Even the engineer in our group wasn't completely wowed by the canal, we've cruised other canals, know how they work...other than the history and kinda cool engineering of recycling the water it wasn't that exciting and made us wonder why it was a "bucket list" thing for some. There are other smaller canals around the world that are much more fun to navigate because there are sights along the way, people waving from shore...etc. So unless you're really obsessed with the Panama Canal, the added expense of this particular canal is not really worth it in our opinion. The rest of the ports were all pretty similar, especially the smaller Mexico ports. There is not a lot to see or do in any of them unless you choose an excursion, and it's hard to think about adding even more expense to what was otherwise an expensive cruise due to those canal fees. It's also a long cruise, so with short port stays and days at sea you get plenty of time on the ship.

The ship thankfully is pretty new and in pretty nice condition. This was the biggest we've been on, about 4000 passengers. But, the ship is laid out well that it never felt crowded (unless you timed breakfast in the buffet wrong). A little annoying that there are only the spiral stairs in the center of the ship and it seemed they would often be blocked by photographers when you got there so you'd have to go back to a fore or aft set. The Broadway shows of Six and Jersey Boys were excellent and a nice feature to have these instead of relying solely on a ships entertainers to come up with their own production (the last Royal Caribbean ship we were on had horrible productions). The Beatles Experience were the big hit of the ship, sold out shows in the theatre and Cavern Club every time. NCL really knew how to cater to the generation of the passengers on this one! It skewed as probably the oldest population of any cruise we've been on. There were plenty of "Code Alphas" on board (medical emergencies) and a couple of turn-arounds after leaving port to deliver passengers back to shore that couldn't be helped onboard. The older passenger base meant that it was relatively easy to get a chance to try the race track or the water slides. I don't think I ever saw anyone playing laser tag, but I imagine someone must have. There were only 19 passengers under 18. The narrow water slide seemed a bit scary as we watched a few of the lighter passengers get stuck when they couldn't make it up and over a hill and would have to be let out the emergency hatch. The water slide with inner-tubes was fun though, and so were the race cars. Slides were free, race cars $15 a pop.

Other entertainment was the usual comedians, hypnotists, and guest singers. The singers were good. We're not big fans of the other shows, but they seemed popular to a select crowd. The shipboard musicians were all good. There are lots of bars, we liked The Waterfront where there are bars with outdoor seating and other seating areas. They should have a dedicated sports bar though! The entertainment venues were questionable...the Cavern Club is fun and similar to the Liverpool version with random uncomfortable seating. It was disappointing that they claimed the doors would open 30min before a show when actually they opened about an hour before and fill almost immediately. The theatre had good seats/views throughout, no pillars in the way like some ships. The Atrium, where they chose to do the bulk of presentations and parties was a ridiculous venue with poor sound, poor seating, not enough seating (they try to supplement with the cheapest folding chairs you can find), too much background noise from surrounding bar, guest services and other desks, and upstairs The Local bar and restaurant clanking and talking. Read more