First off, I'd like to thank all the CC people for all of your advice. I researched everything to death and thought I'd picked the perfect cruise line, but in retrospect, maybe not. Don't get me wrong, the ship is very nice, but I think my DD would've been happier with an indoor pool. We actually had very nice weather in all the ports, but it got quite windy and cool on the deck when it was moving, and it was usually too cold to swim. I was also very upset about the misleading advertising for the 10-12 yr. old kids program on NCL. The website says they get access to Wii, computer games, video games, scavenger hunts and parties. In reality, they are stuck in a room with 2-12 year olds and don't get to do any of those activities (even though the ship has a giant Wii in the atrium, a video arcade next door and a computer area). After talking to one of the people that worked in the kids room about the program, my DD refused to sign up.

I guess I should mention things that I did like. It was fun, but dangerous, having access to free food all the time. I wouldn't call the food gourmet, but it was fairly good. We really enjoyed Teppenyaki. Initially I thought the surcharge was a lot, but kids are 1/2 price and it was really entertaining, so I ended up thinking it was worth it. I really liked the ambiance of the Summer Palace. Somehow the food tasted better there than in the regular dining room. A note to large groups: Summer Palace can accommodate groups much better than Indigo, but make reservations or go before 6pm. Indigo was always making groups split up into 2 tables. We did dress up one night, but it felt a bit strange to be dressed up when the table next to you is wearing jeans (yes, even in the summer palace that says no jeans). We enjoyed the shows in the Stardust Theater and went 5 times. David Naster was quite funny and Sharkbait was entertaining. Second City was funny when doing skits, but need to work on their improv. We skipped the show girls and acrobats because they were not very good in the intro show on the first night. My DD referred to the acrobats as Cirque du so lame.

Our room had a balcony, which was the best we could afford. I think there would've been a homicide in our cabin if we'd had an inside or window cabin. We already felt cooped up and were climbing over each other. The balcony is a necessity on this cruise, but don't stress over which side you're on for glacier bay, because it's really better to see that from the upper deck so you can run back and forth. Unless you gamble all day or get nice enough weather to hang out by the pool, you probably will spend quite a bit of time in your cabin. We found there were a lot of times that there wasn't a lot to do on the ship. Especially during the day on sea days.