Our window for a family vacation was quite small, and this NCL cruise was one of the few that would work. With our adult children, we arrived in New Orleans the afternoon before the cruise and had the opportunity to walk through and enjoy dinner in the French Quarter.
We are not frequent cruise customers (hope that changes), and it was our first on NCL. Our most recent prior cruise was a cruise on HAL's Koningsdam last Christmas. The ships are comparable in size, but the experience was notably different.
Embarkation was very easy with easy luggage drop-off and a short line after passing through security. Our bags were delivered by the time we finished lunch in O'Sheehan's. Our ocean-view porthole cabins were far forward on the bottom deck (note to self: book earlier). They were more than adequate with plenty of storage space and room to maneuver. The bathroom, however, seemed very cramped. I would think large people would have a very difficult time. With the lower forward cabin, we experienced some wave crashing noise, but we considered it quite minor and in no way did it diminish our experience.
Cabin was clean and well organized. Bathroom was very cramped.