This was our fourth cruise, all with NCL. Our reasons are good value and freestyle dining. The third passenger in our suite, our adult son, sailed for no fare, except taxes and fees. Embarkation in Civitavecchia was a breeze, as the great majority of passengers had embarked in Barcelona. Our focus was Italy, and Rome to the port is only €5 on the train from Termini, and only 80 minutes. You then take a local bus for €2 to the port, where a free shuttle then takes you to the ship.

After our first experience on a mega ship, it is not our first choice. While the design does well handling 4100 passengers, certain areas could get crowded and quite noisy, e.g. the casino and Garden Cafe. This eased a good bit in the second half, after a very large contingent of Chinese passengers disembarked in Barcelona. Many cultures have customs different from others; experiencing and coping with them is usually a part of travel.

Food service was what we have come to expect from NCL, I.e. high quality though usually not astounding. The Garden Cafe is larger, in light of the numbers of passengers and ceaseless popularity of the style, so at peak times a table can be hard to find. We enjoyed both main dining rooms, and had no dissapointing dishes. We eat very well at home, but still feel spoiled by NCL, even without dining in specialty restaurants. We find the standard menu very good and varied, and figure most or all of the food is prepared in the same galley. We enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, which gets expensive after the taxes and 18% service charges are added. I can't quite figure out who is charging sales taxes in international waters, but we are not deterred! Bar service was skillful, prompt, and friendly. Read more