My wife and I flew to Miami the night before and stayed at the Hilton on Biscayne Blvd. No shuttle, total cost of taxis from MIA-Hilton-Cruise terminal approximately $50.00. Traveling the day before greatly reduces the stresses of flight delays lost luggage etc. We were meeting some friends and family for this cruise. This was our 1st NCL cruise.

Embarkation: We arrived at the terminal shortly before noon. The line was already long. We waited in line for 45 minutes before making it to the counter. The time spent at the counter was less than 5 minutes. We headed up the escalator looking forward to boarding. We were herded to seats and asked to wait. We sat for another 30 minutes. Boarding was in groups of around 25 at a time. When we finally made some progress toward the ship we were again stopped, this time for pictures. Are you kidding me? I have never seen anything like this. We bypassed the photo-op and headed for the ship. I understand trying to prevent everyone from boarding the ship at once but this is ridiculous. We made our way up to the Waves bar and order a bucket of beer and relaxed until our cabin was ready. The cabin was ready at 2:00 as promised.

Cabin: Wow were we disappointed with the cabin. I have read lots of complaints about the cabins and they were right. We had a balcony cabin on the stern of the ship. The bathroom-shower setup is a joke. They work fine individually but the layout leaves much to be desired. The infamous sink was a non-issue. Worked fine no water splashing. The cabin was very small, smaller than any inside cabin we have ever stayed in. I'm no architect but it seems like all the curves take away space in the cabin. There is plenty of storage. Four small drawers (6" deep), two hanging closets, two drawers under the couch, a cabinet under the TV and storage space above the bed. There is a coffee pot in the cabin. It's located directly below the TV. NCL will be replacing the TVs if the don't find a new place for the coffee pots. The bed/pillows were comfortable. Our cabin steward (Bruno) was very good. Thanks Bruno! Read more