My wife and I celebrated our 5th anniversary on the Getaway from December 8th - 13th. After reading many of the reviews on here and complaints on the message boards I was skeptical at best. However, the cruise blew us both away and was one of the best vacations we've ever had. It seems to me that people can always find something to complain about but if you have a good attitude and realize you are on vacation and relax you will have a great time.

We used the free air through NCL and paid the $25 deviation to come in to New Orleans a day early. Flights were great, a little close on the connection time, but we got to New Orleans by 1:00 and had the day to relax and explore. Next morning we woke up and walked over to the Port around 9:00. We had read reviews about the construction around the Port and the chaos and they were correct but we got right into the security line around 9:30 just before they opened it up, probably around 75th in line. Security was smooth (no you can't bring water through so just be prepared), and we checked in after a couple of minute wait. The lady checking us in informed us that we were Priority Check-in and pointed us over to a separate check in area. We did not sign up for this but NCL gave us the perk as an anniversary gift. Check in was smooth and we were pointed to the holding area around 9:45. The holding area is a bit chaotic but there is water and chairs for everyone. Boarding started just before 11:00 and we were called with Priority Check-in and were on the boat by 11:10. I understand people want to complain about the process and the waiting but NCL is moving 4,000 passengers off the boat and another 4,000 on. In my opinion they did everything as smoothly as possible. We explored the boat a bit, had lunch in Taste and were allowed into the rooms right about 2:00.

We had an Aft Balcony and it was AMAZING. The balcony was the highlight of the trip and we spent every morning out there watching amazing sun rises drinking room service coffee delivered for free. Our room attendant Noel introduced himself right away and was attentive to everything we could have needed. The room was decorated with balloons and a Happy Anniversary which was a nice surprise. We saw Noel every day and he greeted us with a smile and asked us how we were doing and if we needed anything. The room itself is small, but, hey you're on a cruise ship, what do you expect? The bathroom was fine and water pressure and temperature were great. Read more