This is our second NCL cruise and our third overall. We were disappointed with many things on this cruise. We were excited for NCL 2.0 rollout as we had enjoyed our 12/07 cruise before 2.0. Now we are uncertain whether we will cruise NCL again.

HOTEL: We were booked through priceline to stay at JW Marriott on Canal St. the night before our cruise. This is a 4star hotel with good recs online. I had paid and confirmed twice that we would arrive late. When we arrived at the airport there was a "skeleton crew" working because most employees had not shown up to work. Instead they were out enjoying Valentines Day and Mardi Gras according to other employees at the airport. We waited a long time for our bags and at 12 a.m. I called the hotel to confirm that we would be leaving the airport shortly. The woman on the phone said "Actually you won't be staying here tonight. We're overbooked." I said "Oh, I've confirmed and paid for a room. I'm already booked." She said "No Ma'am, we're overbooked. We have no room for you." I said "But I confirmed my room already. You gave away my room?" She replied "Ma'am, we're overbooked. There are few rooms left in the city. If you take a cab here we can give you a voucher for another hotel and you can walk there. IT's not far from here." Walk in a strange area of New Orleans with luggage after travelling 14 hours? At 1 am? To a hotel I know NOTHING about??? Really? I cancelled and requested a refund. As of 2/26 this refund had not been processed. Priceline intervened and refunded my money. I plan to contact Marriott corporate center privately to express concern over being stranded in the city without a room. We called 4 other hotels in the CBD area and they were all completely booked with no rooms left.

After our cruise we enjoyed a wonderful stay at Ashton's B+B at Esplanade Ave. I can't say enough wonderful things about our gourmet breakfasts, easy access to downtown, and friendly staff. My only complaint would be that we didn't feel comfortable leaving the B+B at night to find a restaurant as none were nearby. I'd recommend picking up snacks or dinner on your way home in the afternoon/evening so you don't have to go out again. Read more