I adore NCL or I have in the past so I was extra excited to be leaving out of NOLA on an NCL! Double fun! Well, Maybe not so much...Im not sure if it was because of Mardi Gras or if its just cruisers out of NOLA but it was a whole different feel on this cruise. From the moment we reached the posrt to park it was frustrating. We were in line early to park because we didn't want to wait ion traffic when the parades started. The parking was a bigger mess than getting around the city.The attendants acted like they had never parked cars in an orderly fashion before it was bizarre The ship its self lacked the cleanliness throughout the common areas that I am used too but there was chatter on the boat that it was highly understaffed so I suppose that would make sense. The food at the upcharge restaurants that we went to was fabulous, the MDR's were great but the buffet was rough. Although I did make a sandwich every day and thoroughly enjoyed those. I enjoyed the shows. I am not a fan of the spa atmosphere on the Breakaway, I much prefer the nighttime feel of the Epic spa area. Read Less

We chose this cruise for a family event. We are normally Carnival Cruise guests, but was excited to set sail with NCL. Got the NCL reward credit card and all. They refused to credit the $200 in points. They ran out of Budlight and Ultras and they were often hot when they did have. The mixed drinks and shots were made with watered down alcohol served by bitter bartenders. One of the ports is NCL owned in belize and was more expensive than the other 2 ports with very little to offer. There were 4 to 6 of the staff that made it worth while to rate it a 3. The pool was over crowded. The specialty restaurant was over booked and inaccessible as well as the popular bars and shows. The gym was over crowded and the spa was expensive. Unfortunately I will not be sailing with NCL. Will try Royal next or May just go all inclusive and fly to my destination. Read Less

This is my sixth cruise, and my third Norwegian. THE GOOD We enjoyed this ship for the most part. It was certainly clean, tastefully decorated and spacious. Layout of ship: With 4000 people it surprisingly never felt crowded to me. There were always plenty of loungers; the buffet was not terribly crowded and heaven knows there was always plenty of food. Elevators came reasonable quickly and it was not difficult to get seats to the few shows we saw. There were many fun activities for kids: ropes course, minigolf, climbing wall, sports and pool slides. Our son was shy about the teen club, but it looked cool and the counselor seemed very nice. There were structured activities as well as lots of chill time with pool tables, video games, etc. The video game area was expensive, and that may have accounted for low crowds there. Since the main pools were very crowded we finally found a very pleasant area in the very back of the ship behind the teen club, arcades and sports area with a bar, two hot tubs and a water feature that was allowed you to sit with feet in water and chat with others or cool off under an attractive “rain” feature. There was plenty of seating including chairs, loungers, and more comfy furniture and plenty of people were gathering and able to enjoy conversation. With the exception of some 20 something young men chanting “chug, chug, chug,” while the bar tender poured their drinks, it was very pleasant. I would agree with others who mentioned more bar tenders are needed in pool areas. The staff were usually polite and helpful. The Entertainment: I won’t list this under “the bad” because it is really a matter of taste, but it didn’t interest us much. We went to the opening night show that gives you a little bit from all the shows. We found the cruise ship director corny and not entertaining, bits from the dance show Burn the Floor, Rock of Ages and the Tenors were all fine for a few minutes, but none piqued our desire to see more. We did attend the magic show which was not very amazing or funny. A random volunteer from the audience stole the show and made everyone laugh so much that my son thinks she was a plant. We attended dueling pianos for a while and it was a fun crowd pleaser. There was a lot of singing along to popular songs through the decades. The comedian did not seem very strong opening night, but we did attend one of his shows in Headliners bar and he was much better. I was also surprised that we were told we might not get seats without a reservation. I had just assumed the smaller bar areas did not require pre-booking. Happily we did get in, but we were charged for this, which also surprised me. The Cirque show was a fun environment to dine in and the show was entertaining and just the right length. I attended the “How to run a Floating Hotel” talk which was interesting and the Cruise Director was exceptionally professional in handling complaints veiled as questions. One woman wanted to know why we were not in Honduras today as it said on her schedule? (Our ports are Cozumel, Belize and Costa Maya) I keep thinking of my own questions now. How big is the kitchen? Where is it? How many cooks do they have? When do they clean the carpets and how do they keep them so clean? I did enjoy my own entertainment which included reading 5 novels in lounge chairs or balcony while the ocean waves passed me by. The Thermo Spa: We enjoyed it and used it most days. I am not sure that I would pay the full price for it, but it was worth the extra bid amount. We liked the waterfall that massaged the shoulders, the bubbling jacuzzi and heated loungers the most. There was also a sauna, steam room, salt room with alleged healing powers, showers, a small pool and other, non-heated loungers facing the ocean. The Food: Overall the food was ok to good, rarely excellent. The buffet was uninspired, but okay for breakfast and snacks. In the main dining rooms (Taste and Savor) I enjoyed the New York Strip. Other dishes were okay. In Le Bistro the Lamb chops were delicious, but the Coquille St. Jacque was not traditional and was overpowered by raw garlic. The Crème Brulee was fantastic- much better than any other dessert we had on the ship. The Cirque meal was surprisingly good after the luke-warm reviews I’d read. The Beef Tenderloin, cooked medium, was still very tender and juicy (I prefer medium rare.) The menu in various restaurants feature variations of peppercorn gravy on steaks, from the New York Strip in the main restaurant, to the tenderloin in the Cirque meal, to beef in the Bistro. Even the fabulous Ribeye in Cagney’s came with a small dish of gravy that tasted of peppercorn. It seems odd to repeat this seasoning so often. I did ask for it on the side and they willingly complied. The food in Taste and Savor was also inconsistent. My son ordered what was described as shimp and mushroom fettucine alfredo twice. The first night he ordered it I tasted it and found that while the sauce was not what I consider alfredo (creamy and cheesy) it had a nice seafood flavor. My son ordered it again two nights later and mentioned that it was spicy. I tasted it and again, it was not what I would consider an alfredo sauce and had a strong black pepper flavor. I also thought the pasta was a touch undercooked. The “Baked Ziti with three cheeses and a chunky tomato sauce” was almost devoid of sauce and seemed more like noodles with a very thin sauce with cheese sprinkled on top and put under the broiler. On a more positive note the lamb shank was tender and flavorful. If I were to cruise with NCL again, I’d feel like I should only dine in specialty restaurants. I feel that cruise ships have gone from having excellent food in their main dining rooms to making you pay extra for it in so called specialty restaurants. The Bad We have few real complaints. The two small pools on deck 15 were not big enough for 4000 people. I never felt comfortable trying to squeeze in among the throng as people were always crowded along the edge, and in the hot tubs. I remember really liking the pool set up on the Norwegian Jewel, there was a shallow lounge area in the pool and plenty of loungers surrounding the pool as well as the adult only pool as a quieter option. On this ship I used loungers on the quieter upper levels far from the pool. I realize that very few people use the library, but if you are going to have one it would be nice to make it an actual usable amenity. When I finished the four books I brought with me (yes, I am a fast reader and made use of my lounge time) I sought out the library which is well hidden near the Atrium on the sixth floor. About four people were in the library all using their own electronic gadgets. When I saw the empty shelves and tiny fiction section I considered donating the four I had in my room. I identified a couple books I thought would entertain me for my last sea day and tried to open the glass cabinet. It was locked. Am I crazy to think this is over -the-top-security for a few out of date novels? I looked around and saw a small table/desk with a handwritten sign “The librarian will be back in a few minutes, please sign out books yourself.” I waited a few minutes, then opened the top drawer to the desk to see if there was a key. There was. I tried to use it in the door. Suddenly an employee was at my side barking “That is not the key to that, give me the key.” I gave her the key feeling embarrassed as if I were committing a crime and asked how to get the books to borrow. “The library is not open, only during certain hours.” She scolded without telling me the hours. I was so astonished that there was a person in the library to prevent me from getting a book rather than to help me get one that I left in a huff. Honestly, it could not be more transparent that this ship has no interest in accommodating passengers unless additional revenue can be generated. FYI I checked and found that the library is open from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. so schedule your reading needs accordingly!!! THE DEAL BREAKER I would not sail on this ship again because of the cigarette smoke that freely flows from the casino into the main areas of the 6th, 7th, and 8th floor even into some of the “premium” (extra fee) restaurants and main activity areas such as Atrium, cafes, and art gallery. Would you enjoy sitting at the sushi bar, paying $15.00 ala carte to enjoy a sushi roll while inhaling cigarette fumes? We were fortunate to be seated “inside” the restaurant at Le Bistro, but many were seated in the “outdoor café” area (ie. in the ship corridor) where you could smell cigarette smoke. We opted for the truly outdoor balcony seating in Ocean Blue (which was lovely!), but would have refused to eat in the restaurant that is open to the casino fumes. We were not the only ones bothered by this. THE PORTS: Cozumel: we’ve been here a few times and usually have lunch in the town and then head to a beach club such as the Money Bar by cab to snorkel. This time, since the Belize snorkel trip was full, we decided to take a snorkel trip available at the port for $45.00 cash each for the three of us. This two hour tour, which included bottled water, sodas and beer, was fantastic. Victor was our guide. We saw tons of fish at two stops that were very similar to each other. Victor was good with the many beginning snorkelers, held up a blow fish for all to see, and the equipment was good. From there we took a cab to Paradise Beach club where there was a restaurant, nice large pool, and swimming at a sandy beach. There were lots of jumpy, floaty things for kids which for us was a negative as it obstructed the view and took up swimming space, but it was fun watching the kids play. I overheard some who were on a tour complain that they didn’t get to stay long enough. I really like to create my own itinerary when we have a full day. Belize: I’m not a big fan of being captive on a cruise ship island, but many really enjoyed it. I was on a wait list for the Barrier Reef snorkel tour but it didn’t pan out so we hung out on the NCL beach. There were several shops and opportunities to rent equipment or zip line. We lounged and swam and had Nachos and margaritas in one of the restaurants. The restaurant did not accept our ship card for charges which puzzled me, but fortunately we brought our Visa. It rained on and off and we made it back to the ship ALMOST before the major down pour struck! The crew greeted us with warm dry towels! This was my least favorite port day. I much preferred stopping at Belize City on other cruises where we could have found a snorkel tour and had more interesting lunch options. But it was nicely done for those who like a serve-yourself and pay-as-you-go resort experience. Costa Maya: This was our first time and we only had until 1:30 p.m. We quickly moved through the Disney-like port and took a cab into town where there were a ton of restaurant and hotels offering lounge chairs and food and beach access and wifi. We enjoyed shopping and eating and swimming and lounging and it was over too soon. Back to the port we would have enjoyed exploring more and using the nice swimming pool available, but had to get back onto ship. Conclusion: We had a great time and our complaints were mostly minor, but I think I would try a different ship or even a different line next time. We like the idea of Freestyle dining, but if the only good options are pre-reserved specialty restaurants and pre-reserved shows, that is really not very free-style. Read Less

Getting on board was a line that was over three hours of waiting. Room was old dreary and outdated. We paid for a mini suite and it was not worth it at all. We were told we would be near the spa and got placed on the kids floor. Loud loud loud. Norwegians answer “sorry we are booked we have no where to move you” All restaurants were booked. Laying out on pool deck for 2 days never had one server get me a drink. Lines were ridiculous at the bar ALL THE TIME When Norwegian was unable to fulfill a package I purchased on line before the trip the staff simply said “sorry we are out of that”. Cindatant wait in line for everything with poor staff that was unwilling to make issues right. So truly disappointed in the attitude of the staff but the quality of this entire boat Read Less

Travel agent advised that we would love this cruise. We were extremely disappointed. Our room was not clean when we went in. We had to ask for everything. Our balcony was not cleaned. Tables were not washed and dirty dishes were left on the table. We find that because we are automatically charged for service, no one cares anymore. We were shocked that there was only one small pool for adults and the hot tubs were dirty. Two out of the 4 people in our group got sick. We will never travel on NCL again. We found that most of the paid entertainment was a gimmick. Very disorganized. Was not enough bar tenders or wait staff for the atrium. We find that the staff is not well informed on the areas of the ship. We paid up for a floor seat for the Cirque show of $48/couple for the floor. This is a total rip off as the theatre is small to begin with and the floor was a table next to the stage. There was absolutely no benefit for paying that much more. We didn't end up seating on the floor as we changed the time, but we were still charged $10/ person more for seating that was not normally charged for. The food for the show was amazing. We were extremely disappointed with the buffet. Not a great selection and only one cook doing omelets at each station. I guess we have been spoiled by our wonderful experiences on Royal Caribbean. Read Less

Restaurants were good but the buffet food was bland and not good. We found ourselves purchasing dinner for a good meal. The gym was nice but you had to purchase spa access for $200 to enjoy a steam or sauna. There was no complimentary water and every water fountain has a do not fill your water bottle sign even in the gym. Very little entertainment poolside, slow or absent service. The only show we were interested (Rock of Ages) was cancelled. Lastly, my wife could not use her blow dryer or flat iron without blowing a cabin fuse which would take an hour to get fixed and room service was delevered very slowly and with an 8 dollar charge. We enjoyed ourselves on the cruise and will cruise again. We likely will choose another line that we have cruised in the past. RC and Carnival were more to our liking. Read Less

We chose Norwegian because we had friends love the line and we were not fans of our RCC. We also really loved the OPTIONS of complimentary dining, specialty dining and the number of bars available. The food was much better than RCC. We ate at teppanyaki which was a great show and good food. Moderno (Brazilian steakhouse) was decent food but the absolute worse service we received by far. The last specialty dining was Cagneys Steakhouse and it was pretty good! We got full pretty fast. The complimentary dining options were Savor, Taste, The Manhattan, and O'Sheehans. The first three all essentially offer the same menu with a few varieties each night. Food for main dining was good. O'SHeehans was one of the bars that served food 24hrs. It had good food and bar options. We spent a lot of time in this area. The buffet is a HUGE area and the food was great although we were disappointed that they never seemed to have the mini pretzel loaf and melted cheese at the same time. Dessert options are typical for cruiselines and aren't what you would normally expect in the states. I couldnt quite find anything that hit my sweet tooth right. The dinner at the buffet was more impressive with Norwegian than RCC, they went above and beyond with their themed nights and added a nice touch. The Entertainment was AWESOME. The cruise director for us was hilarious and they had great game shows. The main entertainment options that we went to were "Rock of Ages" and a comedian show with three headliners. First of all, Rock of Ages was freaking hilarious and my husband and I absolutely loved it. The cast was awesome! The comedy show we ended up at was an early show rated PG, it was entertaining but Im sure the PG-13 was probably better. The Ship. ITS HUGE AND BEAUTIFUL!!!!! SO many cool things on board in addition to the normal pools. It had a rock wall, bounce thing, and a ropes course with a walking plank over the ships edge. The cabin. We didn't want to spend our money on our room we opted for more excursions and specialty dining. So with that being said the interior stateroom midship was still gorgeous! It actually had more room than we thought. It had a mini fridge, cooler, and a nice size closet (with side shelves, hanging space, and enough room for luggage). The bathroom was much better than RCC. The shower was bigger than expected with a real door and lipped edge so it didn't create a huge water mess. The bathroom vanity had shelving and a cabinet with trash inside. We really were impressed! Our room attendant was fantastic! Excursions- Options are somewhat lacking on some ports. Cozumel we did the Chankanaab Beach Park and snorkel. We had a blast! The tequila testing, sea lion show, food, drinks (get the margarita the man is selling with fresh squeezed juice in front of you- its weird combos but absolutely incredible for $8 and the nice handmade cup), and beach were fantastic!!!! The only way into water is by stairs for snorkeling (which we didnt end up doing) but it was still a great day! Belize City- Belize zoo and monket sanctuary was GREAT!!!!! Great alternative to another beach day! The animals are SO close to you and its a beautiful place. We got to feed the monkeys at the sanctuary and one even sat on my shoulder! The tour guide was also phenomenal! Harvest Caye- no need for booked excursion! Its a private NCL island with a pool, beach, shopping and all sorts of things to do! DONT EAT AT LANDSHARK. It was gross and not worth the money. Costa Maya- We didnt see anything through NCL that we wanted to do so we opted to book a private excursion through an all inclusive Maya Chan Beach and we are so glad we did! Beautiful place with absolutely the best customer service we have ever received ever! Seriously! The food was homemade authentic Mexican Taco buffet with a lady literally making tortillas in front of you. It was incredible! We HIGHLY recommend this! We had quite a few people from our cruise that also booked this so we were definitely not alone. Overall service on ship was ok. There are a lot of guests and seemingly not enough bartenders, waitstaff, ect. Cleanliness of ship exceeded expectations. We saw people sanitizing railings and handles constantly. Overall we would definitely cruise NCL again! Read Less

The ship is beautifully maintained. Staff is friendly and efficient. Shore excursions are fun. A few things to be aware of: 1. If you book any spa services be prepared for the staff to try and get you to buy a variery of products yo take home. 2. They really push their Cruise Next program where you pre-pay deposits for future cruises. We were having a fantastic time so we decided to go ahead and go with it. We returned home excited to book our next cruise only to learn prices are going way up. Literally double what we paid for this trip. The cruise consultant stated "We're launching new ships. Increased pricing reflects better ship ammenities" 3. The Latitudes reward program gives points based on days at sea rather than dollars spent. You earn the same number of points on a cruise regardless of whether you're in the cheapest room spending no additional funds or in the largest suite buying additional on board items such as jewelry, etc. Read Less

An overall great value! The week was a wonderfully relaxing experience! The service was five star! The speciality dining restaurants were amazing, the menus were unique and well put together, the staff was attentive and the epitome of customer service! The spa was a wonderful quiet place of relaxation and tranquility on the boat! The thermal suite is a must for any NCL cruise! Cave tubing in Belize was an amazing shore excursion. Thankfully it was a NCL shire excursion and the boat waited for all members of the group to make it safely back on board before departing (the excursion was about two hours late returning to the terminal) The entertainment was a bit of a let down this cruise. Rock of ages was cancelled due to performer sickness, and Cirque was sold out by day one which was a bummer. Burn the Floor was excellent and the 18+ comedy show was pure hilarity. I would have really liked more entertainment options or more showings for the specialty shows Read Less

I did not explore NO before leaving. I’m from Louisiana, so I have been throughout NO plenty of times. Boarding the ship was great. Check-in took all about 10 min max and everything went smoothly. Everything on the ship was amazing. I had been on one other cruise in the past and it was Carnival and it was a good first experience, but for me Norwegian superseded my expectations (in a good way). I am so happy to have experienced Norwegian and hopefully in the near future I get another great opportunity. I took my mom on her 1st cruise and she had a great time and very much enjoyed herself and is planning with her friends and co-workers to go on one. Norwegian is a great cruise line and I can see why they are amongst one if not the top cruise lines. I would say they are a bit pricey, but their service, entertainment, food, size of ship, etc is worth it. Read Less