We choose this cruise due to the port location (no flights for us) and the deal we got at time of booking. Have cruised with NCL many times before but have never dealt with such crowds everywhere on the ship at all times. Bigger is not always better.

Ship: The ship itself is a beautiful ship. There are only 2 banks of elevators on this ship located forward and aft-none in the middle of the ship and the wait for an elevator was ridiculous to the point where people became very rude trying to get on the elevator cutting in line, pushing people out of the way, jamming themselves into packed elevators, etc. The Observation Lounge was beautiful, but out of 14 days we were able to get a seat one time our whole cruise. I was never able to get a lounge chair by the pool at all. On deck 8 there were couches and chairs that I was able to get a seat each day. Lots of kids on the cruise which we weren't expecting in January.

Cabin: We had a mini suite forward on Deck 11 which was a good location-cabin rooms above and below us and near the elevators. Advice-the mini suite itself was no bigger than a balcony room-the extra room is in the bathroom area, so if the size of the bathroom doesn't matter to you -you might want to pay a lower price for a balcony room. I didn't feel our room had a lot of storage. One closet with 4 shelves, 2 suitcases went under the bed. Room was clean, room steward did a good job, shower didn't drain well, so by the end of the shower you were standing ankle deep in water. Read more