At our first meal in the dinning room our waiter asked if our meal was OK. I refused to answer because I believe the question should have been, Is this what you expected, want, or satisfactory? Well that was the Nordic Empress ...OK in everything, period. We came from Minnesota starting at 3 am for our northwest flight and ending at 4 pm that afternoon standing in a long line waiting for breakfast, since we had some plane problems that eliminated our food choice...some tips from Minnesota...try to get a direct flight or at least a one hour transfer to next flight...you can get transfer from airport to ship for 72 dollars for two round trip...a cab will be a little cheaper and be more convent...It you use a service like Travelocity which we did, and liked. make sure you check arrival and departure times... book your air departure at least 6 hours after ship docks in port. we stayed at Days Inn in Eagan...with shuttle...very efficient...nice. Last tip...if your traveling alone one or two eat breakfast in the dinning room not the up deck...you will meet some wonderful people...watch the daily news. the show times are a bit different than regular cruises...like early dinning gets the late show at 9 pm...the late seating gets the early show at something like 730 pm...surprise. surprise. all in all we liked our cruise...we enjoy cruising period...this cruise is good for anybody...all ages...It was OK