This was a great cruise. There were four of us cruising (myself, my husband, and my parents). We have all cruised before. This was my 9th cruise and my husband's 3rd cruise. It was our first on Norwegian.

Embarkation: We drove to New Orleans and parked in the parking garage. The port facilities were significantly improved from the last time we were in New Orleans. The parking garage was great. We were a little nervous about leaving our luggage because of an upgrade we purchased from out outside cabin to a balcony cabin about two weeks prior to leaving. Because of the change in rooms, our luggage tags didn't match our room. However, the port staff worked it out easily. The embarkation was the fastest and easiest we have ever had. We arrived at the port at about 11:00am. We were done by 11:30 and able to board the ship by 11:45. We quickly left the ship after finding our rooms in order to spend some time in the French Quarter. It was our first trip back since Katrina. The Riverwalk mall was a skeleton of what it had been before Katrina. The French Quarter, however, was as alive as ever. We saw lots of law enforcement (perhaps b/c it was New Year's Eve day). We felt extremely safe. I highly recommend spending time in New Orleans even if just a few hours. The atmosphere is fantastic.

The ship itself was nice. We loved the balcony! Waking up to the ocean breeze was wonderful. I had read the furniture on the balcony was uncomfortable, and yes it was. But the room was great. My husband and I also liked the TV variety. They had TNT, CNN, and ESPN. Our only disappointment was not being able to watch the Bears play Green Bay b/c the ship doesn't get NBC. However, after reading about the game, probably better that we missed that one. The biggest pro for the ship was the freestyle dining. My husband and I are extremely picky and the variety was great. We loved the pizza in the Sport's Bar. We didn't eat at any of the specialty restaurants. The menus just didn't seem to justify the cost. We did eat in the main dining room once. It was fine, but slow. The buffet was fine  my husband particularly enjoyed breakfast. They always had fresh fruit and hard boiled eggs  so I was happy. One strange thing was that the type of juice offered was inconsistent. I drink cranberry juice every day. They offered it two days. But on days it was unavailable you had to pay. My biggest criticism of the ship was some difficulty in navigation due to the layout. On several decks you were unable to go from aft to forward which made it confusing. It was also difficult to get to the gangway (my parents ended up in staff quarters and still haven't figured out how). All in all, the criticism is minor. One other note the hot tubs were a great temperature. We have had cold hot tubs on previous cruises. Read more