We arrived in Miami 3 days prior to our Cruise to take advantage of cheap airfare and to give us a greater time buffer in case of travel difficulties. All went smooth. We stayed again at the Holiday Inn downtown for the three nights. An older hotel but nice staff and a great location. Across the street from Bayside Market Place which is a great place to spend time. Many shops, restaurants and water tours. Also a quick cab ride away from the Cruise terminal on embarkation day. If there is a game, also a two block walk from the Miami Heat basketball arena.

We arrived a little early on embarkation day but were on the ship by 11:00. The terminal is older but the new terminal is supposed to be done sometime this fall and so far looks impressive.

Having cruised on the Getaway and three times on the Escape, we were pretty well acquainted with the basic layout, which is similar. NCL must read these reviews, however, as there were several significant improvements over her sister ships. Read more