I have cruised 4 times, so I'm not as much a veteran as many on these boards; however, I do believe that our experience warrants a written review. My previous cruises were on Disney (twice) and Princess (once), and both were fabulous! Alaska is beautiful, so there was no way to disappoint anyone as far as geography is concerned. That said, I would not recommend NCL to friends. Some of my disappointment is a reflection on NCL, while the rest is just a function of cruising. I will discriminate between the two in order to be fair.

Overall, NCL was not exactly what it boasted. I think perhaps they strive to meet too many different needs (dining, families, couples, etc) and end up with a one-size-fits-none!

Kids activities were OK, but very sporadic. Days at sea should be filled with kids' activities, but instead offered programming from 9AM-noon and then again from 7PM-10PM. Later hours and in-room babysitting are available for an extra charge. The only thing between noon and 7PM was a one-hour activity that required parent participation. The kids pretty much stayed in the same rooms, but occasionally were taken out (to the ice cream bar once and to a show on another occasion). The activities for ages 9-12 were too childish for my pre-adolescent. Once he got involved, however, he usually had fun. We were very spoiled on the Disney ships regarding kids' programming (lots of outings and even dinner at a buffet if the kids were there during meal times; also, lots of stuff on the sports deck. We saw them all over the ship). It was the perfect cruise for all age groups in a family. Read more