This was our second cruise, the first being a 'taster', overnight cruise on P&O Britannia. We originally intended to sail in June to the Baltic but due to circumstances had to wait until April to start booking anything by which time our cruise line options were limited even for a September cruise.

Embarkation was very painless. We boarded at 3pm, my partners luggage arrived about an hour later but my luggage still hadn't turned up by 7pm. My partner went to reception to enquire and by chance found this was due to there being a travel iron in the case (electrical and certain other items are banned but this is not made clear by NCL). The case, along with many others had been put into a back room and required one of us to open it to remove said iron; why we were not told of this when the other case was delivered I don't know. anyway, iron removed, case retrieved, cruise commenced. BTW; The iron was returned on disembarkation.

The cabin and balcony (mid-ships balcony stateroom) were adequate (16 sqm & 3 sqm) although smaller than average cabins on other ships; it was a bit tight between the bed and the wardrobe. A good size bathroom had a roomy shower with instant hot water. Plenty of storage throughout both rooms but the safe was tiny; I had to put my iPad in at an age for it to fit. Although noise from other cabins was not a problem at night, come 5am the airline style suction toilets started flushing and doors banged as people got ready for the day. Read more