This was my 12th or 13th cruise, second with NCL. I chose it based on the size of the cabin and rate for this trip to Bermuda. We had a Deluxe Owner's Suite, Cabin 12500. We also had the the Ultimate Dining Package and Ultimate Beverage Package, which was extremely convenient. I loved not having to sign a receipt for every drink, and keep track of expenses all week. The only thing that may be kind of annoying is the upcharges, but they didn't bother us. My husband ordered some drinks that were not included, but it didn't matter much at all, they would charge a small fee like $2 or $3 for those. I think it can be very confusing to know what is included and what's not. We dined at every one of the specialty restaurants. I always had to ask what our ultimate dining package included, sometimes I wasn't sure if we would have extra charges, it was confusing. But I found all of them to be great. We are foodies, so I was worried about the quality of the food, some other lines we haven't had great food. But we found this cruise to have very good food, and exceptional service at the specialty restaurants. We loved having the suite and being able to dine at Cagney's or Moderno for breakfast, we really don't like crowds. We did go to the buffet quite a bit for lunch, just because it was easier.

The kids program was phenomenal. Our kids loved to go there, especially for the circus performance they put on. It was really, really adorable. I loved when they sang at the end. It was so special, and such a great memory for our family. The kids program was not open all of the time, our kids generally went from 7-10pm, but did go some early times too. They made some really great friends, and the staff was so nice!! They did also spend some time in the arcade, but that can add up really quick. We did like playing monopoly and checkers from the library also.

The pools were not overtaken with children, except maybe the first day. I didn't find the cruise to be packed with kids. The first sea day was more kids than usual in the main pool, and I can see that as being hard on some of the adults without children, but the problem that day was the kiddie pool area was closed for the day. Believe me, I would much rather my younger children being in the kiddie pool area, than in a pool of 6ft water that was waving. We didn't get to experience the kids pool until days 6&7 after being in Bermuda for two days, and one day of high winds when we left Bermuda and the pools were closed. I watched my kids right from the edge of the pool, most kids were most definitely supervised. There were some kids jumping in the pool even though there is no jumping allowed, I did tell some of those kids to stop because someone could get hurt. Also, I can't be in two places at once, and since this ship is kind of awkwardly set up and my older kids were too old for the kiddie pool, but still needed to be watched, we did spend some extra time at the main pool. There were always chairs available away from the pool that I found to be really relaxing, when our kids were at the kids program. I would say though that if you are worried about children, this is probably not the ship for you unless you go on a week that there are no school breaks. This week there was school break for Columbus Day and Yom Kippur, so there may have been more kids that normal, but nothing like you'd experience in the summer. Or you can always book a cruise that has adult only areas and pools, which many of them do. The ship can accommodate families really well, with family suites and the owner's suites, so I would highly recommend this ship to families. And all of the staff on the ship were exceptionally nice to my children, and I appreciated that. This cruise line is very good for families, I felt. Read more