It had been about 6 years since we had last cruised with NCL and thought we'd go back to them for a change even though New Orleans is further away for us.

We got to the pier about 11:30 am. Embarkation was ok. We had the Priority Access feature but it didn't seem to do much for us as none of the employees there seemed to know what it entailed. But we were finally on the ship. The pool deck seemed very closed in and crowded but my husband wanted to smoke, so he went in the enclosed smoker's area we called the Bus Stop. (The area remained very crowded throughout the week but since I don't smoke, I didn't really care.)

I had ended up winning a minimal upgrade bid for a spa balcony. The cabin itself was a decent size and maneuverable for my husband and me. The shower water pressure was decent. We did have several issues where our toilet wouldn't flush. We had to call maintenance and they had to "open a vacuum". from outside our room--something like that. They'd always come and fix it but sometimes it would be 4+ hours---ick. Read more