We are two pensioners and this was our first time with Norwegian Cruise Line, although we've used P&O, RCI, Celebrity and Holland America before and had a good idea what to expect. We collected our transfers at the airport being directed by an employee and whisked to the dock where the booking procedure was - in my experience- the fastest we ever known. We had a balcony cabin on deck nine near the forward lifts, despite the nearness we didn't hear any noise from them. The main cabin was a bit narrower than previous cabins as was the balcony, there was plenty of storage in an enclosed wardrobe, there was also a coffee maker (used for making tea), and there was a UK socket and a continental socket so I had no use of my adaptors. The bathroom was to me well set up with the washbasin in the middle, with the WC and shower each side, both of which had a sliding door, - no clinging curtain.

The food we found excellent, whether it was in the main dining room or in the Raffles buffet there was always a good selection, in the buffet the serving counter was split up into zones, with a good variety like stir-fry, curries, vegetarian, salad, fruit, pasta and the grill. For the kids (of all ages) free ice-cream. The ship did put on a couple of barbeques but at this time of the year not too many people were interested. Despite the Free Style dining that the company advertises the crew did encourage people to dress up for dinner and quite a few did. Using the main dining room for dinner never caused us any problems we just turned up and asked for a table and were seated straight away, I suspect it got busier around eight but I didn't hear any moans. Breakfast was so varied that it was basically the same every day, saying that you could have anything you wanted, there were at least two egg stations where anything to do with eggs were available, a massive continental breakfast selection, waffles, pancakes, yogurts etc the list is endless. This is the only ship with cheese (including Blue) available all day.

The entertainment staff were first rate, although we didn't indulge in the myriad of activities available our preference was relaxing and doing a few quizzes we couldn't fault them they developed a good rapport with all the passengers and were always willing to stop and chat. If you are the type that likes to win a small souvenir they have a system where you receive a signature when you take part in an activity and at the end of the cruise you get 'Prizes' for those signatures. The evening shows in the Stardust theatre were very varied we had tribute band (Beatles), Magician, Graffiti (like the Four Tenors) and shows put on by the ships corps of dancers and singers. We went most nights and wasn't disappointed with any. Overall we found the staff from lovely waiters to ship's crew everybody was polite and friendly and only too willing to help.

As I said at the beginning this was our first time on NCL and I can now say it won't be my last, other cruise companies could well take note.

A simply ridiculous price for a 9-nights cruise to the Canary Islands dropped into the in-box, forcing us to book! It was our first time with NCL and whilst the idea of Free Style Dining is great, we didn't particularly care for it. Food was also hit and miss. I won't comment too much on entertainment either, as this is a case of what one person likes another one may hate.

We sailed in and out of Barcelona, cruising to Madeira, Tenerife and Malaga. We were supposed to go to Lanzarote but high winds and technical problems with the tug boats meant we were unable to dock.

Love cruising and despite my earlier comments, we would be happy to sail with NCL again.

Very clean and friendly. Lots of different entertainment, lots of choices of places to eat from restaurants to snack bars and the standard of food very good. All the staff were very friendly and helpful. We have been on other cruises since with other companies and standards were not as good. We would certainly cruise with Norwegian again. The choice of trips was very good and not to expensive. Baggage delivery to rooms was not as quick as other cruise lines and was was one of the only draw backs.

Ship cleanliness was excellent. Cant think of any problem we encountered in this respect. The food left a little to be desired. This was our 10th cruise on 4 different cruise lines and in comparison to the others it was slightly dissapointing. There was however a good variety and choice of restaurants if you didnt mind paying the $20 per head surcharge ($40 for steak/lobster). The staff were ok but could vary. We had 2 different cabib stewards, one was very nice, the other could be a little surly (especially if you were in the cabin when he wanted to clean it!). The entertainment was woeful. We were on a 14 day repositioning cruise and I think the cruise director perhaps used this as a chance to rest his excellent singers and dancers ..we only saw them twice. Many other cruise lines eg Thomson would have their dancers out 4 or 5 times per week. NCL put on guest acts all the other nights, some were good, some ok and some downright awful. The large theatre was often only 1/4 or a 1/3 full for some performances... waste of a good theatre. Other aspects .. itinery was great although we could not stop at Roatan due to the ship losing some time to deal with a medical emergency. Whilst this was not the ships fault they could perhaps have made it up to the guests in some way. Cruise director was fine but got the impression he really wanted to be elsewhere at times .. in fact he left the spirit immediately after our cruise to join another NCL ship which maybe explains why he seemed a bit disinterested. Weather and sea conditions were fabulous throughout. Ports of call were good. We had to tender at both Belize and Samama but the process was fairly painless and didnt result in much lost time. Harassment from taxi drivers at some destinations was evident although not as overpowering as some other places like Egypt. My kids quite liked the teen club and some of the activities but there were in fact very few kids on the ship ..60 out of 2000 passengers I think. Next time we would find out if it was a kids holiday week. The week before and the week after there were hundreds of kids on board ..not ideal for everyone of course!
Overall summary ..Because of the entertainment we would not sail again with NCL. Otherwise if you are not interested in entertainment then its well worth a try.