This was my 7th cruise..3rd on NCL. First, alot of the negatives you hear about are true..but in my humble opinion..are somewhat overblown. Embarkation: EXCELLENT..on in no time flat. Cabins available earlier..we just snuck on in :) Cabins: Yes, the sink is really kind of silly, but you'll manage. I never had the floor covered with water, just had to get a little creative with rinsing my face. Yes, the cabins are too narrow, but the storage space is really good. I also suggest bringing suction cup hooks and you'll have all of the hanging space you'll need. The bathroom is different, but you'd literally have to open the door all of the way for anyone in the hallway to see anything. Not a problem for our group. Bedding is comfortable, pillows are good. The pull out bed should be moved out and it will give several inches of additional room. Balcony was standard. Also, I suggest bringing a power strip as there are only two plugs located under the mirror. My only other complaint about the cabin was the charge for movies..but more on that later. Spa/Fitness Center: We had a spa balcony cabin and it is well worth the extra expense as you get 24-hour access to the hydrotherapy area and it is by far the best spa experience I've ever had on a ship. The therapy pools are awesome and the sauna and steam rooms are spacious. We never had a problem getting a chaise to relax and quite often I was the only one in the sauna. Spa services were good..I had an excellent facial and others in my group had massages and manicures. Everyone thought the service was good. The fitness center is AWESOME. It is basically a full service gym with lots of equipment. I highly recommend the spin classes. Yes, it's $60.00 for 4 classes, but I thought it was well worth it and participated in all 4. I can say that I spent more time in this ship's spa and fitness center than any other cruise. So, if you're a spa junkie, you'll love it. Dining: Taste was not good. We only ate there once..food was average at best and the waitress spilled an entire plate of food on my mother and me as well. They did have our clothes cleaned but it took two days to get them back. Didn't return. Manhatten room was better, but again only ate there once. Yes, the specialty restaurants are a surcharge, but I felt they were worth it. We ate at all of the specialty restaurants, with Le Bistro being our favorite. Cagney's and Moderno have a really nice atmosphere and the food and service were very good. La Cucina served up good Italian food and again, the atmosphere was very nice. So, my advice is to plan those into your budget and enjoy! We ate breakfast at O'Sheehans and the Garden Cafe. Both were good. The buffet had alot of good breakfast options and O'Sheehans was just good all around. I highly recomment the chicken pot pie and the fish and chips. YUM! Entertainment: The entertainment was excellent. Blue Man Group was very funny and original. Second City was good and Legends was o.k. The Michael Jackson impersonator was very good..Britney Spears adequate and Rod Stewart good. If you're a blues lover, you MUST go to Fat Cats. The place was great and the performers from other shows were coming in and basically jamming until the wee hours. The casino is huge. I don't recommend playing on the last night as the slots were not paying. It seemed that the best nights to play were the first and next to last night. They allow smoking in the casino, but I did not find it to be as dense as some others have described. I'm not a smoker so I'm somewhat sensitive to it, but didn't find it any worse than any other casino/bar I've been in. Also, they've placed a good number of air purifyers around, so that seemed to be helping. Ice Bar is cute..I lasted about 10 minutes as I had on heels and my toes were freezing. I would recommend making your reservations for the dining/entertainment before you board the ship. We had no problems and never had to wait to be seated. Pool areas were adequate if you like slides and lounging. I highly recommend deck 18..Posh..They come around and spray you with mist to cool you off and offer ice cold towels. The breeze was nice and you could hear the music from the main pool deck. Service: I found everyone was very friendly and helpful. No service problems at all. Now for the absolute negative that you just can't get around on this ship. They nickel and dime you to death. $5.00 for bowling..$9.95 for in cabin movies..$125.00 for a wheelchair for the week..yes $125.00. They will come and take you party in a wheelchair from place to place for free, but you have to call and wait for them..very inconvenient. $55.00 for 120 minutes of internet use..$2-3 for coffee at the atrium bar $3.00 for a milkshake at O'Sheehans...additional surcharges at the specialty restaurants if you wanted the really special items on the menu. $20.00 for the Ice Bar, but it got you two drinks..and on and on. This ship is definitely out to get as much money as they possibly can. I do wish that NCL would just bump up the price and include everything..BUT, I was prepared for that and budgeted accordingly so it didn't ruin my trip. I highly recommend factoring all of that in so you won't have to worry about it on board. So, all in all, the ship is really great..tons to do, great entertainment and good dining. Just open your wallet and dive right in.