This was only our second cruise, and had it been our first it may well have been our last. Our first was on Celebrity Summit, a significantly smaller ship...but size was not the issue here, quality was.

Let me start by saying the staff and crew were universally pleasant and helpful, the issues we encountered were more "corporate decisions" rather than failures of the crew.

First off let me talk about the bar/drink service. The bars were generally understaffed and overworked, that they remained pleasant and courteous is a wonder itself. We had the premium drink package which got you all drinks $15 and under...this should have been great, it was not. We could not get a decent Margarita to save our lives! On a ship sailing to ports in the Caribbean and Mexico this is shameless!!! The staff substituted orange juice for triple sec and when asked why they said that's what they were told to do, though the bottle of triple sec was sitting right there. Next disappointment were the number of "drinks" that were made from draft mixes as opposed to being created as "premium" would dictate. As example the Bahama Mama, a favorite of mine while vacationing. On Celebrity you actually watched them make the drink using orange and pineapple juice, rum and banana liqueur and grenadine. Not so on NCL, 2 oz. of rum over ice then a draft "mix" and a stir. The result was a Bahama Mama flavored wine cooler. Yuck! Only someone that has never had the real drink would accept this. Read more