We flew in the day before and enjoyed a lovely day in Cocoa Beach prior to the cruise. Our hotel overlooked the ocean and we could relax and enjoy a beach day before heading to the ship. On the recommendation of TripAdvisor, we went to Florida's Fresh Grill for dinner and it was by far the best dining experience of our vacation. Highly recommend!
We have always liked sailing on the bigger ships and booked this cruise for it's Eastern itinerary and to try NCL for the first time. Unfortunately, due to the hurricanes last season, our trip got switched to Western. Obviously, this was done due to damage at ports, and we did get an extra port because of the change, but it is disappointing to pay for Eastern and get the less expensive Western for the same price.
The ship itself was disappointing from first sight. It is very boxy and has none of the styling of previous ships we've been on. It looked like a giant floating hotel, rather than a ship. The layout was awful, from the weird bathroom arrangements to the lack of outdoor space on all but the top decks. Due to the amount of balcony cabins, there was no space on lower levels to get out and explore the ship. Only went on deck 7 once on the outside and there was no view (obstructed by lifeboats) and full of smokers.
Layout was awful. The non-privacy issue was annoying and there was no room for two people to be moving in the cabin at all. One person had to sit on the bed in order for the other to get ready. Very dark, next to no lighting for a woman to put her make-up on, and having the sink completely separate from the lavatory was ridiculous. We have always sailed on inside cabins and this is by far the worst layout with the least amount of space.