I will admit, this was my first time cruising and the second for my fiancee (Carnival, 10 yrs. ago). Our cruise was a little different as we were to be married on the ship just prior to leaving port in L.A. The wedding itself was in the chapel, a beautiful little room, nicely decorated and not too wedding-ey. However, the company that NCL contracts with (out of Miami) that "plans" your wedding "with" you is unorganized, communication is somewhat less than desirable and the cost is really too expensive for services provided. Because of said wedding, we were allowed (along with guests) to board early...everything went off without a hitch. I had a lovely but expensive wedding. Every staff member greeted me warmly.

Our room stewards (Chris & Lea) are the people I miss absolutely the most now that I am home. What a fabulous team who made me feel like a princess! I loved our room, yes, it was small, I guess, but organized with more than enough storage and the bathroom was a treat. I did expect the worst in regards to the bath but I loved how it was divided into 3 areas - shower (with doors!), basin & countertop & finally the toilet (also with sliding doors). Great water pressure too. Our room was clean beyond belief. I did notice that deck chairs had quite a build-up of grungy black tarry stuff on them and thought that it was too much suntan lotion, etc., but found that the chairs had not been cleaned in quite some time. I felt dirty after laying out just because of the stickiness of most of the outdoor furniture and the visible gunk on same.

As I said, this being my first cruise I didn't know what to expect from the food but am willing to give almost all of it a good thumbs up....remember when you are in the buffet, it is a buffet and you shouldn't expect more than that...I was quite embarrassed by one server who would not let me have a cheeseburger because it was from the children's side...I did explain to him that for $3,000.00 I would eat his tablecloth if I wanted. He tried to be accommodating after that but I was not a willing participant and left at that point. My husband says that he was spoken to sharply for making a guest cry and not letting me just eat the burger. Specialty restaurants have hidden charges so read everything thoroughly although the food is quite good. We ate many times in the Aqua and it was consistently good and the service was wonderful. Read more