The ship was great. The staff was great. The food was good. The entertainment was exceptional. The stops were underwhelming. But despite all precautions (vaccinations, negative covid test, wearing masks at all times), we still got COVID—our first time after being so careful for two years. Norwegian didn't test on the ship upon return, so we didn't find out we were positive until we got home and self-tested. We contacted Norwegian to let them know so they could do contact tracing for their staff (at least) and they had no way to report it. Two years into the pandemic, that's shocking.
Expect to pay double what you paid for your cabin, when all is said and done. They add $16/person per day service fees, so that's an extra $450+ for 4 people. Excursions are ridiculously overpriced, but there's very little to do onshore without them. Drinks are $14/each. Specialty restaurants all cost extra. Parking at the port is $20/day. The go karts are $15/person per ride. The laser tag is like $9/person per session. The arcade games are $2 to $5 each. It adds up super quick.
Embarkation
2 out of 5
The staff was very friendly, but it was highly disorganized. Long lines, long waits, late departure. The ship was 3/4 full (3,100 out of 4,000 passengers).
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Generally, the food was pretty good. There was a great selection at the buffet. There were some hits and some misses, but overall we were happy. The breakfast was excellent. The Indian food was great.
Garden Café
4 out of 5
We're vegetarian, so the buffet had the best selection for our needs. Breakfast was excellent. There were a ton of choices for all meals. The Indian section in particular was great. All-you-can-eat soft serve and pizza was great for the kids. Desserts were excellent. The french fries were amazing.
The Manhattan Room - Main Dining Room
4 out of 5
The service was great, but the food was just okay. The dining room is mainly designed for large groups—we preferred the more intimate tables in Taste and Savor.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
We didn't use any of the facilities, but they looked great. Very clean and modern.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
The quality of the live entertainment was exceptional. The Familiar Strangers band had an absolutely brilliant lead singer who covered everything from Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, etc. She was phenomenal. The Beatles Experience was also great -- we went to like 8 of their shows over the course of the week (my wife is a huge Beatles fan). The comedy and hypnotist shows were sold out the whole time. We got tickets to Jersey Boys but opted not to attend. Word on the ship was that it was excellent.
Children's Programs
3 out of 5
We had two teens who went to Entourage every day. For the most part, they got bored and ended up wandering the ship with their new friends every day. But they kept going back multiple times per day to at least check it out. My 17-year-old daughter was harassed by another teen, which made for a very uncomfortable situation. I called the Entourage staff and they said they would handle the issue discreetly. Unfortunately, my daughter said their handling was not particularly discreet, and it made her situation worse. Also, she got hit in the eye with an air hockey puck. That's just a dumb accident, but she ended up with a black eye for the whole trip.
One other thing: Although it didn't affect us, we talked to a passenger with young kids who said they were told a week before departure that the kids clubs would be closed. It was too late for them to cancel, and they couldn't get a refund, so they went anyway. They looked so tired after trying to keep their kids entertained for a week with very few kids activities on board.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Every single staff member was delightful. Service was great everywhere.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ship was really, really nice. We loved the design and layout. There are dozens of little themed restaurants, bars, and lounges, which makes the ship feel much bigger than it is. All of the decor was top notch. Everything was spotlessly clean. Staff enforced hand-washing going into the buffet, and were constantly wiping down surfaces with disinfectant. They close the buffet every day to fumigate.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
The cabin was an adequate size for our four person family. We had a queen bed, plus two bunks for the teens. Of course, it was very, very tight—not a lot of room to move around—but that's typical for a cruise. The bathroom was a good size and was very clean. The balcony was very nice, although it was a little too chilly to enjoy it some days. My only complaint was that there wasn't really anywhere to stash our suitcases. Because of how the bunks were configured relative to the closet, we couldn't put the bags in there. That made the tight quarters even tighter, with two full-size suitcases laid out under the desk and in the hall.
Ship tip
Wear a really, really good N95 mask indoors, and eat outside. Despite all precautions (we wore surgical masks everywhere except while eating) we all got COVID. We were the only people except for staff who wore masks.
Very old, very rundown, not much to do beyond walk to Old Town and back through sketchy neighborhoods. There were lots of cops along the route though, so it didn't feel terribly unsafe.
Like boarding, disembarkation was a disaster. We chose to carry our bags off, figuring that would be faster. Wrong. There was a massive traffic jam on the stairs. Going from Level 9 to Level 7 took almost an hour. Massive fire hazard. No staff in sight to direct traffic, until after an hour of waiting. Security had confiscated my power strips during boarding (there was nothing saying they couldn't be brought on board), and nobody seemed to know how to find them. There was line at Guest Services, but nobody manning the desk. Total cluster.
Well, at least the vaccinations worked for them. They had to test to find out they were infected, which is a blessing over what we went through when it was an “unknown” virus in 2019.
The suitcases fit under the bed. We bring 2 large ones and one small one, they all fit. You knew the covid risk, can't blame cruise line. They have dealt with it for over 2 years and I'm sure they test their staff repeatedly.
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