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This was our first cruise ever, and it was a great experience for us. The ship was just fine, the shows were great, the dining was good (great for the restaurants with a cover charge, they were effectively worth the money) and the staff was friendly and helpful, so much so that we were almost embarrassed to ask for anything.
We took the unlimited spa-access package for US$ 119 for one week, which was great value for money : sauna, steam bath, hot tub and heated relaxing beds with the best view of the ship was well worth the investment.
The mini-suite was fine other than that we didn't like the decoration very much, but that is debatable as taste usually is.
All in all, the cruise was fine and the excursions looked interesting (we only booked one in Athens, so to avoid any problems with the strikes going on when we were there and that one was satisfactory).
The only negative points for us, were :
1) The constant money grabbing going on : everything other than the buffet food and the shows were paid services, so the cruise was anything but the all-inclusive deal that was advertised. As Europeans, the system of gratuity, auto-gratuity, cover charges and tipping will always be incomprehensible to us, since we are used to pay the amount on the price tag without a whole slough of taxes and other charges being added. As frequent travelers, we can handle it, but most people we met on the cruise were complaining about the less then transparent pricing scheme.
2) Everything was oriented towards US customers (and in a lesser extend English/UK customers), but less than 1/3 of the passengers can from there, so NCL might try and change the way they do things to accommodate the majority of their clients on their none-American lines.
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