I am a Sapphire level cruiser with NCL. I have enjoyed cruising with them for years. I chose this cruise because I was in Brazil at the time and the cruise departed from Rio de Janeiro. The ship was recently refurbished and was in excellent shape. It is a smaller, older ship, and has few whistles and bells. It was kept immaculately clean. The crew were phenomenal, always friends and caring, very helpful. I was amazed at all of the deck loungers and space available on this ship, much more than on other NCL ships that are much larger. Those are the good points.

Now for the bad. Embarkation is chaos. I have been on many NCL cruises, and embarkation is always the same. As a Sapphire member and Ruby level casino guest, it always states we have priority embarkation, disembarkation, tender tickets, etc. Without fail, every time I as about this at embarkation, they staff look at me like I am crazy, tell me they know nothing about it. It is a fantasy perk, so don't count on it.

One of the biggest disappointments of this cruise were the port stops. They were inane and worthless. Spending 2 days in Rio was pointless. Buzios, Ilha Grande, and Santos were huge disappointments. Puerto del Este in Uruguay, the port I really wanted to see, was, of course, cancelled. Buenos Aires was chaos due to the World Cup final. Whomever planned out this itinerary should lose their job. There are many more interesting ports in Brazil to see. Read more