Some Good and Some Bad

Overall: The Good:  Super clean ship.  Smooth ride and very polite steward.  The Bad: Nickel and Dimed to death on this ship.  HATED the cruise for that reason alone.

Details:  The boarding process was smoother than I thought.  The Mini Suite #8714 was small for a "suite", but the bath was gigantic with it's dual sinks and 3 person shower.  This particular cabin had a very large balcony (requested a large balcony early in the process), which is rare on this ship.  The cable t.v. channel selection sucked for it to be 2014.  The bars were ample and the wait was minimal 90% of the time.  I paid $434.00 extra for the drink package, which Is worth it for 1 person.  They make you buy it for each person in your cabin and that's when it's a complete rip-off.  The Food was decent at best.  The Manhattan Room was the best of the included options.  The Irish Pub was second, which was pub food.  The buffet ws like Golden Corral.... Lots of very average stuff.  As for the "PAID" options, we ate at Cagneys, Le Bistro and the Circque show.  Cagney's was by far the best meal the entire time onboard.  But it should have been included in the costs of the cruise.  The Circque show was $39.99 for the show and dinner.  It too should have been included as you don't pay for entertainment on other cruise lines.  NOT WORTH the additional $39.99 each.  Even Bingo was $39.00 to play.  They Nickel and Dimed us to death on this ship.  They even charged to go into the Ice bar.  The Casino was no fun as they allow smoking and the fake barrier is a joke at best.  It's 2014 it should be completely smoke free!!!!  That was really not cool.  The Entertainment was HORRIBLE at best.  The "lounge" singers were really HORRIBLE...ALL OF THEM!!!!  The Circque talent was best.  The other singers were a joke.  I mean it was something to do while at sea for as long as we were, but who ever the talent scout is should be made to walk the plank.  The Pool was TINY for a ship of this size.  There are a few hidden areas at the front of the ship.  Go and find them and you will be pleased.  The staff was polite and professional (except for 1 bartendar named Ray near the cigar bar on deck 8).  The Waterfront was a great idea, but again unable to be enjoyed because of the blasted SMOKERS dominating the area.  The excursions were (please notice the majority of other reviews) were horrible and not even considered based on the ridiculous costs.  There were way too many kids on this ship.  I had read that in other reviews, but thought they meant tiny kids.  There were too many high school kids on this ship.  I'm trying not to be all negative as there were some good features about the ship and about the staff and the pub food.  But, it is just ridculous all that they want you to pay extra for.  I'm sorry Norwegian, but I'm not able to suggest this cruise ship based on what I and my party of 6 feel about the cruise.  I can tell that you have improved on what some past guest may have pointed out as potential issues.  There were no problems with hot water.  The water temp in the bath was great.  The diversity in entertainment was appreciated and noticed.  The effort to please 4000+ folks is always going to be a challenge.  If you just stopped with the nickel and diming of us, then our overall experience would be different.  I have cruised on Carinval and had cabin U76 which was so big it had a sectional sofa. And I was upgraded to that room.  We nor any of the other 2 cabins in our party received an upgrade of any type al all.