Computers were down when we embarked/checked in. So we had to wait over 30 minutes at the desk while the check-in guy just strummed his fingers on a desk. Our cabin steward, LEONARD, on Deck 12 was AWFUL. He was surly, bitter, and clearly a very unhappy person. He never once made eye contact or said hello, and deliberately turned away when we walked by -- meanwhile every other steward greeted us cheerfully every day. Our room was dirty from Day 1 - he claimed the "children from the previous family left sand all over" but seemed to think it wasn't part of his duty to clean it. Our mini-fridge was full of EXPIRED soda cans. Not that we were going to drink them anyway but one day, my 18 month old son went to get his milk cup out of the fridge and one of the soda cans literally BURST AND EXPLODED in his face. We reported it to Guest Services in the Atrium. At 10pm when we were all in bed, they sent the head of cabin stewards to harass us in our room and he essentially spent 10 minutes at our door disputing the fact that the cans were all expired. Each soda can had a date clearly labeled on the bottom of the can -- some dated back to October 2015 (we sailed in May 2016). I told him my main concern was the exploded can and he actually tried to spin it and say that it was probably my son who knocked over the can and it burst!!! A soda can - even if it fell - would have fallen 1 inch from the mini fridge to the floor - there is NO LOGICAL REASON for it to SPONTANEOUSLY BURST OPEN AND EXPLODE. They had open play times in the sports court but it was constantly full of grown men and teenage boys so my young children were completely unable to partake in any play time. They need to set aside time for small children!

The proffered shore excursions were total rip offs. On average, you could easily pay $100-200 per person to do something off the ship because they always dock really far away from anything else, you are beholden to them for transportation. The ONLY excursion suitable for small children was one to a zoo/aquarium. In tiny print on the order form, it was noted that travelers were responsible for finding their own way back to the ship from the excursion (anyone feel like a candidate for being ripped off by a local cabbie who knows you're beholden to them for getting back to the ship ontime?) AND that part of the aquarium would be closed for construction. Why would I pay $200 to see a closed aquarium and then pay what was probably another $100 in taxi fees to get back to the ship??? LEONARD also botched our suitcases on our final day when we placed them outside - clearly labeled with our color coding - and he threw them into the "untagged" luggage pile - I'm sure it was an act of revenge. So we had to look all over for our suitcases.

If that weren't enough, on the day of debarkation back in NYC, there was a couple that had 4 oversized suitcases. The woman complained that she couldn't carry them so the port officers moved them to the front of the line. They were not handicapped, they did not have any small children with them. They were just complaining that they way overpacked and couldn't carry their own bags. Then we got to the front of the line, Erin, who managed the line started letting in every OBESE person pass in front of us when we had already waited over 30 minutes to get through customs. When we asked her why, she said she was only sending them through because they were standing there and that it wasn't her job to determine how they got there in the first place. ?!!?!? How does that make any sense? Her job was the control the line and make sure people were being expedited through customs - not to let every OBESE person through just because of their OBESITY. Meanwhile my children were screaming. This will be the LAST time we cruise with Norwegian. They pack these ships like sardines, rip you off at every corner especially with the shore excursions, and are completely incapable of managing the volume of people. DO NOT SAIL NORWEGIAN. I AM TELLING EVERYONE AND IN EVERY MEDIA OUTLET.