The pool deck was a complete free for all. No rules at all. Chairs saved all day, kids in all the hot tubs, parents bringing babies in diapers in hot tubs, etc. When you bring it to the attention of the staff, you get the typical "yes, we'll take care of it", and they do nothing. By day 3 we realized we were the saps by following the rules and never having a deck chair, so for the rest of the cruise I put our towels out when I went for my coffee at 6:30.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
quick since we had my mother in a wheelchair. Went in the handicap line which moved right along. Our rooms were ready fairly quickly.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The main dining room was so so. Some dishes were quite good such as the roast beef and salmon, others not so much. Deserts for the most part were just OK or below par. One night he banana foster came from the kitchen as a dish of melted vanilla ice cream with a sliver of banana floating in it.
My dinner at the Orchard Garden was uneatable. Wife said hers was OK as were the pot stckers.
The Garden Cafe was OK. However, the eggs Benedict were always served on untoasted english muffins. The roast chicken at the buffet or cookouts was always very good. If you are OK with Bob Evens, you'll be all set here.
We had dinner at La Cucina one night. If you like Olive Garden you will be all set. Not worth the extra money.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Bingo was way over priced for the payout amount.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Most of the shows were surprisingly quite good.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Room steward was great!! Bar staff and drink waiters were in no rush since their tips were pre paid for the most part. slow service all around
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
very clean! no dishes in the hall outside cabins. in port the crew was always painting or working on the ship
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
very small but plenty of storage. Not worth the extra money for the tiny porthole. Should have saved the money and got an inside cabin.
Ship tip
Non handicap people regularly use the handicap tables in the main buffet. We saw teens, people in workout clothes who just came from the gym or power walking on deck, and people just to lazy to look for tables when it was busy, using these tables. I understand it's a delicate subject for NCL to confront them. It just speaks on the number of low lifes who cruise.
Sunday, everything was closed for the most part. The few venders open were very pushy. We took the catamaran cruise. Not bad, but they never sailed, they ran the motor the whole time. Plenty of drinks.
It was the same for us when we were on the gem in January. Kids were eating their plates of food right in the hot tubs. With their parents. I was not impressed with that ship at all
Who puts a baby in a hot tub? Great parenting. On my last cruise they had these big guys watching and pulling people out of the pools and moving people’s stuff off of chairs. I wish more people would follow the rules. I’m a rule follower.
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