This was our first cruise on NCL and from reviews I was not expecting to be wowed. I wasn't but it was better in many ways than I expected.

I received a dining package so I did try two specialty restaurants. I found the main dinning rooms be be excellent and the buffet quite good. Can't say the same for the specialty options. The Italian was just OK and the French was trying too hard to be top end. If you have a dining package, even if they give it to you for "free," you have to pay a gratuity.

The beverage package was a very poor deal. You can only get drinks up to a set $ amount. If the drink is more expensive, you are billed the additional amount. I tend to stick to wine and there were only about 5 that were under that amount per glass. Most wines on the list were just so-so but I found one that was quite nice. It seemed that the bars were always out of that wine. You could get it at dinner. Like the dinner package, NCL makes you pay a gratuity for the "free" beverage package. It would have cost me almost the same if I didn't have a beverage package and paid by the glass. Read more