After the first paragraoh, you might get offended, too bad. Took my first cruise my senior year of high school in '84. After that, nothing until the past ten years. A Royal, A Princess, a Carnival and 4 Norwegian. No, I'm not a seasoned cruiser.
They had just finished a transatlantic crossing, I expected the first couple of cruises to have some bumps as they swapped out staff and prepped for the Carribean season. I waited so I didn't get caught in the hiccups.
OK, I'll get to the point on my own experiences. We had a roll call here, Tanya arranged a meet and greet which was a great way to start the cruise, by already making new friends and enjoying the cruise with them. NCL provided the space, refreshments, senior officers attended, it was very nice.
A tad bigger than my princess and carnival cabins. About the same as my Royal, but we were in it to sleep, that was it.
Flew in to Houston, stayed at hotel, uber'ed to port and back, no issues.
Met another family from the ship, we found an open trolley tour of the city for 20 bucks a head and enjoyed the tour. 78 year old with us, poor health, so it was perfect.
Weather was poor, roamed the shops, that was it.
Rented our own jeep, hit the Punta Sur park, the ruins, ended up at Margaritaville for a meal and a lot of beverages. Wat cheaper than an excursion.