We are first time cruisers so what we new about cruising was from the boards or from people who had already gone on cruises.
We arrived the day before and stayed at the JW Marriott. Hotel was very nice and the staff was very helpful. Lots of activity downtown with the national championship football game and the Saints game that weekend.
Embarkation was pretty easy. We took a cab from the hotel cost us $14 dollars but we had to give directions to the driver to the port. We arrived around noon and their was already a lot of people there. Once we got in it took about 10 to 15 minutes to get through security and after that a few minutes to check in and get our sea pass cards. We then had to wait to get on the ship till about 1pm which we had to stand since most of the seats were taken.
Quiet location, was in the front of the ship and not a long walk from the forward elevators. Was not far from many of the ships areas except the dining areas which were in the back of the ship.