A very enjoyable first ocean cruise. We started the cruise with maybe a few doubts that we had chosen the right sort of holiday, but after a couple of days of getting acquainted with life on board ship we began to relax and enjoy what the ship and crew had to offer us. I could say that we would recommend this ship and Norwegian Cruise Lines, but I'd rather just say that we've already paid the deposit for our next cruise with NCL.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Security and Immigration took a little while, but I would never want to skimp on security.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Very good food and a range of eating places, and the "Freestyle" dining works well where unless you have a large group (and there were only the two of us) you don't have to make a reservation even at the main restaurants.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
There was an abundance of activities for all age groups, but we didn't get involved in any of them.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
We received an excellent level of service from all those who attended us.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
As this was our first cruise in an ocean liner (we have done one river cruise previously) we didn't have anything to compare to regarding the ship's design, but even so we didn't find any glaring faults in it. We couldn't fault the ship or staff in terms of cleanliness.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
The cabin was larger than we were expecting and it was very comfortable. Cleanliness of the room was first rate.
If I had to give a criticism it would be that an annoying clicking sound in the corner of the wall woke me a few times on one night when we were sailing in a 4.5 metre swell.
Ship tip
Explore the ship early in the voyage to see where everything is. If it is a sightseeing cruise e.g. Alaskan Coast, check out all the available viewing locations. We found the promenade deck (Deck 6) was good for viewing glaciers as you were lower down so you got more of a sense of the size of the glacier. It was also generally less crowded. We thought deck 12 was the highest deck but on the last day we found there were two stairways leading up to an even higher observation platform, and there were not many people on it.
We had a couple of days here before the cruise left from Port of Vancouver. It is an incredible city - very busy and very productive, and yet all that business is done with a great deal of calmness - almost serenity.
A nice little town. It usually rains here. It was raining when we were there. Hard to believe that such a small town has its own airport with 737's flying in and out. Walked around town but didn't do any excursions because we had tours booked to see similar things later in our holiday.
No tours here for us either, but this town is wonderful - like an old western town brought into the present. Obviously the people here are very proud of their heritage.
This was where our cruise ended. We stayed here for a couple more days and we were to have gone on a boat tour of the fiords, but the 4.5 metre swell that was still running offshore put paid to that, but at least we got a full refund for the tour.
Very quick and easy disembarkation. We had no early-morning onward transport arrangements so we just took our own luggage ashore by the appointed time.
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