Ship: Was absolutely beautiful and huge. Decor is attractive, and the large windows everywhere maximize Alaskan views. That being said, I feel like they crammed too many people onto this ship. Everything was WAY TOO CROWDED all the time - made you feel like you were trapped in an insane asylum with 3999 other crazy people after a week. There was never enough seating in the buffet, the atrium, or the observation lounge, there weren't enough elevators and even the stairways were crowded, it's impossible to get reservations to anything, and in general, it just felt like there were way too many people on board. Really wrecked the whole experience, honestly. Also, the passengers on this ship were some of the rudest, most self-entitled people I ever met in my life - letting their small children run all over the ship alone (stepping on and tripping people, pressing all the buttons before getting off elevators, screaming and yelling); crowding and bullying other passengers on shore excursions; saving much-needed seats in crowded areas for hours for people who never showed up; sleeping in the observation lounges so other people didn't have a chance to see the beautiful Alaskan views; refusing to let handicapped people on elevators, etc etc. And the crew never said a word about any of it. Just awful. Rating: 2/10

Cabin: I had a studio cabin, and it was great - just enough room for all my stuff, the video porthole was a lot cooler than I thought it would be (and had the added bonus of being able to go completely dark at night), and the lounge with water and snacks was such a great added bonus at the end of the day. Norwegian is really leading the pack in terms of catering to solo travelers, and I really, really appreciate that effort. That being said, our solo director was not very enthusiastic or engaged with the job and didn't do much for us. Instead of meeting for an hour every night in the lounge just to make boring small talk, how about scheduling a dinner for us at Manhattan so we know we always have someone to eat with at night? Rating: 8/10

Dining: I liked the food in the Garden Cafe buffet and in Manhattan/Taste/Savor (although the service was slow in Manhattan). It was also nice to have snacks/soup/salad in the Observation Lounge at lunch. However, due to overcrowding, it was often impossible to get a seat at the buffet, especially on port days. One day I couldn't get breakfast at all and was starving on my tour, which really undermined the experience. How about removing some of the extraneous stuff on the ship (like the watch shops) to add another buffet? Also impossible to get specialty restaurant reservations, because of, once again, too many people on board! Rating: 6/10 Read more