Let me begin by mentioning that we normally cruise with Royal Caribbean (we have done 5 already and have 2 booked for this year) so much of my review will be comparing this ship to our experiences with Royal.

Dining: There are three main dining rooms (Savor, Taste and Tropicana). We ate in Savor and Tropicana and although the main dining room is our favorite part of cruising with Royal Caribbean, we were very disappointed with the quality of food and service on this cruise ship. We normally cruise over Christmas and have found that although lobster tails are not normally part of the inclusive menu, they are on on Christmas with Royal Caribbean. This was not the case on Norwegian and when my wife ordered a shrimp caesar salad to start, it came out with chicken instead. The table beside us, who were seated after us finished their meal and dessert before we were served our entrees (we were only a table of 4). Nobody came over to get drink orders when we were waiting so I actually went to the bar outside to get another round. The manager did come over and apologized, offering to send a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries to our room which we greatly appreciated.

Our cruise package included 3 specialty dining nights. We first went to Ocean Blue and loved that you can sit on the cruise deck so you are outside. The appetizers and entrees were outstanding and the service was attentive (clearing crumbs after each course, refilling drinks without being asked). The second restaurant we tried was Le Bistro and had read on cruise critic that although you can only order 1 entree you are allowed to order multiple appetizers. When we went to do so the server said that we would be charged for all appetizers after the first and we said that is not what their menu states or what we had read in our package. A manager came over again it was dealt with. Our favorite specialty dining experience was at Moderno. The salad bar to begin was so good that my wife got full on it and barely ate any of the meat (there was a lobster bisque that had such huge pieces of lobster that she basically ate 2 whole tails). She did miss out though because the meat was outstanding, juicy, seasoned and plentiful. It is another dining option where you can choose to eat on the deck and if you want a quicker meal than some of the other places I definitely recommend here because we were in and out in an hour. We normally don’t eat at the buffet but noticed that each night there was a theme for the buffet so we went to check it out on the seafood night and the peel and eat shrimp were seriously the biggest shrimp we have ever eaten in our lives. You should also try to get in at the noodle bar. Unfortunately they don’t take reservations but if you go at 5:30 when they open you can maybe get a table, or at least get a buzzer which you can take with you anywhere on decks 6, 7, 8 so you can go check out what is happening in the atrium or gamble at the casino while you wait. O'Sheehan's pub is open 24 hours and we often went there for a snack after the bars at night. The wings, caesar salad and shepherd's pie were our go to meals. Only thing we would suggest is a quicker place to get a bite to eat. We are used to Royal Caribbean where you can grab a sandwich or slice of pizza. Read more