Just the night before our cruise, we received a most surprising call from NCL offering us a complimentary upgrade from our large window cabin to a balcony. How could we refuse? Turns out, we were given a handicapped stateroom so big we could have held a party. That was unexpectedly delightful until we examined our room more carefully to discover that our bathroom was hardly pristine, in fact, our toilet seat had not been cleaned at all or thoroughly enough. Our balcony had not seen a broom in a month or more and the general condition of the room, from the carpet up needed either replacing or a very good cleaning. For one week we received towels that should have been thrown away. Our wash cloths actually had holes in them and one shower mat was covered in ugly brown stains. We were disgusted. And would have complained to our two male stewards had they both not had that "ridden hard" glaze in their eyes that clearly signaled they couldn't handle anything more.

The food was very ordinary and boring. Repeating the same menu night after night with just a few new entrees thrown in did not create any enthusiasm for dinner. We resorted to dining in the specialty restaurants at least four evenings, paying extra to have a meal that should have been delivered in the MDR free of charge.

The Jean Ann Ryan Dance troop continues to prove that they are still The Premiere company aboard cruise ships. Having suffered over the years with 2nd and 3rd rate companies trying to imitate them, they were just fantastic dancers and singers and acrobats, with professional costumes and sets. Unfortunately, the 2nd City comedy company were embarrassingly bad. Loved the singing style of Jose & Patti, particularly Patti. The Cruise Director, Matt Baker was the best we've ever had on almost two dozen cruises. He had everyone in stitches at the Honeymoon Game. Enjoyed the piano music of Ariel Jacobe and Vladimir Krivian as well. Read more