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A fun cruise with exceptions by
Marc J. from Mountain View, CA Sailing date: Mar 2011Pros: The shows. The room attendent. The excursions. Cons: Freestyle Dining Shows were excellent and excursions very good. Room service was exemplary. Main complaint is the "freestyle dining." Food was just ok to good.... not great. Always had to wait 20-30 min. to be seated. Felt is was bad form to offer the specialty restaurants at a price when the main dining (included in price) was not that great and always had a wait for dinner. Ship Quality
Dining/Food
Stateroom QualityWonderful, friendly attendent! Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & ActivitiesBest I've seen! 
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Puerto Vallarta, MexicoLas Calitas - a great paradise getaway!
Cabo San Lucas, MexicoLoved ssailing and snorkling
 1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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  NCL Panama Canal Cruise by
A Traveler from Los Angeles, CA. Sailing date: Nov 2010Pros: The Service on board was great. Staff excellent. Food Good. Port of Call were great. Cons: Boring at night. No ambience for fun after dinner and show. Ship was good, however maybe some upgrades will make it even better. TV's are old, newer Technology will be a plus. Free style cruising was great. Ship QualityA more open lay out would have been better. Too much walking to access the places you wanted to go to. Not a good flow to access places on ship. Dining/FoodMain free restaurants had excellent food and excellent service. Stateroom QualityStateroom was a decent size, bathroom was OK. Was kept clean. Some update would be nice. TV to old. Ship Staff QualityStaff was the best. Entertainment & ActivitiesEntertainment was good. Nothing to do after 10:00 p.m. other than go to the Casino.
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Acapulco, Mexico
Cartagena, Colombia
Key West, Florida
Huatulco, Mexico
Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala
Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Worth a balcony for alaska cruise by
Tim B. and Alice B. from Orting, WA Sailing date: Sep 2010Pros: glaciers, specialty restaurants Cons: bathroom layout, excursion prices First time cruise for me and my wife. Scenery for alaska was great. Getting a balcony was worth it for taking pictures. Specialty restaurants was the way to go for avoiding crowds. Bathroom layout was uncomfortable to use. Choke points at elevators was a pain. Dinner excursions for crab were overpriced and underwhelming. Lower priced excursions were more fun and worth it. Saving money by taking the last cruise of the season had its drawbacks of bad weather and closed stores in the ports. Ship QualityNot enough elevators at choke points outside of main theater and main lobby. Dining/Food
Stateroom QualityBalcony room had wasted space with sofa. Should have been used to make the bathroom toilet area bigger. Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & ActivitiesMusic shows were okay. Comedy show was lousy.
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Juneau, AlaskaGlacier was good, but trip to gardens was a waste of time and money.
Don't Miss: Mendenhall glacier Ketchikan, AlaskaCity tour okay. Chef's table way overpriced and you'll leave still hungry.
Skagway, AlaskaYukon train was great. Brothel tour was okay.
Don't Miss: Yukon train Prince Rupert, British ColumbiaSealife discovery/crab boat tour was worth it for the eagles, but not for the crab dinner. Description makes it sound like there's a nice bar on board, but all you can get is one beer or a wine cooler.
Don't Miss: eagle pictures on sealife/crab boat tour. 5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Wonderful Experience by
SueW from Nevada Sailing date: Jun 2010Pros: I Liked being waited on by incredibly happy and helpful people from 59 different countries. Cons: I disliked the constant push to buy jewelry and art - especially jewelry. There were stations all over the ship and also many jewelry stores at every destination. I heard that these jewelry stores were all owned by the various cruise lines. Our overall experience was very positive. We had a mini-suite for three people and it was quite spacious. The help was friendly, helpful, and really added to the enjoyment of the cruise. Ship Quality
Dining/Food
Stateroom Quality
Ship Staff QualityExceptional staff. Everyone was always smiling. Entertainment & ActivitiesThere were many options but they all cost extra. I was stunned that bingo had an extra fee. I have not encountered that on other ships.
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Juneau, AlaskaMendenhall Glacier is worth seeing. I enjoyed the salmon bake, too.
Ketchikan, AlaskaToo many jewelry stores. I was told that there were 63 stores and only four of them were owned by natives. The push was to buy jewelry , not to explore Ketchikan.
Skagway, AlaskaSkagway is charming and the train ride is outstanding.
Don't Miss: The train ride. Prince Rupert, British ColumbiaI took a cultural tour and saw the Indian dancers, which were quite different than those in Arizona and New Mexico. My kids went kayaking and loved the kayaking, which was strenuous.
Don't Miss: kayaking if you are fit enough. 8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
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An experience by
W Lo from Ontario, CA Sailing date: Jun 2010Cons: The Tv is about 50 years old and need to be fixed so many times. They finally taught me how to set special code for this TV. do not have important games on the ship. We had dinner at every different restaurant every night and pay additional money.
the service are all great but thefood in Tepanyaki is average, the desert is terrible. The japanese food does not have enough choices.
The steak, The French and Italian are provide good food.
The TV needs to be replaced. they are Old. Ship Quality
Dining/FoodNeed to make some changes and increase the varietiesfor breakfast--everyday, they provide same thing. Stateroom QualityI made a mistake by using the lowest price room. small and not comfortable. Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activities
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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A Relaxing Vacation by
Vanessa M. from Wahiawa, HI Sailing date: Jun 2010Pros: Eating anywhere, anytime, any attire Cons: none We were very impressed of the different restaurants to select from. We had no problems getting any reservations or waiting long for a table. All the staff were very courteous, kind and helpful. The ship was so big it never felt we were traveling with almost a couple thousands of passengers. We were so pleased with all the activities available. Ship QualityThe ship was large enough to be able to enjoy peace and quiet. Most of the public areas were cleaned, except one day several of the toilets were overflowing and it was messy in one of the public restrooms. Otherwise, all the areas were very clean. Dining/FoodWe were very satisfied of the variety of food in the different restaurants. We were able to change reservations without any problems. We were able to be served at all times of the day, even when it was very early before restaurants opened. We preferred the other restaurants than the market place buffet. The buffet's food was not as hot. Stateroom QualityWe had a guarenteed room and was very pleased of the location. The size was bigger than expected and it was always cleaned with clean linen. Ship Staff QualityAll the staff were very courteous and helpful. The servers were always very polite and worked very hard at all time. The stateroom staff were friendly and took care of our needs at all times. Entertainment & ActivitiesWe were impressed that there were many activities available.
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Juneau, AlaskaThere were many excursions to select from.
Don't Miss: Whale watching. Ketchikan, AlaskaIt had many shops and things available to see or do. I thought the village would be bigger.
Don't Miss: Viewing eagles. Skagway, AlaskaWe enjoyed the glacier tour. Too many jewelry shops. Not to impressive.
Don't Miss: The safari glacier excursion Prince Rupert, British ColumbiaI felt it was a waste of time if you didn't book any excursions. Nothing to see at this port.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Nice cruise by
Barbara M from Monterey, CA Sailing date: Apr 2010Pros: Specialty Restaurants Cons: Noise from construction and they took away all the public meeting areas on the ship to turn into suites We took this same ship for the same cruise last year and loved it -- even though it was during Spring Break and the ship was full. This year, the ship was not full, but the services were not as good as last year. They were also "remodeling" a portion of the ship which formerly included a library, game room, meeting room and small theater. I understood from staff that they were now turning these formerly nice public areas into suites. The construction was loud if I wanted to lay down and take a nap during the day in our room. I was also quite disappointed that they moved the "Friends of Bill W" meeting from 5:00 in the afternoon in a nice meeting room, to 3:00 in the afternoon in one of the restaurants which took place while the restaurant was being cleaned and made ready for dinner. Being of Friend of Bill W's, I was annoyed by the constant solicitations for alcoholic drinks, but that took place last year too, and is something I just get used to. On the plus side, our cabin stewards were fantastic, the "freestyle cruising" is still such a plus, the restaurants were great, the buffet was good morning, noon and night and the shows (all included in the price) were good. The condition of the ship is excellent. We had a balcony room again and it was spacious enough, with a nice size bathroom. I really liked the Norweigian Star before they took out the public areas, but it's still a good ship. I could pass on Mazatlan, but we had a great time in Puerto Vallarta on the shore excursion to Las Calitas. My daughter and boyfriend took the adventure shore excursion where they ziplined, and they really enjoyed it also. Ship Quality
Dining/FoodFreestyle cruising with no set eating times is great. The specialty restaurants are really good and only cost a nominal fee for what you get. Tappanaki, Sushi, Steakhouse and Endless Summer (Tex Mex) were all great. Service was excellent too. Stateroom QualityWe had a balcony room and I loved it except for the noise from the construction Ship Staff QualityOur ship stewards, just like last year, were the best! Entertainment & ActivitiesThe shows are entertaining 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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My wife and I had a great cruise by
Gaylen M. from Conocrd,Ca Sailing date: Mar 2010Pros: We like the crew the most. Cons: replace the mattresses in the state rooms The only bad thing that I could say about the whole cruise is smokers! If you want to ride the public buses in Mexico, don't. Just too many pick-pockets on the buses that work in pairs. Ship Quality
Dining/Food
Stateroom Quality
Ship Staff QualityThe crew is plain wonderful. 10 stars in our books. Entertainment & Activities
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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A tie with other cruise lines by
A Traveler from San Francisco, CA Sailing date: Feb 2010Pros: The theater and entertainers were top notch. Enjoyed them immensely. The shower and the bathroom were a nice size. Cons: The staff for the Market Cafe buffet seemed like a staff in training. Slow to respond, it may have been a language barrier. We enjoyed the cruise on the Norwegian Star to the Mexican Riviera. The entertainment was excellent. The tour to Todos Santos had an excellent guide named Marco. The food in the dining rooms was very good. The bathrooms in the cabins were a good size. The furniture in the cabins was not built-in, poor quality, and awkward. The Atrium area was attractive and comfortable. The cleanliness was satisfactory. 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Delightful cruise by
Jenny F. from San Bernardino, CA Sailing date: Oct 2009Pros: The cruise was very well organized and we hardly lifted a hand all week. The excursions were well planned with top notch companies and personnel. The staff were very courteous and polite and helpfull in every way. Cons: The specialty restaurants on board did not have very good food for the type of specialty. Italian restaurant did not taste like good Italian food. Same for the Asian-Fusion restaurant. The best food was in the main and freestyle dining areas. The ship was designed with good taste and provided a selection of activities and specialty areas. It was well maintained. I would rate it as good to excellent. Ship QualitySize was great. Public areas were very tasteful and elegant. It was clean, well maintained, and safe. Dining/FoodThe main dining room had excellent food. We ate at two specialty restaurants on board which require a cover charge and were disappointed with both and went back to the main dining rooms and had very good to excellent food and perfect service. Stateroom QualityWe had a inside room which we found met our needs and it was very cozy. Great for a couple or two friends. Especially if you were out and about as we were. Two twin beds were pushed together which were comfortable but you could separate them for two twin singles. We had plenty of room for two people but three would have been to cramped as there was a single bunk in the room for a third person. The rooms with the balconies were especially nice and if you prefer to spend time in your room is a good option. They have a large window to view the ocean which slides open to a small balcony with two chaise lounges. The room was a nice size. Ship Staff QualityStaff were friendly, willing to help and take care of all of our needs. Entertainment & ActivitiesEntertainment was excellent and very professional. We attended every evening show. There were plenty of activities to fill the day and evening. 15 out of 16 people found this review helpful.
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