We choose this cruise because of the timing and the ports. We have said on many NCL ships and enjoyed this ship despite the size. It didn't feel crowded and they even had another breakfast option in Moderno offering the same menu as the Garden Cafe but a lot more pleasant. The shows were great and we talked to many cruisers who saw the shows more than once. We only went to one specialty restaurant - Cagneys in which we had a very good steaks. We also saw the Captain multiple times including the cruise critic meet and greet. We feel that NCL is getting a lot of thins right including disembarkation and embarkation.. We couldn't rate their shore excursions as we did them on our own with the exception of St. Petersburg. One thing that people don't try is driving to Berlin, it is very easy and the rental agency is right off the ship. It actually only takes just a little over 2 hours.