We have also just return from the same cruise. Food was terrible unless you paid extra upto $25 each per meal.There were no green vegetable with any meals. Ordered rack of lamb one evening,2 lamb chops came with lentils and 2 slices of potatoe. The starters were very poor.Entertainment at first was rubbish but it did improve towards the end.Not enough going on around ship to get involved in. Entertainment staff were too busy trying to sell you Bingo tickets or Instant lottery cards. The on board shops were very low standard and too high priced, I wanted to buy boxes of Russian chocolates but when I checked the dates they were all 6 months plus out of time, I had to complain loudly before the assistant they took them off show. We had a cabin with balcony, it was very tight to pass and the toilet was very small unless you are Olive Oil. The shower however was larger. The thing we liked the most about our cabin was the kettle we could make a hot cup of tea when we wanted it. We had an order form at the beginning for fresh fruit and they provided a nice bowl with 2 banana,pear,apple and Orange which they replaced as it was eaten. A lot of people we spoke to were upset with their Russian tours but ours was excellent,the guide spoke perfect English and knew all the history of places visited. Our biggest disappointment was the fact that NCL made no arrangements at any of the ports for shuttle buses into the City, We had previously twice taken this same cruise with 2 different company's and both arranged shuttle buses. Celebrity X were free and Royal Caribbean charged a small fee, NCL seemed only interested in selling you tours. We had cruised with NCL but it was 10 years previously and before the Free Style. It will be a lot more years before we cruise with them again.

Don't you think that the whole reason why the food is so bad in the "free" restaurants (that you have already paid to eat in) is so that you are motivated to forgo this food and pay extra to eat in the chargable ones? I do! In effect you are paying TWICE for a service that should be, and always used to be, included in the price of the cruise. i.e. 4/5* food 24/7! Happy cruising.