First of all, I think I should explain that up to this cruise I have only sailed on Royal Caribbean (4 cruises), so this is my first time trying Norwegian's freestyle cruising.

Embarkation: Long lines in Miami, and check in process less than friendly. We have sailed out of Port Everglades and Port Canaveral in the past, and have never seen the wait times we experienced in Miami.

We were welcomed to the ship as soon as we boarded, and told that our stateroom was ready to go, which was a great relief. The atrium on deck 7 where we boarded was congested with passengers and little tables set up all over to buy this and that. We were glad to be able to escape into our stateroom and get cleaned up. Read more