We booked an NCL cruise because we like the "freestyle" concept, eat where you want, when you want. Turns out, freestyle applies only to the main dining room, the buffet, and a few hamburger-type restaurants. The other, highly hyped restaurants all cost between $10 and $25 per meal per person. On top of this, getting into the main dining room was a challenge, at least any time there was a show people wanted to see. Turns out having pre-set tables that you go to every night is MUCH faster than trying to seat 100s of people at once. So we waited, as much as 45 minutes, to get into the main dining room for dinner. Food in the main dining room was so-so, and service the worst I have had on a cruise. Again, having the same wait staff that you directly tip makes a difference.

NCL also did not do a good job with crowd management at embarkation and debarkation. Lines, lots of lines. Worst we have seen in 8 or 9 cruises.

The rest of the cruise was good. Stateroom had a couple of nice extras - a coffee maker and a good quality hair dryer. Shore excursions were very good. Our only other complaint was the weather - cold and windy - but that NCL has no chance to control.