We chose a Norwegian cruise for the first time because it fit our time table. We are diamond members of Royal Caribbean's Crown and Anchor society, so you could say we are loyal to royal. The nightmare began with embarkation. 6 hours that included a 2 hours closing of the port where they weren't letting anyone else in the building. Fortunately, we live in NY and got to the port early, so we had seats during this nightmare. We totally attribute it trying to move 4K people on and off the ship in a port that is designed to hold maybe 2500. Miserable start. We had a bad experience at a specialty dining restaurant where they force my 80 year old father to return to his room and put on a pair of slacks. What? The hostess refused to make an exception although seated at the table next to us where several children in shorts and sneakers. The entertainment also was extremely disappointing. Tickets were required for at least 2 of the evenings The venue could only hold about a thousand people, so if you didn't have a ticket, you couldn't see the show. Their production shows were repeated again during the cruise, but that meant if you saw it already you have to find some other entertainment for the evening. There were no where near enough barmen at dinner. Or I should say that in some venues there were barmen who tended to obtaining your drinks, while in other dining places the waiter secured your alcohol. The bottom line was that you had to order a double because there was no way you would see that barman again. This must be their way of reducing the expose on the drink packages. You can have as much as you want because you paid for it, but good luck getting hold of it. The pool deck was a nightmare in itself. It had this huge slide that took up most of it. There was no where to sit. The only bright spot was that my husband was able to secure a private cabana. Good thing or else the entire vacation would have been a bust. There are only 5 cabanas and 88 tickets sold for the VIBE which is an exclusive part of the ship that has private seating and private attendants. It's own bartender who doles out cool towels, fruit on a stick, nuts, and sprits of water. Everything about this cruise was a nightmare. 80