Embarkation: This was a fiasco. It was a complete zoo, and a wonderful way to remind you that you are going to be crammed into a boat with 2000 people. We encountered this at 12:30 pm at the height of all organized bus transfers and other large groups arriving. So, since we drove, my wife and 2 yr old son dropped off our checked baggage and left to drive around the lower 9th ward for a small self guided katrina devastation tour. When we got back at 2:30, it took less than 15 minutes to get on.

Overall experience on the boat: Our interior cabin was probably typical and neither special nor bad. The bathroom was very usable. It was very nice for what it was. There was never any problem with our stateroom. However, I did find the beds somewhat uncomfortable.

Superbowl Sunday: Great setup in the theater, but the signal kept cutting out. This ruined a few key moments of the game. But the boat did everything they could, and I was glad to be on the boat for Superbowl Sunday as opposed to watching from home. Also, the feed was from ESPN and we didn't see any superbowl commercials. Instead we got lame ESPN international commercials. Read more