We arrived at the New Orleans Port at 11 am. My husband and I, my three children, ages 12, 11, 11, and my parents each had an incredible time on NCL. Two of us were told we were VIP's and Belle, Annabelle De Michielli Vitturi, the Concierge for the Spirit, checked us in. Belle anticipated and met our every need on the ship. She is an amazing employee. She spoiled us each and every day throughout the cruise. We wish we could bring Belle with us on every one of our vacations. After we checked in, we were allowed to drop off our carry on bags to our room. There, we met Adolfo and Bernadette, our Room Stewards. They introduced themselves and from that moment on, they remembered each of our names! Very impressive! We immediately went to Windows and enjoyed our lunch. The food and staff were both good. Our rooms were ready so we went to change into our bathing suit and hung out at the pool before we attended the Safety Drill at 4 pm. We explored the ship and enjoyed our dinner at Windows. My parents attended the Welcome Aboard Show and enjoyed it.

On Monday, we enjoyed our sea day. We woke up early(as we did most days) and either worked out at the health club or ran on the track on the 12 floor. For breakfast, two of us throughly loved breakfast at Cagney's while the rest of us ate in Raffles. At 10 am, we all attended the Meet and Greet at Maharini's. I highly recommend you attend the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet and be involved in your Role Call. The NCL Staff want to make sure all Cruise Critic members have a great vacation. We were told we had the largest Meet and Greet the Spirit ever had as we had 90 people sign up. Prem Kainikkara, Hotel Director and all of his top staff members were in attendance and answered all of our questions. Captain Evans Hoyt also dropped in to visit with us. We also did a voluntary gift exchange where people brought gift items from their home town. For lunch, we dined at Cagney's for another amazing meal and some of us had great wings and spinach dip at Blue Lagoon Cafe. We enjoyed exploring the Spirit, spending time at the pools, playing cards in the card room and borrowing books from the library. Our only complaint is that we wish the pools were larger and that it would have had a slide. The Buccaneer's Wet and Wild was fun, but better suited for younger children. We were all invited to the Captain's Reception where drinks and appetizers were served. It was nice to talk to the staff and we enjoyed the Art Work in the Art Gallery. We then had a delicious meal at Le Bistro. The food and staff were top notch. It was $15 for adults and half price for the children. Delicious!

On Tuesday, we got up to exercise and enjoyed watching the views from our balcony as we arrived in Costa Maya, Mexico. We spent the day at Maya Chan Resort! I highly recommend this excursion. We loved having our private palapa, floating in the chairs, snorkeling, kayaking, the delicious fresh food, the hammocks, fishing, free internet and computer use and the drinks! My sons loved climbing the trees for coconuts, then the bartender made my children non alcoholic drinks with their coconuts. We would return to Maya Chan! We dined at Windows for dinner then enjoyed the Duo Acrobatique Show. Read more