I booked this Cruise as a celebration of our anniversary. We had never cruised on a Norwegian ship and was hoping for a very pleasant experience since most reviews were favorable. Unfortunately, we were unpleasantly surprised.

On the positive side, the entertainment was the best we've experienced of the three cruise lines we've used. The cruise director was funny, interesting, and talented, an asset to Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL). The comedian Dave Heenan was very funny and talented as well, along with the talented singers.

Negatively, the service, the food, and the attitude of NCL left much to be desired. My wife and I realized early on that NCL focuses, at least on this cruise, in extracting as much cash from their passengers as possible. I've never been asked to provide a deposit of $25 to receive additional pool towels before this cruise. Everywhere and anywhere are ads and promotions for purchasing, art, jewelry, excursions, drinks, photos, additional food, etc., etc.. The automatic gratuity on drinks can be beneficial is you receive good service, but annoying if you do not and don't believe your server deserves the 15% automatically added to your bill. Read more