Thankfully we booked this cruise before I read the reviews. Had I based my decision on the reviews on this site I wouldn't have booked. Our experience was hugely positive. The ship caters for a lot of passengers, but bar some peak times it never felt crowded. The ship is kept spotlessly clean. I have never seen so many people cleaning morning, noon and night. The bar staff and staff in general were very friendly and helpful. Our cabin steward was a pleasure. No request was too much for him. It was disconcerting to hear that the staff are all on agency contracts and do not work for NCL. They also have no control over where they are sent. The ones we spoke to were all working on NCL ships for over 10 years and were supporting family back home. They seem to make their money from their share of the service charge plus guest tips and NCL only provide food and board.
We found the food to be very good in the 'free' restaurants so never when to any of the 'pay' ones. The Manhattan is more formal (you need to wear long trousers), the others are very casual. The menu is changed every evening and has a great choice. The food won't win any Michelin stars, but we enjoyed every meal we had. The buffet has a huge range of options catering for all tastes. It can be busy at peak times but we never had a problem getting a seat. Shanahans opens 24 hours for both food and drink, which helped me put on a stone in seven days!
We enjoyed the entertainment especially the Burn the Floor dancers. they were fantastic. some other shows were very short such as the Dreamgirls and the classical music (45 minutes). The dueling piano guys were good but talked too much. Roughly 10 minutes talking to 5 minutes singing. The 'Legends in Concert' was saved by the Gloria Estefan impersonator who has a great voice. What was a bit scary was her talking as if she was the real Gloria Estefan, thanking the audience for buying her records and making them No 1 hits! The Rod Steward guy was average and the Sting was brutal.
Our balcony cabin was on deck 10. Not port side. However port side only really matters in Naples as in the other port it is a dock so not much to see anyway. We got a good deal on an upgrade to a balcony room and the drinks package from our travel agent. Otherwise they are expensive options. We are former owners of a mobile home that we used to holiday in when the kids were young. so we are well used to tight spaces. We thought the cabin was fine and had everything you need.
Nice to window shop and walk around. Fabulous yachts. We found a nice little cafe in a back street where I spoke my school French and the owner replied in English (how bad must my French have been?)