Our 5th NCL cruise. Have about 20 on Holland America. Chose this for dates, ports, and beverage dining package. Holiday cruise for 3 couples. Every crew member was top notch. Gracious, accommodating, pleasant. Could not ask for better. Beverage package was super. Generous and good brands. Enjoyed the 3 bonus dining benefits. LeBistro and Cagneys were excellent. Brazilian BBQ good, interesting, but a bit rushed and hard to relax and enjoy. Garden Buffet has great selection, but mostly bland. Definitely quantity over quality, but looking at the heaping plates walking by, most folks were getting what they wanted. Had Balcony cabin BB category. Lighting is poor. Very dim. Bed is comfy, but design of room provides few “surfaces”. In other words, there is no place to put stuff and not enough light to find it anyway. That was the biggest complaint for all of us. My thought is that the blame is not on whoever designed the cabins, but whoever approved them. Same for the bathroom. Stand straight, turn slowly.

Took independent tour of Roatan. Pretty island, sad living conditions. The NCL island Harvest Caye is attractive and has a lovely pool area. Got off at Costa Maya but didn’t venture past the port area. They have made that part quite a tourist have. Do NOT go to dine at Faro. Guacamole made with peas. Very expensive and not good. Great location, but total rip off. Cozumel was better than usual. Have been going to Panchos Backyard for years, but last two times has poor food and service. One of our group led us to Guido’s. It’s Italian, but extraordinarily so. Best Carbonara I have ever had. And a beet salad that I have to duplicate if possible.

Took advantage of onboard credits to put towards future cruise. NCL is far better now than our first cruise with them 10 years ago.