EMBARKATION: Let me preface this part of my review by stating that New Orleans is not one of my favorite cities to visit. Although I live less than four hours from the city, I've only been there two times in the past 20 years; both times were to cruise. That being said, from the time we got off of the interstate, it took us approximately 30-45 minutes to get to the Erato Street terminal and to park. The traffic was horrible and some of the people were outright rude!
Once we were parked and told where to go, we realized that the line had snaked around and was actually outside of the terminal. Although the line was long, it moved fairly quickly. I would say that it took less than an hour from the time we got in line until we boarded the ship.
Upon boarding the ship, there were people waiting to greet us and told us how to get to the Lido deck and the South Beach buffet. We were instructed that our rooms should be ready by 1:30.
Loved the balcony cabin but heard much noise from the Lido deck upstairs. Unsure of what is was or exactly where it was coming from but it sounded as though something was being scooted on the floor all the time. Although it was somewhat frustrating, it wasn't enough for me to give up my balcony room.