I love cruises. And, this was no exception. The boat is amazing, but not sure I will sail on it again. There is alot of stuff on the boat that is available that I don't necessarily care about. (Ropes course/Water Slides) It was great to be on it, and we were treated well. But, because of some of the stuff on the boat, they attract a lot of families with kids I am sure. And, we just prefer a more adult crowd.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Getting on the boat went very smoothly. We like to be early birds to try and avoid some of the congestion. So that probably helped. But, all in all it was very well organized and pretty seemless.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
My first Norweigan experience did not get very well in terms of the food. Was a very limited, boring menu and I avoided the cruise line for a while. I am pleased to say the food on this boat was excellent. Tons of options, prepared very well. The varied restaurants made it easy to not get bored. And the specialty dining rooms, even though there is an added cost, were well worth it. The unlimited drink package was a nice thing. Not sure we saved money with it, but, it was just very easy. If you didn't like a particular drink, you just got a different one.
District Brew House
5 out of 5
We loved this bar. As craft beer fans, it was a great addition to the boat. The bar is spacious and has a great selection of craft beers in addtion to whatever other drinks you might want. We spent a lot of time in there.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
The boat is huge and has pretty much any activity you can think of. The pool area was a bit small considering the size of the ship. At busy times it was hard to even get into the water there were so many people. It is nice that they limit the main pool to adults only, and thus dedicate what on most ships would be the second pool to kids play area. So, it is a good trade off not having kids splashing around.
Escape Casino
5 out of 5
The casino was not very kind to us. Who would have thought gambling means you may loose money!
Being serious, the casino on the boat is huge. Biggest one I have ever seen on any ship I have been on with almost any game you can imagine.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
We didnt do any of the stage shows, but the musicians in the bars, and the pool areas, and the dueling piano's bar were all great. You could easily find someone playing most any time in the evening somewhere on the boat.
Children's Programs
Did not travel with children.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
The service and staff were great. Not as personal a what I have seen on smaller ships. Typically with 1 to 2 days on a small ship many of the staff know you by name. This was not the case, but I attribute it to the size of the boat, large number of passengers, and the large amount of venues. There is something like 21 bars, so we bounced around a lot more because you do have options. That alone makes it harder to get to know the staff on a first name basis.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ship was very clean being still relatively new. (2015 I think it was launched). The central promanade is not as pronounced as it is on some ships. (ie Royal Carribean) I missed that part because it felt more broken up. At the same time, there are MANY more options of places to go. So, trade offs.
The ship does NOT have enough elevators at crowded times. So, plan to walk some stairs or wait. Most ships have 3 banks of elevators. They only had 2, so with as many folks on the boat, it is not enough at times.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We got the upgraded mini suite. Lets face it, most rooms on ships are basically the same. The mini suite did have one great feature which is a full size shower. I am tall, and so is my son who traveled with me. Most rooms I have been in you can barely turn around in the shower. So, that was a great add to actually not feel you are in a tin can when you shower.
Ship tip
Get a room near a stairwell if you can. We were in the middle of two, and its a big ship!
Also, not enough elevators, so, lets say you want to go down, but an elevator opens up going up...GET ON! It has to go down eventually and if you wait, sometimes every elevator that opens is already full.
Cruise ship capital of the world. Just expect a lot of traffic getting on and off the boat. Beautiful city though. In South Beach they are very proud of their drinks and food, so bring a lot of cash! It costs money to hang out with the beautiful people. :)
Falmouth is pretty nasty. The shops area just outside the boat it nice, but, we took a tour of the town and there is not a lot worth seeing there. We had fun because we always do, but, when you are looking at an itinery, you can go somewhere else, do it.
Great town, nice beaches. The problem we had there was 5 cruise ships in town all at the same time, and it is not all that big. But, other than that, worth seeing.
We would have had to tender there, and it wasn't worth the hassel for the time allotted. We just stayed on the boat and enjoyed the not as crowded pool.
Nassau is just OK. Been there several times. The folks at Atlantis were ridiculous and would highly recommend not wasting the cab ride. I can understand not allowing cruise folks to use all the resorts beaches without a fee, but they were charging $45 just to walk past the aquarium. Its nice, but that is a joke. They didn't mind us walking around their casino to loose money, but all other areas were fee related. I will never go back there.
We were off the boat and at the airport by 9am, which was super fast. We rolled our own bags off to save the wait of being called by tag color which speeded things up. But, for the number of passengers on that boat, it was impressive.
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