The food was great. We ate at the both the main dining rooms and three of the specialty restaurants. We took one shore excursions by NCL, it was ok. We did use two other outside companies for tours. They were very good. Italy tours eu. was great. We had skip the lines tickets and the guides were friendly and knew the what they were talking about. I would recommend them with out a doubt. We were back in time. Do not be afraid and give them a try. The other company (Italy tour sharing/Joe Banana) was good too but we did not purchase any tickets through them. They were also back on time. My biggest issue was with the WIFII. We had a 250 minute package, it was a joke. One needed to be an IT specialist and the minutes disappeared without any one using them. It appears they wanted everyone to purchase one of their plans. All and all this was my first cruise and it was great and I do plan on taking more NCL cruises.