As first time cruisers, my wife and I did substantial research on various items, such as; what to pack, what to bring, what to expect. Well, we're glad we did, most everything we packed was useful; especially packing an extension cord with multiple outlets for all the gadgets we all now tend to carry; phones, tablets, etc., also we packed a very handy lanyard with a plastic holder for your stateroom card (which you will need on a frequent basis). We invested extra to enjoy every night at a fine dinning location onboard. That was a great hit for us, each night we looked forward to a new adventure in dinning. I might say, all the dinning places were very good to excellent and the wait staff was superb!

The ship is larger than even imagined; many, many, places to eat at, a nice casino with most all gambling venues, pools, jogging track, basketball court, outdoor dinning, sunning decks, towels provided, stateroom TV with up to the minute news, ship location, winds, temperature, speed of the ship, direction, movies, what is happening on the ship as far as activities for children, teens, and adults. They have soooo much going on you'll not be able to attend all. They have entertainment that rivals live entertainment in Las Vegas! Not to mention the beautiful theater where the shows are. If you enjoy peaceful environment they a great library, reading room, and other areas that are peaceful (with lots of people watching too).

The entire crew from the Ship Hotel Director to ALL employees were friendly and helpful. We travelled to the embarkation port (Houston) from San Antonio, we prepaid our parking at the lot provided. All was very convienant. As far as disembarkation coming home, that too was easy as we carried our own bags and went through customs quickly with no problems. Got into the vehicle and drove home. What a good way to cruise! We highly recommend Norwegian Cruise Lines...we have a trip to Alaska planned already. Can't wait!