Well this was my first cruise experience. As a family we decided to vacay rather than xmas at the house. First thing is first, I am a big planner so I planned everything out prior to going on the cruise. On embarkation day the process was pretty smooth. We arrived at about noon and there was not a long line. Got on the ship in about 30 to 45 minutes. Once on the ship it's a total different ball game. Jam packed trying to get a drink at O'Sheeans. Couldn't get a table either to eat something. One of the workers suggested going further on the ship to Savor. At Savor it was empty. Got seating right away and ordered food and drinks. Food was ok not great. We then went to the room and saw that my 24 pack of water had been brought to the room. Had dinner at Temppayaki that night. Food was awesome and the cook was a great entertainer. This place was the best I had eaten while on the ship and next time I would do all my specialty dining there. DAY 2 we ventured out of the room around 9am had breakfast and the Garden Cafe, which was good everyday we had breakfast there. Got to the pool deck and there was still plenty of seating. We found a hidden bar on the deck above the pool. Never any lines and the bartender had a heavy hand =). We hung out there most of the day. Ate at Manhattan Room, which is the better of the three free restaurants. Food was decent there compared to Savor and Taste. Day 3 came out of room about 10am. Big mistake. There was no seating whatsoever on the pool decks. Went to the hidden bar and there was no seating there as well. We finally found a spot at about noon. Day 4 Tortola, planned ahead so I knew where I was going. Got off boat with no lines found a taxi and headed to Cane Garden Bay. Sat right on the beach for $20 and bucket of 6 beers for $20. Stayed there for about 5 hours. Best time I had in the 7 days. Day 5 St Thomas, Due to having to be back on the ship by 130 PM we just did a van tour of the island. Once back on board it was still early and there was plenty of seating on the pool deck. We saved two chairs and put our belongings on them. Kids went to water slides as the wife an I sat at the pool with our feet in the water. After a few hours we went back to the chairs which were not far from the pool and a group of 8 had taken up all the chairs including the two chairs we had our stuff on. We questioned them and they played dumb saying the chairs were empty and nothing was on them. One of the guys told me that maybe staff removed our stuff. I then questioned him and he started playing dumb. I then moved one of the towels on a chair we had and saw our stuff hidden under the towel. Needless to say words were exchanged and they ended up giving the two chairs back. One of the guys told me he was sorry. The pool deck was empty and there were other chairs around. Don't know why these people had to do that and lie about it. This was the worst experience I had on the ship as I am there to relax and not have to worry about petty stuff like taking over an area because you have a big group and other people don't matter. Day 5 we hit a storm and Stirrup Cay was cancelled. We ended up at Nassau Bahamas for Day 6 but had to be back on board by 1pm. We got off the boat and winds were gusting at 45 mph. We decided to stay on the ship. Had another day just lounging around.

Overall I enjoyed myself on this cruise. The specialty dining is worth it. The main rooms are just ok. The Garden Buffet breakfast was always good never had dinner there though. The one thing that I dislike is the service at restaurants and especially bars. The service at the free dining rooms was always super slow. The poor bartenders, every bar has one or two bartenders depending on the size of the bar. The lines for the bar are crazy. It takes at least 15 minutes to get an order in if your lucky. The bartenders try there best. NCL should staff a minimum of three to four bartenders at the larger bars and two at the smaller ones. Also more organization at the bar. The mixed drinks take longer to make. There should be a beer only bar. Just my opinion. I will probably do Alaska next, but not sure if it will be with NCL. 7 days might have been a bit to long for me as by day 6 I was getting burnt out and ready to be back on land.