1. Cabins: Let’s get this out of the way… the rooms are small. We stayed in a mid-ship balcony room on Deck 9 (cabin BA9584) with two adults and an 18 year old boy who slept on the sofa bed. Because I knew about the rooms and had proper expectations going in, this wasn’t an issue. The room would have been much better for just two people, but at night with the sofa bed out you had to climb over that bed in order to get to the balcony. The bathroom was also very small, with a shower barely big enough to fit one normal-sized adult. However, the space is designed extremely well with lots of drawers and shelves, and storing luggage under the bed is a necessity. Having the balcony was great and made the room feel larger; I felt it was definitely worth the increased cost to be able to get some fresh air in the morning, afternoon and/or evening. We were on the port (left) side so we enjoyed viewing the Na Pali coast of Kauai from our balcony. The Deck 9 was perfect because we rarely needed to use an elevator, we were within a couple of floors of most venues. The bottom line is that if you care about having a decent amount of space in your room, book a suite.

2. Dining: We are not “foodies” and do not frequent gourmet food establishments, but we felt the food was great. In fact, it exceeded my expectations that had been set low due to other reviews and being told that NCL wasn’t “on par” with some of the other cruise lines (we had previously been on cruises with Carnival and Holland America). The Liberty Dining room had the best waiter ever, whose name was David and he sings opera. The buffet in the Aloha Café was laid out very nicely, and even when very busy, we were able to find a table. We ate breakfast here daily so that we could eat outdoors on the back deck. We also ate in two of the specialty restaurants (La Cucina and Teppanyaki Grill) and they were good, but I was glad to have the Ultimate Dining Package as I didn’t feel they were worth an extra cost. If you do want specialty dining, book them either in advance or as soon as you board the ship, as the reservations book up very quickly.

3. Activities & Excursions: They had many activities on the ship scheduled throughout the day even though they were in port every day, so you will never get bored when on board. We did four excursions: Segway Tour of Lahaina, Haleakala Sunrise Bike Tour, Volcanoes National Park with Rainbow Falls Tour, and Mountain Tubing Adventure on Kauai. Segways and Mountain Tubing were booked through NCL and the other two were booked through Shore Excursions Group. The excursions were fabulous, and while expensive, we did not want to waste time shuttling over to get a rent a car and navigating on our own while worrying about getting back to the ship on time. Most reviews say to get your own car, but you have to decide what you prefer; we really enjoyed the comfort of a bus where we could relax, enjoy the scenery, and have a tour guide point out all of the sights. Also, I was worried that being in port every day would make for an exhausting week, but it turned out that we got back each afternoon with plenty of time to sit by the pool and read or engage in on-board activities. Read more