Norwegian cruises = Good.

We love cruising with Norwegian, they offer a more casual and less restrictive cruising style.  It fits us.  We aren't fancy, and neither are they.  

This was a holiday cruise and they really did a good job of decorating the ship with christmas trees, garland, giant gingerbread houses - an entire villages complete with a functioning train - and many other small decorations throughout the ship.  They also hosted holiday events (trivia, photos with santa, carolling, etc. They made the cruise feel festive.  

Ok, I am going to let you in on my all-time favorite ship activity:  We love the Thermal spa package!!!! It's a must if you want a quiet/relaxing retreat on your cruise away from the hustle and bustle of the main pool - oh and did I mention, NO KIDS.  I don't care if you're single, a couple or parents, we all deserve the opportunity for some peace and quiet.  This is where you can find it. The Pearl's Thermal spa is good, definitely better than what we experienced on the Jade. The Pearl's set up is much better and accommodates more passengers.  Unfortunately, we were disappointed because the thermal pool (our favorite) was closed 3 of the 10 evenings + the first 2 days the thermal pool's water was way too cold.    After asking about it twice, it was fixed by the third day and much more comfortable.  The other downside on this cruise (plus I read about it from a previous reviewer) the locks in both the ladies and men's locker rooms weren't working properly so you couldn't leave anything in the lockers safely and conveniently.  While we love and secretly wish nobody else knew about the thermal spa, we weren't able to take advantage of it as much as we wanted to.  

Evening entertainment: Sadly entertainment on this cruise fell short of what we experienced on all previous cruises.  Other than David Naster (comedian - who is great and shares a great message) and the hypnotist (Nadeen), we didn't enjoy the entertainment.  One previous reviewer noted that the entertainment felt "old" and I would agree, it was definitely geared towards an older clientele.  I sat through one song/dance performance and all I could think about was that I'd rather be relaxing in the Thermal Spa. 

Food: Food is good.  It's not great, but it's good.  The waiters and waitresses are good - always friendly and kind.  We purchased the upgraded dinner packages - they aren't necessary but it's a nice splurge if you are looking to celebrate something special.    

Shore Excursions:  Good - we did two shore excursions on this cruise.  We enjoyed both of the operators (Cartagena, Colombia & Puerto Limon, Costa Rica) and felt they were good quality guides and buses.  Aruba, we simply got on a non-NCL tour which was much less expensive and a great port to do this at.  Panama canal was so fascinating to go through the lock that we chose not to do an excursion.  In fact, we watched the ship go through the lock on Deck 7.  On the return trip through the locks we watched it from the bridge's observation room - it was so cool to see it from this perspective.  We also enjoyed lunch in the Summer Palace where you can see the ship rise/fall within the lock while you nosh.  There was plenty of time to view it from different locations on the ship and that's just what we did.

Overall, it was another good NCL cruise.  A few things that makes this less than 5-stars but overall we had an experience of a lifetime.