This was our first experience with NCL and Free Style cruising. Overall, we certainly enjoyed it. Our previous experience was with Princess and Royal Caribbean. The ship is a little dated, but I expect this will no longer be a factor when it goes to dry dock in May. The room is spacious, especially the bathroom, although the separate area for the toilet may be a littel crowded if you are larger. The bed is in the middle of the room versus near the balcony, which chops the room up a little. It often feels like you are running into one another.

The bar and wait staff as well as room attendants are second to none. Everyone is super friendly and goes above and beyond to make your vacation perfect. The entertainment is not quite to the standard of what we expected, especially the production shows. However, there are certainly lots of options.

We enjoyed the flexiblity of the Freestyle dining. However, with the flexibility comes some downside. You do not get the "dining experience" that we had come to expect with RCL. Since you have a different wait staff every night, you do not get to know them and there is little incentive to go the extra mile. There seems to be a lack of staff in the dining rooms thus everyone seems rushed. There is also the feeling that they need to get you moving to let the next group in. The food quality is pretty good as well as the variety. Read more