1st time Norwegian cruise was a great experience

We have been on many RCCL cruises in the past.  We decided to try something different and went with NCL.  As a result my perspective is from experience with RCCL.  

I would have to give RCCL the advantage on entertainment.  While NCL wasn't bad, we had gotten used to Mamma Mia, Hairspray, etc.  It also seemed like there were fewer bar bands on NCL.  

Dining was a good experience.  We had the dining package so could go to specialty restaurants.  We did Moderno (Brazilian), La Cacina (Italian), Teppanyaki, and Cagneys.  We found the food very good, and the wait staff was better in those restaurants.  We also did each of the main dining rooms.  Tropicana was our favorite with the band during dinner.  The wait staff was a little more hit or miss.  Our Savor waiter was slow and frustrating.  The drawback of flexible dining is you don't have the ability to meet people like we did with traditional dining on RCCL.  We've met new friends on RCCL when we meet with the same people each night.  Kind of miss that.  

The activities like pool, mini-golf, etc were on par with our RCCL experiences.  The only real issue is deck chairs.  They were usually always taken but nobody ever seemed to sit in them.  There needs to be an answer there.  

Getting on the ship was consistent with our expectation.  We always do walk off on departure with our bags.  NCL had long lines, but they moved reasonably fast.  While it was simple on RCCL, it was tolerable on NCL.  

We liked experiencing some new ports with NCL.  Honduras we did the eco-walk (booked outside of NCL).  We did Kohunlich Mayan ruins at Costa Maya and a jeep tour (booked outside of NCL) in Cozumel.  That is an observation, NCL charges about 50% higher than street price for excursions.  RCCL doesn't seem to do that.  We've always booked excursions with RCCL, but with NCL we feel forced to book externally.  

Our statemoom (large balcony) was nice.  The balcony had 2 chaise lounges, a bistro table and 2 chairs.  It was nice having that room, especially since the pool chairs were always taken.  The shower was bigger than we've had on RCCL.  We never met our stateroom attendant, but he did a good job.  I'm not sure if that's a NCL difference or just this person, but we're so used to RCCL where our stateroom attendant made an effort to get to know us.