This was the first cruise for my children (8,9,11) and the 2nd for my wife and I. We had very good weather, and great vacation, and a mostly good experience. I will detail the good & bad below.

Departure: Excellent. We flew into New Orleans the morning of our cruise, were met at the gate by an agent, and taken by bus to the cruise terminal (30 minute wait, 20 minute ride). Once there, the line was no where near what I expected, and we were on board having lunch within 45 minutes.

Stateroom: We had a balcony stateroom on deck 6, with our children directly across the hall in an interior stateroom with bunk beds set up for 3. Our room was a good size (larger than I expected) with a very comfortable balcony. We were able to prop the door to the balcony open in the evenings and sleep to the sound and smell of the water. Neither my wife nor myself have slept better in years. The room was cleaned twice a day, and while not as much was done as on my first cruise (14 years ago) where they would clean out your souvenir glasses, hang up your shirt if you accidentally left it out, etc, it was still kept very clean. Read more