Let me start by saying I LOVE CRUISING and HAVE LOVED almost everything on all cruises I have been on. I have cruised over a dozen times on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, MSC, Holland America, Princess, etc. This was our first (AND LAST) NCL cruise. I chose this ship and itinerary because the cruise date coordinated with school vacation and it departed LA. I chose it, unfortunately, in spite of poor reviews of the ship. And those poor reviews were so correct! The ship is old, poorly designed and completely lacking in comfort: no comfortable lounges (ie, nowhere to sit in Atrium except in small and uncomfortable Java cafe), small and noisy bar areas (ie, 5 O'Clock somewhere) etc. From the moment we stepped aboard in San Pedro (port of LA) we saw terribly worn, dirty and tattered carpeting and upholstery. The first impression of the Atrium and then the Market Cafe was not good and the disappointment continued from there on. For the most part our cabins were OK - except for one balcony cabin that had a balcony door that didn't close properly and wind whistled through all of the time. The bathrooms on interior and balcony cabins were fine and the showers were comparable or better than on most lines. The mattress was the most uncomfortable we have had on any cruise. One of our cabins (Interior 5087) was noisy all night (it sounded as if furniture was being moved directly above us all night long). The dining in all venues always seemed chaotic and noisy and extremely slow in some-ie, first night in Versailles. Production shows and technology in shows and games was well executed but it didn't seem the caliber of the show matched the caliber in the execution. Service throughout the ship was adequate but seemed no crew really were enthusiastic (except Jose, on Cruise Director staff).