We were excited to explore NCL’s newest ship and all the newly added experiences. Let me begin with stating the obvious, the ship is absolutely gorgeous and state of the art. Now, with that being said, there are several things you should know and consider prior to sailing. First and most important thing to know is that not everything is included with your cruise fare. Now, we all know and expect to pay for excursions, specialty restaurants and dinner shows, what we went used to is paying for onboard entertainment and the adult pool/jacuzzi areas. Yes, they have now added a lovely adult area where beautiful lounge chairs (about 300) are available for 99.00 per day/per person. Unless you pay for this upgrade, you’ll need to enjoy the not very impressive all inclusive deck pool. Then there’s the cool go-karts which will run you 15.00 per person for approximately 7 laps around the track. They also added a Galaxy Pavilion that has lots of virtual reality stations (beautifully appointed area), this runs about 59.00 per day or you can purchase a weekly pass for 199.00. The laser tag area is impressive and can be played for 10.00 per person for about 15 min or, once again a weekly pass is available for 199,00. I almost forgot to mention the really cool escape room that’s located within the Galaxy Pavilion. You’ll need to make a reservation and it’s 10.00 per person, but it’s a very fun and worthwhile activity to do.

The other issue is reservations!! Book before you board If you want your vacation to make any sense! Basically, guests are double and triple booking shows and specialty restaurants leaving very few openings once on board. You’ll need to book all your chosen show dates and times, as well as any of the additional activities or you’ll be out of luck and everything will be sold out by the middle of the first day!

The wait staff looked to be overwhelmed and they’re not very personable. We tried three of the speciality restaurants which no longer just have a cover charge, now they are A La Cart pricing. Cagney’s disappointed us with tiny sides, however their new Italian Oneda’s Restaurant was spectacular, just slightly noisy. The regular restaurants were very average, as was the Garden Cafe. They did have a seafood night on the second day at the Garden Cafe that was amazing. Read more