My children ages 2 and 12 were very excited about our first cruise. I read reviews and decided to give NCL a try as most reviewers described it as more upscale than Carnival. Working so hard throughout the year I really wanted an incredible vacation experience. Unfortunately this trip was average to say the least. We arrived to the port at 11:30 am we were processed in right away and led to a large waiting area. We were told we could board the ship at 1:30pm had I known we were not going to be able to board sooner I would have arrived later to the port as I now had to entertain an excited toddler. Once we boarded the ship I immediately felt the "Shake Down" there were tables everywhere of things to buy such as upgraded packages or bingo cards, and lots of pressure to pay a deposit on your next cruise right then and there. My first stop was to the service desk to add cash to my sign and sail account. My cruise came with the Unlimited drink package, I asked at the service desk how it worked yet the woman at the desk was not able to explain the promotion. When we arrived to our rooms I was very taken by how outdated the staterooms were. From the late 80's decor, faded carpet, and the mismatched art on the wall. Our bathroom had a horrible smell of urine the entire time (no matter how much they cleaned). We ate in Cagney's for the first night for an additional charge of $30.00 the children were free as long as they ate from the kids menu. The food was okay to say the least nothing to write home about. I two year old was too young to participate in the kids program. Instead she could play in the playroom designated for younger children as long as I stayed with her. She actually only was able to play in the playroom once for about 30 mins as it was always closed. The few scheduled activities for her age group were always held at odd times and were very short. The pool area was also disappointing, the pool was RUSTED and very small. There were 4 hot tubs that could accommodate only about 4 people at a time, yet they were always crammed with 12 or more people at a time. The staff were very friendly and accommodating. The entertainment was very lackluster. They were big pushes to get you to pay $20.00 or more to play bingo or pay to play other games as well. It seemed as it EVERYTHING had an additional cost. There was a game played poolside midday it was NOT APPROPRIATE for kids, yet mind you most of the kids were in the pool at that time. Even the Cruise Director who led the game said the game was offensive. The game feature various sexual themes and at one point had men grinding on women and vice versa. I took my kids inside right away. It rained most of the trip, yet NCL did not seem to have a back up plan, besides offering a few board games to play. The BEST part of the cruise was Stirrup Cay NCL's private island. It was the one sunny day of the entire trip and even then then you had to pay to rent shady chairs, pay for water floats, pay for pictures etc. Lastly the food was good, yet the service was very slow. One dinner was about 2 hours long. The buffets were average and the food at the buffets was always luck warm. Granted it was good to get away, it have to say I was not blow away by NCL. It's a older ship for an older crowd.