My family of 10 .. me, my parents, 3 adult children, son in law, 2 brothers and nephew (ages 9 thru 73) choose this cruise because of the itinerary and because New Orleans is a really neat place to cruise out of. We flew in from Arizona, Illinois and Cali. Embarkation was fine, fairly easy..although the port is really congested and traffic in NOLA is bad. We didn't care, we were about to get on a ship! Cruising down the Mississippi on day 1 is really fun..takes 6-7 hours to get to the ocean. Loved it.
I wont go into every detail...but we had a blast because our family has fun together. Ship looked a bit worn in spots but generally was nice. The layout was better than other ships I've been on, easy to navigate.
Entertainment: There was a band that played outside the casino that was awesome. Singers were great (had a horn section). DJ played great music in the club. I didnt go to the shows (i could hear them in my cabin haha..see cabin review) but my mom and nephew went and had fun. Didnt see the comedians. Karaoke was great. Went to a few dance lessons which was a blast. Pool area stuff was fun as usual, upbeat atmosphere and good music..Service around the pool was great. One morning the entire pool area and chairs were literally covered with towel animals..really cool.
My cabin was on the 6th floor, forward, interior. Plenty of storage for 3 women who overpacked. I brought extra hangers which came in handy. Comfy for myself and my 2 adult daughters, but my youngest daughter who slept on the pull out bed from the ceiling told me it was really uncomfortable. My bed was great, fluffy and comfy... Nice size fridge..The cabin didnt have enough outlets though...one near the vanity and one in the bathroom. My advice is to bring a power cord, (my brother did this). If you want to go to bed early I would advise against this part of the ship as its above the theater. We could literally hear every single word and beat of every song while the show was going on. It really didnt matter to us as we never went to bed before 11pm and the shows were over before that. Our room steward Nurcholis was awesome and was there whenever we needed him! Having him clean our room just once a day was fine..He always gave us plenty of fresh towels, etc..One other observation..my oldest and her hubby were in 6203 (interior with a window out the front)...on several nights their cabin was very loud and rocky with banging noises all night. May want to avoid this group of cabins. Cool view though..straight out the front. My parents and brothers and nephew had balcony rooms near us..(6220 and 6342) worth the extra money!!!