This was our 3rd cruise on NCL (Cruised with Carnival, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and Disney) and unfortunately our last! First the good news; the staff was excellent, entertainment superb, and the food a little on the average side (but good overall).The problem is with the NCL corporate culture that has become; how much can we squeeze from the customer.. It started at the Cruise Critic "Meet and Greet", nice room (La Bistro), but there were no signs posted telling you there was a "Greet". I couldn't find it in the daily activity listing. Speaking of activities, there was very little planned activities that did not involve an extra fee or getting you to buy something. Country line dancing was the exception.. I'm a Pool/Jacuzzi nut. On previous NCL cruises there was a free indoor mineral water pool adjacent to the Spa, on the 12th deck. It is still there, but now the charge is $169 FOR EACH PERSON to use it for the Cruise. I checked it out, there were 5 people using it, when the weather outside was raining and cool, an example of the NCL corporate culture to squeeze the last penny.. The "specialty" restaurant were good, at least 6 different themes to chose from. However they all came with a price. There were many days when the "free-style" Free dining rooms were full and you HAD to go to a "specialty" restaurant or wait 30 minutes to eat. I wonder if it was planned that way. I know most other Cruise Lines are charging for "specialty" restaurants, however on other Lines (Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity), if you chose not to eat at the extra fee restaurant, you still have a guaranteed table and time to eat. Not so with NCL, where you may have to wait 30 minutes or more for the privilege of "free-style" dinning. Are you beginning to see the reasoning behind "free-style". . Tours; The Jade took in some fabulous ports of call, Barcelona, Athens, Rome, Istanbul, Epirus/Turkey. If you admire archeology/history Epirus will be your favorite. If you want to save money, DON'T BOOK THROUGH NCL! They charge 2 ½ times what a better tour will cost you through the internet. We booked a tour in Istanbul and Epirus/Turkey through, www.samyelitravel.com - Tour Booking. For $125 each (there were 4 of us) we had a private van, a driver, and a tour guide, who had a degree in archeology from the Unv of Texas. For $300 a person NCL had a bus for 30 people and a guide that took you to the Rug Factory (sorry I couldn't hear, what did the guide say again). If you need a guide/tour in Turkey, contact www.samyelitravel.com They picked us up at the ship, toured all day, and returned in time for dinner. The email confirmation was simple and could be done by credit card.Again, the staff; from the cabin steward, to the food waiter, everyone, were friendly and OUTSTANDING PROFESSIONALS! However, I miss having the same waiter at "MY" table every night, with a glass of Ice Tea waiting for me. I like most guests would tip "extra" in addition to standard tip. Now there is no "extra" incentive for the waiter to do the "extra". I heard many guests say NCL was the best, but I wonder why and doubt that they have tried Royal Caribbean or Celebrity.