This was our first time cruising out of Houston. Parking at the Port was easy as was driving in and out of the Port. You must purchase parking pass on line to receive the $75/week rate otherwise it is $80. We arrived about noon and embarkation was smooth.
It takes roughly about 4 hours to get out of the Port of Houston, so all alcoholic beverages have a tax on them, and the casino won't open until later that evening. Also if you buy any alchol on board for carry off, Texas greets you after you go through customs to collect there tax. We brought out the max so we paid an extra $15. NCL did not tell us this, but this is why there were so few sales as it is not really duty free.
Our food was delicious everywhere we ate. We stuck with the included restaurants. We ate in the main dining area where we got excellent service from Leo. We ate several times at O'Shannihans, and enjoyed the food there as well as our favorite server, Sarafena. Chin Chin was probably the weakest link here, but it was still good. Loved the barbecues at the pool and the buffet was good for breakfast and snacks. We did seem to have to wait about 30 minutes for the main dining room, so treat it like any busy restaurant, put your name in and then go have a drink.