time because it SUPPOSEDLY waits for no one,thats bull the day we left Lisbon,Portugal a dozen people were 30 mins late the ship waited for them,are there exceptions then NCL??????? OVERALL-We will not be going on NCL again maybe not another cruise even though this was our first,if you are a couple over 50yrs go for it,if you have kids choose another cruise line as this is certainly not worth over £3500,a shame that Ocean Village are changing as we might of given that a go. Keep a close tag on your final bills,overcharging on things seems to a way of NCL making money..................