We were with a special interest cruise. I would not choose to cruise in hurricane season, but that is when the group was going so we did. We knew if would be an adventure. We left on September 17th, out of NYC. Embarkation was a breeze. We ate a good breakfast at our hotel so we could just relax in the shade with some cocktails, waiting for our room to be ready. Our room was ready by 1:30, which was awesome! We wish someone would have knocked on the door when the luggage arrived though. We went to dinner and it was there, we have no idea how long it sat out in the hall. I thought our balcony room, 9294, AFT I think was amazing. No trouble finding a place for everything, We thought the balcony was a perfect size, very private, we loved it. The room steward was great and we had no trouble figuring out the electricity/do not disturb lights at all. The bathroom was the same size as mine at home, no complaints there.

We ate at Taste, Savor, OSheas, Wasabi, Teppenyaki, Moderno, Margaritaville, and the Garden Cafe. It was all great! Service is slow at Taste and Savor, so just be prepared to relax. Garden Cafe is a complete madhouse, we only did that once, too crazy. The view from Margaritaville is awesome, and portions are huge but you can't take leftovers to your room. We loved the penny slots and did pretty good, well, on Wheel of Fortune, I did good. We never waited in line for anything, and were able to get last minute reservations for specialty dining. We had a ball in the Ice Bar, thought that was hysterical. We never saw any shows, as we were pretty busy with our special interest group.

Due to weather, we only had one night in Bermuda, no ones fault, just the Captain keeping us safe. We were surprised how much the ship rocked though, on the way to Bermuda, such a big ship, we didn't expect that. We carried our own luggage to get off the ship, but man, it's really really far to walk. Probably a couple miles, just be prepared. Overall, I prefer a cruise where everything is included, I really didn't like the cover charges, automatic tips, paying for gelato, etc. I also think the staff is way overworked. They all told me they work 10 hours a day, for 8 months straight. I know Carnival has a pool for their staff, but not NCL. I asked. I think I prefer a smaller ship in the future. I enjoyed it though, the ship really was beautiful. Leaving from NYC is really fun too.