Ship in general seemed to be a "faded lady" and for the most part was the experience. Embarking and disembarking was a better experience than embarking a plane or train. It went fairly smoothly. The embarking photos could have been left off - especially when waiting in line outside when so hot so by time made it to the photo stop we were very "ruffled" and the last thing we desired was a photo. The cabin was to have had an "extra" cleaning due to medical reasons of one traveler. We found that the room overall needed a thorough cleaning so knew the "extra" cleaning had not been done. The shower seemed to have had a moldy stale odor that even after we cleaned it did not help. The TV was hit or miss; the remote did not work even after we asked for it to be checked and were assured it worked. The food was lackluster even in the specialty dining. The Modarno Brazilian restaurant we paid a cover charge for was mediocre at best: tasteless chewy beef and chicken. The order of servings was hit or miss so we did not know what was coming next as in other Brazilian restaurants. The best part was the salad bar. We experienced the same in other restaurants and finally settled on Versailles most of the time. Most of the staff seemed ready to help at any time. It seemed as though whenever we asked a question that one should receive a direct answer, we more often than not were answered: "probably", "maybe" "usually", "I think so"...and on and on. Answers would vary from one person to the next so was sometimes difficult to ascertain what the true answer was. A language barrier was found in many cases. At one point the water would not run. When it was finally restored we got brown smelly water from the tap. We called and asked about safety, etc. We were told the water was potable and we could drink it. We asked what caused the brown color and odor and even though the water might "now" be OK, did the pipes/line have some type of bacteria, etc.? We were answered with "I think". We asked for clean bottles of water to drink as we were hesitant to drink water from the tap anyway and after the "brown" episode certainly wouldn't. The entertainment was hit and miss and certainly not that of years past with top headliners. The daily flyer for the next day was very good and helpful. Our steward was friendly and was available usually when needed. Shore excursions were taken through non-NCL companies. The ports of call were great. Disembarking in the different ports was easy. When re-embarking, the washcloths we thought would be warm were cold and had the smell that they had been there awhile. We smelled after using them and only when we got to our cabin and thoroughly washed would the odor come off. Overall, average cruise.