What do you think about NCL (Norwegian Cruise Line)?

I have been on Carnival once and NCL Jewel once. We are going on the Jewel again in Sept. We loved it. We like the freestyle cruising. We are casual people and don't mind paying the extra surcharges for some of the specialty dining. But they have plenty of free dining as well. We love cruising and never have a bad time.

I never went on Princess but I didn't love Norwegian. It wasn't *bad* and we had a good time, but there were a few things that rubbed us the wrong way. *The freestyle cruising is great in theory- however if you want to eat at one of the main dining rooms, which are the few that are free, besides the buffet, you need to make a reservation. I personally prefer the main dining time because I didn't like worrying about being able to eat. *The ship wasn't that clean. For most people, it was probably fine. However, for a germaphobe like me, it wasn't clean enough. Nobody else had a problem with this though. *The staff wasn't attentive enough. We met our room service guy(s) twice- once in the beginning of the trip and once at the end. They were nice enough though. We also had a horrible experience with one of the people at the front desk. They aren't all like that though. *The food isn't great- it isn't awful at all, but we go on Royal Caribbean usually and the food is amazing. The food on Norwegian is edible, it just isn't all that amazing and it isn't varied. The main dining rooms don't change the menu, except for 1-2 specials, which I'm sure on Princess they change the menus. Other than that, we had a fun vacation. The ship was alright and the entertainment was good. There was certainly enough to do. Don't let my review ruin your vacation- I know many people who love Norwegian. You will most likely have a good time, cruises are so much fun!