Great ship, great locations

We really enjoyed our time on the cruise, but I want to leave a review that gives others an idea of what to expect.  Rotan is really dirty, trash on the beaches and in the water, unlike anything we've ever seen, nasty.  We will not be getting off the boat in Rotan again.  The entertainment was awesome on the cruise ship.  For every meal besides the buffet, we had to wait 1.5-2 hours to get our meal.  We had friends traveling with us so it wasn't terrible waiting, but if we did not have friends with us, it'd be a long time to converse with my wife every night.  Not sure why we had to wait so long, but we missed some shows because dinner would take so long.  The specialty restaurants were very good.  We ate at La Cucina, Cagney's, La Bistro, and Moderno.

Norwegian has an upcharge for everything, so be prepared for that.  There is no soda at the buffet, you can only get soda with the soda package or from the bar.  

The layout of the ship was poor.  There was only one pool for adults, which was always crowded.  The sun deck and the front of the ship was secluded and there were showers to rinse off scattered on the top decks.  The Vibe Beach Club was $100 per person and there were only 150 people who could get that service.  There was no pool in the Vibe beach club, just hot tubs.  The slides were good.  The rope coarse was fun.  The rock wall was basic.  The ship was very clean throughout.  The buffet NEVER changed, the same food every day.  Taste and Savor served the same thing the buffet did, so there is not much variety from day to day on this ship.  O'Shehans served cold food every time we ate there.

It does sound like I am complaining a lot, but we had a good time.  We were just shocked at some of the things this ship didn't offer compared to other ships we have been on.  The best cruise line that we've been on and happy with was Royal Caribbean.  We probably will not go on Norwegian again unless we get another extremely good deal.  For this cruise we got prepaid gratuities, $150 shipboard credit, 250 internet minutes, and dining package for 4 different locations (cost extra $70 for gratuities).  We had a balcony room and loved it, although the balcony area was smaller than other ships we had been on.  Our balcony was bigger than most because we got the angled room, so we probably got 50% more balcony than everyone else (and it was still extremely small).  The AC kept up in the room, which had been a problem on past cruises.  The shower was larger than any cruise we had been on previously.  The water pressure in the shower was extremely good compared to other cruises we've been on.  

The weight room is very basic and somewhat lacking for those who are serious about working out.  The cardio room faced the ocean and had plenty of room compared to the weight room.  The spa was ok, not near as nice as Royal Caribbean or Carnival.  My wife did enjoy the package she purchased for $116 - full body massage after watching some presentation on the second or third day.

There seemed to be a lot of LGTB community on our ship.  There was no promotion that this was an LGTB cruise or anything, but they did seem to have an hour activity every day for this group.  This might be a Norwegian thing, I am not sure.  

The servers were all good.  Friendly staff.  The cruise director was fantastic.  

All in all, great cruise.  We made the best of the situation.  If we would not have had the package with all the upgrades, I would have been really disappointed. 

The lady who helped us book the cruise BRIDGET HYLTON
(800) 820-2816  x33800 was AMAZING.  She answered all our questions and was phenomenal.  If we ever get a cruise from spirit again, I will definitely call Bridget.