I just got off an NCL cruise and I have to say how relieved I was at how overwhelmingly normal it felt. It's 100% vaccination required right now.. so unfortunately no small children allowed yet... plus we tested at the port.. but once onboard, other than the lower capacity, staff being masked at all times and Purell hand sanitizer stations every 10 feet, it may as well have been a cruise in 2019.
I would not have been okay with any time limits in the pool considering how much time I spent there. The sun was BRUTAL this past week and I could not get in the water fast enough. I only stayed outside long enough for my shorts to dry before going back inside. Seriously.
Every production show in the theater was fabulous, especially Blazing Boots. Wow. Also enjoyed a comedy/magician show, a Broadway cabaret in the lounge, a standup comedy show, etc. so entertainment was A+.
Music around the ship was plentiful and at night you really had your options of whether you wanted to check out karaoke, live latin music, themed DJ parties (I enjoyed 80s night with the accompanying music videos on the screen), etc.
Didn't do a spa treatment but got a day pass to the Thermal Suites while in port which was great since we pretty much had it all to ourselves. So relaxing. I usually love a good trivia moment but the two I checked out were SO easy, it made me cringe. (Imagine movie poster trivia where all they do is block out the movie title and you have to guess
)
The food was fantastic. I was shocked to see the buffet was self serve as I did not expect it to be but every station was still monitored by an attendant. We even did some specialty dining yet the best meal we had somehow still happened to be in the Main Dining Room. Perhaps the lower capacity allowed for more cooking to order but everything we tasted was fantastic and service top notch.
As far as Disney touches for a fan like me, we got to see Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker and Mulan (2020) playing in the big screen in the atrium. The latter was especially nice since we never got to see it on a big screen due to it premiering on
Disney+. Even Coco and Frozen 2 played on in-room TVs so I was happy.
I totally understand Disney could never do fully vaxxed cruises right now so the coverage of the experience I've seen looks a lot like how the parks were when they re-opened last year. The biggest thing that's hard to swallow, other than the price, are some of the completely non-sensical omissions and closures as being "for your safety." Mickey waffles never hurt anybody! lol
Still I'd rather be on a
Disney cruise than not so I'll keep watching experiences and check pricing to see if the value makes sense for what you're getting currently. Otherwise, it won't be until the Wish next year for us.