Vacation is what you make of it.

I have enjoyed cruising on NCL many times and I've done this itinerary before on smaller ships.  I had a great cruise, and that was mostly because of the choices I made.  Ziplining in FL, parasailing on the island.  I met some wonderful people and made new friends.  

I'm not impressed by size.  A bigger ship doesn't mean a better cruise.  The services (restaurants, spa, etc.) on this ship were on a par with the other NCL ships I've been on, but maybe twice the cost.  A massage?  Twice the cost.  Access to the spa?  Twice the cost.  And now there's a restaurant that's not covered by the Ultimate Dining Package.  Back to nickle-and-diming the customers.  

The thing I found to be not as good was the food in the standard dining rooms.  Breakfast was disappointing no matter where we had it.  Dinner in the Manhattan dining room was disappointing both in service and in food.  Also, while the Cirque Dreams show was fun, the dinner served with it was close to awful, with no substitutions. The woman next to me was a vegetarian and she was handed the same plate as everyone else with a beef fillet and shrimp.  She asked for another option and was told nothing was available.  She didn't miss much by not eating it.  

Don't get me wrong.  I enjoyed my cruise very much.  The ship is beautiful and very clean.  The room stewards are wonderful as usual.  NCL has streamlined the embarking and debarking process and that is much appreciated.  There are more bars and more shows.  And you get FREE exercise just walking from fore to aft!  It's a BIG ship.  It's just that for the extra money I spent to have the quality vacation I enjoy, I could have booked a haven suite and gotten the same services, or gone on a higher-priced cruise line.