NCL Transfers - Airport to Port / Check-In We were at baggage claim for 10 minutes without seeing an NCL rep. Carnival reps were in clearly identifiable uniforms. NCL reps were only recognized if they were holding up their notebook with the NCL logo. NCL reps had no clue that our itinerary was changed. American did not deliver our bags to baggage claim for over 40 minutes. We were then gathered up into a waiting area, and then left with no explanation. I tracked down an NCL rep and was told they were waiting for more customers. I asked how long the wait would be and was told he had no idea. I suggested they take the 20-30 of us to the port and return for the other customers. He said they cannot go without a full bus no matter how long we wait. NCL was losing money as we would have had more time on the ship for a sail-away drink or two. I then asked how he could not know the wait time since he knows exactly what customers he is waiting for, what flight they are on and when the flight is due in. He explained that the customers were at baggage claim but he had no idea how long it would take for their bags to be delivered. We finally were escorted to the bus. We were told we would not see our bags again until they were dropped off at our staterooms. I mentioned to one NCL rep that we wanted to bring 2 of our 4 bags with us, and we were told to bring those bags onboard the bus. We noticed very few people doing this and I asked another NCL rep. He told me that all bags would be taken off the bus for us to claim at the port before turning them over to the porters. I left a 3rd bag for placement under the bus and brought the 4th bag onboard. I found that the overhead bins could only fit a purse. I put my bag in the aisle, as did a number of others - a safety hazard but not one NCL cared about. We sat on the bus for 15 minutes while the driver and 3 NCL reps tried to figure out how to get the bags on the bus, with no explanation to us. Once at the port, the driver got off and closed the door. After all bags were removed, we were allowed off of the bus. The driver said thank you as we got off the bus. As I walked past him, he grabbed me by the shoulder, showed me an empty palm, and said "I said thank you". I kept walking as I did not want to give a tip until I knew I had my bags. The bags were scattered all over. I brought 2 bags over to the porter. He did not come to the customers. He just threw the bags on a cart and looked for a tip. Our flight arrived at 12:25 but we were not at the port until after 3:00. If we had taken a taxi, even after the long wait for our bags, we would have been at the port by 1:30. We got in line for check-in and were surprised that the line was not moving at all. I asked an NCL rep what was going on and was told that computer system goes down at 3:00 to send information to the US government, and would come up 15 minutes later but they made no announcement to the many in line about this. Once the system was up, the check-in was quite fast. This was the first they told us that Hurricane Earl forced us to skip St. Maarten and St. Thomas, and instead go to Cozumel and Roatan. The NCL rep looked for our key cards and told us we must have checked-in at the wrong terminal. We definitely were at the correct terminal per e-Docs. We were directed to go upstairs where we would be given our key cards. We were given the key cards along with a letter telling us we were late for the pre-departure drill and would need to participate in a make-up drill the next day. We were finally onboard. We were able to get into our cabin and put away our carry-on bags. We went to grab a LATE lunch and we were told we had to go to the pre-departure drill, which we thought we had missed. It was nice to not have to get and put on our life jackets and stand outside by the lifeboats. The vacation was off to a bad start but things would get better.

Cabins We had a family deluxe balcony. It was just fine for a couple. The shower with tub was huge for a cruise ship, with excellent water pressure / temperature. The sink was not great but was not at all a problem. I do not think the bathroom would work if we were with kids or if the room was shared by teen brother and sister. The best bathroom layout we have had was on Disney Magic, where there is a separate toilet room and separate shower/sink room, each with an actual door. Cabin steward service was excellent, as long as we remembered to switch between Welcome, Make Up Room, Turn Down Room, and Do Not Disturb - which had to be done outside of the cabin. There is A LOT of storage space. There are hangers in one closet (near the bathroom) but none in the other closets (near the balcony). The room was always cool and comfortable, without our leaving a card in to keep the electricity going when we were gone.

Food Manhattan Room - Expect to wait in line if you arrive after 7 PM. You will be asked if you are willing to sit with others, but they just group you by arrival time, not by similar ages, etc. The service, food options and food quality was definitely poorer than what we have had at MDR on Royal Caribbean. The steak was fatty. The dress code was not enforced. The live band music was nice. Taste - Same exact menu as Manhattan. The full week's menus can be checked out on your cabin TV. However, they even had the menu posted outside the restaurant all day one day showing lobster, only to change it at the last minute. Service again was slow. The room is really basic. O'Sheehan's - We ate here numerous times: breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. One side is for eating, the other side is intended more for drinking but you can order food there. Service was pretty good. Everything we ate was pretty good. Only complaint was no BBQ sauce with the chicken tenders. Biggest crowd was for NCAA Football on the BIG screen. Pizza Delivery - We ordered at O'Sheehan's late around midnight and it took 30 minutes. The pizza was much larger than needed. It was cheesy but very bland, yet was better than the cardboard pizza at the Garden Cafe. Domino's learned their lesson about tasteless pizza and hopefully NCL will too. For a $5 charge, I expected something better. Garden Cafe - It seemed busy all of the time, but you never had a long wait even for made to order omelets. We always found a table, as they were quite quick at cleaning up. Hash-brown patties were great. Pretzel rolls and all of the breads were quite good. Soft-serve ice cream was not close to Dairy Queen but still good, except the 2 outside units were never in operation. Hard ice cream was good - regular and sugar free chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, at least 2 sherbert flavors, an occasional rocky road, coconut, butter pecan - but nothing like Cookies & Cream, Cookie Dough, Chocolate Chip. Spice Grill - Nothing different from what you get at Garden Cafe. Spice Bar - Has a small menu of satays, sweet potato fries, etc. La Cucina - The food would have been good for an MDR but was a bit lacking when paying a fee. Service was good. The room is really nice and quiet. They gave us a great table for two by the window. Moderno - The service was very good. They will sing "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" if you are celebrating an anniversary. The filet and garlic beef were the best options. The pork ribs were not the Chicago BBQ style I am used to but had a really excellent taste to them. Cagney's - Excellent! It was so good we went back for a second night. Of special note are the HUGE shrimp cocktail, the filet and gratin potatoes. By far the best service we had on the ship. The place seemed half empty each night. Read more