We had previously cruised on the Spirit so we knew what to expect: older ship, very efficient and friendly staff, nice cabins, very good food, entertainment was weak (better on our prior cruise). We had a balcony suite connecting to a balcony stateroom for the 5 of us. The pull-out sofa in one cabin was virtually falling apart, so we moved the third person to the other cabin where the sofa was ok. Butler and concierge were great! We do not like "at sea" days. This trip had 4 ports and 2 days at sea. The 4 ports were all unique (in what we did). Our trip was very enjoyable and the kids had a fantastic time.

We embarked from New Orleans. We parked at Machu Picchu. Saved $2 per day and our car was very secure behind a locked fence. The owner has a nice van and is minutes from the port entrance. He will drop you off (with your luggage) right in front of check-in and was there to pick us up 5 minutes after clearing customs. There were very long lines at all of the NCL check-in locations, however, since we had a suite, we waited in a 2 person line. Being a Latitutes member only resulted in a longer line for some.

The weather was cold when we left New Orleans and the first day at sea. However, once we arrived in Costa Maya, the weather was warm. We had no rain the entire trip which was probably very lucky.