To start I have cruised eight times. Three with NCL and Five with Carnival. Everyone needs to understand that Carnvial and NCL are NOT top of the line cruise companys and should keep that in mind when booking. First off Embarkation: Very Easy. Twenty minutes start to finish. The Ship: Well cared for, typical mid sized ship.

Food: NCL appears to have reduced staff. In the past we had two or three servers taking care of several tables. This time it was one. As a result service was slow and sloppy. Had to remind waiter that we needed water, extra butter and so forth. I was told by several people that there was a large number of new employees on the ship and it showed. We ate in the Pacific restaurant on the first day and was very slow service. First time it took over an hour to get our food. The rest of the week we ate in Alizar which is the smaller restaurant and service was faster but again sloppy. Food in the restaurant was always hot but the selection seemed off some how. Cant really explain it but for example no shrimp cocktail all week. Food however in the buffet was very good. Anyone reading other reviews about the food needs to understand that this is a mid level cruise and expecting gormet food is unrealistic.

LIDO DECK and other open spaces: We were on the cruise during Christmas week and so there were LOTS of kids. Lido was busy but chairs were generally available especially on the 13th deck. DRINKS: I have read complaints about never being able to get a drink. We had the drink package (as it seems everyone did) and yes you had to wait for a drink but only a few minutes and with respect to having no servers around, that is NOT true. It is not like Carnival where you have servers wandering around asking you every two minutes if you want a drink but wait a few minutes or so and someone will walk by. I personally found the drink service preferable to Carnival as you did not have to say, No thanks every two minutes. Read more