When the night of your cruise is how well the bar staff and your room steward is that should tell you a lot. Twice while dinning inmain formal dinning room our order was lost. We spent over hour 15 minute both times. The menu basically change between 2 different ones.so unless you opt for paying extra for meals dont expect any thing of quality. The back buffet serves hot dog and hamburger till midnight. The main attraction for breakfast was runny egg omelets. Forget getting an ice tea before noon. After 5 you can only get ice tea in dinning room. My room steward answer my question correctly customer service did not. Bar service was excellent. Prepaying tip is not recommended. Dinner staff in main room dies not care even had one hostess tell us they know we already tip so why care. Bhilly and aileen gave great service in midshipmen dinning room. The food quality was okay. By the why has anyone ever heard of walleye cod? On the menu one night questioned it was oh yes tasty fish. Not one single shrimp dish was served for 5 day cruise. Not worth the money spend it somewhere else. Go on a cruise with good food and service. Read Less

I chose the cruise because it departs from Vancouver from our home town, cost is extremely high for what's it's worth. Wifi is expensive and unreliable, dining room and buffet menu selection is poor and limited and almost all meat is overcooked, sitting area is also limited and spread out, only one section of buffet, if you can't find a table close by (which most likely is occupied), you have to walked three blocks to get to the food station, very poor design, should at least put the buffet in the center, only a few items of food with displayed with limited selection and quantity. Hot noodles was served with three to four string of noodles (why bother) almost all customers asks for 3-4 portions Salad varieties is so terrible and only couple of bottle thousand island and French dressing Fruit varieties is poor and limited. mostly not quite ready, maybe worry they would go bad? I lost weight at the cruise by doing and eating nothing. I feel totally ripped off and no one anywhere to complain We were denied access to the theatre because I was pushing a stroller, claimed that the hall is full and yet they allowed someone else to walk in and invite them to stand at the back. Read Less

We choose the NCL Epic from previous experience on the Jade few years ago that was very good for family with kids. But the Epic was very disappointing, the room was tiny and not comfortable. We ordered a balcony room for family and the shower is in the entrance of the room with only curtain that gives you privacy. The sink is in the middle of the room. After opening the bed there is no way to the balcony. And if got stuck outside the room 30 min until maintenance came to change batteries in the lock. The show except the circus are not for kids. And if you want to see something in the circus show you have to pay 50$ for person to see something. The bowling is fron age 6 and cost 7$ for a player which not written anywhere until you get there. The buffet is ok but not something to remember. As I wrote at rhe beginning we choose the NCL because they are known for their freestyle cruises and spouse to be for families but except for the youth program (Splash) and few slides at the pool we didn't find something truly exciting. Read Less

I am writing this review as a second time cruiser with NCL (I did the NCL Star last year): we are a couple in the thirties and have been on this 7-day cruise departing from Barcelona and enjoyed it very much overall I must say! Embarcation was very fast, we did the check-in online so it was a matter of being given the card to enter the ship and that was it. Took about 15 minutes from the taxi to the Atrium in Deck 5. At the time we enter the ship our cabin was ready to go so we did the unpacking straight away. Food Food was not a surprise since we cruised with NCL before, so we felt like almost the same dishes were being served but it did not matter for us, it was tasteful enough, waiters were helpful in general, no disappointments. Just a little thing, the two times we dined in the Manhatan the waiters were not as kind as in the Taste somehow, it felt like they were rushing us to finish our meal. I would say it might have been bad luck for us or something, but nothing to worry too much to be honest. Entertainment Burn the Floor - Outstanding! We enjoyed it very much! Priscilla - OK but too long for my taste. Cirque - We bought the non-premium seats and we could enjoy all the performances without any obstructions. The food was very nice, we thought though that the food would be served during the performance but we ended up to eat before the show started. The only problem was the lack of room to accommodate 6 people in such a small sized table. It got to the point the person next to my wife did not know which water cup belonged to. I liked the fact that some performances were assisted by random cruisers in the tent to perform in the comedy show, it was very funny and entertained us a lot! Epic Beatles: I'm not a big fan of them although I must admit they do a very good show! my wife loved them. We saw 3 shows with them and enjoyed a lot. The show with the violin and the mascarenhas/dancer performers (can't remember their artistic names) was mind blowing we attended 2 shows, excellent!! Aqua park Water tubes were awesome! but be sure to be there early in the morning as the queue can build up quite quickly. My preferred (more intensive) was the green tube then the one were we could ride with the inflatable donut style. Swimming pool were lightly heated so you might not expect a thermal shock as I normally have. Jacuzzis were not as crowded as we expected and we could be there til late as we pleased. We felt rules were relaxed in terms of bringing drinks to the jacuzzi as many people did it without beeing asked not to, which is nice. It was also very easy and quick to find sun loungers too. Overall: Despite a lot of negative reviews about this ship in this forum we could not find any issues pointed out perhaps this might be because at this time of the year there are not many kids around so the vessel is not that crowded and noisy. No long queues anywhere for us, no seats finding problems on the shows either, nice food, great staff. Next cruise on the way with NCL again for sure! Read Less

Been on 5 cruises total. This was my first with Norwegian and I'm sad to say it will be my last. We traveled with a group of ten, ages ranging from 35 to 65, all who have cruised before and all were pretty disappointed. The bars were not staffed for the amount of people needing to be served, and if you wanted to enjoy any shows, comedy clubs, or entertainment, you better make sure you make a reservation the moment you get on board and plan your whole week out right away. Which is not something they tell you. Without a reservation you are unable to enjoy the entertainment they have. I have never had to book to see shows on a ship. We did manage to get into the rock of ages show!! Super amazing, if you get a reservation I highly recommend it. I've also never had to have a reservation for the free normal evening dining. The food is so so. I was not impressed. We enjoyed three of the specialty restaurants along with the normal Buffett and evening dining, the only one I was impressed with was the French restaurant. The service in the restaurants was wonderful as well as our room service and staff. However when out and about on the boat I found it odd to not see staff members waiting on guest or seeing if guests needed drinks etc. The atmosphere for myself and the group I went with was way to laid back. The whole ship was quiet most of the time including leaving port. Missed the music, dancing and excitement that usually comes with a cruise to the Caribbean. Lastly the two shore excursions we did were wonderful. I've been to Tabayana beach more than once it's still one of my favorites for snorkeling. We also did four wheeling in Cozumel, this too was wonderful. Have nothing bad to say about the ports. Overall this was the most expensive cruise I've been on, with the poorest overall service and enjoyment. Read Less

My wife and I have taken two additional cruises on Princess, and with us taking our son (15 yo) with us, we wanted one that had a more kid friendly environment (arcade, wall-climbing, slides, and a club for his age (Entourage)) and others who had taken Norwegian recommended them as a kid friendly company. Check in at Miami was great. We had a small amount of waiting time, but once we passed through, we had a great time touring the ship to locate where things were at. The layout of the ship was significantly different than the other Princess ships we had been on. I wasn't sure how I was going to like the layout, which in my opinion, never did grow on me. We arrived at the boat at 11 am. Once we got access to our room at 1pm, it was nicely set up, about what we expected with a Balcony room. Our bags arrived shortly there after. However, not all of our bags arrived. We went to Guest Services to locate them, and they could not find them. We proposed the idea that they may have been placed in my fathers room. They called his room and verified that the bags were placed in the wrong room. Upon finding the bags, I verified that the tags put on the bags were identified to my room, solidifying the conclusion that the staff had made a mistake with our bags. On board activities fill up fast, and being as some of them need to be made when you arrive, it should be on your list of things to do as soon as you get onboard. There is difficulty on setting up reservations when you don't know your schedule 3 or 4 days in the future. When the daily schedule does come out every evening, it may require you to shuffle your schedule to meet obligations on the cruise. That part was very irritating. Our first show reservation did not go as planned. We had "Burn the Floor" scheduled on the first evening, but when we made it to our room, we found out that our reservation was moved to the next night at a different time, requiring us to shuffle our evening as we already had a dinner planned with family. We had to leave the restaurant early to make it to the show. When we arrived to our reservation at 7:27 pm for a 7:30 pm show, we were told our reservations that we made months in advance, which was changed to the following evening, had been given away to others as we didn't arrive 10 minutes prior to the show start. We were told it was standing room only. The Box Office staff were very unhelpful and rude, and asked us to leave the Theater. We did not know about the 10 minute requirement, which made us reschedule the show 5 days later. The mobile app and NCL.com doesn't mention the 10 minute requirement as well. Our first excursion port was in Roatan, Honduras. Roatan seemed very cluttered and not very picturesque. We bought the Ultimate Big French Key excursion. The excursion included either a snorkeling or boat tour. We decided to do the snorkeling. My wife an I wanted to document some pictures underwater, so we bought one of the phone bag/selfie sticks onboard for $40. When we bought it, I was skeptical on its protection of the phone in water. We all jumped into the water, and my wife told me the phone had come off the stick and fell into the water down to the bottom. We told the tour guide and he managed to dive down ~50 ft and retrieved my wife's brand new iPhone 11 Pro from the reef. We never expected him to do that, and this impressed us greatly. The phone bag maintained the seal from water and protected my wife's phone from water. The tour guide received a great tip from that. Once we returned to the beach, we relaxed for another couple of hours and the food was great. Overall, the excursion was great, and the tour guides turned our crappy vacation into a great one. We would definitely recommend this excursion to others. The next day, we went to Harvest Caye, Belize. It sounds like a legit name, however, this is just a name for Norwegian's private island. You don't actually get to see Belize's mainland. That being said, my family purchased the Villa's for $700 a pop. I was skeptical on the quality for the price. We arrived to the Villa by cart, and found a beautiful room and our own private beach and amenities. This part surpassed my initial thought. It was definitely a nice experience, but I don't think it is worth the $700 as you still have to buy your own drinks and food on top of it. Even though the island is owned by Norwegian and we had the beverage/alcohol/food packages, everything you buy is for an additional cost. We did the paddleboat excursion, which was far more activity than we expected, but it was good for the $29 my wife and I paid as a whole, not individually. Next up, we had a parasailing excursion at 1pm. The staff were very helpful and nice. When we got out to the parasailing site, we were told that it was cancelled due to inclimate weather (lightning). We were bummed that it was cancelled, but we knew we were getting our money back. We had a nice relaxing part of the day. Our concierge assigned to our Villa heard about the excursion cancellation and expressed sorrow. However, later in the day at 3pm she came and told us there were openings for the parasailing, which we capitalized on. The excursion went well, and my wife has a newfound likeness toward parasailing. Overall, a very good day in Harvest Caye. Would definitely recommend the parasailing and the Villa. Paddleboat maybe not as much. Next up, Costa Maya. Back in 2003, my wife and I took our honeymoon and this place had just opened up. We did not have a very good experience and were dreading visiting this place again. This time we decided to take the Maya Waterpark excursion. Upon arriving at the meeting area, the area is much bigger and full of more activities than we remember. There is a dolphin adventure, more places to eat and drink, and more shops to shop in. The meeting area was difficult to locate, but we found it. We took the bus to the park and went in. The park looks bigger than it actually is. The park has a large man made Mayan temple to which all of the water slides are attached at different levels. They also have zip lines over the park, but we didn't do that. The bad part, they only have 2 elevators for the multitude of floors. making elevator wait times bad. The alternative is to climb the stairs to the level you want. Of the slides we went on, they were very good. We did get tired of climbing stairs, so we went to their lazy river which was very nice, with the exception of another day of inclimate weather (rain/lightning). We didn't spend much time at the park due to the weather, but we felt we got our money's worth and we returned to the main area of Costa Maya. We walked around a bit and returned to the ship a little early. Overall, a nice day and the area is significant improvement from what we experienced in 2003. Excursion is worth the time and money, as long as the weather plays nice. Final excursion port, Cozumel, Mexico. In the past, this had become my wife's favorite port due to the activities and the shopping. We decided to do the Xel-ha all-inclusive water park. This was scheduled in advance for $129 a person. All three of us were booked. This excursion was different than the others, as we had to meet up in the Breakaway Theater where other excursions made us meet up on the pier. We didn't understand that part. It wasted a lot of our time. It was at this point that we found out we had to go to the mainland for the excursion. Once our group was called, we exited the ship and made our way to the ferry, which was about a 40 minute ride to the mainland to Playa del Carmen. Once we arrived, we had to find the right tour. Once we found it, we waited in line about 20 minutes before we started to mobilize. We moved further up into a shopping center, where again, we waitied about another 15 minutes. More time lost. We mobilized once again to walk to the bus which was to take us to the park. We boarded the bus and rode it for another 35 to 40 minutes to reach the park. Keep in mind, our day started at 7:50 am in the theater. We arrived at the park at 11am and were told we had to meet up at 2:30pm to leave for the ship. This was only allowing us 3 and a half hours for an all-inlcusive excursion! The tour guide told us we couldn't use our sunblock due to natural concerns in their park, so we had to buy theirs which was a small aerosol spray for $17. It was very expensive. We felt rushed through the park. The food and drinks were very good. The river tube and snorkeling were fun, what we had of it. We met up at 2:30pm to leave at the entrance, where we waited another 20 minutes for everyone to arrive. We took the bus and the ferry back to Cozumel and arrived 15 minutes behind schedule. Guess what though? No shopping. My wife was very upset about the excursion and the time wasted which we could have used to buy gifts for others. We would definitely not recommend this excursion to others. This is something best for an all-inclusive resort in Playa del Carmen and not for Cruise takers. There is just not enough time to get all you want done with the transit times being so long. For a place we looked into visiting once again, it turned to be a complete disappointment. Upon arrival back at the ship at 4:45 pm, many of the Xel-ha excursion proceeded to the Guest Services desk as the Shore Excursion desk was vacant. Guest Services told us that there was nothing they could do because it fell on the Shore Excursion desk, which wasn't going to be manned until 6pm. Many of us were upset. Guest Services would not get someone from Shore Excursions to alleviate our concerns. It seemed as if they were hoping we would go back to our room and cool down and forget about going to the Shore Excursion desk as a group. My wife caught one of the Officer's attention which happened to be the General Manager. We expressed our unhappiness, and he called the Shore Excursion manager up to the desk. The General Manager remained until the Shore Excursion manager arrived. As a group, we expressed our concerns and unhappiness to the Shore Excursion manager. He looked into it, and we did receive half of our money back from the excursion. Now the overall cruise comments. Food at the specialty restaurants is exceptional. Food as the Main Dining Rooms (Manhattan, Savor, and Taste) can take quite a long time with larger groups. We had a party of twelve, and our dinners were taking on average about 2 hours. When we had a party of three, we were finished within an hour. I understand it will take a little more time and coordination with the larger party, but it was an extra hour. When we did eat at Margaritaville, my wife's chicken had an unexpected bone in it. Other than that, Margaritaville was great. Garden Cafe Buffet has a great selection of food, but the quality is noticeable when compared to the other restaurants. Onboard shows were great. had a good time at each one we went to (Burn the Floor, Rock of Ages, and Wine Lovers). They also had a "Deal or No Deal" show frequently during the cruise. It was a good time. Every ticket is $25 and lasts for that days show in the Atrium. Even though you may not be called up to the front, you still play along and have a potential to win something. A couple of nights we went to Syd Norman's Pour House. If you like Rock music, that is the place to go. Good atmosphere and great music. We did do the Skyy Ice bar. For $15 a person, you effectively go into a freezer, have a couple of included drinks with ice sculptures around you and leave. Not a bad experience for the cost. Some subtle things were different when compared to our previous cruises with Princess. At no time during this Norwegian cruise did we have animals made out of towels or mints on the pillows as we did with Princess. Pools and jacuzzis close at 10pm. At that time, nets are put up, preventing access until the next morning. Kind of irritating as that is the perfect time to relax after a busy day of activities. Now the conclusion. All we have to compare it with are those we took with Princess. We did have a good time and the days were busy with activities. The beverage and food packages assisted in maintaining the cost low, but there is still some money to be spent even though everything was prearranged before the cruise began. At the end, we ended spending an additional $300 which is quite low. With the experiences we had, my wife and I would not recommend Norwegian to others, and will more than likely go back to Princess Cruises. Read Less

To start. Buffet shuts down early, low quality food, not much changes. I got to a point where I was eating salad for lunch and diner. The salad bowl is always empty, the celery is brown, and a lot of the romaine lettuce was brown too. The tomatoes was always mushy, and a lot of the buffet food was just salty, and low quality. Fruits salad bowl consist of watermelons, and cantaloupes, and it was always bruise. I saw you tube reviews before I went on this cruise. They mention Wednesday was seafood buffet, and Osheehan have prime rib. Could not find one shrimp, or prime rib anywhere unless you paid for it at Cagney. Service people was not very friendly. From buffet to house keeper, from casino dealers, to dinning room staff. In my pass cruise. Dinning room staff know you by you first name after your first dining, and knows your drink, and how you like your foods. I did not feel that personal level of service on NCL. Manhattan, Taste, and Savor menu are the same. Read Less

We took this one cause it was cheap my wife found last minute tickets. We had to drive from Minnesota to Miami in 2 days. I have cruised before so I was really looking forward to this. It was also my wife and mine 21 wedding anniversary. We got one the ship with no problem after about a 1/2 mile walk. Once on board we looked around and went to find something to eat. First place food wasn't good. We ended up going to every place that had the free food almost every meal every day. It was the only way to get full. My wife was like I thought you said the food was good. I could only say it always has been in the past. Then they didn't even go to there private island. Said they couldn't cause of winds. But I find it strange that we sail all the way to the island lets us see it, let us go and get the tickets to be taken to and from the island just to say we arn't going not only that but Princess has an island right beside NCL's island and they had no problem going to there island matter of fact they had not one but two ships at there island. I've always heard Carnival was the worst but i've been on Carnival and this was by far worse. I would never cruise on this ship or one as old as this again. To keep it simple the trip was bad. I would give the food a 0 stars maybe 1. entertainment a 1 no more. Ports a 2 only really cause Nassau. overall I would never cruise with Ncl again period. Read Less

We chose this cruise because it was close to my birthday and my daughter and I decided to have a special holiday together. We left our husbands home and had a really terrific time. I would recommend this to any one. Our schedules, her work and my time was taking care of my elderly father did not allow us to have time for each other, so this was truly a very special time. It was a great love and joy bonding cruise. The embarkation and disembarkation were effortless. So much smoother than I ever imagined. Our cabin exceeded our expectations and we thoroughly enjoyed the balcony. We experienced the Teppanyaki Hibachi the first night and it was OUTSTANDING! Our Chef was hilarious and very experienced. We enjoyed the food in all the restaurants and cafe's and the desserts and breads were exquisite. The staff were so friendly and helpful. Manuel our room steward was so on top of things. We have booked our next cruise with Norwegian Sun for Thanksgiving to Mexico. Read Less

I went on this cruise to see the glaciers in Juno. It was absolutely breathtaking! The services in general on the cruise was wonderful. And the food at the restaurants were very tasty. The shows were spectacular. I also met some sweet and friendly people on board, including a couple of Australian sisters named Robyn and Jennifer, a nurse name Warren and his wife Shannon, an Irish couple named Dominic and Yvonne. My only regret is that I did not exchange my contact information with them. I don’t know how, But I hope to get in touch with them again. Maybe one of them will give me, Harry Potter, a shout. Overall, this was a fun cruise with lots of activities for our ages. I Will go on this cruise again because Norwegian was so good to guests with vision and mobility disabilities. This is important because my father has two bad knees and I have low vision. Clin729@gmail.com Read Less

1. the food was bland and the selection subpar. 2. There were 5 ports that required tendering. This is a mistake, and a bad choice by this cruise line to have so many tender ports for one itinerary. Each day, there were a couple hundred people waiting on line for tender tickets!! The first port was Kotor. Got to port at 2 pm, they started issuing tender tickets at 9am that morning. Got there at 8:30 thinking we were doing well. We received group 5, so we had to wait until our number was called to leave the ship. There were not enough tender boats supplied by the Kotor government, so we used the ship's life boats to tender in. There were so many people waiting to get off, that by the time it was our turn, it was almost time to get back on the ship! . On the second port tender, we got smart, and waited in line earlier than the call time.( 6am) Well everyone else did too. Received our ticket, which was group #2. Group 2 was not called for over an hour because of the amount of people waiting to get off. The 3rd port tender we waited in line, this time starting at 5am! (5 am??!! This is crazy). This time, we received #1. Good, Right? Wrong. We docked early, and they were already calling #3 even before we got back to our room!! This meant we docked at around 6:30 am, however none of the shops or points of interest were even open yet, (not until 9am) so we lost over 2 hours just walking around the town aimlessly. 3. Our room was 9060 port side balcony. Mind you we paid close to $4,000 for this stateroom on the 9th floor. We choose it because it was far away from the dining rooms, etc. Each night, there were different machine/equipment/grinding noises coming from behind the closet in our stateroom. Another night the HVAC was on the fritz. They could not change our room because the cruise was booked to the max. They attempted to fix the noises, but could not. I find it hard to believe that no one else who has stayed in this room before us, never complained about this room before we started this cruise. This leads me to believe they knew about it and chose not to disclose it due to the full capacity. We purchased ear plugs so we could sleep. HORRIBLE. 3. On a positive note, the staff who were assigned to our rooms was awesome and helped us feel as comfortable as possible and were genuinely wanting to help in any way possible. We will not be cruising with Norwegian again, nor will our friends. Read Less

This is my third time to cruise with Norwegian and it was the worst experience ever, I couldn’t find anything positive about my 7-Day Western Mediterranean from Barcelona trip. The staffs were not friendly, food choices were limited and taste was below average, nothing to do on the ship and the room set up was lock of common sense, for example, they put a sink on outside table so when u use the sink, it was very easy to splash water all over the counter. The TV set was on the top shelf so u had to raise your head to watch tv, after awhile, your neck hurts. The shore excursions were very expensive, we paid $160 p.p. just for the transportation between the port and going to Rome. It was a very expensive cruise because we also had to fly from L.A. to Barcelona and stay at the hotel to get ready, we would NEVER do any European cruise again. It was a huge disappointment and we will are done with Norwegian as well. Read Less

We chose this cruise because it was our 20th anniversary and it was on our bucket list to do this cruse. Overall, a very good trip, all ports were exciting. The ship: the bartenders at the Whiskey Bar, Joseph, Z, and Freddie were amazing, excellent service. There are a few things I think could be better, with the drink package, things like a latte, fresh squeezed juice should be included. Also, the buffet is very boring, and some of the staff that serves in the buffet are rude and lazy. The other restaurants were good. Again, the menus were not very blah. I have been on other cruises where the food is much much better. We tried the sushi place, which was La carte, that was very good, There were other la cartes but we didn't try them. Freestyle dining is nice they just need to work on the menu a bit more. Other than than, most of the staff work very hard to ensure everything is good and they take care of you. The Bliss nightclub is very nice and the DJ is awesome. Nice place to hang out We had a balconey cabin, it was very comfortable. The beds were very comfortable. Enetertainment crew were good, Mandy the crusie director is good. Read Less

This cruise started off strangely, we were assigned cabin 14613, which, when we got there we found was a "handicapped" cabin. It was larger than most inside cabins but there were other differences. For example the mirror in the bathroom was set for a person in a wheelchair. Being 6'3" i had to take the chair from the desk to comb my hair......no big deal. However, this room was 1 deck below the buffet and at 3 or 4 in the morning the noise from above was awful. I went to the service desk and asked for another cabin, a few hours later they called and gave us another inside cabin on a lower deck. They even sent a porter to pick up our luggage and take it to the new cabin. The ship and the staff were excellent however, this was the wrong time of year to cruise. Our first port was san juan and when we got there it was basically closed. Reports of a storm coming in made everyone close thier doors. We got ther around 4pm and were to leave at 11:30pm...however, due to a medical emergency we got stuck there all night. No one was allowed off the ship and the casino was closed while in port. Then we went to tortola, which has a very small shopping area at the pier. Our ports of st. Thomas and nassau were canceled due to weather. So all in all it was the worst trip we've had. But once again the ship and crew did everything they could to make it enjoyable. Stay away from deck 14 in the area of cabin 14613 and try to book at a better time of year. Read Less

We chose this cruise to experience NCL. The Breakaway is a beautiful ship. Embarkation is very smooth and easy and we were in the ship in no time. Our ocean view cabin, 10102, is very nice. It is located at the very front of the ship. It seems bigger than the usual ocean view cabin. It has a huge window looking out the front of the ship. There is a huge bench right in front of the window where you can actually lie down. On the last day of the cruise we slept on this bench and we had a view of the sky and the stars. It's sleeping under the stars in comfort. Wonderful experience! We would not mind choosing this cabin again. Dining is excellent, the food is very good. There are several complimentary dining venues to choose from. We really appreciate this freestyle cruising. You do not have to dress up in the two dining rooms, Savor and Taste. The Manhattan restaurant is nice, too, if you want to experience dinner with a show or live music. Then you have Shanghai Noodles which offer noodles, fried rice and other Asian delicacies. O'Sheehan, the 24 hour, eatery is excellent. We love the chicken wings. The service is outstanding, specially the cabin steward. Jon Paulo, our steward made sure that our vacation was the best. He caters wonderfully to our requests with a smile. Andy, of the Bar Staff is another excellent crew. When we ask for water to take medication, he immediately respondent and even brought us the free peanuts. We missed two ports on this cruise due to weather and medical emergency. However, NCL was generous enough to give us a $100 on board credit. The dining staff were great. We want to make a special mention to Pedro, the Asst Maitre D, Kimberly, Juliet and the rest of the dining crew. We were not impressed with the shows. Rock of Ages and Burn The Floor were just boring and no other shows were presented. The negatives: 1. Ship communication and dissemination of information should be improved. NCL needs to use the TV channels to disseminate important information. The multiple channels on the ship television were pretty much used to sell ships excursion, spa, and merchandise. They should devote one channel to publish information. For example; we learned that the ship will miss its second port from an angry passenger in the shops. We did not know that the ship will spend another sea day and returning back to Miami until we heard it from this angry passenger. They could have used one of the TV channels to broadcast this information. 2. Shanghai Noodle Restaurant is located next to the casino and you can smell the cigarette smoke emanating from the casino. Several passengers eating were sneezing due to the casino cigarette smoke. They need to relocate or cover the restaurant from the casino. 3. The soap dispenser in the bathroom (at least the Men's bathroom) does not dispense or won't dispense the soap. In an environment that emphasize cleanliness, they need to make the soap dispenser to easily dispense hand soap. But overall, it was a nice and enjoyable cruise Read Less

Lame bistro had the best food ever. Ida and all the bar tenders and severs at sids outside were awesome. Shane my room Stewart was awesome. I was worried about my husband being on a cruise as he is a heavy smoker and doesn’t like crowds ... this was his first cruise and came in one night saying “ I love cruises”. I know we missed some ports but I am not port specific. I like the ship. And my hubby did it even want to get off anyways. I am glad we had an extra day in San Juan as later everything was closed. I am already planning my next Norwegian Cruise with friends I met on this ship. This time with the kids as well. I have only gone on carnival before and now I think I would like to stick with Norwegian. Just the food alone was so much better ! Can’t wait to finish plans on the next cruise. Wish it could be the breakaway again lol Read Less

By far the best cruise we have ever been on !! Normally we cruise with Royal Caribbean but will be sticking with NCL from now on. We travelled on Sept 22nd to Canada and New England and had an absolute ball. Fantastic ship, lovely food, excellent entertainment, the staff were fabulous and nothing was too much trouble for any of them. Alvin the cruise director is the best we’ve ever seen by far, so funny and really made everyone so welcome. The game shows were hilarious as were the 70s and 80s dancing comps. We had an aft facing balcony cabin, normally we would have a suite and spend a lot of time on the balcony, but because the entertainment was so good on the Escape we only used our cabin to sleep in ! I can’t really pick out any part of the cruise that was the best as the whole of it was fabulous and we really can’t wait to go back on this excellent ship. Read Less

NCL does an outstanding job of hiring. I'm not sure where they find all the smiling faces, but it sure makes for an enjoyable experience onboard. We took four excursions. Three of them were great (Lobster Boat, Carriage Ride in Acadia, and Maple Syrup Tasting); one was only fair (Lunenburg). The later was just not to my interest, nothing actually wrong with the tour. We only went to one show onboard ("After Midnight") and it was excellent, high energy with a talented cast. The food was better than I expected. I would particularly recommend Moderno, but only if you're hungry. The specialty restaurants were very nice, but so were the complementary options. My favorite is the Manhattan room. There are many entertainment options onboard while at sea and while in port. If you have nothing to do, it's because you choose to do nothing--and that can be fun too. We will be taking another cruise on the Escape at the end of this month. Read Less

I wanted to explore a new destination Alaska and what better way than on a cruise ship especially the Norwegian Bliss which was designed for Alaska Cruises. I've been on several Norwegian Cruises over the years and to me they are very well organized especially with both the embarkation and disembarkation. A lot of people don't understand that the disembarkation process depends a lot on custom but once clearance has been given from customs, Norwegian has a very well organized options for getting off the ship. I always get the spa pass and on this trip it was very important for me since I had acute back pain/sciatica nerve pain throughout my trip. I also had a 3 specialty dining package which I enjoyed very much plus 2 free specialty dinning options with 1 free bottle of wine as a courtesy for being a Platinum Lattitude Member. Norwegian always has a nice line up of great entertainment consisting of music venues, shows etc. I saw a Beatles cover band which were awesome but missed the theatre shows on account of being ill with the back pain issues on some evenings but overall I made the best of it and still had a relaxing vacation. I did one excursion in Skagway which was a 6 hour bus tour of the Yukon which included a nice lunch and the option to get off the bus several time during the road trip to take some awesome pictures. It was a very well run excursion which I booked through Norwegian. As a platinum member I received a 10% discount. Overall Norwegian offers a great value on their cruises with great dinning options, entertainment, excursions and they offer generous perks to their repeat cruises through the Lattitude Program. I even had all my clothes washed and folded for free for my Platinum Lattitude status which I appreciate.. Read Less

We left from Seattle, and arrived the day before ship departure. We stayed at Hotel Ändra, highly recommended and great location. We were pleasantly surprised and had a great time exploring Pike Market, Space Needle etc. We actually would have spent more time here! But we came for a cruise, and it sure delivered. This ship is absolutely fantastic, but what makes it even more of a spectacular experience is the multi cultural staff and the personality of the staff. ALL of the staff was amazing, smiling, pleasant, eager to help and just happy! Embarking was so smooth, came at allotted time and we were literally never waiting for more than a few minutes in a line. Very well organized. Same with disembarking, we never new they set up the paths or anything and it was smooth sailing. We used the shuttle service to the airport and had our bags shipped to our destination and that as well went without any problems. We had a stateroom with a balcony and it was roomy, clean and beautiful views at all time. I’m so happy we did this because I enjoyed sun out on that balcony more than once and enjoyed grabbing fresh air in privat. We chose 250 WIFI minutes and I have to say I checked in w my adult kids daily and never used up the minutes. We also had the beverage package and high end beer/wine and liquor was part of that so we could vacation “properly”. For us it was well worth it! We also chose to do the upgraded dining package for 4 days. We chose this because we wanted to try out some of the restaurants and wanted to be able to have reservation...we realized after you could still make reservation at the main dining room but we were blown away with the Mexican Los Lobos and Cagneys....food was to die for!!! Elizabeth at Los Lobos was the best waitress we’ve ever had!!! The food is so good everywhere though and you will never go hungry, never. For excursions we had chosen to do a whale watch in Juneau followed by a quick tour to the Mendenhall Glacier. We saw plenty of whales and the tour was awesome, they even provided binoculars! We saw the glacier right before it got dark so we were happy! The second excursion was in Skagway where we did the train ride, goldpanning and dog sledding. We learned so much this day we’re still in awe. The train ride was spectacular and our guide, Klondike Mike, was incredible at telling the history! We’ll definitely be following the Iditarod race in March! So overall, the excursions where absolutely worth the money. We did our own thing in Ketchikan, which worked out perfect for us. We travelled with another group of 3 other couples but had already decided we were doing our own thing. It was easy communicating with our company through the app so we could meet up whenever. There were always some activity going on if you were up for it. I ended up splurging and got the spa pass for the week and enjoyed the time in there immensely. If there was something I would “suggest” changing it would be the Beatles show, we never got to see that show because you had to stand in line for at least 45 min everyday, how about reservations for that? And the Observatory Lounge is such beautiful space to take in all the views,how about a child free section? There were times when groups of 10-15 people with their young children took over whole areas for a full day. We absolutely recommend this trip and are already thinking about where our next cruise will bring us. Read Less

I wanted to be on a cruise for my birthday. The staff treated me like I was a special guest. The entertainment was great. There were so many things to do I couldn't do them all. I always had something fun to do or could just relax. My cabin was very comfortable and the housekeeping staff was friendly and efficient. The food was exceptional on the buffet, in the dining rooms, and the specialty dining. I only missed going to Grand Bahama Island because of the devistation hurricane Dorian did to that beautiful island. The other ports were great. The shore excursions were entertaining and enjoyable. The ship was beautifully decorated, designed for convenience, and very well maintained. It was exceptionally clean and especially liked having staff all over the ship with hamd sanitizer to ensure the safety and health of all the guests. I already put a deposit on a future cruise Read Less

We chose this cruise because we wanted a cruise that went to 4 islands and this one was the best fort us. We cannot compare to other cruises because it is our first cruise ever. Everything for us was perfect, we really enjoyed the cruise. The dining was for all tastes. There was a lot of different kind of places to go eat. Everything was very good. The entertainment was spectacular, we really enjoyed that too. The ship was not to big it was easy to go from one place to another. Very good for us. The cabin I think was OK since we don't know other wise. I tough the ports was more entertaining. This is commercial port so no beach or shopping near by. I was a bit desapointed about that. Except for Maui who was ok, the shore excursions was really great and "Roberts Transportation" was super !! Read Less

Alaska was a bucket list trip for my mother and father. Unfortunately, my mother passed away and my father is starting to lose mobility. So, this was a very important trip for my sister and I to take with my father, and Alaska did not disappoint. The embarkation went smoothly, we were on the ship by 11:30 am which is a very impressive turnaround time. The ship is amazing as always. NCL ships tend to have a very similar layout, so I already knew my way around the 19 deck (20 if you include laser tag) floating luxury hotel. On the Joy they also have Galaxy Pavilion which is a virtual reality arcade. I walked around it with my sister and it seemed really interesting and an unique idea for a cruise ship. Spice H20 has a huge hot top much bigger than their other ships. Of course, I was most impressed by being able to sit in a hot top while staring at glaciers. The dinning I have mixed views on: Buffet: Convenient, easy to grab something quick, great for an easy breakfast, the omelette station is good for getting fresh eggs, but the food did not really stand out. Observation Lounge: Great place for getting a snack! The first day I had a spinach focaccia bread that was delicious, I kept going back hoping they would have more, but it was only there the first day. Surprisingly, the deserts they had there were different than the ones at the buffet and better! If you like carrot cake look for it at the observation lounge! Local: Their appetizers are great; they have a Greek watermelon feta salad that's good. Their burgers are burgers and a bit over-cooked to my taste (I was surprised that they did not ask me how I wanted it) Taste/Savor/Manhattan Room: Their main dinning is good. Their steak/beef menu options are nothing to write home about. (Granted I have to take into account that I may have been a bit spoiled by my first two nights at specialty restaurants) I was however impressed by their appetizers in fact one night I order 3 apps instead of getting an entree. Their deserts were fabulous! NCL knows how to do desserts across every restaurant that they have on board. Temppanyaki: Was spectacular! The show was good, the fried rice and vegetables were good, but most importantly the filet mignon melted in your mouth. This restaurant is a must! I love hibachi and NCL out does most if not all of the hibachi places I have been to. Cagney's: The service here was beyond compare. You can tell NCL takes pride in this restaurant! The steak was great and do not even get me started on how amazing the truffle mash potatoes were. La Cucina: This was my least favorite out of the specialty restaurants. It was good and better than main dinning (though the service was not anything special, and I had some great waiter in the main dining rooms that were more attentive) The burrata was my favorite part and the pesto gnocchi was also very good. Entertainment was pretty good. I really enjoyed elements it was different, engaging, and had amazing special effects, it is a must see! The performers were also friendly and fun! The game shows were always nice to stop and watch in the atrium, I love the shows that include guests, they are always funny, and a good time. There were some days that not much in the itinerary seemed interesting, but I grabbed some friends I met on board and started a game of cards in the observation lounge which was just as fun. Dan Dan the cruise director was great, and I really enjoyed him in late night entertainment. If you like dancing the social is the place to go however, I do have some mixed feelings there. For the most part the service was spectacular. However, I did have an unfortunate incident (which happened to be on my birthday) where a crew member yelled at me, then my sister and it caused my sister to get upset because she is shy and quiet. (Which made me more upset) The next day my sister ran the cruise critic and I met the officers. Martin Ivanov the general manager said to come with him to with any concerns, and without much detail I told him it was my Birthday and this crew member was a jerk and provided him with a picture of the crew members badge. I have to say both him and Ana Maria Malata really took care of me and helped make my birthday special, I was blown away. My cabin Steward was amazing I some how do not have a picture of his badge but I his name was Joevi (I probably misspelled that) He decorated my cabin and hand wrote a birthday card for me. I felt bad about making a compliant and was so impressed by the crew that I thought “whatever everyone has bad days.” Unfortunately, the second to last night at the 80’s party in the social. The crew member that I said was a “jerk” confronted me saying that I got him in trouble. (I am not using his name because I really do not want anyone to be in trouble) He might have meant well, but he was in no way apologizing and, even kind of threatened me, so awkward. I work in corporate management and it made me cringe to think of employee confronting a complaint/ threatening a client. It is a bit sad that I had to avoid a crew member on the ship, but at that point the cruise was almost over and I really did not want to be involved, I just wanted to enjoy my vacation. The rest of the crew was amazing, and I really hope if I go on another NCL cruise that I will not have to deal with an angry crew member, and that no other future passenger does either. Excursions: Juno: Canoeing/Glaciers Fun but there was no wildlife, they did provide rain gear which was a bonus Skagway: Kayaking Cold, but beautiful. I saw bald eagles, a bear, and tons of salmon! Ketchikan: Lumberjack Show/ Totem Park Lumberjack show was a bit cheesy but fun and learning the history of clans in Alaska through Totem stories was a cool experience. Glacier Bay: Not an excursion but still an amazing day on the boat. NCL opened the bow of the boat for close viewing, provided blankets, and even had an expert on board to talk about the glaciers. Disembarkation was well organized even though there was a line/wait to get off the ship. Read Less

I'm so glad we went despite some of the negative reviews. I have not one complaint! Although every trip has a snag or two, I just don't sweat the small stuff. We loved our mini suite. Yes, it may be as big as other ships suites, but it was certainly big enough The larger bathroom with the nice shower was great! The room steward was nice and friendly and we were obliged in every request I read lots of complaints about food before we left but I thought it was excellent. So many choices we didn't hit them all. We could find something 24 hours a day. The bars were great! We had the drink package and felt it was well worth the money. I'm not even a big drinker but 7 days I sure put some away and it was worry free. Some people I met did not have the package and regretted that in about day 5. The excursions were well organized and we had a great time on each one. We had the sea plane excursion and it was canceled due to weather. Once again, although disappointing i just didn't sweat it. We just picked something else and I was happy I could go on and on but I just feel if everyone could just relax and remember the staff are trying to please about 4000 people at once it brings things into perspective. You may encounter that one crew member that isn't as friendly or helpful as they should be but that is just a one off. Don't sweat it, find someone else to ask Read Less

This was our first cruise in Europe as we are from Australia. The organisation getting on the ship at Rome was very well organised and very quick compared to other cruises we have been on. The rooms were very nice, well fitted and clean, also among the best we have experienced. We did not like the dining experience on deck twelve as it was like pigs feeding at the trough. Other restaurants were very nicely laid out and for the most part the service was quite good. We had the alcohol package which we found to be quite good value as compared with other cruises we have taken, but were annoyed that with the package we still had to pay for coffee other than the vile stuff that was served with meals. And also had to pay for bottled water. I am a person who likes to take a sauna on a cruise so imagine my surprise when told that I could BUY a sauna package for $260 US to have a sauna. (NOT GOOD). The entertainment was well below par, for the most point I think it was carried out by the ships crew and some very mediocre performers, so if your think you will have a huge range of entertainment think again. The ports of call were quite interesting and if you want to organise your own tours I would recommend it rather than pay the extortionist prices charged by the cruise line. The fee to travel to Rome Airport you should also try to organise yourself as the ship line first charged us 80 Euro each, then later in the cruise put out a SPECIAL of $60 US. The same trip can be got for about $35- $40 per head (More Gouging). Yes overall we had a good time but this was mainly from meeting nice people and having a good time with little help from the cruise ship. Would I go again, I would say probably not. Read Less