We hadn't cruised with NCL in over 30 years, so we weren't sure what to expect. I would rate it up there with Royal Caribbean. We had a nice time, were pleasantly surprised by the food. But we were disappointed with the activities. The pool was impossible due to so many people, so many of the activities on the ship were geared towards you spending more money (art auctions, jewelry shows, lessons on skincare so you'd buy from the spa). Some days there was almost nothing we were interested in doing. Plus, there was only one free channel for movies and TV, the rest you had to pay for. We didn't watch much, but after a long day in the sun, it would have been nice to have a choice. Instead we watched a lot of kid's movies because that's all that was offered.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Fast and pretty easy. DO YOUR ONLINE CHECKIN. We passed a huge line of people that hadn't done the online checkin or tagged their bags. It took them much longer.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
The main dining rooms were great. The buffet was pretty good. O'Sheehans and Shanghai were really good. We did two of the specialty restaurants. The food was great, but did seem too expensive when there are other "included" options.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
The pools were super crowded, no chairs available unless you went and got one first thing in the morning. That was disappointing. Our son enjoyed the rock climbing wall. There wasn't a lot to do that didn't have costs. Bowling looked fun, but didn't want to pay that much. Pool was $5 a game, video games were mostly $2 a game. There were things to do, but with so many people, the free things were always taken.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We saw the Burn the Floor show and it was really good. We also watched the musician that played several instruments, his show was pretty good too. There was a lot of live music, but we really only passed by. Some sounded really good.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Everyone was very friendly and seemed to be happy to be there, with just a few exceptions.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
We found the ship to be very clean.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
We liked our cabin, with just a few exceptions. The bed for our son (couch turned into a sofa) was not comfortable. He complained every day about how poorly he slept because of it. The shower size was great, but we weren't fans of the toilet area with sliding frosted glass doors. It did not provide enough privacy. I kind of expected more from a "suite." This room was barely more than a balcony cabin on another cruise line.
Ship tip
Don't plan on using the pool unless you are an early bird.
We started and stopped in Rome, so we didn't do an excursion through NCL. But we did stay a few extra days and did some tours on our own. Love this city.
There were 5 cruise ships in port at the same time. Because the cable car situation is so slow, the port stopped accepting tenders. We missed our $500 tour because we didn't get to the port until 45 minutes too late. Very disappointing.
This was a beautiful stop, but mostly took us through the very cool streets for shopping. We did have a nice stop at a local restaurant. Again, this was through Viator, not NCL
We did an excursion with NCL. It was nice. We stopped at a farm to learn about producing olive oil and had a very nice lunch. We traveled as a large group in a big bus.
We did a private tour through Viator and had a wonderful time. The Blue Grotto was closed due to high winds, but we got to see if from above, had Maltese coffee, and saw some ruins. We could like to return there.
I lived in Naples for a while, so this was not a new place for me. But we did go to Pompei, which was incredible. Then we went to a winery at the base of Mt. Vesuvius. Great lunch and wine tasting.
This was our second NCL tour and it was nice. Another large group on a big bus. But we went to a medieval city (lots of stairs) and a winery for lunch and had a very nice day.
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
