This was our 4th cruise, first on Norwegian. We chose it mainly because we love Bermuda, and a cruise from Boston was super easy for us as we are only an hour away.

Embarkation

The day began warm and sunny, and we drove to and arrived at the port at 11:00 a.m., where hubby dropped me off with the baggage while he went to park the car. After a short wait, a nice man came over with his cart, loaded up my luggage, and whisked it away. We then made our way through the gate to the registration counter and then directly to another line for issuance of our cruise cards and the obligatory photo op. The security gate was not yet open, so we waited about 20 minutes. While waiting, my husband was politely asked to go down to the luggage area to check on a bag. Apparently, the X-ray machine thought it was a big bottle of booze. After confirming there was nothing illegal, we were allowed to keep our water and proceeded quickly through security with no problems. We were on board by noon.

Muster Drill and Sailaway

We had a huge downpour and thunder boomers at the time of the muster drill, so the captain made the decision to cancel the drill. I can't say I was sorry! He gave a brief review over the speaker, and told us to stop by and check out our muster stations later if we get the chance. I doubt many took advantage of the opportunity. Due to the storm, we sailed away about 45 minutes late, which did not affect any of the schedule.

Cabin

We were on Deck 6 in Category C. Air conditioning was fine, water temp was plenty hot enough, and we detected no funny odors. The only minor issue was the yellowish color of the water on a couple of days. Not sure what that was about, but we made good use of our bottled water for brushing teeth. The bathroom was small, but no smaller than that of any other cabin we've been in, with shampoo, shower gel, and a soap dispenser, and plenty of storage. The sitting area at the window was nice, and the bed was comfortable. Our steward was pleasant and friendly and refilled our ice bucket daily. We even found towel animals waiting for us at night. Best of all, we received the fridge we requested pre-cruise, which came in handy for the soda and water we brought.

Anniversary Package

As we were celebrating our 31st, we splurged on the package for ourselves, and it was well worth it. We received the free photo, canapés, chocolate-covered strawberries and champagne, as promised. We made reservations at Le Bistro for Friday night. Le Bistro was good, but I thought the décor lacked something for an intimate specialty restaurant. We had the Chateaubriand for 2 with the French onion soup, and while it was delicious, we had selections at the Four Seasons during the other evenings, which were prepared equally as well and tasted just as good. Granted, the carving right at your table is an extra touch, but I'm not sure it's worth the extra cost. We took the chardonnay wine offered with the package, which was very good. The package also included a cake and champagne reception, which we arrived to about 10 minutes late. The other couples we met mentioned that there had been no host leading this little party. There was a cake sitting on a table and we all wondered at one point if we should just get up and cut it ourselves! The photographer did come by and snapped photos of each couple. However, we had to rush off to our reservation at Le Bistro, so we never did find out what became of the other couples or the cake. Special Note: The free photo which comes with the anniversary package is only for the photo taken at the champagne party. We were told we could not use it for the formal pose taken on Formal Night. It doesn't make much sense, but that's what they told us.

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Bar Service

We're not huge drinkers, so for the occasional drink service was just fine. Compared to the other cruises we have been on, there were far fewer servers coming around with drink trays. As others have said, some of the bar staff is inexperienced, which we found out the first day when the barmaid had no clue how to make the drinks we ordered -- and they were the drink of the day! I thought that was pretty funny.

Pools

They are salt water, and -- yes -- they are packed solid on sea days. And yes, the "chair hogs" were unavoidable. If you want a chair anywhere on the ship in the sun, get out there early. By 11:00 a.m. you will be too late, as all chairs will be claimed with "chair savers" a.k.a. the blue and white pool towels. If you want a coveted chair in the shade (and there aren't many), claim one by 8:00 a.m. -- I'm not kidding. If you are looking for a pool with no kids, there isn't one, though most kids will be at the main pool. We had windy weather and rough water on the day we left Bermuda, and the water in the rear pool was sloshing right over the sides. Those in the pool were having a wild ride that day! There is a wet bar center ship, which is one of the first places we headed after boarding. No problem getting a drink that day.

Gym

The spa contains a weight room and a room with a few bikes, treadmills, etc. We are not gym rats, so I can't give details. I can tell you the rooms are small, but I did manage to get a bike every morning for my 30-minute ride between 6:00 and 7:00 a.m.

Formal Dining

Wait times averaged around 30 minutes -- less if you dined before 6:00 or after 8:30 p.m. Regarding Four Seasons and Terraces, with the exception of maybe one entrée, the food was delicious and cooked perfectly. The butternut squash bisque was the only thing I ordered which I disliked. It was loaded with too much pepper and didn't taste anything like squash. Breakfast in the dining room was good, much better than either of the breakfast buffets offered. As for service, we found service at most meals to be very good. The dining room staff was friendly, polite and professional. At one meal, our waiter brought us extra desserts and entrees as a peace offering for making us wait (though we weren't complaining). Special note: The "lobster extravaganza" is hardly extravagant. Although it was tasty and tender, the lobster portion was the tiniest I'd ever seen. Another note: If you want wine service at dinner, be sure to ask. Although we were offered wine on formal night, none was offered the rest of the nights, which I thought was unusual and kind of odd.

Dress Up or Not Night

A good number of passengers dressed up, and formal photos were taken. We didn't care much for our photographer who attempted to pose us into prom-like configurations. It was silly and painful. We did not buy the photo.

Casual Dining

The outdoor barbecue was our favorite for casual dining. The burgers were just okay, but the hot dogs, chicken, pork, seafood & rice salad were good. My husband loved the paella, though I thought it was too spicy for my taste. Important tip: Though Trattoria is not open for dining service at lunchtime, it is open for extra overflow seating. We took our buffet lunch in there to get out of the sun and enjoy the peace and quiet. My heroic husband rescued an elderly couple trying to balance their plates and cups in the wind as they stood around a chairless table (despite two burly men sitting nearby), and helped them inside to the Trattoria where they could dine safely. Needless to say, they were very grateful!

Room Service

We didn't have the pizza at the pizzeria, but the pepperoni pizza ordered through room service was good. The tuna-cheese melt was also a favorite. Service was delivered as promised in under an hour.

Coffee

If you are looking for good coffee in the morning, look no further than the Pizzeria -- they have real cream. You can also get it with real cream through room service.

Entertainment

Our internal clocks get us up early in the morning (6:00 a.m.), and even a cruise can't change that. It was difficult to stay awake for some of the evening festivities. We did catch two performances of the dance company, which were okay, but not great. The "Sea Legs" show was especially cheesy. It reminded us of the hotel staff sing-along scene in the movie "Dirty Dancing."

Much better was Jane L. Powell. She is phenomenal! She has a powerhouse of a voice, makes any song her own, blends her music with a lot of humor and wit, and is a real sweetheart. Better still, she is backed by the ship's own outstanding resident band with top-notch musicians. A show not to be missed! We caught 70's night with the Chocolate buffet. I love chocolate, loaded up my plate, and could only eat a few pieces. It looked better on the buffet table than it tasted on my plate.

Casino and Games

The casino is jam-packed and smoke filled at night, and not quite so bad during the day. True confession: I've become a casino rat. I chose to play early in the day when the air was still breathable. I didn't win much, but it was fun feeding those money-eating machines just the same. Bingo is king on this ship. We blew big bucks on those electronic machines with a zillion cards and wound up empty. They also offer the traditional paper cards, but we noticed only those with electronic machines were winners. Make a note of that.

Disembarkation

Surprisingly fast and efficient! Our deck was called at 9:40 and we were in the car and rolling at 10:10 a.m. Note: We did not do express. We noticed many people did, and it appeared they had a longer ordeal getting off. Actually, this made it easier, freeing up more space for the rest of us who chose to wait it out.

Bermuda

We had a whole list of things we wanted to do, but reality told us we couldn't possibly do them all. So here is what we did do:

NCL's Sunset Glassbottom Boat Cruise: This was a waste of time and money. If it's a pleasant boat ride you are seeking, you will do better riding the ferries. If it's fish you want to see, go snorkel. If it's the sunset you're looking for, go up on your ship's deck with your camera and snap away. There was an open bar on this thing. I had eagerly anticipated a "Dark n Stormy." Well, it was highly overrated, and I really didn't enjoy it. It was hot on the viewing deck below, and the water was pretty rough, making it hard to get back up to the top deck of the boat.

Fort St. Catherine Beach: We looked for the $2.00 mini-shuttle and couldn't find it, so we began walking, stopping to take pictures of the Unfinished Church. There were a couple of tough hills along the way, but we made it, and it was worth the wait. It's a nice beach, not crowded, and great for a swim. We were going to walk up to the fort (portions of which are open during renovations), but chose to admire it from a distance, as we were too hot and tired by that point. After our time at the beach, we sat at the sign that said "mini-bus," waited for a while, but it never came. Once again, we walked back to the ship -- a 15 or 20 minute walk, longer if you're tired. Tobacco Bay looked really inviting, but it was very crowded by that point. So we made a plan to return for snorkeling before the boat left on Friday.

Bermuda Transportation: The ferries are awesome! As long as you're not in a big rush, it's a great relaxing ride. The busses are great, too. Unfortunately, I did not take my own advice, and we rode at rush hour in the afternoon. It was standing room only. I don't know who said Bermudians were proper and polite, but they were wrong. There were 4 or 5 of us women standing, and I saw not one guy get up and offer a seat. In fact, I was positioned right in the center with nothing to grab onto except those crazy overhead straps. It was torture trying to stay on my feet while the bus went through its twists and turns, until finally a seat opened up. Regarding busses, pay close attention to schedule times and frequencies to avoid unnecessary waiting time.

Dockyard: We rode the ferry from St. George to the Dockyard and purchased a few things in the Clocktower shops and the Craft Market. We also watched a demonstration at the Bermuda glass factory and picked up a rum cake. Yum!

Hamilton: We rode the ferry from the Dockyard to Hamilton, stopped in a few shops, and walked down to the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute. It was interesting, but more suited to a rainy day activity. It made me wish we stayed at the Dockyard and gone to the Maritime Museum instead. Now it was time to head to the Swizzle Inn. So we jumped on a bus and luckily arrived before the crowds.

John Smith's Bay: This was the highlight of my week. It is a pretty pink beach with beautiful aqua blue water, surrounded by some grassy, shaded areas. Normally, it is also good for snorkeling. The water and wind were kicking up some pretty big surf, and it was too rough to snorkel. So we rode the waves while our snorkel gear stayed in the bag. Instead of lying and baking in the sun with the sand blowing everywhere, we found a great spot on a little hilly grassy area under a tree. Now this was heaven!

St. David's: We took a ride to St. David's, a nice residential area off the beaten path, with some very curvy and hilly roads. It's amazing how those pink busses make it through there. The highlight, of course, is St. David's lighthouse. Although the lighthouse wasn't open, there were some nice views, and it was an enjoyable 30-minute ride up from St. George. Best yet, the bus was not crowded.

Tobacco Bay & Snorkel Park: Unfortunately, we never made it to either, and our snorkel gear never did come out of the bag. We'll have to save it for next time.

Summary

We were a bit apprehensive after reading many of the negative reviews of this ship. I am happy to say that we had a great cruise and didn't experience many of the problems others had. We were very happy overall with the service on the ship. Every crew member met us with a smile, a friendly hello, and a willingness to serve. The weather was warm, with a mix of wind, sun, clouds and showers -- something for everybody. As we were returning to the ship on the last full day in port, we were even greeted with a rainbow. What a fitting way to end our time in Bermuda.