This was my 8th cruise and my husband's second. First time on Norwegian for both of us. We are both 31 and have no children. We're easy to please people, so overall it was a wonderful cruise. Embarkation and disembarkation were both smooth and easy. On and off within 20 minutes. We chose to do "self assist" getting off the ship, meaning we walked off with our luggage in hand, which made it much faster. The cruise itself was anything but smooth. That was no ones fault but Mother Nature herself. Despite the rough seas, the weather was great our whole trip. The ship was a nice size and public areas were very clean the entire week. It did have a strange layout. The main area, aka "The Atrium", was a small circle of space where they held pretty much everything from trivia to dance contests to q&a sessions. It felt waaaayyy too small for these events and didn't have enough seating. Once we realized this, we didn't waste our time attending anything there.

Dining: The ship had many dining options, both complimentary and speciality (we had the 3 meal specialty dining package). ALL of the food was excellent, other than the Garden Buffet, which I thought was mediocre, bland and repetitive (my husband loved it). Fortunately we had other options. If you want to eat at the noodle bar, make your reservations the moment you step foot onto the ship, because it will sell out. The best place for free breakfast is Margaritaville. It's a smaller selection, but much better than weaving in and out of people first thing in the morning at the buffet. There is a limited menu with complimentary room service options for breakfast. We had coffee delivered every morning and there was no fee. We ate dinner in the main dining room (Tropicana) once. The food was great, however the portions were small and there was no dessert. We sprung for the Cirque Dreams and Steam dinner show and really enjoyed it. Finally, if you love sushi like we do, do yourself a favor and eat at the Wasabi sushi bar. It's a specialty restaurant and you can use the dining package to order whatever you want. This was our favorite restaurant on the ship. The food was OUTSTANDING, you don't need a reservation, and it never seemed busy.

Pools/Outdoor areas: We both loved the outdoor Waterfront area on deck 8. It had plenty of comfy seating and we made it our spot to watch the large waves and enjoy our cocktails (not without an obstructed view due to the tops of the lifeboats, of course). We spent most of our lounging time at Spice H20, which is the adults only section of the boat. I never saw anyone under 18 in there, which was nice. But to be honest, there weren't many kids on our cruise. Or, if there were, I never saw them. I think it was due to the date of sailing being immediately after the holidays. However, the area was always full and the "pool" was very small. It took a while to get a drink at the bar. If I could do it again I'd absolutely spring for the Vibe Beach Club passes. For an extra fee you have access to a private pool area with loungers, umbrellas and a bar. They only sell so many passes per cruise and if you're willing to spend a couple hundred extra dollars, it's something i'd recommend. The waterslides were fun. I found myself giggling the whole way down, haha. But I think my favorite onboard activity was the ropes course at sea. Read more