Overall a very good cruise, but really be mindful of booking things in advance, the restaurants, pool area, and shows get sold out quickly. Also, I felt NCL wasn't too clear in explaining the disembarkation process. Luckily we've cruised with other ships before and knew what to expect.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Very smooth, we did online pre-checkin, so minimal waiting to get onboard.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Food quality was great. We waited a little too long to book specialty restaurants and weren't able to get the ones we wanted. The buffet was better than average quality, the open sit-down places were great. Really wish they had pizza and/or burgers+hot dogs near the pool.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Very limited deck space around the pool. Pool very small based on size of ship. Ship definitely could use another pool or 2, but that would require significant modification. The forward area on deck 17 was a ghost town, very few people up there because no shade, no pool, no music.
Waterslides and ropes course were fun, but wish they had mini-golf and other things to do. We didn't use the basketball courts.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Really enjoyed Burn The Floor and Howl at the Moon (Dueling Pianos). The comedians were also good, but the other stage show (Six) was cancelled due to cast illness.
Live music at the pool and other public areas and DJs were fun and good quality.
Children's Programs
No little kids.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Staff was extremely friendly and efficient. Even though the bartenders were overworked, they were friendly, and drinks were made well.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Very clean, but layout of pool area was poor. Not nearly enough deck space/lounge chairs around the pool, and upper deck (17 forward) was a ghost town because no pool, no shade, no music.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Small, but typical of a cruise ship. Wish they had coffee in the room. I had planned to have my morning coffee sitting on the balcony, but room service fee was too high.
Ship tip
Wake up early (7am) to reserve deck chair by the pool, or forget about it.
We did a private tour of the island, but it's a pretty small place, and the driver wasn't very informative. We didn't go to the beach, but what we saw on the tour looked really nice and clear.
Private taxi shuttle to the beach. It was a beautiful, white sand beach with clear water and no waves, but pretty crowded because all tourists. Not good for snorkeling, for that you'd need to go to a different beach, maybe by ferry to nearby island (according to others I talked to on the ship later).
Beautiful beach, water, and lots of fish to look at when snorkeling. We didn't get off the ship until around noon, and all the chairs on the closest beach were taken. The next beach over had availability, but no umbrellas or shade. Those were already taken.
Food and drinks are included in the drink package, but they didn't have nearly enough bars and servers. Lines were ridiculous, I waited 30 minutes at the bar to get a mojito. Food line was also long. We gave up and went back to the ship.
It's common practice now to pre-book restaurants and shows on cruises. Used to be only on megaships, now you have to do so on almost every ship. I once saw very mature people crying because there were no reservations for the seafood restaurant on the Getaway. On our last cruise we made reservations for the MDR not to wait in line.
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