Background: I am a previous cruiser, but never with NCL. My son and his girlfriend, had never cruised before. In fact, since they are recent college grads who worked their way through school, they've not traveled much recently. This was a much needed and anticipated trip for all of us and we ran a real risk of expectations exceeding possibilities.

Our group philosophy setting out - enjoy the moment. We are not at work, it is not cold, we didn't have to shop, prep, serve and clean up for our meals. There is such a thing as too much togetherness, BUT we do want to enjoy a solid week with each other since we rarely get more than a day or two at a time together. (We live in different states.)

Travel to the Port of Miami: Sam and Rosie flew Delta out of New Orleans (closest airport to their home in Hattiesburg, MS). I live in Atlanta, so making a connection in Atlanta worked out perfectly. They were delayed at the gate in New Orleans, but since we all carry iPhones, we were able to check flight status in real time. (Thank you for this ability, Delta and AT&T!) I waited to check in for the Atlanta/Miami leg until I was sure they would arrive in time to make the connection. Since this was the height of Spring Break in Atlanta, Hartsfield security looked daunting, but I cleared in on only about 40 minutes and did NOT have to get nekkid to do it. (Hint: I carried two carryons - one was my purse with all of my travel docs, etc. - the other was a messenger bag with all of my electronics. Made that part of clearing security a breeze! Met the arriving NO flight, grabbed a bite of lunch and were off to Ft. Lauderdale. Why Ft. Lauderdale instead of Miami? Cheaper flight and smaller airport. I had arranged for a car service between FLL and Miami and it worked out perfectly. The car was waiting for us and the trip was smooth. Read more