We have been on quite a few cruises and I always say that a cruise is what you make of it. Most of the time we know what to expect. This cruise was very very good. Embarkation was well organized and smooth. Our balcony cabin was ready by 1:00 PM. Every member of the staff, from the room stewardess to the waiters were always smiling and helpful. We didn't realize that there were quite a few young people on spring break on the Pearl. They were well behaved and didn't disrupt us in any way. My hats off to them!

We had the dining and drink packages on this cruise. You can make your specialty dining reservations one month in advance of the cruise on the NCL website. If you do, be sure to confirm they were taken and print a receipt. We made reservations online and then three weeks out, they were gone from the website. We had to settle for late dining times. Not happy with this, but it did not distract from the good time we had.

We had one night in the Summer Palace where the service was not so good. Everywhere else was great. We ate at Cagney's steakhouse, Le Bistro and La Cucina. If you like lamb, have the rack of lamb at Le Bistro. Awesome! We liked the freestyle concept, but we think people should dress appropriately for dinner. We don't dress up, but we don't wear shorts and t-shirts in the dinner dining rooms. Read more