We did a western Caribbean sailing from Miami on Jan 3, 2010. There were 7 of us altogether in 2 cabins. My wife and self and three kids (12, 10, 7) as well as my parents. For us it was our first cruise, my parents had been on many cruises over the years (Princess, HAL, Royal Caribbean and others) but their first on NCL. We were attracted to this particular cruise because of the ports, price for kids, and the fact that it looked family friendly. We were very impressed with all areas of the cruise and had great fun and tremendous adventures while in port. My parents felt that the service and cleanliness of the NCL were comparative to other cruise lines and in some cases better. We were so pleased with the activities. While not a perfect cruise, we were pampered and well looked after. One thing that did affect things was that it was unusually cold for most of the cruise (this coming from people from quite far north in Canada)- which did hamper some of the activities. The sea was not very rough most of the time but it did rain, was windy, and not very hot.

We spent a few days in Miami before the cruise. We returned our car rental and caught a couple of cabs to the port arriving quite early (by 10:30). Friendly porters greeted us and took our luggage. Because we were early we were through security quickly and then on to check in. We found the lines somewhat confusing inside and the person who looked after the line we selected was slow and not very friendly. We were ushered upstairs to a waiting lounge. After a period of time there was an announcement letting us know things were delayed getting the ship ready - we had to sit for quite awhile as we did not start boarding until noon. Once we started boarding it was quick. We went to Azura for a leisurely lunch- uncrowded with great choices. We did a walk around the ship until rooms were ready and got hot chocolates from the buffet. There was not much to the deck party for sailing, but the weather was cold and windy so that effected it.

We booked 2 adjoining mini suites. We found them very roomy. There was lots of cupboard space and a decent sized closet. The privacy curtain was very nice and helped keep noise down between the parts of the cabin. The main bed was extremely comfortable - we loved it. The hide a bed was adequate for kids but larger teens and adults might not find it large enough or comfortable enough. The bathroom was divided in three with glass doors - we wish they were completely shaded so one could use the toilet while someone else used the sink. There was good water pressure in the shower although the tub was a little small. The TV was in the sofa bed area and was mostly NCL channels with a movie channel, couple of news channels and a sports channel (or 2?). There was a mini fridge, a coffee maker and a safe with more storage space around a desk. The deck was large and we loved having it. We had the stewards open up the dividing wall to give us lots of space. We had 2 chairs - 1 reclinable - and a small table. Read more