We chose this cruise as a holiday cruise just for my husband and I. The ship was smaller than the ships we have recently sailed on, but this ship was pristine and decorated very festively for the Christmas, New Year holiday. Embarkation was very easy. We had a transfer through Norwegian for transfer from the airport to the ship and from the ship to the airport. We did not have to wait long at all for embarking and disembarking went very smooth, as well. Most of the wait staff was very friendly, and the ports of call were fantastic. We were unable to dock at Costa Rica, but it was explained by the captain that it was not safe to dock due to the swells. The swells may have moved the ship from the disembarkation stations, making it unsafe to disembark. I appreciate that he put the safety of the passengers first, even though I am sure he knew he would have a lot of disappointed guests. The cruise staff did an excellent job of putting together some activities and extra entertainment for the unexpected sea day! I still gave a 5 star rating for the cruise! We took a private excursion we booked off the ship for Roatan. The tender process could have gone more smoothly. We were encouraged to get our tenders when we were "absolutely ready" to go ashore. We got our tender number at 7:30 am, but we were in group #5. We did not get to shore until 10:30 am, making us an hour and a half late getting to our meeting point for our private excursion. Thankfully, our guide waited for us, realizing they were having tender problems. We took "The Shape of Panama" excursion that the ship offered for Panama. We saw a lot of scenery, but we were on the bus for 3 hours before taking a restroom break. Some of the passengers needed to stop way before this. I would give this particular excursion only a 3 star rating, as our guide kept telling us we would stop for a restroom break in a "few minutes" but took quite a while to stop. Other than that, the excursion was okay. Harvest Caye was clean, the beach beautiful, and the swimming pool was large. Plenty of chairs and shade! Columbia was fantastic. We took the ship's excursion "Cartagena through the camera lens" and was thrilled. We had excellent guides, and only 8 guests on the excursion, making it easy to get around. We just walked into Costa Maya and visited the souvenir shops and ate lunch. The port of calls were varied and was a good itinerary. Being a smaller ship, I did feel the movement, the rocking of the boat, most days, but my husband and I can handle some rocking without difficulty. I know some passengers were slightly nauseated from the ships movement, but most seemed okay with it. Our cabin steward was excellent. We never had to wait for our room to be made up or turned down. The food was excellent. We had a 4 night specialty restaurant package as an amenity when booking, as well as 2 free specialty restaurant meals sue to being on the Platinum tier, and we had fantastic meals at Teppanyaki's, Moderno's, La Cucina's, and Cagney's, (Our favorite restaurant is Cagney's,) The Grand Pacific and Alizar main dining rooms were also very good. We usually ate our lunches in the main dining room, but had our breakfasts at the Garden Cafe almost every morning. The entertainment, for the most part, was good. Blazing Boots, Elements, and Palace of Lights were really good, but the comedian and juggler were a little weak. The illusionist and the aerial duo were quite good and entertaining. We had the Jersey Boys Musical in the theater and the British Finest in the Cavern Club on our last cruise while on the Bliss, which was excellent, but you have to consider it was a larger ship and could offer this type of venues. There was music offered in the Bliss and the Atrium throughout the day and night. I have already booked another cruise over the Christmas/New Year for this year and looking forward to another wonderful experience.