First the positives: excellent entertainment- if you can get a seat to participate Great staterooms Our room steward Narendra was fabulous Cirque Dreams and Steam was amazing Burn the floor dancers show was fabulous The rope course was great and so were the attendants The water slides were fun The grilled shrimp in the garden cafe was excellent consistently Ports of Rotterdam, Southampton, LeHavre, Portland, Cobh and Bermuda were great. The drawbacks: -Too small Cabin deck - one person would have to get up to allow the other to get into the second chair. A book and one glass could fit on the outside table. -TERRIBLE dining service. Even Cagney’s their very expensive steak house the steaks were inconsistent and the side dish came long after your steak and the wine delivered twice was wrong. Mostly the dining staff were disinterested, the meal timing was bad and more then not there were long waits between courses. -The brand new rock and roll venue Syd Norman’s was probably the most popular and grossly undersized for the interest. This bar very small and was full more then 1-2 hr before the band went on stage holding 1/5 of the persons who attempted to attend. -Popular events were held in the atrium instead of the theater. This area also was very small holding a very limited number of people. -Very disappointing not to be able to dock in Azores but this was a weather issue. -What was inexcusably the worst planned shore event was Great Stirrup Cay - if you didn’t pay for a shore excursion you had to sign up for a tender after those with an excursion we’re given priority. The ships staff appeared to make no attempt to monitor who signed up for which tender. Our tender number 10 left almost two hours late - at almost 2 pm getting us to the island when all the food venues closed at 2 pm. First excuse was “it took a long to get people on and off tenders” the second excuse was “the swells were slowing down the tenders” and the third and finally more honest was “we are sharing the 3 tenders with another ship”. This was exceptionally poorly done and what could have been a 4 hr day on the island was reduced to 2 hungry hours and 1 hour if that in line to get back in a tender. The island does not have the capacity for 2 large ships as we experienced. -excuses aplenty on this ship and they kept morphing. -Miami our first domestic port- everyone had to go thru customs. We disembarked to end our cruise here. We received a typed letter from NCL to congregate in an area at 7-7:15 am to depart FIRST as a group. The night before customer service indicated this would be at 7:30 am and we made travel arrangements accordingly. After what looked to be about 300-500 passengers and their luggage arrived we were told we would be LAST to depart! This was via elevators- for staff - some not working into the port where we stood for an hour in line on a hot stuffy gangway. We finally got to the curb at 10 am long after travel planned. This was our 4th Atlantic crossing. Weather is an expected issue. NCL’s inability to handle a crowd of 3600+ passengers was not expected. Yes this ship can sleep that many but it cannot seat in entertainment venues, feed or disembark in a timely manner this many. Every member of our party contracted a respiratory illness at one time or another and hacking coughing and I’ll appearing persons could be seen and heard throughout the ship. I will not travel a Norwegian ship again. No matter how nice and talented the ships captain is. I recommend Celebrity or Holland or Disney for Atlantic crossings. All were smaller ships with consistently fine service. Read Less

We chose this cruise to visit places we had never been. We spent extra time in Copenhagen and enjoyed our visit there. The ship was very nice, clean and well maintained and all of the crew were gracious and helpful. The restaurants on the ship were good but the food in the buffet was so good that we chose to eat in the buffet most of the time. The excursions are not worth the money or effort. We spent far too much time riding buses to get to and from the excursions we chose and not nearly enough time visiting each site. The Bahama stop was a total waste of time. By the time you reached the island by tender, it was just about time to get back in line to get a tender back to the ship. We had about 1 hour on the island and then spent a good hour waiting in line to get back to the ship. Miami was worse, we were rushed through our excursion to get back to the terminal over an hour early and sat for 2 hours because Customs and Immigration would not let anyone get on the ship until every passenger was off the ship. We did get some free time in Ireland which we used to visit a beautiful cathedral and the Titanic museum. All in all it was a good cruise but if we did it again we would skip the shore excursions and just stay on the ship because they are not worth what you have to pay. Read Less

We used our cruise next and invited our niece and nephew to come with us. I fixed our itinerary for at least a 1-2 night stay before embarkation. The date to board was on the 11th of October. My wife made arrangements with NCL knowingly that the agent will at LEAST get us an early arrival on the 10th. After getting confirmation via e-mail on the 24th of August, that our arrival time was at 8:00pm on the 10th, my wife tried got a hold to one of their agent and his only response was someone will get back within 72 hours. My wife was able to contact O from NCL to arrange an early arrival but was declined since everything was already booked. My wife was trying to cancel the hotel since it was too expensive at $370 for 2 person for one lousy night in a small room. But we got the same exact answer given earlier, they could not cancel reservation. I believe our late cruise to the Baltic was one of the last ones to sail. So, every port that we docked, we were just the only HUGE ship at the port. And I guess this was one of advantages when we did the excursion in St. Petersburg where there were lesser tourist at major attractions. We also had an onboard credit and had dilemma what to use it for. Our options where shore excursion which will still be much more expensive, specialty dining, when complimentary dining are already par quality dining itself and lastly the internet package of 250 minutes which I took. Aside from how slow the internet was, which I already knew from previous comments by other travelers, be very watchful and always check your usage. The day before the last day at sea, I still had 36 minutes to spare and use for the next day. As soon as I was going to check my emails, it showed that I already have exhausted all my minutes. I brought the issue to their IT department and was given extra 60 minutes. All on board staff were very friendly, cabin crew was nice and food was very good. We loved getting our breakfast either at Savor or Taste where it is a sit down and food are freshly prepared (kind of). I also recommend O’Sheehan’s chicken wings where we always go for our late night snack. Love all the entertainment show that they offer. We didn’t quite do all the activities on board because of the cold weather. Overall, the drawback was just the late arrival that NCL has given us and still hoping that they would make the refunds they promised. Now, all about our shore escapades: Copenhagen, Denmark: The person who picked us up from the airport was very friendly and gave us some pointers and recommendations for a place to eat local food. After check-in, we immediately went to Frk Barners Kaelder, where the driver mentioned for us to eat which was a short walk from Scandic Copenhagen Hotel. We didn’t expect for the price to be so high that we just ended up ordering appetizers. The only place we could get to after dinner was Tivoli Food Hall. We should’ve opted to eat at this place as it was very reasonable price. We could no longer go inside Tivoli Garden, which were on their soft opening for Halloween, since we did not want to spend $24 for each which was closing in 30 minutes. We tried to walk along Stroget but noticed that most store are already closed, we retreated back to the hotel. It was pouring rain the next day and neither uber nor lyft was available and out pick up time from the hotel was 11:15am that a stroll to anywhere was impossible. Warnemunde/Berlin, Germany: We did not avail of the NCL shore excursion. We just got off the ship and walked a couple minutes to the train station. You don’t even have to buy the ticket from the machine as what everybody tried to do that caused a long wait. We just used the app, trainline and bought the ticket which was very convenient and fast. The ticket only cost $60 each with a return. As soon as we had confirmation, we boarded the train and travelled for 3 hours to the central station and got out of the public square in Potsdamer Platz. Pretty much walked around to see all major sights (Public Square, Panoramapunkt, Holocaust Memorial, Brandenburg Gate, Galeries Lafayette, Gendarmenmrkt, Checkpoint Charlie) to check out. We chose to ride the taxi from GendarmenMrkt back to the station which cost less than 9euro. Tallinn, Estonia: Aside from Copenhagen, Tallinn was an all-day rain as well. We made a huge mistake taking the taxi going to Old Town, driver immediately charged us 20 euros. We lately found out about the app, Bolt (you can also use in St. Petersburg) which is exactly the same as uber/lyft that charges way a LOT less. The taxi driver also dropped us off in the uphill area so it would be much easier for us to walk going back. We didn’t cover that much of Tallinn due to the downpour. We first started on a nice overlooking spot where a sign said “The Times We Had”, and made our way to Old Town, St. Patrick’s, Saint Olaf’s Church but was closed, so we were not able to climb to check out the view. We also went to Balti Jaama Turg Food Market, Telliskivi Creative City & Linnahall. Bolt saved us a lot of time and kept us dry for at least a while. St. Petersburg, Russia: We didn’t bother applying for a visa since it was just for 2 days but since our companions (nephew/niece) are both from UK, they applied for an e-visa which was free starting October 1st of this year and had to apply for less than a week before embarkation. Me and my wife on our part had to use TJ Travel. I tried Alla Tours but could not get through their website. Maybe it was for the better as we had a great time with TJ Travel. Our Guide was Elizabeth or Liza and our driver was Alexander. Liza was very friendly and informative. A great guide and very knowledgeable and that made the trip more exciting. Our group of 13 was always on time that made the whole tour swift and spontaneously that was able to get to see all included in the itinerary list and much MORE! We also ate at some local restaurant that was delicious. I and my wife got to see and roam around after lunch but make sure not to go out too far. The tour also had their own special place to buy your souvenir where they also serve you hot coffee and even a shot of vodka. Unfortunately, I received an email 3 days before the trip that the fountain at Peterhof will close on October 13th. Helsinki, Finland: When we got off the ship, a minute walk from the ship, a public bus (#14) was waiting. And it only cost 8 euro each for the whole day getting around. We started from Sibelius Monument, Regatta for a quick sticky roll and hot chocolate (highly recommend), we went afterwards to Temppeliaukion Kirkko and were delighted to get a chance and to listen to an orchestra practicing. We also went inside Kampin Kappell. Then we went to Old Market Hall/Kapaturi Market, Esplanade, Market Square, the Tori Quarters, the Senate Square, Helsinki Cathedral and finally Uspenski Cathedral. If only there was more time. Nynashamn/Stockholm, Sweden: The final leg of the cruise. Another mistake on our part and hopefully you gain from our experience. Read some of the post from previous people who already took the same trip mostly took the Hop on Hop off (HOHO). So, we bought tickets before the trip not knowingly will be a tremendous waste of money and time. Just to let you know also that going to Stockholm from Nynashamn is a one hour train ride. Outside from the ship after the gate, on your right, there was a tent that sells tickets for $27 that also is good for bus rides. When you arrive at the Central Station, you go down to the right side where Mc Donald’s is located that would be the first station of the HOHO. We skipped the 2nd and 3rd stop since we knew that we were going to spend more of our time there and decided to stop at the 4th stop where a scenic view awaits after a short distance of walk. By the time we got back to ride another HOHO, it wasted more than 30 minutes of our time and the driver was VERY SLOW! At that point, we decided just to use the bus and explore ourselves. We went to Drottninggatan, NK for some shopping, walked at Kungstradgarden, visited Cathedral Storkyrkan, wondered around Gamla Stan and Stortorget Square, Royal Palace and Tessin Palace. We also crossed and walked at the narrowest alley which was awesome. We ended at Ostermalmstorg and got back to Central Station to catch the train going back. We missed Vasa Museum and I heard it was a must. So let me know how good it is. The journey to the train station requires at least a 20 minute walk but there is a bus which is included with the ticket that you purchase that will take you to the station. It’s about a 5 minute walk from the ship and takes 2 stops by the bus to the station. A helpful advice if you wish, especially when it’s pouring rain. Read Less

My family and I made a cruise with Norwegian Cruise Line on October 2019. The ship, "Getaway" is pretty new ship, manufactured 2014. The ship is very well maintained and in great condition. The stuff is wonderful and very friendly. But, not all is good. The main thing that we felt bad about is money. Although the cruise is not cheap, all the time we felt that the cruise staff has one goal above all, and that goal is to take the max amount of money out of the passengers pocket. The prices of each "extra" is ridiculously high and not reasonable. For example, a bottle of mineral water in the room cost 7.20$ !!!! The cost of spa, tours, and sport is just outrages. As a passenger you can choose not to take any of those, but, we were very surprised to see on our bill a compulsory pay of 15$ a day per person for tip. For us it adds up to an extra of 675$. No one told us that when we made reservation of the cruise. I think that it should be part of the cost in advance, because it's compulsory. (Yes, it is probably somewhere in the agreement small letters, but I see it as kind of cheat). The looks like the food was the same in the 3 restaurants included with no extra cost. (Savoy, Taste, Tropicana) The food in the buffet had a lot of choice, but not so tasty. I prefer quality on quantity. Embarkation and disembarkation went very quaqly and smoothly. The entertainment program was dinamic and had differant show each night. some were better then other, but it depands on personal preferance. For us, the Burn The Floor show and the Hipnosis were the best. Some of the ports are far from the city. Berlin is 3 hour drive from the port and Copenhagen is 1 hour drive from the port. Read Less

We travelled in late Sep - Baltic sailing. Despite the fact that temperatures on this later season sailing were quite cool (10 C – 16C), I would say that this is an excellent time to do a Baltic cruise. Firstly, there are far less crowds and secondly, the cruise fare is more reasonable. We were also able to secure a Haven 2 bed cabin at an excellent fare. Embarkation We took a taxi from Copenhagen centre (Hotel Bethel) to the Oceankaj port where the Getaway was berthed. Embarkation was quick and easy and NCL are very efficient. We arrived just after 11am and were on the ship before 12pm. Haven guests could either have lunch in the Haven restaurant or at Margaritaville (complimentary). We decided to go Margaritaville and the service was excellent and the shrimps were delicious: large, firm, tasty. This was the standard throughout the ship – wherever we had shrimp it was the same excellent quality. We spent an hour exploring the ship and our bags were already at our suite by 2pm so we unpacked. The mandatory safety drill was at 4pm and this is the one area that NCL could drastically improve. The drill took at least an hour because all the information was repeated in three different languages. Many people are rude and talk over the languages that they don’t understand and the crew then has to request them to please be considerate of other guests. There was not enough space for seating in O’Sheehans for everyone and it was tough standing for all that time. In addition, the crew would not let us sit on the floor. So I suggest that you try to get to your meeting point before the required time so that you don’t end up like us standing all the time. Further, the crew member who demonstrated how to put on the life jacket literally got “stage fright” and was unable to do it correctly. He tried 3 times, before another crew member took over and correctly demonstrated how to do it. Many people just put their heads down on the tables in O’Sheehans and blotted the “noise” out. It just got too much. But hang in there, because after a bad start, it was all positive after that! Haven 2 bed family suite 15108 We absolutely loved our suite. With 2 adults and 2 children, there is ample space and it really is wonderful for the children to have their own room and bathroom. Our steward (Moncito), set up the Pullman bed for our 10 year old son (similar to a bunk) and made the sleeper couch below into a comfortable bed for our 12 year old daughter. There is ample storage space in the suite. The king bed in the main bedroom is the most comfortable bed I have had in over 10 cruises. We requested memory foam pillows and this was handled by our Butler, Stefan. Stefan also made sure we had coffee pods for the Nespresso machine and brought a lovely selection of snacks each afternoon (including choc chip cookies which were the best!) Stefan really was an excellent butler – always willing to go the extra mile and always offering helpful advice. The master bathroom in this suite is absolutely amazing with its bath and shower that look out to the ocean. The cost of the suite is worth that view alone! This Haven suite is so wonderful – you feel like you are experiencing the best of the best at sea in every way. The only negative is that there is some noise at night which sounds like a door slamming shut. It appears to be a door used by the night crew. After a couple of nights, it didn’t bother us as much anymore. Layout of the ship Although this is a massive ship (over 150,000 tons), it is so well layed out that you never feel it is so large. The flow of the ship is excellent. There are ample elevators so that they only time we really waited was when we returned from a port and a number of people were returning to the ship at once. Photography I honestly wonder when NCL is going to phase this out. No-one seemed interested in having their photos taken especially at the ports. Same in restaurants, no-one wanted their photos taken. Art The biggest waste is the Art Auction section – they must waste tons of paper with all the flyers for Art Auctions that get delivered to the rooms. I wonder if they even cover all the cost of paper and printing with the amount of art they sell?? Shows We attended three shows: Burn the Floor – absolutely fantastic dancers. We thoroughly enjoyed this show. Russian Folk Show – very talented performers. Make sure you get there early as it was extremely popular and the Theatre staff are clueless at trying to assist with checking who has been waiting for a seat and who is just walking in and pushing past. Million Dollar Quartet – vey long show. It became tedious and boring. The guy who portrayed Jerry Lee Lewis was excellent as well as the guy who portrayed Johnny Cash. Restaurants We had all our breakfasts at the Haven restaurant. A special word of thanks to Johnson who always ensured that my daughter had gluten free meals and who provided the most delicious gluten free bread. He also ensured that there were gluten free muffins and toast at breakfast as well as waffles and French toast. Breakfasts at the Haven restaurant are a real treat but I did feel that some of the waiters were not up to scratch. A little extra training is needed. For example, some waiters neglected to take juice/coffee orders and some just plain rushed us by bringing plates of cooked breakfast when we were still trying to finish fruit/yogurt. Tropicana We came here for dinner at 5.30pm when we had Burn the Floor show booked at 7.30pm. Edwin, our waiter was amazing. He ensured that we had ample time to enjoy our meal without feeling rushed and also ensured that my daughter’s gluten free requirements were met. He was extremely professional and the next time we ate there, we requested a table in his section. Savor The food and service were acceptable. Nothing spectacular but a pleasant enough evening. Teppanyaki Great evening, fun chef who made us laugh and have a great time and a great meal. Gluten free for my daughter was carefully taken care of and we thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. Cagneys Loved the beef fillet and the service was excellent. Le Bistro Probably our least favourite of the specialty restaurants but still enjoyed it. Warnemunde We had planned to take the train to Rostock, but we so enjoyed the seaside town of Warnemunde that we stayed there and enjoyed strolling around all the lovely little shops. We enjoyed a lunch of fresh fish and chips and then we went on a cruise around the harbor. Very interesting to see the construction of ships at Neptun Werft. Tallinn We took a taxi into the town centre. Tallinn is a wonderful town to spend the day wandering around. We also walked to the Balti Jaam Market just outside the town centre (near the railway station). We enjoyed lunch there. There is a lovely confectionery shop at the ground floor of Balti Jaam which has a wide selection of chocolates suitable for souvenirs at very reasonable prices. The market is frequented by locals so it is an authentic example of Estonian produce. St Petersburg We took a 2 day tour with TJ Travel. Our guide was Daria and her knowledge is absolutely astounding. She never stopped giving us interesting facts and making the history come alive. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Catherine’s Palace and the walk in Peterhof with its utterly stunning gardens. September is a great time to visit as the trees are changing colour for autumn/fall so it is especially beautiful. We also found the metro trip very interesting and enjoyed the boat canal ride although it was the one time that it was raining. The weather was cool but there were minimal crowds so it was possible to really appreciate the sights especially at the Hermitage and Church on Spilled Blood. Daria took us to two modern Russian restaurants for our lunches on the two days and I must recommend Russian dumplings- they are light and delicious! St Petersburg is the place to really soak yourself in history and transport yourself back in time to another world. Would highly recommend Daria and TJ – they also give discounts to Cruise Critic members. Helsinki We met friends in Helsinki and thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them. We were there on a Sunday which is not ideal as the shops only open at 11am (and we had to be back at the ship at 3.30pm) and many of the stalls in the market are closed. There is far too little time spent in Helsinki. NCL should only leave at 6pm. Nynashamn (for Stockholm) We took the HOHO bus into Stockholm which is about a one hour bus trip. We had $50 credit for each port so it was well worthwhile to use this option. The HOHO buses were parked within easy walking distance from the ship and they recorded your ship cabin details so you did not pay at the pier – instead you were charged directly to the ship account. We spent most of our time in the Old Town and then walked to the modern side of Stockholm. We also watched the changing of the guard which I honestly would not recommend. This is nothing like the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. There are 4 guards marching around (no band) and a bit of shouting. We really felt we wasted our time here. Stockholm is a beautiful city and we thoroughly enjoyed the day. The HOHOs return between 3.30pm and 4.30pm. This was a fantastic cruise – both the ports and the service on the Getaway and we wish we could do it all again. We would not hesitate to cruise with NCL next time. Read Less

We chose this cruise to visit Baltic capitals, specifically St Petersburg. Chose NCL based on our prior experience with Alaska (Sun) from Vancouver and Gem ( Eastern Caribbean from NYC) experience more than 3 years ago. This big ship with 4000+ Passengers was a big disappointment for many reasons. There were also some good points. Good: Great cabin stewardess, Varied cuisines in Garden Cafe, Clean and spacious mini suite with balcony on the 11th floor. That’s about it. Bad: confusing ship with all sort of carnival like money making outfits between the fore and aft sections of the ship. You pay for almost anything that is tasty or of quality (like Cappuccino, gelato, water bottle, fountain soda and many such items). You pay through your nose for alcoholic beverages with 18% mandatory gratuity and the same for specialty dining. Included dining rooms serve at snails pace and food is mostly cold by the time it’s gets to you. If that’s not enough there are continuing game shows, Bingo and other scams that are heavily weighted in favor of the house. Casino area, unavoidable as you go for dining area, are smoke filled. For this big ship, the deck board walking track is about 1/8 of a Kilometer as opposed to nearly 1/4 of mile or so on the smaller Gem class ship. Avoid taking shore excursions with the cruise line. You can save more than 50%. Viator offers St Petersburg 2-day Excursion (Russia exempts one of Visa if taking approved tour) with 18 or less passengers in AC van for about $220 per person (you pay for lunch that costs about $15- $20 or less per person per day). Compare that to some $550 per person! Read Less

Cabin size was not so bad for two people BUT - there is a sound underneath or on the side of your walls that is like flowing water - loud flowing water like gushing in - and just every night it woke us up - it's not the toilet from the next door, it's a like a big gush of wave going through underneath the floor or on the side of the wall - also, sometimes that flush in the toilet doesn't work - and one day, all the toilet didn't work in our floor === our cabin steward "Muhamed", was awesome === When we were going to Sweden, I asked one of the Deck 4 staff if they accept US$ in Sweden, the answer given was, I don't know as I have never been to Sweden. there were two of them who can't answer a basic question. They are not deck hands, they are actually crew that's stationed by the stairway on Deck 4 before going to the Port Security, and Port Security didn't know either, and there was not notice on the daily bulletin. Wish you could staff those areas with more knowledge of the city we are visiting ==== The waiters on our last night at Tropicana Room, are, hands down, awesome ! - starting from the Manager - Ivan - there were 19 of us, and we ahve earlier requested with our reservation 2 long tables of 10. We got to our reservation early enough so that we can be seated to our tables, but as it turns out, the tables are not ready because one table, the guests was just beginning to order dessert, that's understandable. - Ivan, started with 3 square tables put together, for 10 people (squished in) and a round table of 8 - then another square table came open, he then added it, then another one - to the point that we were able to accommodate 14 of us in a long table - and 5 in the round table - perfect night - it was my wife' birthday too, so the waiter sung and surprised her with a cake and candle blowing - the singers, Funky Duo, greeted my wife twice - plus we had wine and bottle of Champagne from our Travel Agent for her birthday - but the champagne was warm, so "Gede", assistant Manager, replaced with a cold one - it was a great last night dinner for all of us === Special mentions to other waiters - at Wasabi Bar - Gary (waiter) , Stephan (chef) - Deepa, at Savor and Moderno, not only did she recognized and greet me everytime, she was even able to pass on a message to my brother at the restaurant. She is of greet asset, very diplomatic, very nice, and a great dining hostess Read Less

I chosen princess cuz of being a captain club member it was cruising to places my wife an I always wanted to go. The food at the buffet was not up to par. It was mediocre at best. Not a very good variety either. They had only 1 carving station. The dinning room food. Was a bit better the menu had only a few items to choose from fir each category. As far as the activities on board they were not very good. They had a lot of repeat activities which to me was very Boring. So I spent most of my time in the casino. The service was great. The staff onboard were all great. The captain was extremely therogh on his announcements an also re-routed the ship on our last sea day so we don’t hit the rough seas due to the hurricane. Over all I give the cruise a 6 on a scale of 1-10. Read Less

Over the past 12 years we have cruised with NCL 13 different cruises. We had always wanted to visit some of the Baltic countries, especially Russia. This particular cruise covered most of our wish list. Two / three months after we booked this cruise and made our airline reservations, we were sent an email stating that do to a port scheduling conflict we would not be making the port stop in Stockholm, Sweden but would stop at a small port on the western coast of Sweden called Gothenburg...there's virtually nothing their to do or see. But since we had made our airline reservations we were stuck with this cruise. Since the ship was going to be in St. Petersburg, Russia for 2 full days, we decided to take a "Private non-NCL tour to Moscow. The tour company we used did a great job. In their communications to us they warned us about NCL may not allow us to disembark the ship just as soon as it has been cleared by the Russian officials. However, we could leave the ship once the passengers going on NCL bought tours had disembarked. Our flight out of St. Petersburg going to Moscow was to leave at 09:40AM. The first thing I did when I boarded the ship for departure was to go to the Customer Service Desk, stood in line for 45 minutes and finally spoke to a very non-helpful individual. He said " go stand in the other line to get a number assigned for disembarking AFTER NCL TOUR PEOPLE were off the ship. I told his this would not work and I wanted to speak whith his manager. He disappeared for 15 minutes and finally returned with his manager. I explained the situation to the manager and he said he would handle it and would leave me a voicemail on my cabin phone. I waited till the next day and NO VOICEMAIL message. So, I went back down to customer service desk stood in line again, spoke to a different desk person...same answer "NO CAN DO"...asked to speak to the manager again. A different person came out...explained the situation again...he said he would send me a voicemail with instructions...next day...no message. The late afternoon prior to arrival in St. Petersburg I finally spoke to a person who said he would take care of it and again ...send me a voicemail. Lo and behold 1 hour later I received the voicemail with these instruction. Please go to the Port side door of the Getaway Theater arounf 7 - 7:15AM. Show the gentlemen my tour ticket to Moscow and they would let disembark as soon as the ship cleared. That morning, we went to the port side door of Getaway Theater showed personnel our tour ticket and they said we needed to go to the service desk. We went to the desk and had a manager escort back to the theater. We were then able to leave the ship, clear port security and finally meet with our tour guide for Moscow. We made it on the plane with 15 minutes to spare. Enough of my of that. How about a general over all. If the Getaway was cruising in a warm climate many of the guests would be outside by the pool, walking / jogging waterslides, basketball and all the other outdoor activities. BUT with cool windy weather all 4,000 passengers and 1,600 crew were inside. That said, it was the most over crowed uncomfortable ship I've ever been on. In retrospect, the customer service group did a very poor job. Be cause of that I currently have a cruise booked with NCL in May 2020, that I will more than likely cancel. It may be time to look at other cruise lines. I refuse to sign out without saying something positive...To get away from the massive crowds we chose to pay the price and eat at Cagney's....The food there is wonderful each and every night. My wife wanted to adopt our waiter Ronald he was such a pleasure and also Cagney's hostess Maricel, see took care of us with timely reservations and great ocean views from our table. Read Less

Loved the ship. The layout was not as open as some ships I have been on but there were tons of drinking and dining options to enjoy. The top deck and outside areas were not used much due to weather on this particular cruise. Having said that a balcony room is a great plus on this cruise as the Baltic is small and you will get to see lots of things out your window on a daily basis especially getting in and out of the ports. I was amazed at the number of cruise ships in the Baltic (there were 8 other ships in port in St. Petersburg). The destinations were great with the exception of Germany. The Berlin for a day trip was very expensive and really not very enjoyable. 3 hours each way on an a non-air conditioned train with 6+ hours on a bus in between. We were very rushed. Little opportunity to get off and take pictures. It was also a brutal heat wave while we were there (close to 100 degrees F). The centerpiece destinations on this cruise are St. Petersburg and Stockholm as they are both incredibly beautiful sightseeing opportunities. You will not be able to take pictures fast enough in the palaces and churches in St. Petersburg. I would also recommend arriving into Copenhagen Denmark a few days early and explore that beautiful little country. Tivoli Gardens, all the castles and fortresses scattered in and around the city are very impressive. The dining in general was very good. We really enjoyed the food in the main dining room and the buffet was well appointed. What wasn't worth the cost, was the upgraded dining package. The Brazilian steakhouse was excellent and we enjoyed it the first night and the Cirque dinner show was excellent bu the food was a set menu from the main dining room. Ocean Blue and Cagney's were big disappointments. They ran out of lobster 2/3 way through the cruise so our "upgrade" meal at ocean blue was fish or shrimp similar to what was on offer at the main dining room. We dined at Cagney's our last night and the steaks were tough with very little flavor. Got better cuts of meat at the main dining room in the evening. My family that I was traveling with had gone Norwegian last year and raved about the upgraded food only to be let down this year. The on board entertainment was decent. This really isn't a big factor in cruising for me to begin with. We enjoyed the upgraded cirque show and a dance show called Burning the Floor. We enjoyed a night at the dueling piano bar and a night with an 80's cover band. To be honest many of the excursions were so long and required so much walking that we went to bed early many evenings as our departure times for excursions were also very early (between 7 and 8 am). Not complaining about this but we needed our rest. Read Less

We have never cruised before, and chose the specific cruise we went on, due to the availability of kid’s activities for our 10 year old daughter, the destinations throughout the Baltics and a decent price. Getting on board as newbies was a bit stressful, as we did not know the process and there was little information about what to expect. We also was more stressed than was required as we roamed around trying to find out how to register a credit card to our cruise card (which wasn’t obvious on the machines) and find out how the kids club works and how/where to go. As it turned out our daughter never gelled with the kids club, as she was hitting the top end of her age group and felt they were being treated childishly and there were few kids of her age. I did get the feeling a lot of other kids truly enjoyed it, just not ours. The boat was generally fairly busy and the common areas (particularly the buffet and the pool areas) could be very crammed and chaotic. At times the central inside area was blocked by other activities. The dining area was great, with a new menu every day, so there was always lots of choice. We did ultimately enjoy our cruise and had some nice on land days, both self served and on excursion, though it will probably be better if we do another cruise now we know what to expect. The staff was generally attentive, smiley and professional, and the fact that all gratuities were paid centrally was more comfortable, as we come from a culture where wages are fair and tipping is only applicable if the service is exceptional. Disembarkation was brilliant, taking us 10 minutes from we were called till we were in a taxi. Read Less

My family was excited for months to cruise. The suite we had was very nice and clean along with a beautiful balcony. Everything from that point on went down hill. There were so many people on the ship you felt like sardines. The ship was big and kids activities were nice but you had to wait on line for a couple of hours to do the ropes course, rock wall and some of the slides. The food to say the least was sup par we pretty much ate indian food everyday, eggs bendect were soggy, French toast we tried twice both times not cooked thru, once my daughter got a raw hamberger, barely any seafood, Restaurant service was soooooo SLOW. Only 2 shows that we liked the rest were not entertaining, one time we were asked to leave a show as there were not enough seats crazy isn't it for all the money that we spend they did not have enough entertainment to go around. My son, daughter and Mother in law all got sick and 2 of them had to be quarenteened for 24 hours. They got food poisoning from the ship and this is the best they blamed it on us and were pretty rude about it. I contacted headquarters when I came back to the states only to find out that customer service was not any better twice I wrote to them only receiving an automated response with NO solutions. One of the Worst Cruise lines we have ever taken AVOID AT ALL COST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Read Less

We were a group of 10 people (8 adults and 2 children) celebrating my parent's 50 Anniversary and thought the cruise would be the perfect holiday for everyone to bond and spend quality time. We live in Dubai hence we approached Imagine Cruising (The authorised agent for the UAE) for our bookings. We finalized 3 Balcony rooms next to each other and were pretty excited about the arrangements. We paid approx USD 6300 for a family of four for the 9 day full board cruise. On embarking we realised that there were people who had booked directly from NCL who got great deals on beverages, alcohol, speciality restaurants which we were never made aware of by imagine cruising. One of the things that really irritated us was the fact that on arrival the cabin had two bottles of water - One still and one sparkling. Being travelers and been to our share of hotels, usually bottles kept out meant complimentary, however we were told later that sparkling bottle costed USD 6 odd and since the bottle was big and didn't fit in the mini bar it was kept out. When we argued with the guest services that there was no mention of the charges, their reply was "well, it doesn't say that it is free either" WOW!! That's when the distrust started with the cruiseliner...Imagine straight off in the first 15 mins of people embarking the cruiseliner makes approx USD 9 per cabin for the water consumed by unassuming people. Around the fifth day we became aware of a charge called gratuity fee which is USD 15 per person per day. For a family of 4 it came to USD 540 which was never communicated by Imagine cruising to us. We started freaking out coz we had budgets for our trip and this was serious curveball. We are happy to pay gratuity if we are told about these expenses and we raised it with the guest services. It took them 2 days to reverse the fees and we were stressed for 2 days as 3 families were going to get hit with approx USD 1300. We were charged for mini bar consumption which we debated and was reversed. People go on holidays to forget stress but we had it in abundance on this cruise. Everyday we didn't know if we would get a seat at any of the complimentary restaurants, wait time was 40 mins. Garden Cafe Buffet is where we ate our Breakfast/lunch and dinner for about 5 days. O'sheehan's would have a special for the day which would be served till 9pm only and then regular food would be served again with no change in the menu. We didn't understand the concept of having 3 complimentary restaurants with the same menu for 9 days! You basically are finding ways to push people to go for the speciality restaurants out of sheer boredom! A lot of the arcade games across the ship were money making machines, people playing were getting frustrated losing their money. Being travelers we understand that you are docking at lesser known countries like Poland, Estonia to increase their tourism and generating revenue but Poland as a port can be missed entirely as the scenic tour wasn't great. Estonia was a pleasant surprise and St Petersburg was bustling. For some reason when docking at St. Petersburg all gambling activities on the ship ceased leaving us very little to do in the evening time. Good things on the cruise was the food across the restaurants we ate in. The service was good and staff was friendly and helpful. Very good layout of the ship allowed people of different age groups to do their own thing. All in all we could have had a much better and relaxed experience had all the money related problems not been there. I don't think we will sail with NCL again as I don't trust them to be transparent in their dealings, charges and overall approach to customer service. Read Less

We flew onto Copenhagen the day before the cruise making our way to the ship on our own. This cruise went to many places in northern and Eastern Europe in the former Soviet block. We enjoy visiting historic and UNESCO sites and St. Petersburg’s palaces and churches and the Peterhof Palace and gardens were wonderfully beautiful on a grand scale. In the evening we enjoyed a variety of traditional Russian folk dance and song complete with an intermission that included pastries and champagne in a beautiful private palace. In Finland we toured the city and drove into the countryside to visit a classic old village and then off to a vineyard at an old farm for a wonderful luncheon and in Estonia we toured a lovely mid-evil town from the 1600’s that survived WW2. In Germany we visited Rostock which was heavily bombed during the war because of the submarine and aircraft manufacturing that existed. Today it’s the home of large shipyards which build cruise ships among other vessels. After touring the cathedral which houses a calendar clock made in the 1420’s and still operating with its original works we drove to the Schwerin Castle. In Stockholm the Vasa Museum and a walk through the old city were spectacular. The Vasa was a 17th century wooden sailing ship with two gun decks that was unstable and had sunk during its maiden voyage in front of the royal palace in 1628. Because the water in the Baltic has such a low salinity level the ship remained nearly completely intact. The visit to Oslo was too short but the sail away through the fjord was beautiful. We had previously visited Oslo so this time we only took a boat cruise around the area. The city itself is beautiful in there are sculptures everywhere the most impressive being in the Vigeland Sculpture Park where hundreds of lifelike granite sculptures depict every stage of human emotion. At the conclusion of the cruise everything during the disembarkation went extremely smoothly and efficiently. Our bags were delivered directly to the airport where we retrieved them for our flight home. Read Less

We chose this cruise mainly because we've enjoyed all previous Princess cruises and we wanted to see new countries. We arranged our travel time so we could spend a day in Copenhagen before embarking on the cruise. With the medallion system embarkation went smoothly and we were on board within 20 min. of arriving at the ship. Our luggage arrived at our room very shortly after we did, which hasn't always been the case on previous cruises. Our oldest son travelled with us as he did last year and this made our trip even more enjoyable! This ship was the largest of any we've cruised on but everything ran smoothly. Our cabin steward made sure our room was always taken care of. As on any cruise, one of the highlights is the food. This was no exception. We dined at the second sitting and Dan Lee and Wilson took excellent care of us each evening. We also enjoyed lunch most days at Horizon and never failed to be amazed at the variety and quality of food. We enjoyed several of the musical shows at the Princess Theater, the talent of the singers and dancers was Broadway quality. Each one of the ports was so different and interesting. We took 4 port excursions and one shuttle bus trip. The tour guides were so knowledgeable and helpful. All in all, this cruise is probably the best of many we've enjoyed over the years. Truly an unforgettable experience! Read Less

Exceeded our expectations from embarkation to debarkation. Crews are very friendly and helpful. You don’t get hungry as lots of yummy foods on board and lots of sporting activities you can do on board to ensure you don’t get extra kg while indulging with lots of good variety of foods. Medallion class made everything on board really easy. They have a very systematic system where everything really works very well. We have enjoyed all the activities on board, in particular, the shows daily. Our crew steward always ensure that our room is being looked after daily. Live TV updates is also very helpful for everyone as you will be informed on what’s happening on the ship, ports and shore excursions very important informations and tips. We will definitely cruise with Princess again and will recommend them to our friends and families. Keep up the good work and hope to see you again soon. Read Less

We are a family of four, two parent and two kids ages 8 and 11. We selected this cruise and specifically, the aft-facing Haven one-bedroom suite because it perfectly fit our needs. Bottom line, if we did not stay in a Haven suite and experience all that the Haven has to offer, we probably would not pick this boat or Norwegian again. Pros: * Haven, Haven, Haven. A game changer. The exclusive pool, deck, hot tubs, bar / lounge, restaurant, and concierge was worth the added cost. We rarely had drinks or ate outside of the Haven (aside from three meals at the specialty restaurants). The quality of service was far superior to the service you received at any bar outside of Haven in the general areas. The Haven food quality is very good. Service is impeccable. * We had a one-bedroom aft-facing corner suite. It was amazing. The balcony makes all the difference. So spacious that we were able to exercise with plenty of room to spare. I read review(s) where folks complained about noise, smoke, etc. Nothing negative to say. The inside was very nice also. Two full baths, plenty of closets and great water pressure in the master bath. * The chicken wings at O'Sheehan's is pretty good! * Casinos were fine - nothing special. It was more about the people you met as you played the games. I lucked out and had a great time meeting folks. The craps dealers were hit or miss. Half were very professional and worked with us, the other half were angry and chose to enforce "rules" throughout the trip (dice are too high, you're taking too long, hands, drinks over the railing, etc.) * Soft serve ice cream in the main buffet restaurant was a hit with the kids * The activities for the kids were great. In many ways better than Disney cruises (although Disney's shows are great). There were not as many kids on this Norwegian cruise, providing whatever kids on the ship to more access to the climbing wall, ropes course and water slides. HUGE benefit. The sport court was also very well maintained and fun. Cons: * Tipping and service charges. Horrible system. I asked the staff and they either didn't know the specifics or chose not to disclose what they knew. The $18.50 per day per person service charge is dumb. Just embed it into the cost especially since we're told its essentially us paying the staffs' salaries. We were told that essentially this service charge "went to anyone we DIDN'T interact with", like the cooks, cleaners, etc. However, for anyone we did interact with, we're expected to "tip" them. Not a big deal, however, there's this issue of all prepaid gratuities from any drink or meal package you purchased. As it turns out this gratuity is pooled and shared among all service crew. The icing on the cake is that we were told the Haven staff - restaurant waiters/waitresses, bartenders, may or may not receive a penny of this even though they're the one's taking care of us 90% of the time. I'm getting mad just writing / reliving this. The point is, you will get nickel and dimed with service fees, gratuities, tip, etc. Just be warned. But also, be prepared and bring small bills onboard to take care of the staff throughout your cruise. Its the right thing to do despite Norwegian's idiotic system. * Quality of food prepared in the Haven restaurant was in the 4 - 4.5 range. The quality of food prepared elsewhere was between 3 - 3.5. The Noodle restaurant was absolutely horrible - 1.5. The Garden (buffet) was hit or miss as to be expected. The specialty restaurants - Teppinyaki, Cuccino, and the Brazilian steak restaurant were all marginal at best. Actually, Cuccino and the Brazilian steak were actually pretty bad. Skip it. Ocean Blue and sushi were pretty good. BOTTOMLINE: Haven all the way, bring cash for tips, lower your expectations regarding food quality, and know the kids will have a great time. Read Less

We traveled as a family of four in August 2019, setting sail from Copenhagen with stops in Warnemunde, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, Tallinn, and Stockholm. My son is 13 and my daughter is 10. We chose the Getaway because we wanted the amenities of a large ship with lots to do for families, thinking that we might even leave the kids on the ship for some of the smaller ports. Overall, we loved the vacation and thought the ship met our needs pretty well. There were a few things I wish were better: - The food was absolutely dismal. I've been on a Norwegian ship before so I knew not to expect a gourmet experience, but the buffet actually smelled so bad I could hardly stand to be in the room with it, and the taste was just poor. I was desperate for fresh fruit and veg by the end of the week. The main restaurants were also spotty, although we did have decent sushi at the sushi place and the seafood restaurant was pretty good. - The ship was PACKED at all times, and it was quite hard to find a quiet spot. I expected this, but it really does hit you what it's like to be on a boat with thousands of other people. It really came to a head with the insane debarkation process for St. Petersburg, where they tried to assign people to groups and it generally became an angry free-for-all. - The activities were kind of lame. I think the shows and stuff appeal to my mom's age, but there's nothing really there for adults in their 30s and 40s. We were all bored for the sea days. My kids did like things like the ropes course and the mini golf, but you can really only do that so many times before it gets old. - My 10-year-old really liked Splash Academy, but my 13-year-old went to Entourage once, proclaimed it 'lame' and never went back. I don't blame NCL entirely, it's a tough age group to please. - Half the treadmills in the gym were broken. I think I would use this ship again, but I'd definitely upgrade to the Haven for a more premium experience. If I had to eat breakfast on this ship one more time, I think I would have puked. Read Less

We arived one day before embarkation to Copenhagen after a week in other parts of Europa so we mostly just explored the nyhavn area which is very pretty. Embarkation itself was super smooth we maybe took 15 min to board, rooms where ready at 1:30p and our luggage arrived at night as expected. The ship is beautiful, we could definitely tell it was recently renovated no complains on cleaniless and the public areas are spacious. We stayed in a family room for 4 for the first time and at first we where confused as the sofa bed was clearly only meant for 1 person. Only by asking around did we realize there was a ceiling bed that could be opened. We were very happy to hear this but I think they should include some sign or paper with this information in the room already because we grew upset at the beginning. The room is tight but there was enough storage for our family of four. We mostly at at the buffet and food was varied and good to great flavors, we could always find a table in the first few minutes we came. Other than that we dined twice at savor/taste and food is very good but it is missing a bit of presentation and flavor to be great. We also had lunch once in o sheenans but were disappointed with the mini portions and the service. We actually left before he could bring us all our orders or ask for dessert with how slow service is despite not being booked. The only specialty restaurant was Moderno and definitely recommend the quality of the meat os fantastic. The entertainment crew always had something to do its a shame the don't always have enough space or material for everyone interested to participate. The atrium simply does not have enough seating and the need to bring more paper for everyone to play. We had a great time in family dictionary for example but the only had paper for 7 teams it doesn’t make sense.This ship also has so many activities such as the arcade, bowling, mini golf the rope course and we enjoyed a bit of all it had to offer. Service overall is very good besides O Shennans we had no complaints. It may not be as personal than other cruises but everyone is kind and gets the job done. Though the cruise supposedly had 4600 guest (that not the capacity they advertise) we never felt it was so full we couldn't enjoy you just have to organize yourself to be at the activities before the begin and the shore excursions where fun. Btw the Cirque show is amazing you shouldnt miss it! Read Less

We had wanted to do a different cruise than our normal Italy/Spain vacation and thought this sounded like a perfect fit. We flew in from a 3 day stop in Iceland and landed in Copenhagen late the night before we boarded. I don't like arriving the same day as embarking. The boarding process was painless. The ship has been recently renovated and was lovely. The only complaint I had about the room is having the bed dead center in the room, allowing very little area to walk around the bed. It seemed to be a waste of space to have the bed blocking the seating area. There was plenty of storage room and the bathroom was spacious; even had a tub. The food was the high point on this cruise. Normally I am sick of the buffets by day 3 of cruising but that was not the case on this trip. The food was always fresh and there was a large assortment. We also ate at of 4 of the restaurants; they were awesome! The entertainment was good; not great but there was plenty to do in the evenings. I feel the gym could have had more equipment. There were quite a few times where there were no open machines when I tried to work out and I tried several different times of the day. The shore excursions were my biggest complaint on this trip. The Berlin tour was good. I wanted more information on WW I and WW II, not just the Berlin Wall. One of the members of our group went on the tour of the concentration camp and seemed to enjoy that one better. Tallinn was amazing and we did that on our own. A little research and we were good to go. We were told we would have two days in St. Petersburg but realistically it is 24 hours. Upon docking, we did the Evening at the Hermitage which was nice but the museum was actually closed when we took the tour. A lot of the lighting was turned off and none of the shops were open. However, it is only open for cruise tours and when you see the line during the day, you are grateful to have the experience you had. I had booked the Catherine's Palace and the St. Petersburg church tour before we left the US and was told it would be fine; two tours in one day. However personnel on the ship told me I couldn't make it and they would not refund money if we did not get back in time for the second tour. One of the people in our group went on the Catherine's Palace and had plenty of time when he got back before the second tour started. I was disappointed to say the least and the four hour St. Petersburg tour I took instead was very poorly done. It was basically driving around town in a bus looking at buildings. We were leaving port 24 hours after we got there. Not a two day stay. The last two excursions were a total waste of time. We did the hop on/hop off options for Stockholm and Helsinki and didn't have even enough time to make it around the entire route once. We were in town for a very short period of time and the options were very limited. I would have liked to have a more time in port and a later time to leave. We did the Copenhagen to the airport option and that was perfect. We had plenty of time to see the city with a great guide and then we were dropped at the airport. Two of us stayed with the luggage and the rest of us took the metro back into town and went to Tivoli Gardens and spent a few hours there. I would definitely do this tour again but would hope more time could be spent in port in some of the towns and less time between each destination. The distance is not so great we couldn't have more time in port. Read Less

We went on this cruise for a family trip to get to know the Baltics. The ship has a lot of things to do, but if is going to cruise the baltic sea it should have an indoor pool and more indoor activities, the weather was good only the first two days, the rest, all the outside was impossible to use The baltics are beautiful countries, but the amount of time you stay there is very low and my perception is the only reason is because Norwegian wants you to consume inside the ship vs in the city. One example was when we were in Tallinn, we had to be on the ship by 15:30, in front of us there was another ship from TUI, they were asked to be there at 23:00, the next morning when we arrived to Helsinki, the TUI ship was already in front of us, so the reason is not only to be able to travel. Another complain is that Norwegian apparently lost a lot of what a cruise is, no welcoming reception, no animal towels every night, etc. They are going to far with this free-style experience. The food was awful in almost all the restaurant, no typical food, no variety. The only one where we had a good dinner was Cagney the Steakhouse. The Seafood restaurant was fully booked since the first day, meaning that it should be bigger to allow all passengers to try it. Entertainment was nice, particularly the Cirque of Steam and Dreams. The arcade areas were also nice for the kids, but I didn't want them to spend that much time inside. The service was average, some people were very nice, some were not. Generally a disappointment from the ship and crew perspective Read Less

We chose to sail for the Baltic cruise with Princess after trying other cruise lines for other cruises. Nothing beat Princess in term of services, itineraries, and values. We're group of 11 people (yes, odd numbers) and the dining room able to accomodate all of us in one table which make the dining experiences more enjoyable. Great menu on traditional Dining room (good options considering we have different people with different preferences). Get the wine packages when you board the ship (great values). Regal Princess is a great ship especially since it becomes the medallion class (very convenience tool and now we can locate the rest of our group at any given time on the ship). We love all the countries listed in the itineraries although we feel that the stop at Oslo is too short. The weather were perfect during our visits. Our kids love the destination cruise like this one because they get to visit different countries everyday without having to pack and unpack daily). Overall experience, we had an amazing time sailing with Princess. Can't wait to do another cruise with Princess again. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the remarkable deal we found to cruise Northern Europe. Embarkation was very smooth, we waited about 30 min or so, but we arrived before our check-in time. The ship is very modern and has a real wow factor! This was out 13th cruise. We’ve done Disney, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Carnival. MSC is definitely different from the “American” lines. Pool decks are much quieter, no music/games/contests like on the other ships. No sail away party. There was a giant screen; however, it never played any movies or shows, only beach scenery. The pools are salt water and we’re not terribly crowded except on sea days when it was nearly impossible to find a lounger even on the deck above. The thermal suite is lovely and a great place to relax. The kids club was good. Our boys enjoyed their time there. They do close at various points throughout the day in seas days, which was a bit of a pain. The food in the buffet was really just ok as was the main dining room. The speciality restaurants have much better food. The status match program is nice. I have a gold card so there were some perks, but not like ones On other lines. We got a bowl of fruit in our cabin and a string back pack. We were offered a free photo but it had to be from a particular party which was at 11 on the last sea day. Overall, any cruise it what you make of it. We chose MSC for the great itinerary. It can feel like you’re being nickeled and dimed, but we were prepared for that from other reviews. Read Less

Our first cruise with NCL and we were not disappointed. We are used to Royal Caribbean but chose this ship for itinery and it fitted our schedule. We travelled as a family with 2 teens and 2 friends. We had 2 days in Copenhagen beforehand which was good and extended our holiday, Pretty and safe city but expensive. Tivoli good but better in evening with the lights and a light show over the lake around 10.45 pm. Good river cruise. Stayed in Scandik hotel which was modern and comfy with good breakfast. Cruise embarkation and disembarkation seamless. On board ship there is a smaller public atrium than we are used to but it served its purpose and there are plenty of bars and restaurants and outside space in which to relax. We had an inside interconnecting cabin on the 11 th deck which was comfy and not too small. The bathrooms were spacious. It was extremely quiet down its own corridor. The beds were comfy and it was clean and modern. Our cabin stewards were hardworking and kept the rooms spotless. The food we had no complaints with. If you can get a speciality dining plan you will find it worth it to sample some very good restaurants. We are in Le Bistro, Tepanyaki, Cagney's Moderno. All excellent. We had the drinks package and it works out better value if individual drinks are as expensive as people say although we are not heavy drinkers but enjoy the odd drink from the many bars available. Try the ice bar for a small extra cost as it's fun but yes cold! Our 18 year old had the drinks package and could order unlimited wine beer and cider as well as intermittent cocktails and spirits as no one seemed entirely sure what was included. We found service excellent. No complaints and they were more flexible than we had experienced before. A word on tips. We prefer to tip as we go and had our service charges refunded on request without argument. The shows were excellent. Yes the theatre is smaller but we didn't reserve all shows and got in fine if we got there a bit earlier but some we had reserved which is easy to do on board or better still before you sail. There is an extra cost for Cirque steam but worth it for sure. The rest I believe were included for free. Shows are are a matter of personal taste so try them but they may not be everyone's cup of tea. Excursions : We had been on this itinery before so we did most alone this time. Stockholm lovely and we got an Uber to town which was quick and cheap. Vasamuseum is in town so easily done alone. Tallin you can walk to easily. Beautiful. Helsinki we got hop on hop off and ended up at great amusement park and lovely park at top of town. Worth a visit. No charge for entry and rides reasonably priced. Visby we walked to easily. Beautiful. At Petersburg we did evening ballet and through the eyes of russian people. Both good and you see things off the beaten track. The ballet was expensive but a once in a lifetime experience. If you check the ports beforehand it is easy to do trips alone but do check this out if you have mobility issues and be mindful of timing. Otherwise go with ship excursions which we did on our first visit. Our teens made amazing friends by going to the club's but you have to be brave and do it otherwise it's difficult to meet other people of similar to age. It makes their cruise. The teen club activities are good if you want them but ok to just hang out if you don't. There was an X box apparently! We didn't try on board activities but they are available and seemed well maintained and plentiful. Overall we found this to b a good ship for our purposes and a good cruise. It is more or less suited to families than other cruises we have done but yes if you want a small quiet cruise it may not be your taste. We thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely sail NCL in the future. Read Less

We've loved all that Norweigan has to offer; food, entertainment, consistency in a great travel experience. The staff is more than welcoming and they are very organized. Some minor tips for a better experience: The Getaway should not be used in cold areas. Without a big lounge at one end of the ship, the open areas are way too crowded without the pool being an option. Chocolate Lava cake should be offered every night. We love it! In the Tropicana, tables should be placed a few feet from the wait stations. If you are unlucky and are seating near one, you will be bumped all night and interrupted by staff just trying to do your job. It's not the typical experience. We could detect a little friction between staff at times. Not good. A woman and her fiancé got into a big argument in Ocean's Blue. This was at the next table. It was extremely disrupting and caused a scene. I wish the staff had just escorted them both out. Our drinks were covered and we received three apologies, but it went on for too long. Overall, it was a great experience and we know any cruise line can't prevent minor issues. Read Less