I typically don't review anything, because you know what they say about opinions. I feel obligated to write one now because I read so many bad reviews on here before taking this cruise that I really wasn't feeling good about the trip. Let me just say that anyone that gives this cruise less than 4 stars is probably a miserable person and the ship will be a lot more fun without them on it. A little about me. I'm early 40's from Baltimore, and this was my 5th cruise, but first with NCL. I always book last minute and always get good deals. Maybe the price we pay has a lot to do with our perception of the cruise. I drove to NYC in 3 hours and then paid a ridiculous amount of money to park, but that's not NCL's fault. Honestly, I think NCL would let us park on the ship for less. I went on this cruise with my girlfriend. She became my ex-girlfriend on or about day 5 of the cruise, but I still had an awesome time and nobody was thrown overboard. Do you know how awkward it is breaking up with someone on a cruise ship? Props to NCL for spreading the fun around and really making it where we only had to bump into each other in the very limited smoking areas.

Let's start with embarkation. It was a breeze for us. My girlfriend's arm was in a sling because she had surgery earlier in the week. One of the NCL staff members got us into priority boarding. Amazingly, my girlfriend wasn't even complaining about the arm at that point. They just saw her in line and insisted on getting her on the ship quickly. Considering we had the Ultimate Beverage package, getting her on the ship quickly probably ripped through NCL's profits like that iceberg ripped through the Titanic. I highly recommend the Ultimate Beverage package for couples that truly want to learn the person that their significant other really is. We had a mini-suite, 14156. It was nice. The steward kept it clean. We got towel animals every night. The towel animals are great. Not just for the terry cloth menagerie aspect of them, but for the fact that it gives you an extra towel. They only put two in the bathroom. I was unfortunately forced to euthanize a penguin and a monkey to take a shower. I will say that rooms in deck 14 seem to fall victim to quite a bit of noise from all the goings on up on deck 15. If peace and quiet is your thing then I would probably recommend a lower deck. Anyone that met my ex on the ship will know that peace and quiet obviously isn't my thing, and I was not bothered by any noise coming from above.

On to the food. Read a lot of complaints about the food before going. I started to think dinner might be like an episode of "Fear Factor". I thought the food was fantastic. It's not Tavern on the Green, but it's not a corner hot dog stand either, although they do have one of those onboard if that's your thing. Invest in the Ultimate Dining package. Just pretend it's part of your cruise fair. It is so worth it. All of the specialty restaurants are great. Cagney's is awesome, and Teppanyaki is really fun and good for a Japanese steak house. You can see the Cirque show for free on the first night as part of the dining package. We did that, and it was cool, but I would be mad if I actually did pay the 40 bucks for it, but that's really because I don't like Cirque shows. That meal wasn't the best, but it was better than popcorn and cotton candy. Look, they are trying to feed you a three course meal while you watch a show. There are limitations. As others have said the portions are small, but I noticed all these free restaurants on the ship where you could feed your face after the show if you were still hungry. I did the Garden Cafe everyday for lunch, and found it to be quite good. I was never up in time for breakfast (you can thank the Ultimate Beverage package for that), so I can't comment. Read more