This was our 2nd cruise on NCL - we previously cruised Spirit on a 7-night "Exotic Caribbean" itinerary in March 2008. I traveled with my mom and dad on this trip.

We originally reserved a class AC Penthouse Suite (8202), but we were visited by the upsell fairy 5 days before departure (would we like to double the size of our room and get a private hot tub for $300 extra? Let me think-YES), and wound up living completely beyond our means in a class AA Owner's Suite (8001) - the biggest on the Sky.

EMBARKATION: Because we were totally new to this idea of traveling VIP, we completely missed the fact that there was a VIP lounge at the port, including a separate check-in area. No problem, though. The lines were short and moved along quite quickly. The port staff were very pleasant to deal with, especially when I turned around and walked all the way back through the check-in counter and security checkpoints to try and find a bag I lost (more on that later.) When we got to the desk where you pick up your key cards, ours weren't in the slot for our room. The woman at the desk, sent us to the next desk over, where the woman said "Oh, yes, we've been waiting for you!" This is where we learned we should have gone to the VIP lounge. Oops. Oh, well! They had our key cards ready to go. All in all, a 15 minute process, and we were on the ship by about 12:30. Read more