Great time with the family

We arrived around 11 am for our 12-12:30 embarkation. Our Uber was able to pull right up and our luggage was taken quickly (remember to print and attach your special tags from your NCL documents). We were waiting for others arriving separately and hung around until they arrived. We were in line for about 45 minutes, start to finish, and then we were on the ship. Very organized considering how many people were there.

We were a party of 12, plus a 15 month old. The "good" rating is an average. We ate at the Garden Cafe for breakfast several mornings, and they had a large selection of breakfast foods, most of which were good. We had a sit down breakfast at the Venetian a few mornings, which is a nice change of pace from the buffet. We had lunch at several places - the Garden Cafe, O'Sheehan's, the Bimini Grill, and Topsiders. In general the food was good to very good. Dinner at the Venetian and Aqua were very good (included in the cruise), the atmosphere is lovely, and I would recommend both of those instead of the Garden Cafe. We had 3 specialty dining nights, and those meals were excellent (maybe avoid the steak, some said it was tough). Just be sure to make your reservations before the cruise or as soon as you get on. For our cruise the dining reservations were being taken in the Bamboo Lounge on the first day, or at guest services in the Grand Atrium (over to the right). Keep checking if you can't get what you want, seems like the availability changes frequently.

As expected, the pool was too small for the number of guests on the ship. Too many people saving lounge chairs, and never seeming to use them. There are limited shady areas, and the best couches are there, and it is annoying that those are also "reserved" with towels and personal items. We had a baby who could not be in the sun for very long so he and his family were not able to enjoy this area much. That being said, we could almost always find a few high top tables in the sun. The pool area is fun to hang around in. Met a lot of nice people there. Ladies, it is always windy there, so bring your pony tail holders or expect to spend a lot of time brushing your hair! Also, for those wearing skirted bathing suits, those will blow up too! So much for extra coverage. A few went to the fitness center once, and said it was nice. The Kids Pool was adorable, but the baby in our party was too young (no swim diapers allowed). There are a few slides there and the kids looked like they were having fun!

Jeri (the Broadway show lady) had a great voice but you might need to be a big fan of Broadway to thoroughly enjoy her show. Elements was very good. The musicians at the pool were talented, but could use more songs in their repertoire. Some of the games or activities were fun. The 80s Song Trivia at Bliss was so much fun, but could have gone on another 15 minutes or more. Everyone was dancing, and when it ended the DJ struggled to get people back on the dance floor. The scavenger hunt thing (I don't know it's exact name) at Bliss could have been 15 minutes shorter!

The staff works very hard to please the guests. Gratuities are prepaid, but any extra given directly to those who go above and beyond is greatly appreciated. Carl (Marticio) works the pool deck and is excellent. Be advised that there is some serious up-selling in the spa. There was a miscommunication (and by that I mean the spa technician suggested something without saying it would incur an extra charge) and it was like pulling teeth to get a refund for the extra charge only. Four in our party had massages, and one pedicure, so it's not as if we were trying to pull something over on the spa. In fairness to NCL, I was told at Guest Services that the spa is a subcontractor of NCL and they didn't seem to have any authority over the spa. We ended up getting the refund, but it was a lot of work.

Very clean ship, no complaints here. Had trouble navigating at first, but eventually you will get the layout. Sometimes the elevators were crowded, but taking the stairs never hurts after all the calories consumed! Several areas might be difficult for those with walkers or wheelchairs, as I don't remember there being many automatic doors. Remember that the red fish on the carpet in the hallways is swimming to the aft (back). The Grand Atrium is beautiful.

I was pleasantly surprised by the size and decor of our cabin. If it was only 1 foot wider (or me and my husband were each 30 pounds slimmer) we could have passed each other without turning sideways when going past the end of bed! Not a big deal at all. It was nice to have a couch to sit on rather than on the bed all the time. We enjoyed the balcony quite a bit. I read a lot about storage issues - the closet had 18-20 hangers and there were 6 or so shelves in the closet for your folded clothes. They are a bit awkward to access, and the closet is dark, but you can just pull out your folded clothes and find what you need. There is also an open shelf when you first enter the cabin, a great place for the things you need handy on your way out the door (cabin card, purse, sunscreen, etc.). There is also a two drawer "dresser" in the outside vanity area (where the hair dryer and mirror are) for more storage. We used the top drawer for makeup, deodorant, etc., all the things that didn't fit on the bathroom vanity. Last, there is a shelf over the mini bar area (you can see it over the tv in the reflection in my photo) where I put all my shoes! The bathroom is small, and although the toilet is separated from the vanity area by a semi-opaque sliding door, you would have to be very comfortable with your cabin mate for both of you to be in there at the same time. The lighting in the bathroom is not great, so having the hair dryer outside of it is much better, as is putting on makeup by the natural light of the sliding door. No need for two in the bathroom anyway! Our cabin steward, Putu, did a great job. Loved the towel animals. This cabin is under the Garden Cafe, and we could hear chairs being moved over our heads in the morning. Keep the layout of the ship in mind when choosing your cabin!

We left our luggage outside our cabin the night before for collection. Chose the last time to disembark (9:55, green tag). We had time for breakfast at the Garden Cafe, said goodbye to our other family members, and waited for our color to be called. Took about half an hour to get off. Easy to find our luggage, probably because we were near the end of the line and there weren't too many pieces left to sort through. Went better than I expected.