The weather wasn't the best, but this isn't the fault of NCL. The ship had a lot of activities, but not enough staff. It seemed we were always waiting, which didn't happen when we were on the Pearl in 2019. There were many rude people, and a few violent fights (thankfully of which we didn't see). I will stick to NCL's smaller ships :)
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Perfect. No waiting to board at 12:30. Port Canaveral is a wonderful place to embark/disembark.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Manhattan Room had great food, although service is a little slow.
Ocean Blue had phenomenal food, and impeccable service.
Teppanyaki was very good.
Cagney's was wonderful, and the wine expert was very helpful.
The Garden Cafe was a bit of a madhouse, and it was a very, very, very, congested area we avoided after getting ran into a by an unapologetic, older kid, who caused my husband to spill his coffee all over himself.
Teppanyaki
5 out of 5
Great food, as always!
The Manhattan Room Restaurant
5 out of 5
Wonderful food. The pace being served was slow (we were there for over an hour) ; however, we did tell the waiter we didn't have any time commitments. So, next time, we would say we had a show to catch, to speed up the process :)
Shanghai's Noodle Bar
5 out of 5
Amazing food, which surprisingly is complementary!
O'Sheehan's Neighborhood Bar and Grille
3 out of 5
Good food, served by waitstaff who are being ran ragged, and aren't very cheerful.
Ocean Blue
5 out of 5
Hands-down, the best restaurant on the ship! Great service, and some of the best food I have ever eaten.
Chill Bar
4 out of 5
A fun experience, although the space was smaller than expected.
Cagney's Steakhouse
5 out of 5
Wonderful. Great service, great food, and a knowledgeable wine expert.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
Fitness center was very nice and the ropes course looked awesome, but we didn't try it. The water slides were very fun, but the 1 adult pool on the main deck was tiny, and waaaaay too small for over 4,000 people onboard. It was nice their was a separate pool area for kids/families.
Breakaway Casino
3 out of 5
Great selection of table games, but not a lot of payouts on slot machines.
Slide
5 out of 5
We had a lot of fun going down the slides! There was a smaller, slower slide, 2 whip (twisty, tube) slides, and 2 drop slides.
Tradewinds Tax & Duty-Free
5 out of 5
Great selection of jewelry, sunglasses, purses, clothing, and whatever else you may need!
Pulse Fitness Center
5 out of 5
Top notch! Loved the selection of cardio and weight lifting equipment.
Pool
2 out of 5
You may need a magnifying glass to find the only public adult pool, which has a couple hundred of your shipmates jammed into it.
Mandara Spa & Salon
3 out of 5
Very nice area, although everything seems grossly overpriced.
Jogging Track
2 out of 5
Very small, and in a congested area.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
The performers at dueling piano bar were just okay, and didn't know quite a few songs that were requested.
Dancers at Burn the floor were good, but the music chosen for the performance was a bit underwhelming.
Box Office
1 out of 5
Very busy, and had to wait 30 minutes in line to book comedy shows.
Breakaway Theater
4 out of 5
Not enough seating for the ship
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
My nephews loved Splash Academy, and requested to go there multiple times per day!
Service and Staff
2 out of 5
There are definitely not enough crew members on this ship. Our room steward did a good job. The wait staff at the Specialty Restaurants was impressive, but the wait staff at O'Sheehans was just okay, and they really didn't seem to want to be there. It always took about 5-10 minutes in line to get waited on to get a drink, with the exception of the bar outside the theater, which had one bartender, and it took 30 minutes.
Many crew members mentioned how much pressure was put on them on the larger ships, that there was the same amount of crew on NCL smaller ships, and they couldn't wait to be assigned to a smaller ship again.
Ship Quality
2 out of 5
Many of the bathrooms were frequently out of soap, but they were pretty clean.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
We loved the bathroom, which had a full-sized tub, and double sinks. The room was average-sized, but the balcony was very small, and tough to move around on (there was barely enough room to stand in front of the chairs, and we had to stack them if more than 1 person wanted to stand out there).
The Taste of Grand Cayman tour was just okay, with the Turtle Farm being the most interesting stop on it.
We went to the Royal Palms Beach Club on 7 Mile Beach after the excursion, which had an amazing beach. We all wished we would have spent the entire day there.
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