We certainly would do this cruise again, and probably will at some point. Other than the couple of minor issues pointed out, we had an almost flawless experience. The food was great, the bars were excellent, the entertainment was plentiful and there was always something to do if you wanted, or a quiet place to relax if that was more your mood for the day.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
Embarkation was perhaps the biggest disappointment. It was poorly organized, too crowded, and was a cluster-you know what. Perhaps it had to do with the previous sailing arriving late and being late to disembark, but it was so crowded in the terminal, the boarding groups were not organized into sections, and everyone just was crowded around the entry way.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Food and drink were very good to excellent overall, with only a few minor comments. The food was delicious, however there were a few times when it was cool when it arrived at our table instead of hot. The taste was still there, but it lost something due to the temp. Also, there is no dedicated pizza place, which is a big hot button for me (pizza is my go-to). The Local was a very nice place to grab a bite at any time, and the cheeseburgers were incredible! The only issue there was the wings were hit or miss. Sometimes nice and crispy and hot, sometimes a bit on the rubbery side. Tappanaki was well worth the extra expense as the food was great and the show even better! Cagneys, well, you just can't go wrong there. Amazing steaks, and the sides were phenominal as well.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
We didn't partake of the pools at all, but the hot tubs were nice when they weren't crowded, especially up in the Vibe. Mini-golf was nice and the greens were kept up well. Wi-Fi is something everyone either asks about or complains about. Here's the deal. You're at sea using a satellite connection. It's slow, and has high latency due to the upstream bandwidth. If you plan on video chatting, probably not a good experience. If you use it as we did for things like social media, email, backing up photos overnight to the cloud, then it's totally fine and there really weren't any "dead spots" that we found or at least that we noticed. The NCL app is pretty bad though. Compared to Princess and Carnival (the only comparison we have) it just lacked some basic functionality and was not very useful other than to check the actual Ship's time.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
To begin with, we didn't get to see Footloose. Rough seas the first few nights led to a cast member injury and then it was just unsafe to perform due to a suspended bridge used in the show and how rough the seas were. That said, Elements was AMAZING! The comics were hysterical (at least at the 18+ shows), and the Beatles Revolution was top notch!
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Best part of the cruise! The bartenders and servers were all exceptional! Mike at the Cavern Club outdoor bar was the best, and Chris up in the Vibe was also out of this world. The smiles all around were great to see and they truly appreciated the guests.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Loved the ship overall. The Waterfront wraps around deck 8 almost entirely, and the view from the aft is spectacular. The ship was always clean and we never saw anything that needed maintenance.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
The size was perfect for the two of us, I imagine it would be a bit tight for 3 or 4. The bathroom was good size and the shower was plenty big enough, and I loved the curved shape which gave extra room to move. The only quibble with the room is that there were no outlets by the bed (other than a couple of slow-charge USB on the lights) that could be used for a CPAP. This required the use of an extension cord that could be a tripping hazard if not careful.
Very nice port, easy to get around. Public transportation is the way to go, it's cheap and easy to use. Our sole excursion on the last day got cancelled due to high winds, but that was not anyone's fault. It is expensive compared to the Caribbean, but it's also much cleaner, so take that for what it's worth.
Disembarkation was far superior to embarkation. We choose to have NCL take our bags off and choose the 830 debark time slot. We were called, walked off the ship, got through customs, and had our bags and were on our way to our Uber in about 10 minutes or so from the time our time slot was called. Very smooth process.
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