Great first cruise

I want to start by saying this was my first cruise. When we arrived at the pier, my first thought was how big and beautiful the shop was. Once we got on it, I was impressed. The foyer is modern and sophisticated decor. Our room was surprisingly roomy enough for all of us. It was my husband, myself, our 13 year old daughter and 6 year old son. We had a balcony room. Tbere was a lot of storage and decent size bathroom (no tub though). We had dinner at all the complimentary avenues and they were good. The buffet is your typical buffet. Taste and Savor were pretty good. And we enjoyed the Tropicana Room. (I personally think all 3 had the same food., just mixed it up on different nights). You could always find something to eat. The buffet was almost always open. We never made a reservation and never waited. The staff was very friendly and attentive. That surprised me a little. I know that you paid gratuity but nobody tipped extra. My husband and I did but only 1 other time did I see anyone tip. That included restaurants and the bars. I felt bad for them, but everyone was still very nice and helpful. The pool was small, like everone else said, but still nice. Their was 4 hot tubs and one pool in the adult section. Right next to it (2 bars seperating them) was the family area. That pool was ridiculously small, but the splash pad looked fun for younger kids. There was lots of places to lounge in the sun. There was quiet areas to do that as well. There was many activities. Outside and in. I highly recommend NOT doing Bingo. It is a complete waste of money. You play 3 games and the payouts are low. The lowest package was $40 when I went. And the top prize was $250. Deal or no deal is a waste of money too, but at least that was more fun. The casino was nice. Decent variety of table games and slots. The high limit area was always empty though, so maybe they should lower the limit to $25 when it's like that. My one complaint was that it was hard to figure out the smoking vs non smoking areas. There was no sign. Only if you put your card in the machine it said it or looked for ashtrays. The kids clubs were awesome(my kids said) it was nice to do our family stuff together during the day, eat dinner together and then off they went and we had alone time. The islands were very nice. I loved Harvest Caye. The beach was very easy to find, lots of chairs, beautiful water and sand. The island was well laid out. Overall, loved this cruise. Next year we are booking Norwegian again, just a different itinerary.