Beautiful ship, Beautiful Views!

The embarkation experience was fairly smooth. Our flight was delayed about an hour and a half from LAX but we were able to get to the buses quickly from the terminal. Our bus was maybe 5 minutes from the pier when we had to stop at some railroad tracks and wait for the longest train in the history of trains. It was seriously a 20-30 minute way. I was getting a bit frazzled by that point and just wanted to board. It took about 10-15 minutes to board the ship from the cruise terminal and since it was already about 1:30pm we were able to drop our luggage off in our cabin and get a much needed drink.

We ate at a variety of places on the ship, including the specialty dining, main dining rooms (Taste and Manhattan) and the buffet. Let get this out of the way, the buffet was okay. It wasn't life-changing but it wasn't gross. We had decent food there. We enjoyed the make-your-own omelette bar, the yummy Indian dishes, Asian soup and noodle dishes, and the shrimp on steak and shrimp night (don't bother with the steak, lol). Taste was good for lunch and dinner. we had popcorn shrimp, fish, and steak dishes that were very nice. The Manhattan room serves the same food as the other main dining rooms but it's decorated much better and it feels much fancier. We had shrimp & grits with caprese salad and bruschetta and my husband had short ribs and everything was delicious. We tried 4 specialty dining restaurants including Cagneys, Teppanyaki, "Q", and Los Lobos. All were very good. The surprise stand out was Los Lobos. I do not have high standards for mexican food outside of southern california and wasn't really expecting much here but I was pleasantly surprised! The food quality and flavor was actually really on point. the guacamole is a MUST, the carne asada was delicous, as was the elote. We left feeling completely stuffed. Q was also good, if you're a meat lover. the meat was good, the sides were good and the portions were ample. The smoked peach margarita was also delicious. Cagney's is your typical steakhouse. We had a great server, my petite filet with chimichurri sauce was delicious and our OMG cheesecake was divine. I'm glad I wasn't wearing anything tight because I might not have been able to breathe. Our final specialty dining meal was at Teppanyaki. I don't typically eat at these places at home because I find them kind of lame and gimmicky, but I heard the food was good so I gave it a shot. I'm glad I did. The food was great! I ordered the shrimp and scallops and was not disappointed. We had a great and entertaining chef and the food had lots of flavor. The chef did NOT try to throw any food at anyone which I'm grateful for because I honestly hate that, lol. We ate like kings onboard and were never wanting for anything. Just an FYI, before every meal our servers always asked us if we had any food allergies. I don't have any, but if I did, I would appreciate that. We did make reservations ahead of time via the NCL app but you can make them onboard if you want. We added Teppanyaki later on in the cruise and had no trouble getting a reservation booked via our stateroom TV.

We did a ton of activities onboard, including a wine & beer tasting (there is still a charge of about $20-29pp even if you have a drink package, FYI). My husband even did a whisky tasting which he really enjoyed. They had video presentations on Alaska during the sea day, as well as a park ranger onboard to give a talk while we were in Glacier Bay. I did not attend any of the sales pitches disguised as other things, like "pamper parties"or "shopping talks" or auctions, but I was never bored. There was always a game going on, live music playing, a food demo, or something else to do. Sometimes we'd just go to the Brewhouse and hang out with a deck of cards or a mini beer pond set. Even just hanging out at an outside bar overlooking glaciers or open sea was a great time. One live act we really liked was "Music & humor with Beau Tahana" in the brewhouse. we JAMMED OUT to this guy like 3 times during the week. He plays piano and sings covers to all types of music, from classic rock hits to country to Lady Gaga. He's awesome. My husband did the racetrack once (FYI, it's $15 pp now) and he really enjoyed it. We were able to book the racetrack onboard, the first day of our cruise around 5:00pm with no trouble. Our reservation was for a few days later, but every time I checked, there were slots available. If that is something that is high up on your to-do list, I'd book as soon as you're able so you can choose your perfect time. It was fun to watch him! I had aspirations of going to the gym but I definitely didn't. We walked around the jogging track and played a pretty intense game of ping-pong so I don't know, maybe that counts. The gym often had a lot of people and there were lots of runners on the track each morning so I'm glad to see people still working out even while on vacation. The hot tubs were often frequented, and they looked very inviting. They are located in various areas on the main decks, like 16 and 17.

Jersey Boys was just amazing. We really enjoyed it and were clapping and singing along to the songs. I didn't realize how many of the songs I knew the words to but never realized they were by the Four Seasons. it was very well done and the performers were amazing. I should note that there are a few F-bombs and some other "adult" language/scenarios in there so maybe don't bring your small children but like honestly, it is probably nothing more than they hear at home or see on TV. I did see some entire families (even with adult kids) walk out so I'm not sure if they had something else to do or walked out because of that. Either way, there is signage when you make your reservation and when you enter the thereat that warns of that so if you're sensitive to that stuff then maybe take that into consideration, but we absolutely loved it. We did watch Havana and like the danging/singing and performance aspects of it were great, but honestly there was no story/plot and it was kind of dumb. Definitely not my favorite, but that's due to bad writing, not bad performers. See it, don't see it, whatever you want to do. If you choose not to, you aren't missing much. If you're having a great time in a bar somewhere it's not worth leaving to watch it. The last show we saw was Britain's Finest, with the Beatles cover band and OMG it was so awesome. If you like the Beatles then you'll love it. We were up singing and dancing along and it was a great show with great vibes. That group is very talented and we really enjoyed their show on the last night. I would definitely suggest making your show reservations as early as possible, 120 days before sailing. Jersey Boys filled up QUICKLY and the stand-by line was LONG. We had reservations so we just showed our card and walked right in.

We were not traveling with children

We absolutely never had a bad server during our entire trip. We saw a lot of the same bartenders and servers throughout our trip and they were always friendly and remembered us and chatted with us while we were there. Obviously some people are more enthusiastic than others but nobody was ever rude to us. Most were very pleasant and we never had to wait long for a drink at any of the bars. The especially nice servers/bar tenders were definitely tipped accordingly.

The ship is beautiful and the staff worked hard to keep it very clean. There was always someone cleaning and/or changing the famous "washy, washy" like to those entering any of the restaurants. Our room steward kept our room in tip-top shape twice a day and always provided us with ice (without us asking) and cute towel animals. We aren't messy and tried to clean up after ourselves as much as possible but our steward polished everything up in the morning and evening. He came by and introduced himself to us on the first day and was pleasant every time we saw him in the hallway.

Our cabin was tight...that was my first though. it's a narrow cabin and access to the closet is very tight considering there's a bed about 6 inches from the closet's sliding door. It was clean, nicely decorated with plenty of storage space throughout the room, and the bed was surprisingly comfortable but it's a bit tight. I would not want to stay there with more than 2 people. Our balcony was also small but my husband and I loved to sit out and watch the glaciers or look for whales from our balcony. A balcony is definitely a must, especially in Alaska.

It was very smooth. We opted for self-assist debarkation at 7:00am so we could hop on the bus and head to the airport for our 10:20am flight (booked by NCL, not us). They scan your card as you leave and then you have to walk through a maze to get through customs/security. We showed our passport and went along our way. Make sure you have that handy when debarking. Waiting for and loading the bus took maybe 20-30 minutes. The bus ride took another 30 minutes and because it was cruise embarkaton/debarkation day, the airport was busy. It took us around 15 minutes to print our tags and get our bags checked and the real headache came when waiting to get through security. My husband and I have TSA pre-check and it still took about 10-15 minutes to get through, which is the longest I've ever had to wait with pre-check. My mother and her travel partner did not have pre-check and it took them half an hour to get through. They had about 30 minutes to spare before boarding began, so that might be something to consider if you book your flights. NCL booked ours so I'm not sure why they would book that early of a flight, but it happened to work out for us so I guess I can't complain.