I didn't think the NCL food in the MDR was much better but the cabins and layout were more to my taste. They used to skew a bit younger pre COVID.

And there were a few MDR items that were pretty good. Maybe 25%.

On March 11,2022 a 31 yr. old male jumped overboard from Norwegian Breakaway Mexican cruise and was not found.
Some friend’s were on that 4,000 person cruise and both came home with Covid, both vaccinated.

Not good!

Breakaway leaves from New Orleans, not Los Angeles. Los Angeles has only recently lightened up on masking and proof of vaccination. You still mostly see people masking inside supermarkets, for example. That may make a difference in terms of how the passengers behave both on and off the ship. There was also a "jumper" off the Carnival Valor last month, cruising from New Orleans.

I hope your friends have mild cases. What is interesting is that testing and proof of vaccination are still being required before boarding a NCL ship. Unvaccinated children can now sail with a negative PCR test, though. And masks are no longer required for guests.

My strategey on NCL was to eat outdoors or on my balcony, or at the buffet if I could find an uncrowded spot.