This was our second cruise, the first being on the Celebrity Summit. I assumed going in to this cruise that it probably wasn't going to be quite as good as our first one. On the flight down to New Orleans, the lady in the adjoining seat, upon finding out about our trip, identified herself as an experienced cruiser, with over 2 dozen to her experience; she sniffed that we were going to be disappointed with NCL. Both my assumption and my erstwhile expert seatmate were mistaken. We had a very good time.

Check-In:

We arrived at the Julia Street Terminal at about 11:00 AM. There wasn't a lot of guidance on where to queue, but we figured it out in a few minutes. Getting to the front of the line a few minutes later, a rather ill-tempered security lady barked that I couldn't bring our luggage this way. Absent any expected follow-up directions about where to take them, I had to ask, and was given a cursory wave to a location back outside. It just took a few seconds of being back outside and looking befuddled when a baggage porter approached me, took instant care of our luggage, and gave professional and clear directions on where to proceed. Back to the queue we went, and past Ms. Personality without incident. The check-in was accomplished in less than 5 minutes, and we were off to the waiting area. By 12:15, we were boarding. The crew members at the end of the gangway were appropriately welcoming, but didn't offer to give us directions to our cabin, etc. Read more