A mixed experience

The cruise was from Auckland to Sydney with ports in NZ and Tasmania en route. The ship itself was smaller size and older but very nicely refurbished. Weather was mainly fine en route except for 2 very rough days in the Tasman sea. I am a single traveller and the Norwegian website would not allow me to book the 3 speciality restaurants as encouraged pre embarkation. The package of Freedom at Sea was dining time and table size as required daily so there were no pre booked tables for singles. The meetings for the 35 or so sole travellers were at 5 pm every day which didn’t really suit me. Similarly the fitness classes tended to be very early morning too. The two main restaurants were fine in terms of food quality but the menu was rather repetitive. The speciality restaurants offered variety of choice. I avoided the buffet as even though staff were encouraging passengers to sanitise their hands, many just walked past and ignored them. I have been on larger ships where buffet items were served rather than hundreds of people using the utensils. The staff were invariably pleasant and helpful with the exception of some excursion staff who yelled instructions at people patronisingly and made the waiting experience needlessly stressful. My main concern was the lack of any dress code at all save that men must wear long trousers in the French restaurant.In the lounges and at dinner, many passengers had not even changed from daytime casuals and shorts ,caps and t shirts were considered acceptable. I guess this was just the wrong cruise line for me as I had made an erroneous assumption that it would be like Olsen. The vast majority of passengers were American and Canadian who perhaps prefer a more informal atmosphere. The entertainment on this American owned liner was very poor indeed to my mind though seemingly enjoyed by others. Two poorly choreographed and screechy song and dance shows plus Mr Penguin, a magician and an unfunny comedian. The lounge entertainment was dire too with the exception of Leon , an excellent young entertainer. So I chose this cruise for the itinerary but the anything goes atmosphere on board just didn’t suit me. Norwegian have some great cruise routes but the onboard experience was disappointing and I would be very hesitant to travel with NCL again.