New Orleans & Embarkation We flew into N.O. Saturday night & took the Airport Shuttle Inc. to our hotel 2 blocks from the pier. This was $40. Wasn't able to do any site seeing, still planning excursions. We got to the check in line and waited longer for the greeter to print out our cards because they had not been printed yet, (we made our reservations on Thursday Evening). They had someone selling the pop cards there and were $50 each for the 7 days we would be sailing, WOW. But you get a free thermo cup to use and carry around with you. We were on the ship within 40 mins. It takes about 6 hrs. to get to the open ocean from New Orleans.

Our Cabin was 5520 Willie was our room steward and was very pleasant and greeted us by name every time he saw us. Our room did not have a fridge, so I asked for some Ice and he put ice in an ice bucket every morning. We would come into the room in the afternoon / evening to a new animal that he had made that day. The last day was a monkey hanging from the ceiling. I was impressed with the size of the Bathroom with the separate stalls for the toilet and shower, NICE.

Dining experience We mostly ate breakfast in Raffles buffet. Their Waffles that you had to wait to be made were awesome. And the scrambled eggs are so fluffy. It was pretty much the same thing everyday. We ate at Cagney's for supper one night. I had a shrimp cocktail for an App. This was very tasty. We both had a filet that was just so tender, and then the waitress brought a birthday cake for my wife. This was a complete surprise for both of us. NCL did this on their own. Because her birthday wasn't for a couple more weeks. The Blue Lagoon Cafe is open 24 hrs. We ate here a few times and thought the food was good (Burger and chicken dinners). Read more