I noticed this short cruise offered not long ago, and jumped at the chance to check out a newer NCL ship. My husband didn't want to go, and my kids just started school, so I called a girlfriend and off we went. Getting there turned out to be a little dicey, our first flight was delayed. We tried getting to Florida the day before, but ended up having to stay overnight in NY on the way down, so we arrived in Florida on the morning of the cruise. I never like to cut it that close. And because our original plans had us getting there the day before, I didn't have transportation to the port lined up. No problem, I figured we would just hop in a cab. But when we got to the MIA airport we went to get our luggage, and there was a NCL stand in that area signing people up for a bus ride to the port that was leaving in 15 minutes. Perfect!

Our flight landed about 10 am. We were at the port checking in by 11, and seated waiting to board the ship by 11:30 or so. I am used to being able to board around 11:30 or so. But this time we were not able to board until 12:30. Not a big deal, but we were antsy to get aboard. Once we got on, they told us rooms were ready. Which didn't surprise me. The reason they offered this short cruise was the ship had been docked in Rio for the Olympics so I don't believe there were passengers that had to disembark that morning.

First order of business was to go to guest services and find out if they were offering Vibe passes. They were and we purchased a day pass. (this cruise was really only a day and a half...) Read more