Overall I struggle with rating average or poor. We have cruised before with NCL and changed from Princess to NCL for our cruise around the British Islands as they had less ports with tenders and the service has previously been excellent. Once again, the embarkation and disembarkation were smooth. The ship departed almost 12 hours late with no communication whatsoever. We were finally able to piece together from other passengers that NCL came very close to cancelling the cruise and sending us all back to London. After denying that this delay would not impact our shore excursions, they had to make another announcement owning up to the truth. The staff at the shore excursion desk were doing what they could given the circumstances. Clearer communication from the cruise director would have saved a lot of heartache and waiting in lines. We saw very few happy employees on board the ship in every department. They were putting forward minimal effort. Food on the buffet was not hot; boring; and, tasteless. Service in the sit down restaurants was less than acceptable. Finally with the help of an assistant Matri D, we were able to find a very fun and helpful server who we requested the rest of the cruise. The ship needs a lot of work and is scheduled for upgrading soon. It needs it. Not up to NCL standards at all, and may I add NCL has basically average standards.

Thankfully, the lounge acts and shows were very good and the ports of call did not disappoint.

We had purchased Cruise Next on our previous cruise with NCL so we are stuck taking one more cruise with NCL. It was hard not to look at the people discussing Cruise Next options and recommend "don't do it". We will be seeking another cruise line.