A little history here, my husband and I have been on 3 prior cruises-Princess, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean. This is my children's 2nd cruise. We have enjoyed all the previous cruises, some areas more than others. This was our first time for a cruise in January. This was a 7 day cruise out of New Orleans on the NCL Spirit.
Hotel: We drove down to New Orleans. We stayed at the Drury Inn on Poydras. Parking was included if you booked under the NOLA cruise rate. This saved us quite a bit of money. The hotel was really nice. Breakfast was included along with three evening cocktails per person per night. My husband dropped us off at the cruise terminal around 11:15AM and went back to park the car at the Drury. Taxi back to the port cost $10.
Embarkation: Fairly smooth. Make sure you have your passport and cruise ticket in hand when proceeding into the terminal. We waited in a short line to check in at the terminal counter, and then waited for our number to be called to board. While waiting they served complimentary juice and cookies. We were onboard by 12:45. I would recommend getting there before noon, as we were boarding we saw a long, long line waiting to check in.