Our friends moved to New Orleans a year ago, so we decided to combine a vacation to see them with a cruise. We arrived in New Orleans 3 days before the cruise and enjoyed the French Quarter, swamp tours, trolley rides and so much more. New Orleans really is a fun place to visit. Our friends joined us on this cruise also. We arrived at the ship at noon. We got all the paperwork done and had a short wait to board the ship. Upon boarding we enjoyed champagne while checking out a few of the fun events that were scheduled in the coming days. Our friends bought the soda cup ($50.00) for the week and also signed up for the wine tasting events. (Which they loved). We then went and had lunch by the pool while waiting for our rooms to be ready. Our luggage was delivered to the room before we knew it and after we put our clothes away it was time to explore the ship. We have sailed on the Norwegian Star twice before and this ship is a little smaller, but very clean and nice. Truly the only complaint about this ship is the smell in the elevators. What's up with that... Our cabin steward was the sweetest person, I don't think I ever saw him without a smile on his face. Our cabin was kept very clean. We had a balcony cabin which is nice when you have 3 to a room. The cabins are a tight squeeze and the balcony makes it so much better. We enjoyed many evenings with the windows open and the warm air blowing. It is also great fun to watch the docking process from your own balcony. On the way home we also saw dolphins racing past the ship.

Ports: Costa Maya. We did not sign up for an organized tour at this port. There is a large shopping plaza here and we did some shopping. This was a good place to buy silver. After shopping we returned to the ship for swimming and sun bathing. My poor body needed some Vitamin D.

Santa Tomas. This port is very active with ships being loaded and unloaded with cargo. There is a large warehouse where you can do some shopping. You can get some good bargains here, just keep haggling. The day was warm but overcast, so at the last minute we signed up for the trolley tour through the ship. I really would not venture out on my own in this port. This town is dirty and poverty stricken. On the tour we learned that all the sewers just dump into the local rivers, which did not surprise me as this place is very dirty. The trolly does not stop or let you off, which was OK with me. Back at the port, we boarded this ship and took a much deserved nap. Read more