Dress code for dinners were smart casual. Most of the people did dress very nicely for dinner. It was an environment that you could dress up as formal as you want or be casual and comfortable. Either way, you wouldn't feel out of place. There was a formal night at the Seven Sea restaurant so everyone dressed up. If you didn't want to dress up, you could go to the Four Season restaurant. However, most of the people prefer dressing up every night. It was an elegant scene at dinner every night. On the other hand, there was the Garden buffet and pool side buffet that open to anyone who just want to have a bite to eat and not worry about dress code. The other nice service was they put out a snack table by the casino every night. For those who missed dinner because they were so caught up with their bets, snacks were right around the corner.
Stateroom
Our room was on deck 9 forward with balcony. The room was clean with plenty of drawers and closet.
There were 2 twin beds and a sofa bed. The sofa bed opened to a full size bed. 2-3 people would be
comfortable in the room, 4 would be too crowded. It was great to have a balcony that we could walk
out to get fresh air and see the port without going up to the top deck. The bathroom was small but
very functional. They fitted everything in that small area. Great water pressure for the shower.
The toilet was the vacuum-kind, like the airline ones. It was noisy to use. Do make sure you didn't
clog it because one clogged toilet would affect 50 others. That was one fact that you wouldn't
forget on the ship. The room attendant was great. She came and cleaned our room twice a day while
we were at breakfast and dinner. Nothing better than coming back to a clean room when we left it
messy. The only disappointment was we didn't have any towel animal left in our room. We heard all about them but didn't see one in our room on our cruise.
The Show
There were different show performed every night. These were nice productions of Broadway musicals
and dances. I think they were more enjoyable by adults than children. People with children may
find the lack of children's entertainment at night. But kids should be in bed by then.
Ports
There were 4 ports on this cruise, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. They're many
excursions for each port and they were expensive. If you want like the security of ship excursion
and didn't mind spending the money, then take the ship excursion. If you were independent and want
to save money, then buy the tours from the local vendor when you get onshore. We booked our own
tours with the locals and saved half. Each of these 4 ports were different but they all accept U.S.
dollars. No need to exchange to local currency. Just remember they didn't provide change back in
the U.S. dollars so have small bills for taxi and other small purchases. It was windy throughout
the curse so snorkeling wasn't good. We booked an all day tour with a local company Cheff & Libby
Thompson before leaving home. It was great. We had the personal drive and car for the day. We drove
around Ocho Rio, up and down the mountains in the morning, then went to Dunn's River Falls in Ocho Rio, Jamaica. Had a fun time to climb up the fall. It was suited for all ages. There were
guides to take you up the falls if you needed help. Great place to spend the day in Ocho Rio. We
booked Nativeway for the Stingray City tour in Grand Cayman. Great opportunity to feed and touch
the stingrays. Went to Chochooben (spelling?) Ruins in Costa Maya with a local tour vendor. If you
went to the ruin on your own, make sure you paid a guide to show you around. There were guides at
the entrance to tell and sell you their service. These were knowledgeable guides that spoke English
well. You could negotiate a price and it was well worth the money. Otherwise, you were just
walking around in the jungle with some pyramid ruins and didn't know the history and significance of
them. Went to a beach in Cozumel. Did some shopping there. They sold typical tourist stuff, not
much different than other ports. Cozumel was clean and well pointed at the water front where the
ship docked.
Freestyle also applied to disembarkation. The night before, there were baskets filled with different departure time tags in the main lobby. You chose the time you want to leave the ship. Then you packed your suitcase and placed them outside your room the night before, just like other cruises. The big difference was that you didn't have to be out of your room and stayed in a lounge the day of disembarkation. You could stay in your room until it was time to leave. That was one of the many great services NCL provided.