We took the Norwegian Dawn out of New Orleans. We arrived at 10:30 as we were instructed and we were 'herded' into a room with, what I estimated to be, about 1100 other people before they decided to start loading the ship at 1:30pm. If I never go to New Orleans again I won't be disappointed. Absolute dirty town and trying to get a taxi to the unloading area was a nightmare....we were in a 1/2 mile away and it took us 45 minutes to get to the point of getting out of taxi. Great Taxi driver but the meter just kept ticking away. Once on the ship our experience was nice. Everyone was incredibly friendly and accommodating. Our room steward was fantastic (Samson) and all of the staff seemed to have a perpetual smile. Every where we went though the ship was always looking to take more money out of your pocket. "here let us take your picture" "Would you like a drink from the bar?" "our items are 'duty' free for your purchasing pleasure" "Would you like to join us for our wine tasting?" After all of the add on fees when booking the cruise the price had already ballooned to almost twice what they had indicated it would be from the get go. 18% gratuity on your initial fee, Do you want bunk beds? Oh well if you want your beds together that will be an extra cost too. I was mislead on numerous things from my NCL travel consultant as well. Don't expect to watch and real network television in your stateroom...they have two competing news channels and a movie channel. No real networks. I could go on and on about my disappointments with actual cruising but I again want to praise the staff on the boat. They are the true 'gems' of the whole trip. Favorite part was going to the beach at Costa Maya, I found paradise there! Just a 5 minute taxi ride from the boat. I'd love to go there again.....next time I'll take a plane though! Be very aware ahead of time the excursion prices you pay for through the ship and highly overpriced compared to the very same cruise you can get when you get off the ship. The cruise lines try to scare you that if you don't book through them you might get left behind.... we only booked one through the ship. After that we did the get our own route. We booked A three hour tour of Roatan in a airconditioned van with one other couple cost us $60 total. I don't believe the ship had anything under $125! We can live with a tour like that.