We choose this cruise as it provided a port experience every day, and we wanted to see as much of as many islands as possible. We understood the cabins were smaller, and we really didn't have any problem with the cabin size, other than the size of the shower (and I'm not a big man). A greater problem with the shower each morning was the constant sudden changing of the water from cold to hot back to lukewarm (repeat). The temperature varied often times several times a minute (I showered at 6:30 every morning). Other than the shower, it was difficult to keep cool bottled water for the medications I take in the mini refrigerator, or as they call it, a mini-bar. The room was well kept, although we never saw nor met anyone involved with our room as we were ashore every day.

The greatest disappointment was the food on board. We are not cruisers as such, as we only cruise once a year. It was the worse both quantity and quality wise in our 8 cruises. This is the first (and probably the last) time we have cruised on Norwegian. We were not fans of the freestyle dining options on board during the cruise. Perhaps it's because we've not experienced it before. I'm not sure if the freestyle dining was the cause, but we've not had such poor service as our first three nights in the Liberty dining room. While the food was the same, the service was actually better in the Skyline dining room. After two mornings of fighting the crowds in the breakfast buffet, we enjoyed breakfast in the Skyline dining room ordering from a menu. Much more peaceful and enjoyable way to start the day.

This was also our first cruise with no days at sea. We are an older couple (my wife is retired, I'm not), so we planned our excursions for every other day. Between each excursion (3 days) we rented a car (3 days) to see the areas by ourselves at our own pace, eating at nice restaurants at noon. This worked out very well for us. Without having rented a car, we would have missed our favorite village, Lahaina on Maui. Our favorite excursion the entire week was the Road to Hana with Valley Isle (www.tourmaui.com). It was well planned, with plenty of stops for both pictures and restrooms. Read more