Background: Family of 4. Husband, wife, 2 boys ages 6 & 8. We had taken one cruise prior to this (on Royal Caribbean) 14 years ago for our honeymoon. Chose Norwegian specifically for its "freestyle" program. We thought this would be easier with the kids.

Flew in from New York the day before sailing. Stayed at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami as recommended by so many on these boards. It was perfect for our needs. Our flight got into Miami at about 5:00 pm so basically we checked into the hotel, walked across to Bayside Marketplace and had dinner. I wouldn't want to spend a week at the hotel but for a one night stay with no time to use amenities, it served us well. They gave us a room with a great view. The boys were excited to wake up and see the ships in port from our hotel room window. Had breakfast at the hotel in the morning and headed for the port.

NCL kept us moving so it didn't seem as though we had a long wait before we were able to get on the ship. I think we actually "waited" sitting down for less than half an hour. We were greeted by a crew member and told that we could eat lunch at the Garden Cafe. I asked if Summer Palace was open for lunch. She said no but Indigo was just opening for lunch. So we headed to Indigo for a quiet relaxing lunch. I had a sandwich. Hubby had fish. Kids ate off the children's menu. Older son ordered grilled cheese. Didn't like that the american cheese was yellow instead of the white that we usually buy. Our server took note that he wasn't eating and very nicely told him that he could order something different, which he did - peanut butter and jelly which he ate. On a side note we ran into that same server on another day, in a different restaurant, while she was pushing a huge cart and she stopped to smile and say hello to us. Read more