this ship looked amazing to us when we picked it, and it was. Our room was awesome and spacious, the shows, entertainment and performances were top notch. Burn the Floor and Cirque Dreams and Steam were both better than any Vegas show i've seen. There was always a ton to do, lots of exciting activities and the Cruise Director and Assistant Cruise Director were a lot of fun and always had a ton of energy. This was The downfalls of this cruise were that the buffet is a scary place. It felt like you should have football pads on to go to the buffet. It was a war zone to say the least. It was like the entire population of the cruise was crammed into one space, and sometimes the organizers would shut down one whole side of the buffet, which made the space to maneuver even smaller. They need to have a second buffet running at the same time or something. It shouldn't feel like third world country who are starving, running to get into the emergency supplies that were dropped by airplane. Also, the smoking was a real problem for us. I am allergic to smoke and i have asthma. My health problems are not anyone else's fault, nor are they anyone else's problem, but it's not fair that smokers have more rights than non-smokers, to shove cancer sticks and secondhand smoke in our faces. Many of the public areas were also smoking areas, so if you want to enjoy those areas, you have to be willing to inhale some cancer clouds. This definitely takes away from the value of my vacation. Also, i think there should be a heavy fine placed on anyone illegally smoking on their balcony and it should be monitored much closer, it didn't seem to be monitored at all. A patron 2 decks below us, and 3 cabins over, smoked all the daggone time. Not only did it keep us from using our balcony as much as we'd like to, we also couldn't leave our sliding glass door open to enjoy the breeze and sound of waves, because tons of smoke was flooding into our room and smelling like a cigarette. This made me very upset. This was by far the very most expensive vacation we've ever been on. We had a tragic experience a few months ago, and we decided to splurge and treat ourselves to a balcony and we waaaaaay stretched our budget, only to have a dude below up getting his cigarette smoke all over us, our balcony and our cabin. My husband saw the guy throw at least one cigarette off his balcony. Throwing anything off your balcony is a HUGE NO-NO, especially if it's littering. NCL seems to take the littering thing very seriously, but they sure don't actually monitor it. Also, we are vegan... we were ecstatic that they had some options for us, but there was one menu, with one lineup per day. No matter what restaurant you ate at, you could only order off that one menu, you had to order in advance, not at time of dining, and everything for vegans came from one restaurant and it would be sent over to whatever restaurant you were currently attending. We were so glad they did this, but it really felt like being trapped in a box, with no choices. This is what you get today, take it or leave it. Forget trying to find out if something was vegan on the buffet. The chefs seemed grumpy, overworked maybe, and since it was a zoo in the buffet every time, we gave up on it. Unfortunately we met several people who said they would never sail norwegian again. Multiple people said they choose Disney over Norwegian, multiple said they choose Royal Caribbean over Norwegian, and 2 people told us they choose Carnival over Norwegian. Hardly any people we met said they liked Norwegian the best. That's not good for business. Norwegian is our favorite, but we only have one Carnival cruise to compare it to. We will probably look into Royal Caribbean or some others next time, but we may sail NCL again. Read Less

We booked last minute to celebrate my husband's birthday and the New Year in the warm weather. We had an enjoyable and relaxing vacation, but the cruise itself was just average. I had been to many of the ports before and they are not the most exciting, so that was part of the issue. But what I did not like was the nickel and diming you to death on the ship. I know they need to get more money out of you - but this felt so blatant and more then most ships. This was our first Norwegian. We have done Carnival, RC, Celebrity and Azamara. There is no laundry and no way to iron clothes except to pay for it. That, along with $7.95 room service delivery charge really rubbed me the wrong way. We did the Steam Punk show and I have to say it was FANTASTIC. But they had charged double per person to sit on the floor. When we got there we were about two feet from the people who paid half of what we did, got the same food, and still had a guy with a huge head in front of me. What a rip off! Then the "jogging track" was so short it was almost a circle - it took 8 times around to make a mile. And, the worst part is you had to go past the rock climbing area - where everyone stood waiting to climb or to watch their kids climb. "Excuse me, excuse me - wake up!" every lap. What a joke! I will say that we appreciated the Spice H2O area to lay in the sun with no kids. Our shower was large (awesome!) and the bed was fantastic. Service in the specialty restaurants and the quality of the food was spotty. We had over boiled stone crab but awesome rib eyes. Read Less

chose NCL because we like all the restaurant choices. There were 1638 children on our cruise so the boat was overrun with kids of all ages. All restaurants were booked solid the entire cruise. Events held in the main atrium which did not have enough seating for more than half the crowd. NCL is famous for nickel and diming you to death and this cruise was no different. Luckily we had the drink package. Pool was extremely crowded. Ports of call were good. Might recommend if you went on a Non holiday weekend. We had a balcony cabin but it would have been hard to actually sit on the balcony which had two chairs and barely enough room for the chairs so we never sat outside Bathroom was okay and had shower enclosure vs a shower curtain Bartenders were nice. Most wait staff were helpful. Room stewards were nice Food was plentiful. Read Less

I'll be short(ish) and to the point. We chose this cruise based on the itinerary, timing, and because we wanted to give NCL a shot after having done dozens of cruises with RCI and a few Carnival cruises mixed in. NCL will be replacing Carnival... If 4.5 stars were a possible rating, that's what I would have given this cruise. 1/2 star reduction is for a few dark and cramped public spaces and because one of our stops (Harvest Cay, Beliz) had to be passed over due to weather. Otherwise, this cruise was a big winner. Oh yeah, the rooms were a little cramped, so there's that downside as well, but definitely not a deal breaker. Dining was very good overall. Best I've had on a cruise ship. Specialty dining was excellent; you absolutely must get a dining package. Entertainment was very good. The majority of our entertainment happens in the casino. The Getaway has a good one - very open and a good selection of options. The kids (13 and 14 Y/O boys) had a great time on the ropes course, in the arcade, and at O'Sheehan's. O'Sheehan's is a very good hub for entertainment. Make it your home away from home on the Getaway. Service was overall very good, falling just short of excellent. The crew seemed friendly but possibly a bit overworked. You could see them all fighting off the yawns, but they smiled all the while. Fellow passengers - big upside on this cruise. Not sure if it was the length, time of year, or what, but the clientele on this cruise was fantastic. Routan - head to a resort and call it a day. The place is up and coming, but it's still a little rough, and I'm not overly fancy. Harvest Cay - cancelled due to high winds. Can't blame anyone for that. Costa Maya - spent the day at a really cool beach club run by some expats. It was a super-authentic experience. The beaches are plagued by seaweed, but head to MayaChan beach club and you won't be sorry. Again, this is not a fancy resort, just a friendly place where you can relax. Cozumel - get away from downtown and Cozumel has about everything a cruiser would want. We did another beach club Playa Uvas (good, not great), but the snorkeling was top notch. Do your homework and find a good, all inclusive where you can do desired activities on your schedule. Embarkation/Disembarkation. We were first timers on NCL (we are Diamond on RCI); without question, this was the easiest on/off process I have ever experienced. By far. Not even close. Bottom line: Excellent cruise. We would definitely do it again. Read Less

With the amount of money you spend for this cruise, I expected a lot more quality! Beds were so uncomfortable, saggy, worn out. The “free food” was cafeteria quality in the buffet and downright inedible at the only restaurant available 24/7, O’Sheens. Don’t even bother with that restaurant - it’s that bad. The free restaurants Savor, Taste and Tropicana were very good but of course very limited hours. The extra cost restaurants were excellent! But why do I have to pay extra for excellence? I expected the buffet to be more available but they shut down before evening entertainment over so if you’re hoping for late night dessert, forget that! They literally closed and removed ice cream toppings while we were standing in line at 9:35 pm And then there’s the lines for everything! I will never do another Mega Ship. Too many people too many lines. Not enough space! You have to reserve every entertainment. Most were sold out and you have to wait in a standby line. It was ridiculous! I reserved ahead of time when I could but some you cannot and then you have to go to onboard box office which has limited operating hours. The “free” entertainment dance group, Burn the Floor, was top notch! But that’s all I could get into. There was another Cirque type show but that was also extra fee and I refuse to pay more on principal. I hope it was good. They had fun game shows, but very limited seating in common area that was so crowded it just made the experience annoying. There was not enough outside seating to relax. Only one deck, I think 8, outside of the restaurants, had lovely couches etc, but there simply were not enough! Had to get there early morning to claim a spot. The only other outside areas were the pool and sundecks which were absolute zoos and the sun loungers were too uncomfortable for that chaos! Never had an opportunity to utilize water slides - packed full of kids all the time. There was of course a separate pool and lounge area for an extra price for the wealthy. Oh how I miss the days when cruising was a luxurious experience. But you can still find that on other lines. The dance parties on the back deck were a lot of fun. DJs did a great job with variety of music styles and countries. It was usually over 18 which was great, but for some reason on last night they let the tweens into the area which ruined it for the night because the tweens just stood in the middle of the dance floor so the rest of us no longer had room to dance. That was a bummer on the last night. The excursions were really good! Best part of this cruise was time off the ship. Excursions were way overpriced but that’s to be expected. I did scuba in Honduras, snorkeling in Belize, ATV and Secret River in Mexico. All were excellent experiences! Overall, my friends made the cruise fun, not Norwegian. I’ll stick with Holland going forward. Read Less

After being on Disney cruise 5 times and have been on the harmony and the allure with Royal Caribbean, we wanted to try a different cruise line and a different destination. I booked the ncl getaway for Christmas.My husband was skeptical because he had read some bad reviews about it.I said well it’s too late I booked it and we are going. It was the best cruise we have been on.My two girls 9 & 16 my husband and I loved it. It exceeded our expectations at all aspects. Food was excellent. The activities and entertainment was extraordinarily. We couldn’t find anything to complain about. The cruise director paquito was such a gentleman and so friendly.the whole crew was friendly and happy. We had the most fun on this ship.we didn’t even have time to use the pool. The shows were so amazing. It will be our cruise line from now on. Loved it❣️Highly recommended. Read Less

Amazing ship. Fantastic service and entertainment. Very clean and plenty of attention to all of the details. The food was very good. This was my first cruise (I went solo during Christmas week), so perhaps some of my gripes would be non-issues for some, but here are the things I did not appreciate: 1. No free refills on soda. It’s $3.75 for a fountain soda and I ordered it with a meal. There are no free refills unless you’ve purchased the soda package. I expected refills for the duration of the meal. It costs them next to nothing and I might have one soda per day, so the soda package just wasn’t worth it. 2. Forced gratuity added to everything, including over-the-counter service (e.g. coffee). I’d likely give them more than the $0.61 cents automatically added, but you don’t get a choice. 3. Expensive (and weak) cocktails. They started at $9 and went up to $14+. Again, add gratuity to that. Maybe I wouldn’t mind as much if there was enough alcohol in them where you could taste it. 4. Prices for excursions were marked up significantly from local availability right off the ship. The fairest prices on the ship were for the Lavazza coffee bar/espresso drinks. A large Americano was $3 with 3 espresso shots. Totally worth it by any standard. The shows on the ship were very well done. I didn’t see the wine musical, but Burn the Floor, Million Dollar Quartet, and Cirque Dreams and Steam (my favorite) were all phenomenal shows. Cirque was $30 and came with a very good 3-course meal. I didn’t make it to the comedy club, but I caught Ryan Wingfield at the Finale Show on the last day and he had good jokes considering the family audience. I explored only a limited number of dining options, but the best non-premium food was at the noodle bar (Shanghai’s in the casino) and Tropicana. The Garden Cafe buffet was great, with lots of specialty options, but pass on the turkey breakfast sausage links. The waffles were great but the pancakes were dry. The real star was the mocha French toast. The sugar free syrup was a thoughtful option. The fitness area was nice. There was a spin class room, an exercise class room, a weight room, and a bike/treadmill room. There may have been ellipticals but I’m not sure - I walked through once. Dumbbells up to 75 lbs, two sets of dumbbells under 30 lbs, the usual chest/back/shoulder/leg machines, a vertical (not angled) Smith machine, adjustable angle benches, static weight barbells (no plates), medicine balls, kettle bells, etc. The pool was nice, but small. The hot tubs were crowded, but less so in the 21+ Spice H2O area. LOTS of chairs for laying out... so many! One of the hot tubs had broken jets. The water slides were great! Short but a lot of fun. The Spice H2O parties every night were a blast, as long as the music was good (most of the time it was). It ended at 1:00 AM and a lot of people went down to Bliss to continue the party until 2:00. It was a great way to connect with people you may have met during the week. I enjoyed the experience and would do it again, but enough things irked me where I’d explore other options beyond Norwegian next time. Overall, it was a fair deal. Read Less

Two families with kids ages 11-14 cruised together Christmas week. After reading reviews on this site we were slightly concerned, but we did not encounter a single negative experience! The ship is beautiful and very clean. The rooms were modern and clean; the bathrooms are large, the cabins are not spacious but livable and we had a balcony so that helped. Our steward, Conrado, was friendly and efficient. The food was incredible. We have stayed at many all inclusive resorts throughout the Caribbean, and this was by far the best. We actually liked the main dining rooms better than the specialty. The liquor was top shelf and the bar tenders were awesom and knew our names and drinks after the first few days. The ports are fun...but they are ports. You don’t get a true feel unless you do an excursion. We loves Harvest Cay to just hang at a gorgeous resort. The kids had a blast on all of the activities and the older ones loved meeting other kids at the teen lounge. We can’t wait to cruise on Norwegian again! Read Less

We chose this cruise because we have my parents, my brother’s family with younger kids And my family, with older teens. It had something for everyone. Miami is a great city for embarkation and we enjoyed a night there (visit South Beach!). Don’t try to save $$ flying through Fort Lauderdale (Allegiant was awful). It’s worth it to pay and stay in Miami. Quick onboard, lunch at the Buffet on 15th deck was crowded but good. Room ready by 2. Kids enjoyed louder poolside atmosphere, my parents and I liked the outside bar seating on deck 8, especially at Mojitos. Ports were fun, though I look forward to trying other cruises for destinations. Great food, service and entertainment. Burn The Floor and Million Dollar Quartet were AMAZING. Dining was very good- Savor, Taste and Tropicana. Also enjoyed upgraded dining in Cagneys (porterhouse!) and the French and Italian. You can get reservations at any of these places and we did for a party of 12 ahead of time, but there are plenty of tables if you don’t reserve. They have pagers and you won’t wait long... ours was a completely booked cruise and we only waited once for a table when we didn’t have reservations. We took the pager to Mojitos and enjoyed live music! There was something for everyone- smaller kids, teens, adults and grandparents. Book Secret River in Cozumel but he awre it takes all day. Amazing experience. Room was roomy for the 5, a family ocean view, and the bathroom was huge with double sink and full bathtub. Our steward was invisible by design not to bother us, we never saw him, but the room was always clean and neat. He was great! We had such fun- our first Norwegian cruise and we signed up to do another... service was outstanding. Read Less

Our cruise was not horrible, we did have a fantastic time overall, but for the reasons we did have a good cruise I feel we would have had that experience on any ship. This was my 7th cruise, first time on Norwegian. I have been on one RC cruise & 5 Carnival. We decided to give Norwegian a try because I had heard good things and we were looking to try something different. Different we definitely got, bit not in the way we were hoping. Freestyle, I don’t get. Nothing freestyle about this cruise. If you don’t have reservations you either wait a good while or you don’t go. How is that freestyle? I actually prefer having a set meal time at a set table with the same servers. They get to know you and treat you well. Different servers every night is very impersonal. And given that my daughter is Vegan, that caused a huge issue. No matter that we even talked to the Asst. Maitre D & preordered meals, there was still issues every other meal - they didn’t have what she ordered (despite she ordered it from the menu they had given her for that day), they couldn’t find the Vegan menu (one time we were even told they did not have after already having seen & ordered from it several times) & told that her order has been lost, with no attempts on their part to rectify or accommodate for their mistakes, This is the #1 reason we will not be back. But again I felt the overall service was impersonal. I did not even know who our cabin steward was till midweek & only at that point because I noticed her name was listed on our TV. But she never came by to introduce herself, as all our Cabin stewards on Carnival always have. We have always developed great relationships over the course of the week with them. She was always just the friendly lady who serviced our cabin only, Nice & great job cleaning, but I really like a more personal touch. Also I felt the complimentary food options were lacking & again with my daughter’s Vegan diet, nothing was labeled on the Buffet & when she would ask questions no one either knew or was willing to take the time to find out for her if something had been prepared with meat or dairy products. Also I felt the entertainment was lacking. Carnival & RC have a different show in the theater every night, with plenty of seating and therefore no need for reservations. Now for what we did enjoy. The cruise ship was nice & clean. I enjoyed our ports & excursions (though we Book 3 of 4 independent of the cruiseline). One of our ports was Harvest Caye, Belize, Norwegian’s Private port. It was very nice, we had a great day enjoying the beach. Lot’s of fun activities and neat shops. We also paddle boarded for the first time which we thoroughly enjoyed, We really enjoyed our dinner at the Specialty Italian restaurant, La Cucina. Best meal we had on board and by far the best personal service & only o e that seemed to get my daughter’s diet, our server, Jessica. Also, we stayed in a minisuite. Room & balcony same size as a regular, but the bathroom was worth the little extra we paid for it. The bathroom was at least twice the size of a standard cruise bathroom & the shower double as well, with six shower heads, so that was awesome! Also a double sink. So overall we had a basically good time, but customer service is huge to me. It makes or breaks whether you will get repeat business from me & they sorely failed in the case of the way they ha does my daughter. They treated us as if her dietary needs were an inconvenience & not their problem. As her mother & a paying customer, I find that inexcusable. Read Less