Have been on many cruises before, first time with NCL. Onbarding process throughout the trip to Alaska was fantastic. Very streamlined both on the way in and on the way out. The Garden Cafe- the buffet restaurant- was very well stocked, clean, and serviced. Anytime you finished a drink or plate it seemed like someone was there to clean up. The food options were plentiful and well cooked (for the most part). Lots of variety. Find out who your executive chef is before you go and that should help determine the best cuisine (ours was Indian and the Indian food was fantastic).

Unfortunately, the service around other parts of the boat weren't as great - especially when it came to the extra entertainment areas like the slides, go karting, and laser tag. In general, they weren't too friendly and customer service wasn't their forte. They were definitely more "hired hands" that stuck to the letter of the law and did not have much flexibility when it came to walk-ins/standby situations. Even when we were in line for go karting and we wanted to see if our other family members were in line already (around the corner) they wouldn't let us through the ropes to check. That was ridiculous. Even more ridiculous was that one of the staff thought my cousin shouldn't go on the ride b/c she was pregnant (eh, she wasn't). Laser tag was equally as frustrating when it came to trying to get in. Bottom line - just make reservations and stick with them. Have room cards ready at reservation time and make sure those are the ppl that will be going.

Also had some issues at the spa with trying to get room charges settled. Front desk personnel routed my charge request to the massage therapist - which I thought was odd. After asking them, I just got re-routed back to the front desk where a different person handled it without any problems. Read more